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������RISE AND FALL
SLAVE POWER IN AMERICA.
��HISTORY
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
By
HENET WILSON
VOL.
I,
BOSTON:
JAMES
R.
OSGOOD AND COMPANY,
Late Ticknor
&
Fields, and Fields, Osgood,
1872.
&
Co.
�301
WTta
l«T3L
v.l
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872,
BY JAMES
R.
OSGOOD &
CO.,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
University Press Welch, Bigelow,
Cambridge.
:
&
Co.,
�/
PREFACE.
From
the closing
to the spring of 1865, the
months of 1860
United States presented to the gaze of mankind a saddening
and humiliating
spectacle.
into treasonable deeds.
A
Treasonable menaces had ripened
rebellion of gigantic proportions
and
burst upon the nation with suddenness
lence held
its
of treasure
carnival
and
and reaped
During that stern
why
men have
asked
to bind
together,
imperilled,
Vio-
Millions
bloody harvest.
hundreds of thousands of lives were sacrificed
on the wasting shrine of
it
its
fierceness.
civil
war.
conflict,
and since
its
close, thoughtful
this Christian nation, with so
and with such momentous
was rent and dissevered by
many
ties
interests to be
fraternal strife.
Why
was the soil of republican America reddened with the blood
of husbands and fathers, sons and brothers, and bathed with
the tears of wives and mothers, daughters and sisters
In the lights of the present,
it is
now more
?
clearly seen that
the dark spirit of slavery was the inspiration of these crimes
against the peace, the unity, and the
life
of the nation, and
that these sacrifices of property, of health, and of
the inflictions of the Slave
make
perpetual
the seeds
sown
its
Power
in its
hateful dominion.
maddened
These
life
were
efforts to
bitter fruits of
in colonial times afford another signal illustra-
tion of the truth of the inspired declaration that " righteous-
ness exalteth a nation, and sin
is
a reproach to any people."
�PREFACE.
VI
and growth,
I propose to write a history of the beginning
the expansion and extinction, of slavery
ment and
also of the develop-
;
This work will be
extirpation of the Slave Power.
comprised in three volumes of some one hundred and thirty
The
chapters, and about two thousand pages.
ond volumes
and portray
will trace slavery
its
first
and
influences from
The
introduction in 1620 to the opening of the civil war.
its
sec-
third volume will describe that series of measures by which
slavery
was extinguished and the Slave Power broken, the
Union reconstructed on the
and
with
civil
ume
will be published
and
basis of freedom,
political rights,
assured to
citizenship,
The second
all.
vol-
next year, and the third in the year
following.
.
have striven with scrupulous
I
fidelity to truth
to narrate the facts, develop the principles,
more than
for
justice
" irrepressible conflict " between the antago-
results of this
nistic forces of
and
and portray the
freedom and slavery.
thirty years,
Although
I
have borne,
an humble part in this stern
strife,
and have been personally acquainted with many of the actors
and
their doings, I
lot of
humanity
drama
I
have endeavored to be
will
permit.
Of the
as impartial as the
actors in the great
have not set down aught in malice.
and of the dead
I
in the presence of
Of the
living
have written as though I were to meet them
Him whose judgments
To my countrymen
I
are ever sure.
commit this work, on which I have
bestowed years of unstinted labor, in the confident hope that
it
will
contribute something to a clearer comprehension of
the career of that Power, which, after aggressive warfare of
more than two generations upon the
of republican institutions,
vital
and animating
spirit
upon the cherished and hallowed
sentiments of a Christian people, upon the enduring interests
and
lasting
renown of the Republic, organized treasonable
conspiracies, raised the standard of revolution,
and plunged
�PREFACE.
Vll
the nation into a bloody contest for the preservation of
threatened
who
life.
its
I trust that this record will reveal to those
raised voice
and hand against
country the true
their
nature and real character of that system they sought to perpetuate at such fearful cost
;
and
to those
who were
loyal to
country and liberty, the magnitude and grandeur of the cause
in
which they exhibited such
and heroism.
I trust, too, that the
the days of their boyhood,
absence of
fathers,
and devotion, endurance
faith
young men who remember
when homes were saddened by
the
and kindred, summoned
to
brothers,
encounter the hazards and hardships of the camp and
field,
something from these pages which
them
will gather
to realize in larger
measure the
toils
the redemption of their country and
will enable
and
sacrifices offered for
its
free institutions, of
which they, under Providence, are so soon
to
become the
guardians.
HENRY WILSON.
February
16, 1872.
��CONTENTS TO VOL.
CHAPTER
I.
I.
THE BEGINNINGS AND GROWTH OF SLAVERY AND THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT OP
THE SLAVE POWER.
— American Slavery. — Slave Power. — Issues of the Civil
War. — African Slave-trade. — Slaves brought into Virginia. — Colonial
and Commercial Policy of England. — Slave-trade encouraged. — Colonial
Statutes annulled. — Spread of Slavery and Increase of Slave-trade. —
— Samuel Sewell. — Action of
Slavery in New England. — John
the Quakers. — Testimonies against Slavery by Burling, Sandiford, Lay,
Woolman, Benezet, Wesley, Whitefield. — Emancipation advocated by
Dr. Hopkins and Dr. Rush. — Opinions
the Revolutionary Leaders. —
Slave-trade denounced by Congress. — South Carolina and Georgia
the
Slave-trade. — Articles of Confederation. — Development of the Slave
Pages
Basis of Slavery.
Eliot.
of
for
1-17
Power
CHAPTER
ABOLITION.
II.
ABOLITION SOCIETIES.
— Colored
— Slavery abol— The Pennsylvania Abolition
Society. — New York Abolition Society. — Rhode Island Abolition So— The Abolition Societies of Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland,
—
and Virginia. — Character of the Members of the Abolition
Articles of Association of the Colonies.
Soldiers.
ished in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
ciety.
Societies.
18-30
National Conventions
CHAPTER
SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORIES.
III.
ORDINANCE OF
1787.
— Cessions of Territory by the States. — Mr. Jefferson's proposed Inhibition of Slavery in the Territories. — Ordinance of 1787,
ported by Nathan Dane. — Adopted by Congress. — Sanctioned by First
Congress under the Constitution. — Efforts to suspend
in Indiana. —
Blessings of the Ordinance of 1787. — Cessions of North Carolina and
Georgia, with Limitations concerning Slavery. — The Mississippi Territory. — Debate on Mr. Thatcher's Antislavery Amendment
31-38
Public Domain.
re-
it
.
.
�X
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
IV.
COMPROMISES OF THE CONSTITUTION.
SLAVE REPRESENTATION.
RENDITION OF FUGITIVE SLAVES.
The Failure
of the Confederation.
— Assembling
— Distress and Discontent
SLAVE-TRADE.
of the People.
—
— Antagonism between Freedom and Slavery. — Basis of
Representation. — Debates thereon. — Northern and Southern Parties developed. — Slaveholding Interest successful. — Committee of Detail.Duties on Exports. — Regulation of Commerce. — Slave-trade. — South
Carolina and Georgia demand
Continuance. — The Bargain. — Slave
Representation. — Slave-trade to be continued Twenty Years. — Rendition
of Fugitive Slaves. — The Compromise. — The Slave Power developed
39-56
of the Convention to frame a Constitution.
Difficulties
and Dangers.
its
CHAPTER
V.
FIRST SLAVERY DEBATES IN CONGRESS.
PROPOSED TAX ON SLAVES.
PETITIONS
FOR EMANCIPATION.
POWERS OF THE GOVERNMENT DEFINED.
— Proposition to tax Slaves imported. — Debate on
— Defeat of the Proposition. — Petitions for Emancipa— Franklin's Memorial. — Excited Debate. — Special Committee. —
Meeting of Congress.
the
Amendment.
tion.
Report of the Committee.
— Southern
Members defend Slavery and the
— Tone of the Debate. — Powers Congress defined and de— Mr.
Petition. — Right of Petition violated
.57-68
Slave-trade.
clared.
of
Mifflin's
.
CHAPTER
THE FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT OF
Bill
for
the Rendition of Fugitive
VI.
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS.
1793.
Slaves. — Bill
passed the Senate,
—
— Petition of Free Colored Men to be protected against
— Exciting Debate. — Memorial of Colored Men of Philadelphia. —
Exciting and Violent Debate. — Disunion threatened by Mr. Rutledge. —
passed the House.
it.
— Further Legislation demanded. — Mr. Pindall's
— Amendment by Mr. Rich. — Mr.
Amendment. — Debate
Amendments. —
passed
and Amendments. — Mr.
on the
the House, — passed the Senate, with Amendments. — House refused
reported by Judiciary Comup. — Mr. Wright's Resolution. —
take
a Select Committee. — Reported,
mittee. — Debated. — Recommitted
Action of the House.
Storrs's
Bill.
Bill
Fuller's
Bill
to
Bill
it
to
69-78
but not acted on
CHAPTER
TnE SLAVE-TRADE.
VII.
ITS PROHIBITION.
Increase of the Slave-trade. — Memorial of the National Convention of Aboli— reported by Mr. Trumbull, and passed. — Memorial
tion
Societies.
Bill
of Pennsylvania Quakers against the Re-enslavement of Emancipated
groes in North Carolina.
adopted.
— Mr.
— Exciting
Debate.
Ne-
— Mr. Sitgreaves's Report
Hillhouse's Bill amendatory of the Slave-trade Act of
�CONTENTS.
1794.
— Senate
ported with
xi
Committee in the House. — Re— President Jefferson recommends
Bill referred to a Select
Amendments and
passed.
the Prohibition of the Slave-trade.
—A
Bill reported
and passed
in the
— A Debate thereon. — Mr.
Sloan's Amendment. — Mr. Early's Threat. — Mr. Sloan's Amendment
Amendment. — Death Penalty proposed by Mr.
defeated. — Mr.
recommitted. —
reported.
Smilie. — Death Penalty defeated. —
taken up, amended, and passed. — Mr.
Laid on the Table. — Senate
Senate.
—A
Bill
House.
reported in the
Bidvvell's
Bill
Bill
Bill
Randolph's Defiance.
— Farther Legislation demanded
CHAPTER
DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN SLAVE-TRADE.
.
.79-97
.
VIII.
NEGOTIATIONS WITH FOREIGN POWERS.
— Cruel Character the
— Slave-breeding. — Prosecution of the Foreign Trade. — Chris—
tian Sentiment. — Action of the Quakers. — Motion of Mr.
— Mr. Eaton's Motion. — Mercer's ResoluRufus King. — Mr.
— Passage the
— Mr. Gorham's Report. — Co-operation with
1815. — British Proposition.
Foreign Powers recommended. — Treaty
Mr. Rush's Treaty. — Action of England. — Dilatory Action of the Sen— Treaty amended. — Mr. Clay's Reply. — Insincerity of the Ameri-
Extent of Domestic and Foreign Slave-trade.
of
Traffic.
Burrell.
Morrill.
of
tion.
Bill.
of
ate.
98-111
can Government
CHAPTER
IX.
FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT INFLUENCED BY SLAVERY.
—
—
American Government humiliated by Slavery.
Treaty of 1783.
Demands
on England.
Jay's Treaty.
Free Negroes of San Domingo.
De-
—
—
— Monroe Doctrine. — Congress at Panama. — Report
— Debate. — War of 1812. — Ranof the Committee on Foreign
dolph's Speech. — Instruction to the Peace Commissioners. — Treaty of
Ghent. — Demands on the Commander of the British Squadron. — Position of the British Government. — Persistent Demands of the American
Government
Payment of Slaves. — Decision referred to Russia. — Proposed Invasion of Cuba by Mexico. — Intervention of the Government of
the United
— Debate in the Senate. — Instructions of Mr. Clay to
—
mands of Napoleon.
Affairs.
for
........
States.
the Panama Commissioners
CHAPTER
X.
INDIAN POLICY AFFECTED BY SLAVERY.
Disgraceful Attitude of the Nation.
— Escape
— EXILES
OF FLORIDA.
of Slaves into Florida.
— Commissioners
Georgia. — Protection
Return of Fugitives refused.
112-122
to negotiate a Treaty
—
with
— Action of
demanded. — Failure of
— Treaty negotiated at New York. — Stipulation the
Return of Slaves. — Spanish Authorities refuse
surrender Slaves. —
Misconduct of Georgia. — Claims on England
Fugitive Slaves. — Com-
the Creeks.
Negotiations.
for
to
for
�CONTENTS.
Xll
missioners appointed to meet the Creeks in Washington.
— Annexation
—
Amelia Island seized by Georby the Slave Power.
Expedition sent by Georgia into Florida to capture Fugitives.
of Florida pressed
—
— Negro Fort. — Order of General Jackson to invade
captured, and reduced
Florida. — Negro Fort captured. — Exiles
to Slavery. — Disgrace of the Nation. — General Jackson enters Florida.
— Defeats the Indians. — Acquisition of Florida. — Treaty of Indian
Spring. — Treaty of Camp Moultrie. — Seizure of Slaves. — Fugitives
123-134
captured by the Army. — Slave-catchers permitted to hunt Slaves
gia.
—
Raid into Florida.
killed,
.
CHAPTER
THE MISSOURI STRUGGLE.
XI.
THE COMPROMISES.
— Missouri Territory. — Bill authorizing the Territory to form a Constitution. — Mr. Tallmadge's Amendment prohibiting
— Inhibition of
Slavery. — Exciting Debate. — Amendment agreed
— Territory of Arkansas
Slavery stricken out by the Senate. — Bill
organized. — Mr. Taylor's Amendment. — Bill introduced by Mr. Scott
to authorize Missouri to form a Constitution. — Maine and Missouri united
the Inhibition of Slavery.
in the Senate. — Mr. Roberts's Amendment
— Debate in the Senate. — Mr. Thomas's Amendment. — Amendment
— Bill passed the Senate. — House disagree to Senate's Amendagreed
ment. — Mr. Taylor's Amendment. — Bill passed. — Conference Commit— Prohibition of Slavery defeated in the House. — Prohibition of
— Triumph of the Slave
Slavery north of the Parallel of 36o 30' agreed
The Louisiana Purchase.
to.
lost.
for
to.
tee.
to.
135-152
Power complete
CHAPTER
XII.
ATTEMPT TO INTRODUCE SLAVERY INTO
ADMISSION OF MISSOURI.
ILLINOIS.
— Resolution of Admission in the Senate. — Mr.
Eaton's Proviso. — Mr. Wilson's Proviso. — Debate. — Passage of the
ReResolution of Admission. — Report by Mr. Lowndes in the House.
marks by Sergeant,
Lowndes, Cook. — House Resolution
Senate Resolution referred to a Committee of Thirteen. — Report of Com— Speech of Mr. Pinckney. — Mr. Brown's Proposition. —
mittee
Appointment of Joint Special Committee. — Mr. Clay's Compromise
— Slave
adopted. — Conditions accepted by Missouri. — Slaves in
a Slave
Codes. — Governor Coles. — Defeat of the Plot to make
Constitution of Missouri.
-
rejected.
Storrs,
rejected.
Illinois.
Illinois
153-164
State
CHAPTER
EARLY ANTISLAVERY MOVEMENTS.
XIII.
BENJAMIN LUNDY.
WILLIAM LLOYD
GARRISON.
— Elias Hicks. — Antislavery
— Benjamin Lundy. — He organizes an Antislavery Society in Ohio. — " Genius of Emancipation." — Removed to
Aggressive and Dominating Spirit of Slavery.
in
Kentucky and Tennessee.
�XU1
CONTENTS.
— Established Abolition Societies in North Carolina. — Meet— Political Action recommended. — Establishes his Paper in Baltimore. — Visits the Eastern
States. — Joined by Mr. Garrison. — Imprisonment of Mr. Garrison. —
Paper removed to "Washington. — Establishes the "National Inquirer."
— Removal to the "West. — Death. — Character. — Mr. Garrison. — Joins
Mr. Lundy. — Adopts the Doctrine of Immediate Emancipation. — Denunciation of the Slave-trade. — Imprisoned in Baltimore. — Release
through Intervention of Arthur Tappan. — Denounces the Colonization
Society. — Establishes " The Liberator." — Public Sentiment. — Rewards
and Persistency 165-188
offered
his Arrest. — His Fearlessness,
Tennessee.
ing of the American Abolition Convention.
Inflexibility,
for
CHAPTER
XIV.
THE VIRGINIA CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.
SLAVERY DEBATE
Constitutional Convention.
— Slaveholding
— Struggle
IN
— SOUTHAMPTON
INSURRECTION.
THE LEGISLATURE.
between Eastern and "Western Vir-
— Southampton Insurrection.
— Nat Turner. — Message of Governor Floyd. — Resolution of Mr. Summers. — Debate on Slavery. — Proposition of Thomas Jefferson Randolph.
ginia.
— Mr.
Interest Successful.
— Report of the
— Speeches of Mr. Moore, Mr.
Goode's Motion to discharge the Committee.
Committee.
— Mr.
Preston's
Amendment.
Boiling, Mr. Randolph, Mr. Rives, Mr. Brodnax, Mr. Daniel, Mr. Faulkner,
Mr. Knox, Mr. Summers, Mr. McDowell.
quirer."
— Reaction in the State
— The
"Richmond
In-
189-207
CHAPTER
XV.
THE FORMATION AND PURPOSES OF THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY.
— Views of Dr. Hopkins. — Mr. Jefferson's Proposi— Resolutions of the Virginia Legislature. — Judge Tucker's Plans
of Emancipation. — Mercer's Resolutions. — Meetings of the Society. —
— Its Purpose. — Equivocal Position. —
Constitution and
Declarations of Mr. Clay. — Avowals of
Advocates. — Views of the
"African Repository." — Black Laws. — Compulsory Colonization.
Action of Maryland Legislature. — Action of the Free People of Color. —
Views of the National Conventions of Free Colored Men. — Declaration
of Mr. Webster. — Mr. Garrison's Mission to England. — Eliot Cresson.
— Protest of the British Abolitionists. — Address of Mr. Garrison. —
Hold of the Colonizationists upon the Country. — Their Proscriptive
Course. — Encouragement to Mobs
208 - 222
Its
Inconsistencies.
tion.
Its
Officers.
its
CHAPTER
NEW ENGLAND AND NEW YORK
XVI.
CITY ANTISLAYERY SOCIETIES.
Conference at the Office of Samuel E. Sewall.
—
—
Adjourned Meeting.
Adoption of the Preamble and Constitution of the New England Anti-
'
�CONTENTS.
xiv
—
slavery Society.
Officers of the Society.
— First
— Principles
—
—
enumerated.
—
Annual Meeting.
Resolutions.
First
Mr. Garrison's Resolution in Favor of a National ConAnnual Report.
Public Meeting.
Great Excitement
"Emancipator."
vention.
Arthur TapOrganization of the New York City Antislavery Society.
Joshua Leavitt.
ColonizaWilliam Goodell.
pan.
Lewis Tappan.
Rapid Increase of the
tionists.
Denunciation of the Abolitionists.
Abolitionists.
Publications of John G. Whittier, Lydia Maria Child,
223-236
Amos A. Phelps
Address to the People.
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
HOSTILITY TO
CHAPTER
COLORED SCHOOLS. — MISS
Slavery Hostile to Education.
XVII.
CRANDALL's SCHOOL SUPPRESSED.
— Proposed Collegiate School at New Haven.
— Hostile Action the Citizens of New Haven. — Noyes Academy in
New Hampshire. — Colored Students admitted. — Institution broken up.
— Miss Crandall's School Connecticut. — Admission Colored Pupils.
— Hostility the People. — Arbitrary Legislation. — Imprisonment of
— Failure
May. — Arthur Tappan. —
Miss Crandall. — Samuel
of the Prosecution. — Persecution of Miss Crandall. — Incendiary Attempts. — Abandonment of her School. — Her Opposers Triumphant 237 - 247
of
in
of
of
Trial.
J.
CHAPTER
XVIII.
NATIONAL ANTISLAVERY CONVENTION AT PHILADELPHIA.
THE AMERICAN ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY.
National Antislavery Convention called.
lic
Mind.
— Excited
— Conference held at the House of
of the Convention.
—
Its Officers.
Condition of the Pub-
Evan Lewis.
— Committee
ORGANIZATION OF
— Assembling
on the Declaration of
— Resolutions. — Speeches of Lewis Tappan, Amos A. Phelps.
— The Constitution. —
The Object of the Society the entire Abolition of Slavery. — Conference
— Declaon the Declaration of Sentiments. — Words of Elizur Wright,
ration of Sentiments prepared by Mr. Garrison. — Reported by Mr. Atlee.
— The Declaration adopted. — Signatures to the Declaration. — DocJohn G. Whittier,
— Officers of the Society, Elizur Wright,
Sentiments.
— Female
Antislavery Societies recommended.
Jr.
Its
Jr.,
trines.
Amos
.......
A. Phelps, Theodore D. Weld, Ellis Gray Loring, Robert Purvis.
Increase of Auxiliary Societies
CHAPTER
LANE SEMINARY.
Antislavery Debate at Lane Seminary.
—
248 - 263
XIX.
ANTISLAVERY ACTION.
— Action
of the Trustees.
slavery Students dissolve their Connection with the Institution.
— Anti—
—
Offer
American Antislavery Society to give the Bible to Slaves.
ConAbolitionists mobbed in New
duct of Managers of the Bible Society.
Address of Massachusetts
York.
Address issued by the Abolitionists.
of the
—
—
—
�XV
CONTENTS.
— Doctrines of the Abolitionists. — Abolitionists
— Reply of the
American Antislavery Society. — Activity of the Abolitionists. — Rapid
Antislavery Society.
ar-
raigned in the Annual Message of President Jackson.
Increase in
Numbers
264 - 273
CHAPTER
MOBS.
XX.
WOMEN MOBBED
OUTRAGES IN CINCINNATI.
IN BOSTON.
— Theodore D. Weld. — James G. Birney. — Establishment of
— Mobs. — Meeting of the Citizens of Cincinnati.
— Resolution suppress the " Philanthropist." — Firmness of the Anti— The
slavery Committee. — Riotous Mob. — Destruction of the
"Philanthropist" continued. — Dr. Bailey. — Mobs in Philadelphia.
— George
Continued Violence against the Abolitionists. — Orange
— Meeting of Citizens of Boston in Faneuil Hall. — Boston Female
Antislavery Society. — Public Meeting of the Society. — George Thomp— Mob Violence. — Mayor Lyman. — Seizure of Mr. Garrison. —
Imprisoned. — Francis Jackson. — Meeting
his House. — Remarks of
Proscription.
the " Philanthropist."
to
Press.
Scott.
Storrs.
-
son.
at
Miss Mai tineau
274-286
CHAPTER
RIOTOUS DEMONSTRATIONS IN
XXI.
NEW YORK AND VERMONT.
— Mr. Beardsley. — Joshua A. Spencer.-— Hall occupied
— Meeting in the Church. — Society formed. — Mob. — Convention broken up. — Members insulted. — Gerrit Smith. — Members invited to meet at Peterboro'. — Officers of the Society chosen. — Resolution
and Speech by Mr. Smith. — Antislavery Cause placed on High Principle.
— Samuel May. — Mob in Vermont. — Mr. Knapp. — Colonel Miller.
— Years of Mobs. — Dedication of Pennsylvania Hall. — Speeches by
Alvan Stewart. — Mr. Garrison. — Mrs. Angelina Grimke Weld. — Miss
Abby Kelley. — Mob. — Burning of Pennsylvania Hall. — Impotence of
Convention at Utica.
by
Citizens.
J.
City Authorities
287-298
CHAPTER
XXII.
SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
— Sectional Claims. — Capital fixed on Slave
— Slave Codes of Virginia and Maryland indorsed. — Inhumanity of the
Slave Laws. —
used by Slave-traders. — Randolph's Resolution. —
Speech. — Judge Morrell.— Petition of the Citizens against the Traffic—
Mr. Miner's Resolutions and Speech. — Resolutions adopted. — Committee.
— Communication of the Grand Jury against the Slave-trade. — Slavetraders licensed by the City of Washington. — Men and Women whipped
on their bare backs. — Laws against Free Negroes. — Responsibility of
the Northern People. — Arrest, Imprisonment, and Trial of Dr. Reuben
The Seat of Government.
Soil.
Jails
Crandall
299-306
�CONTENTS.
Xvi
CHAPTER
XXIII.
SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE IN THE DISTRICT OP
COLUMBIA.
DENIAL OF THE RIGHT OF PETITION.
PETITIONS AGAINST
— Debate thereon. — Petitions laid
— Meeting of the XXIVth Congress. — Presentation of Anti— Excited Debate. — Mr.
Resolution. — Mr.
slavery
the Committee. — Petitions ordered
Pinckney's Resolution. — Report
be
on the Table. — Presentation of Antislavery Petitions in the
Senate. — Mr. Calhoun's Motion. — Debate thereon. — Mr. Calhoun's
Presentation of Antislavery Petitions.
on the Table.
Jarvis's
Petitions.
of
laid
to
Motion
to reject. Petitions defeated.
the Prayer of Petitioners adopted.
ern Members.
— Mr.
Buchanan's Motion to
reject
— Long Debate. — Servility of North-
— The South victorious
307 - 320
CHAPTER XXIV.
NORTHERN LEGISLATION DEMANDED.
the Abolitionists. — Mr. Sullivan's Pamphlet. — Dr. Leonard
— Public
— Mr. Hazard's Report. — Charleston
Meeting. — Conduct of the New York Postmaster. — Amos Kendall's
Letter. — His Course. — Report of Mr. Calhoun. — Governor McDuffie's
Message. — Resolutions of South Carolina Legislature. — Resolutions
— Governor Ritner's Message. — Governor Gayle's
of Southern
Demand
Mr. Williams. — Message of Governor Marcy. — Governor
— Edward Everett.
Dorr. — Report of Mr. Stevens. — Failure to
— His Readiness to shoulder a Musket to put down Insurrection. — Mr.
Cambreleng rebukes him. — His Response to Southern Demands. — His
Message. — Referred to a Select Committee. — Resolution of Southern
— Action of Massachusetts Antislavery Society. — Hearing before
the Committee. — Speeches of Mr. May, Mr. Loring, Mr. Garrison, Mr.
Goodell. — Mr. Lunt interrupts Mr. Goodell. — Dr. Follen insulted by
Mr. Lunt. — Dr. Follen sustained by Mr. May. — Memorial to the Legis— Another Hearing. — Speakers interrupted by Mr. Lunt. — Excitement of the Audience. — Mr. Lunt's Report. — Resolutions laid on
Spirit
of
Woods.
Post-office rifled.
States.
for
legislate.
States.
lature.
321-338
the Table
CHAPTER XXV.
INCENDIARY PUBLICATION BILL.
FREE SOIL INTO SLAVE SOIL.
OF PETITION DENIED.
CONVERSION OF
ADMISSION OF ARKANSAS.
RIGHT
ATTEMPT TO CENSURE MR. ADAMS.
— Referred to a Special Committee. — Mr.
— Debate thereon. —
— Incendiary Publication
— Application of
Mr. Van Buren's casting Vote. — Defeat of the
Arkansas
Admission into the Union. — Constitution guarantees Perpetual Slavery. — Debate on the Admission. — Mr. Adams's Amendment
— Arkansas admitted. — The Boundaries of Missouri extended.
President Jackson's Message.
Calhoun's Report.
Bill.
Bill.
for
rejected.
�CONTENTS.
— Free
made Slave
Soil
Session of the
XXIVth
Soil.
— Success
Congress.
— Presentation of a
— Violent Scene
Petitioii
tions.
from Slaves.
XVil
of the Slaveholders.
— Presentation
— Second
of Antislavery Peti-
by Mr. Adams purporting
in the House.
— Mr.
to
come
Patton's Motion to
— Motion of Mr. Thompson to censure
— Substitute moved by Mr. Lewis. — Angry Debate. — Mr.
Adams's Defence. — Triumph of Mr. Adams. — Speech of Mr. Slade. —
Violent Scene. — Caucus of Southern Members. — Adoption of Mr. Patreturn the Petition to Mr. Adams.
Mr. Adams.
ton's Resolution.
read.
— Antislavery
ACTIVITY OF THE
The
Papers not to be debated, printed, or
— Subserviency of Congress
339-354
CHAPTER XXVI.
ABOLITIONISTS. — ACTION OF NORTHERN
Abolitionists hopeful.
— Meeting of
— Mr.
LEGISLATURES.
the Massachusetts Antislavery So-
— Public Sentiment.
— Formation of the
Antislavery Society. — Black Laws of Ohio.
— Condition of the Colored People in Ohio. — Hearing before a Committee of the Massachusetts Legislature. — Mr. Stanton's Speech. — Action
of the Legislature. —-Decision of Judge Shaw. — James C. Alvord.
Resolutions against Texas. — Legislatures of Connecticut and Vermont 355-373
ciety in the Capitol.
Stanton's Resolutions.
Illinois
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE ALTON TRAGEDY.
MURDER OF ELIJAH
LOVEJOY.
P.
— Maintains the Right of the
— Charge of Judge Lawless. —
Mr. Lovejoy discusses the Slavery Question.
Press and Speech.
— Murder of a
Negro.
— The Press destroyed at
— The Slaveholders demand Suppression. — destroyed. —
Mr. Lovejoy mobbed in Missouri. — Insulted
Home. — Speech to the
— Excitement in Alton. — Mr. Linder leads Mob. — State
Society formed
Upper Alton. — Speech of Edward Beecher. — Meeting
— Assault upon the Warehouse. — The
the Store
protect the
Fire returned. — Mr. Lovejoy shot; died. — Press thrown into the River.
— The Murder applauded or excused by the Supporters of Slavery. —
Resolutions of the Boston Abolitionists. — Faneuil Hall refused. — Dr.
— Mr. Hallett's Resolutions. — The Hall granted. —
Channing's
Address of Dr. Channing. — Resolutions of Mr. Hallett. — Mr. Austin's
— Excitement. — Action of the NaSpeech. — Reply of "Wendell
— Edmund Quincy. —
tional and Massachusetts Antislavery
Destruction of the Office of the "Observer."
Alton.
its
It is
at
Citizens.
a
at
at
to
Press.
Letter.
Phillips.
Societies.
Non-Resistants
374-389
CHAPTER XXVIII.
calhoun's resolutions. — atherton's resolutions. — ashburton treaty.
Calhoun's Resolutions. — Smith's Amendment. — Allen's Motion. — Debate.
— Atherton's Resolutions. — Southern Whigs. — Mr. Slade. — Speech of
�CONTENTS.
XV111
— Speech of Mr. Morris. — Resolutions of Vermont. — Meeting
Congress. — Mr. Wise's Resolutions. — Mr. Thompson's
Resolutions. — Menace of Cooper. — Mr. Botts. — Motion of Mr. Adams.
— Amendment of William Cost Johnson. — Feeling of the South. — Letter of the AVorld's Convention to Southern Governors. — Quintuple
Treaty. — Protest of General Cass. — Ashburton Treaty. — Debate in the
Senate. — The Treaty sustained
390 - 403
Mr. Clay.
of the
XXVIth
AMONG
DISSENSION
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE ABOLITIONISTS. — DISRUPTION
OF THE AMERICAN
ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY.
Increase of the Abolitionists.
for
Seward.
Mr. Smith.
— Opposition
— Action of
— Dissensions. — New York Abolitionists vote
of Mr.
Goodell.
•
— New
Party proposed by
the Massachusetts Antislavery Society.
— Young
— Resolution. —
Action. — The Woman Question. — Pastoral
— New England
Convention. — Protest of Mr. Torrey. — Memorial to the Churches. —
Action of the Rhode Island Consociation. — Churches and
The Abolitionists. — Controversy between the Massachusetts and National
— Opinion of Mr. Birney. — Sixth Anniversary. —
Antislavery
The Woman Question. — New England Antislavery Convention. — Massachusetts Abolition Society. — Address of the Society. — Bitter Controversy.
— Financial Action. — Proposition to dissolve the American Antislavery
Society. — Sale of the "Emancipator." — Seventh Anniversary of the
American Antislavery Society. — Rights of Woman conceded. — Disrup— American and Foreign Antislavery Society organized. — Both
Men's Antislavery State Convention at Worcester.
Polit-
Letter.
ical
.Ministers.
Societies.
tion.
404-422
Societies appeal to the Public
CHAPTER XXX.
ABOLITION PETITIONS.
ARRAIGNMENT OF MR. ADAMS.
WON.
MR. ADAMS'S POSITION.
RIGHT OF PETITION
The Election of 1840. —Death of President Harrison. —President Tyler.
1
The South warned
Mr. Adams's Motion to repeal the 21st Rule adopted.
Thomas F. MarPresident Tyler's Letter.
against the Abolitionists.
—
—
shall,
—
Henry A. Wise, and Joshua
R. Giddings.
— Vote
on 21st Rule
— Discussion. — Petition presented by Mr. Adams. — Resolution of Censure. — Caucus. — Mr. Weld and Mr. Leavitt. — Marshall's
Resolutions. — Speech. — Mr. Adams's Defence. — Remarks of Wise.
Adams's Reply. — Liberal Action of Underwood, Arnold, and Botts. —
on the Table. — Debate in XXVIIIth Congress. — ReResolution
marks of Hale and Hamlin. — Rule abrogated and Right of Petition
reconsidered.
laid
secured.
Goodell
— Position of Mr.
Adams.
— Criticisms of Garrison,
Birney, and
423-438
�CONTENTS.
XIX
CHAPTER XXXI.
DEMANDS UPON THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT.
COASTWISE SLAVE-TRADE.
CENSURE OF MR. GIDDINGS.
— American Vessels wrecked. — Slaves liberated
— Representations of the Case by the American Minto England. — The Action of the British Government denounced.
— Resolutions of Mr. Calhoun. — Debate on the Resolutions. — Remarks
of Mr. Porter. — Passage of the Resolutions. — Exasperation of the Slaveholders. — The "Creole" seized by the Slaves and carried into Nassau.
Refusal to surrender the Slaves. — Excitement in the South. — Excited
Debate in the Senate. — Mr. Calhoun's Resolutions relating to the "Cre— Mr. Webster's Despatch to Mr. Everett. — Approved by Mr. Calhoun. — Action of England. — Resolution of Mr. Giddings. — Exciting
Scene. — Resolution of Censure by Mr. Botts. — Resolution adopted by
Mr. Weller. — Resolution of Censure passed. — Mr. Giddings sustained"
Coastwise Slave-trade.
by-
British Authorities.
ister
ole."
by
439-455
his Constituents
CHAPTER XXXII.
THE "AMISTAD" CAPTIVES.
Demands
to
New
London.
Minister.
torney.
"Amistad" captured by the Africans. — Taken
— Africans claimed as Slaves. — Demands of the Spanish
of Slavery.
— The
— Africans before the District Court. — Conduct of District At-
— Instructions of the Secretary of State. — A Committee appointed
— The Attorney-General of the United
— Decision of the Circuit Court. — President. —
— Appeal the Supreme Court.
Declaration of the Secretary of
—
of the Committee. — Mr. Adams employed. — His Argument.
Arraignment of the President and his Cabinet. — Discharge of the
oners. — Labors of Lewis Tappan
456 - 469
to aid the Africans.
States.
Africans held for Trial.
State.
to
Efforts
.......
Pris-
CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE PRIGG CASE.
—
THE USE OF ITS JAILS FORBIDDEN BY MASSACHUSETTS.
AN AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION PROPOSED.
— Margarette Morgan. — Prigg
— Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. — Supreme Court of the United
— Decision. — State Legislation not required. — Taney. — Daniel.
— Jurisdiction of the Government. — Supreme Court of Massachusetts.
— State Laws repealed. — Laws against the Use of
— Latimer's
— City
— Excitement. — Public Meetings. —
Arrest. —
Meeting
Faneuil Hall. — Edmund Quincy. — Joshua Leavitt. — Dis— Remonstrances. — Latimer Journal. —
turbance. — Speech of
Popular Demonstrations. — Grey paid by Mr. Colver. — Convention. —
Petition to the Legislature. — Meeting
Faneuil Hall. — Petition pre-
Various Interpretations of the Constitution.
Case.
States.
Jails.
Trial.
Officers.
in
Phillips.
in
�XX
CONTENTS.
by John Quincy Adams. — Proposed Amendment of
— Petition. — Resolutions of Massachusetts. — Singular
Avowal of Mr. Wise. — Mr. Holmes. — Speech of Mr. Adams. — Report of
470 - 487
Committee. — Massachusetts Senators. — Action of the Legislature
sented to Congress
the Constitution.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
INTERMARRIAGE LAW OF MASSACHUSETTS.
CASTE.
of Massachusetts. — Petitions. — Report of Mr. Lincoln. — De— General Howe's
— Mr. Davis's Report. — Mr. Bradburn's
— Sharp Debate. — Repeal of the Law. — Colored Persons excluded
from the Cars. — Scene on the Eastern Railroad. — Action of the Legisla— Colored Schools. — Controversy in Nantucket. — Petitions to the
— Defeated. — Mr. Wilson's Motion to
Legislature. — Mr. Barrett's
passed. — Action
reconsider. — Earnest Debate. — Reconsidered. —
The Law
bate.
Bill.
Bill.
ture.
Bill.
Bill
of Boston School
488-498
Committee
CHAPTER XXXV.
POSITION OF THE COLORED PEOPLE.
Sentiments of the Colored People.
— Diverse
FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
Influences of Slavery and
— Childhood of Frederick Douglass. — Cruelties of Slavery
— Attempts to escape. — Sent Baltimore. — Became a Shipcaulker. — Escaped to New York. — Introduced to Mr. Ruggles. — Arrived
at New Bedford. — Works, in a Ship-yard. — Addresses an Antislavery
Convention in Nantucket. — Impressions made upon Garrison and Rogers.
— Becomes Agent of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society. — Wonderful Effects of his Speeches. — His Devotion to the Cause of his Race. —
going. —
Publishes his Autobiography. — Visits England. — Reasons
Establishes the "North Star." — Immense Labors of Twenty Years 499 - 511
Freedom.
il-
to
lustrated.
for
THE
CHAPTER XXXVI.
CAUSE.
FLORIDA WAR, — SLAVERY
ITS
— The Additional
— Outrages perpetrated by
Slave-traders. — Exasperation of the Indians. — Stern Policy of President
Jackson. —Seizure of Osceola's Wife. — Death of the Indian Agent.—
Destruction of Major Dade's Command. — Conduct of the Citizens of Flor— Recall of General Scott. — Action of General Jessup. — Treaty of
Peace rejected by the Government. — The Slave-hunters. — Admissions
of General Jessup. — Bounty offered to the Creeks. — Dishonorable Con-
The Surrender
Treaty.
of Slaves
—Agreement
by the Seminoles demanded.
to remove to the West.
ida.
;
duct of
Army
Officers.
— Honorable Action
of the Cherokee Delegation.
— Cruel Action of the War Department. — Violation of Flags of Truce.
— Noble Conduct of General Taylor. — Treaty with the Creeks and Semi— Danger of the
— Demands of the Creeks. — The Exiles
emigrate
Mexico. — The Faith and Honor of the Nation tarnished 512 - 527
noles.
Exiles.
to
�CONTENTS.
XXI
CHAPTER XXXVII.
DEMAND FOR THE RECOGNITION OF PROPERTY
IN SLAVES.
— Mr. Whittlesey's Eeport. — De— Spanish Treaty. — The Florida Claims. — Mr. Cooper's Report. — Mr. Giddings's and Mr. Adams's
Slaves by the British Government. — Mr.
Speeches. — Payment
— Speech of Mr. Giddings. — Violent Scenes in the House.
more's
— Degrading Influences of Slavery. — General Jessup's Contract with
the Indians. — Watson's Claim. — General Gaines's Order. — His Honorable Conduct. — The Collins Claim. — Action of General Taylor. — FaithAction of the Government. — Renewal of Watson's Claim. — Reports
on the Claim. — Watson's Claim allowed. — Claim of Pacheco. — Failure
The Greed
Gain
of
gratified
by Slavery.
bates on the Question of Slave Property.
•
for
Fill-
Bill.
less
528-544
of the Bill
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
THE LIBERTY PARTY.
Early Abolitionists pledged to Political Action.
— Seward,
demanded.
— Questioning Candidates.
—A
Party
Cushing, Fillmore, Brooks, Parmenter.
— Myron
Holley.
— New York State
Political
Society calls a National
— Opposed by the Board of Managers of the Mas— Meeting of the Convention. — Nomination of James
G. Birney
President and Thomas Earle
Vice-President. — Small
Vote. — Address of Committee. — Salmon P. Chase. — State Convention
in Ohio. — Peterboro' Convention. — Address to the Slaves. — National
Convention. — Resolutions. — Candidates. — Philadelphia Convention.
Professor Cleaveland's Address. — Election. — Western and Southwestern
Convention. — Mr Chase's Address. — Eastern Convention. — Dissen— Unconstitutionality of Slavery. — Divisions
545-555
Convention at Albany.
sachusetts Society.
for
for
sions.
.
.
.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
MOBS.
ANTISLAVERY ACTIVITIES.
WOMEN'S
FAIRS.
— Cowardice of the City Government. — Manly Stand
— Riot in Philadelphia. — Riots in New Bedford, Nantucket, and Portland. — Riotous Demonstrations in the North. — The
Tone of the South. — Divisions among Abolitionists. — New Organization.
— Old Organization. — Antislavery Fairs. — " Liberty Bell." — Address
to the Slaves. — Address to President Tyler. — One hundred Conventions.
— Thomas P. Beach. — Visit of Abolitionists England. — Henry C.
Wright. — Case of John L. Brown. — Decrease of Antislavery
Spread of Antislavery Sentiments. — The Impending Struggle
556 - 567
Riot at Cincinnati.
of Dr. Bailey.
to
Societies.
.
�CONTENTS.
XXli
CHAPTER
XL.
NO UNION WITH SLAVEHOLDERS.
—
Debate on the
Meeting of the American Antislavery Society in 1842.
Meeting of the Massachusetts
Issue of No Union with Slaveholders.
Protest against the Constitution by Mr. Foster.
Antislavery Society.
—
—
Mr. Garrison's Proposition.
ciety in 1844.
— The
Doctrine of
— Protests. — Address
— Gerrit
— Meeting
—
of the
No Union
American Antislavery So-
with Slaveholders adopted.
— Letter of Francis Jackson.
Whittier. — Replies. — Disunion
to the Abolitionists.
Smith's Letter to John G.
568-575
Policy adopted
CHAPTER
XLI.
IMPRISONMENT OF COLORED SEAMEN.
—
—
Colored Seamen. — Appointment, of Mr. Hoar. — Excitement in South
Carolina. — Action of Governor Hammond. — Resolutions of South Carolina Legislature. — Fines and Imprisonments imposed upon Persons that
defend Negroes. — Indignation at Charleston. — Action of the Authori— Mr. Hoar forced to leave the State. — Mr. Hubbard's Mission to
— Petitions presented to Congress
New Orleans. — Compelled to
by Mr. Winthrop. — Reports of Hoar and Hubbard. — Message of the
Resolutions of
Imprisonment in South Carolina. — Laws of Louisiana.
The Governor authorized to appoint Agents to defend
Massachusetts.
ties.
leave.
Governor.
— Action of
576 - 586
the Legislature
CHAPTER
XLII.
PLOT FOR THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS.
—
—
Immigration from
Texas.
Dominating Influences of the Slave Power.
Annexation to the United
Texas declared Independent.
the South.
Election and Death of
Rejected by Mr. Van Buren.
States proposed.
General JackMr. Gilmer's Letter.
Mr. Tyler.
General Harrison.
—
—
—
—
—
—
— Presidential Intrigue. — Address of Members of Congress
against the Texas Scheme. — Duff Green's Letter. — Visit of Mr. AnAnnexation distinctly
drews and Mr. Tappan to England. — Motives
avowed. — Accusations against England. — Position of the British Gov—
ernment. — Texas or Disunion. — Conditions demanded by Texas.
Death of Mr. Upshur. — Mr. Calhoun made Secretary of State. —
—
son's Letter.
for
587-605
Treaty
CHAPTER
XLIII.
TEXAS PLOT CONSUMMATED.
— Position of the
— Embarrassing Position of Antislavery
Men. — The Alabama Letter. — Secret Circular. — Mr. Walker's Letter.
Presidential
Whig and
Election. — The
Issue distinctly presented.
Democratic Parties.
�CONTENTS.
XX111
— Election Mr. Polk. — Meeting Congress. — Mr. Benton's —
Resolution. — Mr. Hamlin's
Mr. Hale's Proposition. — Mr.
Motion. — The Debates. — Adoption of Mr. Brown's Amendment. —
the Resolutions. — Reported against by the Senate Committee
Passage
— Debates in the Senate. — Mr. Walker's Amendon Foreign
Amendment. — Passage
Joint Resolutions. —
ment. — Mr.
of
of
-
Bill.
Ingersoll's
of
Affairs.
of
Miller's
— Weakness or Treachery of Northern Demo— Action of Mr. Tyler. — Rejoicing of the Friends of Annexation 606-620
Position of Southern Whigs.
crats.
CHAPTER XLIV.
JOHN
VERMONT AND MASSACHUSETTS.
Action of Vermont and Massachusetts.
tion.
P.
HALE.
CASSIUS M. CLAY.
— Massachusetts Anti-Texas Conven-
— Prescriptive Policy of the New Administration. — John
P. Hale.
— Address to his Constituents. — Denounced by the Democrats of New
the People.
Hampshire. — His Nomination withdrawn. — Appeal
" Independent Democrats." — The State canvassed by Mr. Hale. —
— Coalition between the WJiigs and IndeSpeeches of Hale and
pendent Democrats. — The Democracy defeated. — Mr. Hale elected
United States Senator. — Brave Fight in the Senate. — Cassius M. Clay.
—
— Opposes the Annexation of Texas. — Visits the Northern
Kentucky. — Issues an
Advocates the Election of Mr. Clay. — Returns
Address to the People. — Establishes the "True American." — Boldly
denounces Slaveholding. — Exasperation of Slaveholders. — They demand
the Suppression of the Paper. — Refusal to comply with the Demand. —
The Paper forcibly suppressed. — Mr. Clay appeals to the People. — Reto
Pierce.
States.
-
to
621 - 635
establishes his Paper
CHAPTER XLV.
TEXAS ADMITTED AS A SLAVE STATE.
Resolve of Antislavery
Men
chusetts Legislature.
to continue the Struggle.
— Differences
— Action of the Massa— Celebration
among leading Whigs.
—
August by the Abolitionists.
Anti-Texas Conventions held
Committee appointed.
Petitions against the Admission of Texas as a Slave State.
Meeting of Congress.
Presentation
of Petitions.
Resolutions for the Admission as a State.
Speech of Mr.
of the 1st of
in Massachusetts.
—
—
—
—
—
—
— Resolutions for Admission. — Considered in the Senate. —
— Texas admitted. — Address of the Anti-Texas
Committee. — Complete Victory of the Slave Power
636 - 651
Rockwell.
Protest of Mr. Webster.
.
.
.
��RISE
AM) FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
W
AMERICA.
CHAPTER
I.
THE BEGINNINGS AND GROWTH OF SLAVERY AND THE EARLY
DEVELOPMENT OF THE SLAVE POWER.
— American Slavery. — Slave Power. — Issues of the Civil War.
— African Slave-trade. — Slaves brought into Virginia. — Colonial and Commercial Policy of England. — Slave-trade encouraged. — Colonial Statutes
annulled. — Spread of Slavery and Increase of Slave-trade. — Slavery in New
— Samuel Sewell. — Action of the Quakers. — TestiEngland. — John
monies against Slavery by Burling, Sandiford, Lay, Woolman, Benezet, WesWhiteneld. — Emancipation advocated by Dr. Hopkins and Dr. Rush. —
Opinions of the Revolutionary Leaders. — Slave-trade denounced by Congress.
— South Carolina and Georgia the Slave-trade. — Articles of Confederation.
— Development of the Slave Power.
Basis of Slavery.
Eliot.
ley,
for
God's Holy
Word
declares that
bread in the sweat of his face.
man was doomed
to eat his
History and tradition teach
that the indolent, the crafty, and the strong, unmindful of
human
rights, have ever sought to evade this Divine decree
by filching their bread from the constrained and unpaid toil
From inborn indolence, conjoined with avarice,
of others.
pride,
and
lust of power,
has sprung slavery in
all its
Protean
forms, from the mildest type of servitude to the harsh and
hopeless condition of absolute and hereditary bondage.
Thus
have grown and flourished caste and privilege, those deadly
foes of the rights and well-being of mankind, which can exist
only by despoiling the
many
for the benefit of the few.
American slavery reduced man, created in the Divine image,
It converted a being endowed with conscience,
to property.
It
reason, affections, sympathies, and hopes, into a chattel.
sunk a free moral agent, with rational attributes and immortal
l
�RISE
2
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
aspirations, to merchandise.
in the field of toil,
It
IN AMERICA.
made him a
an outcast in
social
life,
beast of burden
a cipher in the
courts of law, and a pariah in the house of God.
himself, or to use himself for his
wife or child,
own
was deemed a crime.
To claim
benefit or the benefit of
His master could dispose
of his person at will, and of everything acquired by his enforced
and unrequited
toil.
This complete subversion of the natural rights of millions,
by which they were " deemed, held, taken, reputed, and adjudged in law to be chattels personal to all intents, constructions, and purposes whatsoever," constituted a system
antagonistic to the doctrines of reason and the monitions of
conscience, and developed and gratified the most intense spirit
of personal pride, a love of class distinctions, and the lust of
dominion.
Hence
arose a
commanding power, ever
sensitive,
and aggressive, which was
recognized and fitly characterized as the Slave Power.
This slavery and this Slave Power, in their economical, social, moral, ecclesiastical, and political relations to the people
and to the government, demoralizing the one and distracting
the councils of the other, made up the vital issues of that " irrepressible conflict " which finally culminated in a civil war that
startled the nations by its suddenness, fierceness, and gigantic
jealous, proscriptive, dominating,
proportions.
Half a century before the discovery of America, Portuguese
and Spanish navigators had introduced African slaves into
Europe. The English and other commercial nations followed
When, therefore, the Western Continent was
their example.
opened to colonization and settlement, these nations were prepared to introduce slaves and to prosecute the African slavewith vigor and on a large scale.
In the month of August, 1620, a Dutch ship entered James
River with twenty African slaves. They were purchased by
traffic
the colonists, and they and their offspring were held in perpetual servitude.
Thus, at Jamestown, thirteen years from
the settlement of the colony of Virginia, four months before
the feet of the Pilgrims
had touched the New World, began
that system in the British continental colonies which, under
�BEGINNINGS AND GROWTH OF SLAVERY.
3
Is it not
the fostering care of England, overspread the land.
a singular and mysterious providence that the same year which
bore the " Mayflower " to the New World, with its precious
freight of learning, piety,
have also brought
and Christian
civilization,
this ill-starred vessel, with its
should
burden of
wretchedness and woe, bearing the seeds of a system destined,
after a struggle of two hundred and forty years for development, expansion, and dominion, to light the fires of civil war,
and perish in the flames its own hand had kindled ?
During the years from 1620 to the opening of the American
Revolution the friends of the slave-trade and of slavery controlled the
government and dictated the policy of England.
lords and commons, judges and attor-
Her kings and queens,
ney-generals, gave to the African slave-traffic their undeviating
Her merchants and manufacturers clamored for its
Her coffers were filled with gold
bedewed with tears and stained with blood. " For more than
a century," in the words of Horace Mann, " did the madness
support.
protection and extension.
of this traffic rage.
During
all
those years the clock of eternity
never counted out a minute that did not witness the cruel
death, by treachery or violence, of some father or mother of
Africa."
Under the encouragement of British legislation and the fosmore than three hundred thousand
African bondmen were imported into the thirteen British colowhether dictated by
The efforts of colonial legislation
nies.
tering smile of royalty,
—
—
traffic were defeated
by the persistent policy of the British government. " Great
Britain," in the words of Bancroft, " steadily rejecting every
colonial restriction on the slave-trade, instructed the governors,
on pain of removal, not to give even a temporary assent to such
laws." The planters of Virginia, alarmed at the rapid increase
of slaves, as early as 1726 imposed a tax to check their im-
humanity, interest, or fear
to
check this
portation, but " the interfering interest of the African
obtained the repeal of that law."
company
South Carolina attempted
upon the importation of slaves as late as 1760,
which she received the rebuke of the British authorities.
The legislature of Pennsylvania, as early as 1712, passed an
restrictions
for
�4
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
act to prevent the increase of slaves
nulled by the Crown.
The
;
IN AMERICA.
but that act was an-
legislature of Massachusetts, in
1771, and again in 1774, adopted measures for the abolition
of the slave-trade
;
but they failed to receive the approval of
the colonial governors.
Queen Anne, who had reserved
for her-
one quarter of the stock of the Royal African Company,
that gigantic monopolist of the slave-trade, charged it to furself
of slaves to the colonies of
New York and
nish
full supplies
New
Jersey, and instructed the governors of those colonies to
company and it was the testimony of Madison that the British government constantly
checked the attempts of his native State " to put a stop to this
infernal traffic."
Up to the hour of American Independence,
the government of England steadily resisted colonial restricgive due encouragement to that
;
and persisted in forcing this traffic,
and manufacturing interests, upon
"
in
the
words of the Earl of Dartmouth,
which,"
colonies,
her
"
were not allowed to check or discourage in any
in 1775,
tions on the slave-trade,
so gainful to her commercial
degree a
traffic so beneficial to
planted slavery in America
maintained
it
;
;
the nation."
British avarice
British legislation sanctioned
British statesmen sustained and guarded
and
it.
But the British government and British merchants were not
alone responsible for the spread of slavery in the colonies.
The
inhabitants themselves were generally only too willing to
by such enforced and unpaid toil. North Carolina was
by colonies from Virginia, who carried slaves with
them. Governor Sir John Yeamans brought slaves with him
profit
settled
from Barbadoes into South Carolina, and planted slavery there.
Georgia, however, was settled by colonies under the lead of
James Oglethorpe, who held slavery
to be
a horrid
crime
against the gospel, as well as against the laws of England, and
slavery was there forbidden.
Some
of the colonists, however,
soon began to complain that they were prohibited the use of
slave-labor.
lina
The laws were evaded
were hired,
from South Caroand afterwards for
from Savannah for the coast of
;
slaves
at first for short periods,
Soon slave-ships sailed
and slaves were introduced with the connivance of the
British government, and Georgia became a slave State.
Slav-
life.
Africa,
�BEGINNINGS AND GROWTH OF SLAVERY.
ery also readily found
its
way
Delaware, and Pennsylvania.
colonization of
5
into the colonies of Maryland,
The company
New Jersey offered
interested in the
a land bounty of seventy-five
And the Royal African
Anne " to have a constant
acres for every slave introduced there.
Company
was enjoined by Queen
and sufficient supply of merchantable negroes" for this colony.
The Dutch West India Company promised to supply the Dutch
settlers of
New York
with slaves,
—a
promise afterwards
re-
newed. They were then allowed to purchase slaves of others,
and finally to engage in the foreign traffic itself. Nor did the
rugged
save
its
soil,
or the
still
more rugged
clime, of
New England
colonies from the introduction of the system even
grew slowly. In 1680 it was stated
by Governor Bradstreet that there were only about one hundred and twenty African slaves in the colony of Massachusetts.
At the end of a hundred years from the settlement of Plymouth
there were estimated to be only about two thousand.
During the half-century preceding the Revolution slavery
there.
Slavery, however,
increased with rapidity, especially in the Southern colonies.
There the production of tobacco, indigo, and
rice
became
of great commercial importance to the mother country, and
slavery felt
its
stimulating
generally on large
influence.
There slaves
toiled
plantations, often under merciless over-
and the menace
Mason and Dixon's
seers
of the lash.
of
line they
In the colonies north
were either employed in the
families of the wealthy or belonged to small farmers who
labored with their
into their families.
fact that they
own servants and usually received them
From this circumstance, and from the
were accorded privileges under the laws and in
the usages and customs of society, their condition was rendered
more
and their character was less degraded than
were the character and condition of Southern slaves.
In spite, however, of the avarice which guided and inspired
the commercial and colonial policy of England; in spite of the
corrupting influence of the slave-trade and of slavery itself,
they found sturdy opposers in both England and America.
The colonial legislature of Massachusetts of 1641 enacted
tolerable,
in its code, styled the "
Body
of Liberties," that there should
�RISE
6
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
never be any bond-slavery, unless
in "just war,"
it
IN AMERICA.
be of captives taken
or of such as willingly sold themselves or
were sold to them, and such should have the liberties and
Christian usages that God had established in Israel. Whether
this act prohibited the slavery of Africans
or not has been
and on which differences of
There can be no doubt, however, that
opinion have obtained.
the colonists of that day made a distinction between slaves
captured in "just war" and those stolen in Africa, and that
At any rate, it is safe
this act was based on this distinction.
a question
freely
discussed,
to say that the servitude
it
authorized, with
limitations of the Mosaic code,
had
little
in
its
recognized
common
the American slavery which afterwards obtained in
all
with
the
colonies.
In 1646 two slaves were introduced into the colony by a
who had procured them in a slave-hunt in
memorial immediately presented to the General
Court, setting forth the threefold outrage of " murder, manthe slave-hunt having taken
stealing, and Sabbath-breaking,"
drew forth a stringent order. " Conplace on the Sabbath,
ceiving themselves," they said, " bound by the first opportunity
to bear witness against the heinous and crying sin of man-
member
Africa.
of a church,
A
—
—
stealing," they supplemented their testimony with the require-
ment
that the victims " should be sent to their native country,
Guinea, and a-letter," expressing" the indignation of the court
In November of that year it was enacted that " if
thereabout."
man
stealeth a man, or mankind, he shall surely be put to
The colony of Connecticut, in 1650, and the colony of
New Haven, soon after, passed acts making man-stealing a
any
death."
capital offence.
Whatever
differences of opinion there
may have been
concern-
ing the full import and effects of the Massachusetts act of 1641,
there can be none concerning that of the colony of Rhode Island,
adopted in 1652. By this act it was provided that no " black
mankind
or white," " being forced by covenant-bond or other-
wise," should serve more than ten years, or after the age of
" This noble act,"
twenty-four years, but should be set free.
says Moore, in his " Notes on Slavery in Massachusetts,"
�BEGINNINGS AND GROWTH OF SLAVERY.
7
" stands out in solitary grandeur in the middle of the seventeenth century, the
of this continent,
if
not of the world, for the suppression of
involuntary servitude."
against African slavery
number
enactment in the history
first legislative
It was in view of this early legislation
and the slave-trade, and of the small
way
of slaves that found their
into the Massachusetts
colonies during the first two generations of their history, that
Whittier says
:
" It was not the rigor of her northern winter,
nor the unfriendly
soil
of Massachusetts, which discouraged the
introduction of slavery during the
first
half of the century of
was the recognition of the brotherand redemption, the awful responsibilities and eternal destinies of humanity, her hatred of wrong
and tyranny, and her stern sense of justice, which led her to
impose upon the African slave-trade the terrible penalty of the
her existence as a colony.
hood of
man
It
in sin, suffering,
Mosaic code."
In
spite,
however, of this early legislation, and of the popular
sentiment which prompted
it,
slavery
ber of slaves slowly increased, and
engage in the infamous
traffic.
made
progress, the
men were
num-
found ready to
The demoralizing
influence
of the Indian wars, and the recognition of the principle that
them might be
rightfully held in bondage,
contributed largely to this result.
There were, however, ear-
captives taken in
nest and faithful protestants
who saw and
deeply deplored the
wrong thus inflicted on both the Indian and
the African. John Eliot, the apostle to the Indians, presented,
in 1675, a memorial to the Governor and Council against sellgreat and grievous
ing captured Indians into slavery.
it
prolonged the war, that
it
kingdom, and that " the
Christ's
ous merchandise."
man was
Though
His objections were that
hindered the enlargement of
selling of souls is a danger-
the mission of this large-hearted
mainly with the Indians, he did not forget the Afriit is said by Cotton Mather, with " a bleed-
can, but lamented,
ing and burning passion," " the destroying ignorance " in which
they were left, by men bearing the name of Christian, " for
fear of losing the benefit of their vassalage."
The
and of the slave-trade, and the
were deeply felt by Justice Samuel Sewell,
iniquity of slavery
wrongs of the
slave,
�8
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
afterwards Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts.
In the year 1700 he wrote a pamphlet entitled " The
A Memorial," in which slavery was charand the primal truths of human equality and obligation were enunciated, with signal boldness and force.
He
"
"
maintained that originally and naturally there was no such
thing as slavery and that " these Ethiopians, as black as they
are, seeing they are the sons and daughters of the first Adam,
the brethren and sisters of the last Adam, and the offspring
of God, they ought to be treated with respect agreeable."
Although this production was received, its faithful and fearless author says, " with frowns and hard words," there was a
state of unrest in the public mind which revealed itself in various ways. The slaves themselves were uneasy under their bondage, and made no secret of their earnest longings for liberty.
Though their increase was small, the most thoughtful and
conscientious viewed that increase with apprehension, and
earnestly desired the abolition of both the trade and the system. During the ten years immediately preceding the Declaration of Independence, in which the rights of man and of the
colonies were under sharp discussion, the wrongfulness and inThe
consistency of slavery became more and more apparent.
desire for emancipation and the extinction of the slave-trade
found utterance in sermons and pamphlets, some thorough and
of decided merit, and in the resolutions and memorials of
Selling of Joseph
:
acterized,
;
towns praying the legislature to take action at once in the
interests of humanity and true patriotism.
But members of the society of Friends took the lead in this
opposition.
In the year 1688 a small body of German Quak-
Germantown, Pennsylvania, presented a protest to the
selling, and holding
men in slavery." But though mot then prepared to take action,. it sent forth in 1696 the advice that "the members should
discourage the introduction of slavery, and be careful of the
moral and intellectual training of such as they held in serviThree years before this advice was given, George
tude."
Keith, then a member of that society, had denounced slavery as contrary to the religion of Christ, the rights of man,
ers, at
Yearly Meeting against the " buying,
�BEGINNINGS AND GROWTH OF SLAVERY.
and sound reason and policy, and charged
its
9
members
to
"set their negroes at liberty after some reasonable time of
service."
In
New England
Dartmouth
the Quakers, at the Monthly Meeting at
Rhode Island Quarterly Meet-
in 1716, sent to the
ing the query, " whether
it
be
agreeable
to
truth
for
Friends to purchase slaves and keep them for a term of
The Quakers
of Nantucket in the
the
life."
same year, moved by the
eloquence of the wife of Nathaniel Starbuck, a preacher of
their denomination, sent forth the declaration that "
it is
not
agreeable to the truth for Friends to purchase slaves and hold
them
for the
term of
life."
In 1729 they
made an
earnest
appeal to the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, in which they say:
" Inasmuch as we are restrained by the rule of discipline from
being concerned in fetching or importing negro slaves from
own
we
when imported." At
time Elilm Coleman wrote a pamphlet against making men
their
country, whether
it
is
not as reasonable that
should be restricted from buying them
that
slaves,
because
it
was "
anti-christian "
and " very opposite
both to grace and nature."
Most
faithful
testimony against slavery was borne by William
Burling, of Long Island, in the Yearly Meeting of the Friends.
In 1729 Ralph Sandiford published " The Mystery of Iniquity,"
which he earnestly condemned the sin of oppression. The
who had witnessed in
Barbadoes scenes of cruelty to slaves that disturbed and dis-
in
ardent but eccentric Benjamin Lay,
bondman
From
travelled much
tressed his sensitive nature, pleaded the cause of the
in a volume, published in
1737 by Benjamin Franklin.
1746 to 1767 John Woolman, of New Jersey,
in the Middle and Southern colonies, proclaiming
that " the practice of continuing slavery
" liberty
is
to Christians
not right," and that
the natural right of all men equally." This humane,
and self-denying man, as he travelled among the
people, saw *' a dark gloominess overhanging the land," and
" a spirit of fierceness and love of dominion." But, notwithstanding all that was calculated to depress and sadden his
heart, he labored on with earnest and unconquerable zeal, and
largely contributed to the work of preparing his denomination
is
unselfish,
2
�10
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
to bear their early testimony against the sin
and practice of
slavery.
But the most active antislavery worker of that age was
Anthony Benezet, the son of Huguenot parents, who escaped
from France on account of the revocation of the Edict of
Nantes. Having inherited an intense and passionate love of
liberty, and becoming deeply affected by the iniquity of the
slave-trade and the cruelty exercised toward slaves by their
owners, he earnestly lifted up his voice on behalf of the oppressed, and strove to awaken Christians to a just sense of the
sin of slaveholding. He established and taught gratuitously an
evening school for the instruction of negroes. Under his pious
labors their moral and religious advancement recommended
the colored race to the notice of influential persons, too
accustomed to hold
cations
was an
it
Among
in contempt.
historical account of Guinea,
have given an impulse
to the
mind
of
his
many
which
is
much
publi-
said to
Thomas Clarkson, who
afterward labored so effectively for the abolition of the slavetrade by the British government.
He
exerted himself to in-
duce the legislature of Pennsylvania, in 1780, to begin the
work of emancipation.
By the faithful and self-denying labors of these devoted
pioneers and early advocates of antislavery, and others of less
note, covering a period of a hundred years, was the society of
Friends at length persuaded to rid
itself of
the system of
work accomplished
without much of exciting discussion, stern rebuke, and stirring
appeal. For with them, as with others, the love of ease and the
lust of dominion were strong, nor did they at once and easily
enforced servitude.
let
Nor was
this
great
go their hold on the victims of their power.
And
not until
the conscience of the society was aroused by the unequivocal
decisions of
its
ecclesiastical tribunals,
showing slavery
to be
a sin to be repented of and forsaken, did it achieve the high
distinction of being the first and only denomination to purge
itself entirely of this great iniquity.
Nor were the people without remonstrance and warning from
strangers, who, seeing the abomination of the system, boldly
denounced
its
essential cruelty
and wickedness.
John Wesley,
�BEGINNINGS AND GROWTH OF SLAVERY.
who visited
11
the country during the early part of the last century,
unequivocally condemned
it.
His terse and trenchant characthat it was " the sum
terization of slavery, so often repeated,
— was
—
only one of many sharp things he
uttered.
He called the system " the vilest that ever saw the
the
sun," and denominated " slave-dealers man-stealers,
of
all
villanies,"
—
worst of thieves, in comparison with
whom highway
robbers
To these
and housebreakers are comparatively innocent."
emphatic words he added that " men-buyers are exactly on a
level with men-stealers."
In 1739 George Whitefield, the renowned pulpit-orator and
evangelist, having travelled extensively
through the Southern
States, addressed to their inhabitants a " Letter," in which he
combined the impressions of an eyewitness with the
reflections
Affirming that his sympathies had
been strongly excited by the " miseries of the poor negroes,"
of a Christian teacher.
he called attention to the practice of slave-masters, and the
encouragement
it
afforded to the savage tribes in Africa to con-
demand for
"generality of" them
tinue their warfare on each other, to supply the
slaves thus created.
He charged the
with using their slaves " as bad as though they were brutes
nay, worse,"
worse than their horses, which were " fed and
;
—
properly cared for " after the labors of the day, while the
—
slaves must grind their corn and prepare their own food,
worse even than their dogs, who are " caressed and fondled,"
while the slaves " are scarce permitted to pick up the crumbs
which
fall
from their master's table."
He
spoke of the cruel
made long furrows,"
He reminded them of their spa-
lashings which "ploughed their backs and
sometimes ending in death.
cious houses
and sumptuous
fare
fatigable labors" their luxuries
;
while they to whose " inde-
were "owing" had neither
convenient food to eat nor proper raiment to put on.
Among
the earlier apostles of emancipation
was Dr. Samuel
Hopkins, pastor of the Congregational Church in Newport,
Rhode
Island,
who was as much distinguished for his advocacy
human rights as of the doctrines of the school
of the doctrines of
of theology which bears his name.
and solemnly resolved
to attack the
In 1770 he deliberately
system of kidnapping, pur-
�12
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
chasing, and retaining slaves.
IN AMERICA.
Although Rhode Island had, as
early as 1652, passed an act against the purchase of negroes,
she had become deeply involved in the slave-trade. Newport
was the great slave-mart of New Engknd. Cargoes of slaves
were often landed near the church and home of the great di-
Before his congregation, thus deeply involved in the
vine.
and slaveholding, he boldly rebuked the
guilt of slave-trading
and pleaded the cause of its victims in a discourse of great
It was an unselfish and heroic act,
imperilling his position both as a pastor and as a recognized
sin
plainness and power.
Of
leader in the church.
may
this noble act Whittier says
:
" It
well be doubted whether, on that Sabbath day, the angels
of God, in their wide survey of His universe, looked upon a
nobler spectacle than that of the minister of Newport, rising
and demanding, in
the name- of the Highest, the deliverance of the captive and
"
the opening of prison doors to them that were bound
From 1770 to 1776 Dr. Hopkins repeatedly spoke on behalf
of the slave, visited from house to house, and urged masters to
up before
his slaveholding congregation,
'
!
'
free their
In the latter year he published his dia-
bondmen.
logue concerning slavery, together with his address to slave-
He
dedicated this remarkable production, said to
"
have been the ablest document which had at that time and
on that theme appeared in the English language," to the
holders.
It had a large circulation among the
Continental Congress.
statesmen of that day, and exerted a potent influence on
This early champion of the black man was
cheered by the passage, in 1774, of a law prohibiting the importation of negroes into Rhode Island and, in 1784, by the
public opinion.
;
passage of an act declaring
March
free,
all
children born after the next
— results
his early, persistent,
to which he had largely contributed by
and self-denying labors. His heart was
gladdened, too, by the action of his church. Instructed -by his
teachings and inspired by his zeal, it declared slavery to be
" a gross violation of the righteousness and benevolence of the
gospel," and therefore
it
resolved, "
We
will not tolerate it in
this church."
In 1773 Dr. Benjamin Rush, an eminent physician, philan-
�BEGINNINGS AND
thropist,
GROWTH OF SLAVERY.
and statesman, published
13
in Philadelphia "
An Ad-
dress to the Inhabitants of the British Settlements in America
on Slave-keeping."
In this address he combated the idea so
persistently pressed by the supporters of the slave-trade, that
it
was impossible to carry on the production of sugar,
indigo without negro slaves.
"
rice,
and
No
refreshing boldness and fidelity
manufactory," he said, with
to truth, " can ever be of con-
sequence enough to society to admit the least violation of the
laws of justice or humanity." This early abolitionist eloquently
pleaded the cause of " the unhappy Africans transported to
America."
Of the
slave-traffic
he said
:
they read the accounts of the slave-trade,
them
as fabulous, will be at a loss
" Future ages, when
if
which
they do not regard
to
condemn most,
our folly or our guilt in abetting this direct violation of nature
and religion."
These utterances of those earlier apostles of emancipation
awoke responses in the bosoms of many of their countrymen.
During the years of agitation preceding 'the Revolution, in
which the liberties of the colonies and the rights of man were
discussed with masterly power by the most gifted minds of
the country, many of the popular leaders of New England,
the Middle colonies, and even of Virginia, did not fail to
see and to acknowledge the wrongfulness of slavery, and to
denounce the slave-traffic and the- slave-extending policy of
Many slave-masters, who afterward
the British government.
aided in inaugurating the Revolution, in fighting
its battles,
and carrying the country over from colonial dependence to
national independence, were hostile not only to the slave-trade,
but to the existence of slavery
On
itself.
the 20th of October, 1774, the
first
Continental Congress
signed and promulgated the Articles of Association.
In that
bond of union, which laid the foundation of the new nation,
the pledge was made that the United Colonies would "neither
import nor purchase any slave," and would " wholly discontinue the slave-trade."
The
explicit declaration
was added,
that any persons violating these Articles of Association should
be pronounced " foes to the rights of British America," "universally
contemned as the
foes of
American
liberty," "
unworthy
�14
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
This union of the inhabitants of
of the rights of freemen."
the thirteen British colonies, thus
begun with a solemn pledge wholly
making one
to abstain
ticipation in a traffic then supported
The
tions of Europe.
explicit pledges,
IN AMERICA.
people,
from
all
was
par-
by the commercial na-
Articles of Association, containing these
were adopted by colonial conventions, county
meetings, and lesser assemblages throughout the country, and
became the fundamental Constitution of the
first
American
Union.
That Congress gave expression
to the general sentiment of
the people of the colonies fully appears in the declarations of
the North Carolina and Virginia conventions, which sent dele-
These conventions pledged themselves
gates to that Congress.
not to import slaves, and not to purchase them when imported
by
others.
thorpe,
who
In Georgia
—a
colony founded by James Ogle-
forbade slavery there, but whose
humane purposes
—
a public
were afterward thwarted by avarice and power
meeting declared " their disapprobation and abhorrence of the
unnatural practice of slavery in America," and pledged their
" utmost endeavors for the manumission of slaves in our col-
And
Congress
on the 6th of April, 1776, resolved,
"
without opposition, that no slave be imported into any of the
ony."
itself,
thirteen united colonies."
The
British commercial
interested, active,
men
in
and
and colonial
policy, however,
influential supporters.
Leading
had
states-
South Carolina and Georgia were confessedly not only
continuance of the slave-trade. In
for slavery, but for the
Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina slavery had
still
a
But their interest in the do-
strong hold upon the people.
mestic quickened their opposition to the foreign
slave-traffic.
Although there were but few negroes in the Middle and NewEngland colonies, many of these having been made free by the
voluntary action of their masters, still slavery and the slavetrade had zealous supporters, especially
wealthy, and aristocratic classes.
fested
among the commercial,
This fact was signally mani-
by the action of Congress in striking from the original
draft of the Declaration of Independence Mr. Jefferson's ar-
raignment of the British king
for forcing
upon
his
American
�BEGINNINGS AND GROWTH OF SLAVERY.
colonies that traffic in
men which he branded
15
as an " execrable
commerce," " a piratical warfare," " the opprobrium of infidel
powers," " a cruel war against human nature." " That clause
reprobating the enslaving of the inhabitants of Africa was
struck out," its illustrious author declares, " in complaisance
to
South Carolina and Georgia, who had never attempted to
and who, on the contrary,
Our Northern brethren, also, I
still wished to continue it.
believe, felt a little tender under those censures.
Although
their people had very few slaves themselves, yet they had been
restrain the importation of slaves,
pretty considerable carriers of
The same
them
to others."
and policy which struck these words from
the Declaration of Independence influenced the action of Conspirit
The
gress in framing the Articles of Confederation.
report of
the committee to prepare a plan provided that supplies should
be obtained by requisitions on each State in proportion to the
number
of
its
inhabitants.
This at once and necessarily raised
Mr. Chase, of Mary-
the question of the status of the slave.
land, afterwards one of the justices of the
the United States,
moved
Supreme Court of
to count only the white inhabitants.
" The negroes," he said, " were property, and no more
mem-
bers of the state than cattle."
It
was suggested by Mr. Harrison, of Virginia, that two
slaves should be counted as one freeman.
Mr. Wilson, of
Pennsylvania, said the exemption of slaves from taxation would
be " the greatest encouragement to slave-keeping and the importation of slaves."
He
declared that they increased products
and imposed burdens, and prevented freemen from cultivating
" Dismiss your slaves," he said " freemen will
the country.
;
take their places."
To this remark Mr. Lynch, of South
Our slaves are our property
phasis, "
;
an end of confederation."
more than sheep."
will
never
make
To
Carolina, replied with emif
that is debated, there is
He asked why
this question
insurrections."
they should " be taxed
" Sheep
Franklin replied
:
Mr. Chase's amendment was
Georgia was divided, and all the States north of
Mason and Dixon's line voted against it.
The obstacles in the way of Confederation being found so
rejected.
�16
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
great, the discussion
IN AMERICA.
was then suspended but it was resumed
It was then moved that the supplies
;
again in October, 1777.
be based on the value of property in each State.
This propo-
and a motion was made to exempt slaves
from taxation. The four New England States voted against
it, New York and Pennsylvania were divided, and Maryland,
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and New Jersey
voted for it. This vote exempted slaves from taxation altogether, either as inhabitants or property.
It was a complete
triumph of those representing the slave interest, and may be
sition
was
rejected,
counted among the earlier illustrations of the potent influence
of the rising Slave Power.
No power was
given to the Confederation to regulate com-
left free to decide what imports it
would admit or prohibit, so that Congress, after its emphatic
condemnation by the acts of 1774 and 1776, " renounced forever," in the words of Bancroft, " the power to sanction or to
merce.
Each State was
stop the slave-trade."
This result could not but enure to the
and to the strengthening of its power.
But the Confederation secured to the free inhabitants of the
State all privileges and immunities of the citizens of the several
interests of slavery
States.
The
legislature of South Carolina,
when
the Articles of
Confederation were under consideration, saw that by this provision the rights of inter-citizenship were secured to the free
colored inhabitants of
all
the States.
After debate, the plan of
Confederation was returned to Congress with the recommendation that inter-citizenship should be confined to white persons.
South Carolina and Georgia supported the proposed change,
but eight States refusing their assent, the proposition was
In this instance freedom won, and the claims of
were vindicated.
But it cannot be doubted that
human
lost.
equal-
ity
when
at the time of the Decla-
government of England
ended and the government of the United States began, the
people were, on the grounds of justice, humanity, and interest,
largely in favor of putting an end to the African slave-trade.
Neither can it be doubted that the most conscientious and
enlightened portion of the people, including most of the Revoration of Independence,
the
�BEGINNINGS AND GROWTH OF SLAVERY.
17
who guided the colonies through civil war
and independence, believed slavery to be inconsistent with the doctrines they were proclaiming and the
The statesmen of that
civil institutions they were founding.
era hoped, and confidently expected, that it would soon pass
away. But the slave system, fostered by England and sustained by individual interest, indolence, and pride, during a
hundred and fifty years, had so incorporated itself into the
lutionary leaders,
to national unity
social life of the people, especially of the South, that,
menaced by the
tenacity of
life
logic of events,
it
was seen
to
not dreamed of by either friend or foe.
pions were ready not only to protect
it
when
have a hold and
Cham-
against the advancing
currents of Christian civilization, but also to oppose every
and every individual that menaced
Even then, when the Republic took its
place in the family of nations, had begun and had far advanced
that work of personal and public deterioration,
that poisoning of the fountains of individual and social life whose full
development the Rebellion revealed, as it was itself their sad
interest, every institution,
its
paramount sway.
—
and legitimate
result.
�CHAPTEE
II.
ABOLITION SOCIETIES.
ABOLITION.
— Colored
—
Articles of Association of the Colonies.
Soldiers.
—-Slavery
abolished
—
The Pennsylvania Abolition Society.
and Pennsylvania.
New York Abolition Society. Rhode Island Abolition Society. The Abolition Societies of Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia.
Character
in Massachusetts
—
of the
Members
The
of the Abolition Societies.
—
—
— National Conventions.
Republic of the United States commenced
its
indepen-
dent existence by the proclamation of the self-evident truths
men
are created equal, that all have an inalienable right
and that governments are instituted to secure these
Thus, in the Articles of Association and in the Declarights.
ration of Independence, pronounced by John Hancock "the
ground and foundation of future government," these fundamental doctrines were recognized that all men are by nature
free, and that the American government was founded on the
rights of human nature. Nor was this comprehensive assertion
of rights limited by race or color. " The new republic," in the
words of Bancroft, " as it took its place among the powers of
the world, proclaimed its faith in the truth, reality, and unchangeableness of freedom, virtue, and right." This "assertion of right was made for the entire world of mankind and
all coming generations, without any exception whatever."
that
all
to liberty,
:
When the United States joined the family of nations there
were in the country about half a million persons of African
descent.
Nearly all were slaves although there were a few,
especially in the Eastern States, who had been emancipated.
Some of these bore an honorable part in the War of Independence.
Crispus Attucks, a colored patriot, was a leader, and
the first martyr in the Boston massacre, on the 5th of March,
1770, which so fired the hearts and aroused the patriotism of
;
�ABOLITION AND ABOLITION SOCIETIES.
the people.
19
One of that race mingled his blood with the fallen
The sons of Africa fought
with their countrymen of the white race at Bunker
patriots of the 19th of April, 1775.
side by side
where Major Pitcairn, as he stormed the works, fell mortally wounded by the shot of Salem, a black soldier.
Indeed,
it is hardly too much to say that some of the most heroic deeds
of the War of Independence were performed by black men.
Rhode Island raised a colored regiment, commanded by Colonel Christopher Greene, the hero of Red Bank.
Of the men
of this regiment Governor Eustis, of Massachusetts, who had
been Secretary of War under Jefferson, said in Congress, in
1820 " They discharged their duty with zeal and fidelity.
The gallant defence of Red Bank, in which this regiment bore
a part, is among the proofs of their valor."
Tristam Burgess
Hill,
:
House of Representatives, in 1828, that " no
braver men met the enemy in battle." Of the conduct of these
men in the Battle of Rhode Island, pronounced by Lafayette
also said, in the
—
—
" the best fought battle of the war,"
Arnold, in his " History
" It was in repelling these furious
of Rhode Island," says
:
onsets that the newly raised black regiment, under Colonel
Greene, distinguished
Posted behind a
itself
thicket
drove back the Hessians,
hill to
in
by deeds of desperate valor.
the
valley,
who charged
they three times
repeatedly
down
the
dislodge them."
Connecticut raised a battalion of black soldiers, and Colonel David
Humphrey, attached
ington, accepted a
command
WashThe heroic de-
to the military family of
in
this corps.
fence of Fort Griswold, on the heights of Groton, by Colonel
Ledyard and his brave comrades, was among the most brilliant
achievements of the war. When the works were stormed, the
British officer, exasperated by the heroic resistance encountered, inquired,* "
Who commands
"
"I did you
do now," replied Ledyard, handing the officer his sword, which
was instantly seized and run through his own body. Lambert,
this fort
?
;
a negro soldier, avenged the murder of his commander by
thrusting his bayonet through the British officer, and then
iell
himself, pierced with thirty-three bayonet wounds.
The
right of free negroes to bear
arms
in the country's de-
�20
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
fence was not disputed in the
IN AMERICA.
more Northern
At the
colonies.
opening of the war the Committee of Safety, in Massachusetts,
declared that no slave should be admitted into the army uponany consideration whatever, as it would be " inconsistent with
the principles that are to be supported, and reflect dishonor on
Many were emancipated on
this colony."
condition of enter-
Not always, however, did they receive the
their
bravery.
In Maryland and Virginia,
reward due to
some who had served with fidelity to the close of the war
were afterward dishonorably and wickedly reduced to slavery.
When the heel of British tyranny was resting heavily on
South Carolina and Georgia, Colonel John Laurens, a member
ing the army.
of Washington's military family, sought to
fill
the
patriot
ranks by emancipating slaves and enrolling them in the ranks
This eminently wise and patriotic
though encouraged by Congress, and sanctioned by
Washington, met with little success and that heroic son of
of the country's defenders.
effort,
;
South Carolina, whose
life,
near the close of
hostilities,
was
given to the country, was forced to declare that " avarice,
pusillanimity, and prejudice " defeated the measure.
In the midst of the war
Rhode
of Connecticut and
tutions.
tion
but
The
forever
it
Vermont,
settlers of
excluding
did not
the States, with the exception
all
Island, framed and adopted consti-
slavery
become a State
The
Federal Constitution.
adopted in 1780.
in 1777,
framed a constitu-
from that Commonwealth
;
until after the adoption of the
constitution of Massachusetts
was
Rights declares that "
men
Its Bill of
all
are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential,
and
inalienable rights
right of enjoying
among which may be reckoned
;
and defending
their lives
and
the
liberties."
Before the adoption of this constitution several unsuccessful
made
attempts had been
traffic.
A
bill for
to extirpate slavery -and the slave^
that purpose
and three measures
had been introduced
failed to receive executive approval.
of the
war
1767
After the
;
had
commencement
petitions were presented to the legislature in favor
Among these petitions was one presented
1777 by several colored persons, praying that they might
of emancipation.
in
in
for the prohibition of the slave-trade
�ABOLITION AND ABOLITION SOCIETIES.
21
" be restored to the enjoyment of that freedom which
natural right of
all
men."
was referred
It
which promptly reported a
bill
is
the
committee,
to a
" to prevent the practice of
It declared that " the practice
holding persons in slavery."
of holding Africans, and the children born of them, or any
other person in slavery
is
unjustifiable in a civil
government
at a time when they are asserting their natural rights to free-
dom."
Before acting upon this
give offence to
some of the
Continental Congress to ascertain
expediency of such action.
the legislature, fearing to
bill,
States, addressed a letter to the
its
In this
views concerning the
they say " Con-
letter
:
vinced of the justice of the measure, we are restrained from
passing
it
only from an apprehension that our brethren in the
other colonies should conceive there was an impropriety in our
determining on a question which
may
in its nature
and opera-
tion be of extensive influence, without previously consulting
your Honors." " And," they continue, " we ask the attention
of your
Honors
to this matter, that, if consistent with the
may follow the
own understanding and feelings at the same
time assuring your Honors that we have such a sacred regard to
the union and harmony of the United States as to conceive ourunion and harmony of the United States, we
dictates of our
;
selves under obligation to refrain from
any measure that should
have a tendency to injure that union which
defence and happiness."
To
this
the basis of our
communication, breathing
is
the spirit of freedom, the desire to do justly, and their intense
anxiety to preserve harmony, and not to break with the other
no response was returned.
What, however, Massachusetts failed to effect by direct legislation was secured indirectly through the decisions of her Supreme Court based on a clause in her Bill of Rights. Cases
States,
soon arose involving the question of the legality of slavery under
her new constitution in which such eminent lawyers and states-
men
as Levi Lincoln, Caleb Strong, and Theodore Sedgwick
were engaged in behalf of those claiming their freedom. By
one of these decisions a master had lost ten slaves. In a me-
morial to the legislature for relief he urged as a reason for his
plea that " by the determination of the Supreme Court the said
�22
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
clause in the Bill of Rights
is
IN AMERICA.
so to be construed as to operate
to the total discharge and manumission of
whatsoever."
all
negro servants
So Massachusetts, while yet the war was raging
for national independence,
and before that independence was
recognized by the treaty of peace, became a free State
her place in the van,
—a
relative position she
;
taking
has honorably
maintained, not indeed without some faltering and mistakes,
in the long struggle with slavery
and the Slave Power.
In 1780 Pennsylvania, under the lead of George Bryan, and,
no doubt, largely influenced by the indefatigable Anthony Benezet, who is said to have had a personal conference with every
member of her legislature, passed " an act of gradual abolition,"
by which the importation of slaves was prohibited, and all persons born or brought into the State were made free. The minority,
however, entered their protest
;
" because," they say, "
if
the
time ever comes when slaves might be safely emancipated, we
cannot agree to their being made free citizens in so extensive
a manner."
These protesting
further expressed
legislators
would be satisfied " without giving them the right of voting for and being voted into office."
In 1784 New Hampshire, like Massachusetts, became a free
their belief that the negroes
State by the judicial interpretation of her constitution.
The Virginia Assembly, on motion
of Jefferson, in 1778,
and in 1782 the
was repealed, which forbade emancipations
During this repeal, which
meritorious services.
prohibited the further introduction of slaves
;
old colonial statute
except for
continued in force for ten years, a large number of such manumissions took place.
It
was, however, subsequently re-enacted
;
and that source of just and humane individual action, being
forcibly stopped, gradually dried up and ceased to flow. Maryland, like Virginia, both prohibited the introduction of slaves
and removed the restriction on individual emancipation.
In the same year, immediately after the close of the war, the
Pennsylvania Abolition Society was resuscitated. It had been
organized before the Revolution", being the
ety ever formed, as
first abolition soci-
now
the oldest in the world.
Its
primary purpose was indicated by its name, " The society for
it
is
the relief of free negroes, unlawfully held in bondage."
In
its
�ABOLITION AND ABOLITION SOCIETIES.
preamble
it
23
was stated that many were unlawfully held
in bon-
dage who were "justly entitled to their freedom by the laws
and constitution." John Baldwin was its first president. A
Committee of Inspection was appointed, whose title, in connection with the
name
of the society, sufficiently indicates the
During the first year of its existence
was eminently successful in its operations. But the breaking out and progress of the war diverted and absorbed public
The active prosecution of its chosen work was
attention.
mostly suspended, and no meetings were held until the year
Although there are no records of its doings, it is
1784.
functions of their
office.
it
not probable that such
men
were idle during that eventful
period.
Upon
resuscitation the society
its
commenced
operations
with great vigor, extending them wherever there were evils,
incident to slavery, to be remedied or removed.
known and
appreciated,
men eminent for
As
it
public service
became
became
members. In 1787 it revised its constitution, enlarged both
its name and range of effort, and became " The Pennsylvania
Society for promoting the abolition of slavery, the relief of free
negroes unlawfully held in bondage, and for improving the
condition of the African race."
The illustrious Franklin was
made its president. By accepting this trust and actively
discharging its duties, he not only honored himself and the
society, but he did much to vindicate his great reputation.
By it he showed that among the statesmen of his day he was
unseduced by sophistries and compromises, and remained true
to the doctrine of human rights and the self-evident truths of
the Declaration of Independence.
It showed him, too, as distinguished
sagacity
;
for his
broad philanthropy as for his practical
indeed, that his philanthropy was the highest style
and development of that sagacity.
Thus reorganized and officered, it entered vigorously upon
its long and honorable mission.
Among its first acts was the
distribution of copies of its constitution and the act for the
gradual abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania to the governors
of the several States.
eminent
men
It also
opened a correspondence with
and France. It
in the United States, England,
�AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
24
RISE
was a
live society, catholic in its
IN AMERICA.
membership, and national and
its purposes and plans.
world-wide in the reach and range of
Thus, learning that vessels were
in Pennsylvania for the slave-trade,
for a
surreptitiously fitted out
still
it
supplementary law to prevent
petitioned the legislature
it
;
Hearing that slave-ships were
acted.
Island for a similar purpose,
and the law was enfitted out in Rhode
at once called the attention of
it
the citizens of that State to the disgraceful
In 1790
traffic.
it
addressed a memorial to Congress, signed by its distinguished
president, asking that body to " step to the very verge of its
power "
in behalf of those held in bondage.
for almost half a century,
it
Year
after year,
continued to memorialize Congress
against oppression, and in the interests of humanity and free-
dom.
It
brought a case before the Supreme Court of Pennsyl-
vania involving the question "whether slavery in any modification
whatever
the State."
not inconsistent with the constitution of
is
Though
the decision of the court was adverse, this
and
effort revealed its activity
fidelity.
Ever on the alert, watching Congress, the State legislature,
the courts, and the
movements
in other States, it
was always
ready, with remonstrance and advice, pecuniary or moral aid,
to help forward the cause for
was doubtless due
which
it
was organized. And it
and wide-spread
to that zeal, watchfulness,
influence, that the representatives of Pennsylvania occupied a
position so honorable in their devotion to freedom
claims of humanity during the
Constitution.
But
in the
first
and the
twenty years under the
American Convention
of xVbolition
Societies, in 1804, a decline of interest in the cause of emanci-
pation was admitted and deplored, and the absence of delegates and communications from Southern societies was
made
In 1809, after an active serdeclared that " hitherto the ap-
the subject of regretful allusion.
vice of twenty-five years,
it
proving voice of the community and the liberal interpretation
of the laws have smoothed the path of duty and promoted a
satisfactory issue to our
humane
At present, howand the decisions of
exertions.
ever, the sentiments of our fellow-citizens
our courts are less auspicious."
But, in spite of these inauspicious indications, the Pennsyl-
�ABOLITION AND ABOLITION SOCIETIES.
vania Abolition Society toiled bravely on.
efforts against
kidnapping
;
It
25
made
special
educated and secured homes for
examined laws respecting colored people,
and
prepared bills for the legislature. It
noted their defects,
memorialized Congress on the fugitive-slave law and the slaveIn 1818 it examined and condemned the colonization
trade.
scheme, then just inaugurated. In 1819 it appointed a comcolored children.
It
mittee to watch the struggle for the admission of Missouri
and
in
1820
it
;
obtained from the government a portion of the
school fund for colored children.
In the same year
it
memo-
rialized the legislature for the total abolition of slavery in that
commonwealth. Three years afterward it sent to Congress an
elaborate memorial against Southern laws imprisoning colored
seamen and in 1827 it " succeeded in procuring the erasure
;
most obnoxious features " of a fugitive-slave bill introduced into the State legislature. In 1830 it procured a " supof the
plementary law" to the act against kidnapping. Under its
met in Baltimore in 1828, and
lead the American Convention
in
Washington
in 1829.
In the year 1833
it
received a letter from the
Antislavery Society, one of the
first
of the
modern
New Haven
societies
the basis of immediate and unconditional emancipation.
on
This
veteran abolition society, which had been the leader in antislavery
new
movements
coadjutor.
It
for half a century, cordially
welcomed
its
took occasion, however, to refer to " the
apathy which has so generally perraded the United States
upon
this subject,"
— "a
state of torpor
Referring to the year 1794,
and
when a convention
of abolition
"
said,
Since that time
societies was held in Philadelphia, it
we have seen one after another discontinue its
were left almost alone." From that time the
tinued steadfast in
its
insensibility."
labors, until
we
society has con-
support of the objects for which
it
was
organized before the formation of the general government.
Caring for the lowly ones by such methods as an earnest purpose and the wisdom of experience suggested,
it
has ever been
mindful of the general interests of emancipation.
Though
long the acknowledged head of movements for the freedom
and elevation of the African
4
race,
and long among the
faith-
�26
less
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
found faithful only
itself, yet,
when
IN AMERICA.
the antislavery cause
came up under other auspices, and on a basis more clearly
denned, and better adapted to meet the exigencies of the country and the race, it gracefully relinquished the lead to those
who, with fresher impulses, were but carrying out the aims
it
had so long and so faithfully pursued.
The New York Abolition Society was formed in January,
Its officers were taken from the most illustrious men
John Jay, who had charof that day in that Commonwealth.
acterized slavery as a crime of " crimson dye," was chosen
president, and Alexander Hamilton secretary.
Among its
earlier acts was the printing, for gratuitous circulation, of the
1785.
masterly argument of Dr. Hopkins, contained in Ins dialogue.
The
legislature of
New York had
system of gradual emancipation.
body year
refused, in 1785, to adopt a
This society petitioned that
after year, until, in 1799,
such an act was passed,
children born thereafter to be free,
—
males on
becoming twenty-eight, and females on becoming twenty-five
declaring
all
years of age.
The Rhode Island Society was organized in February, 1789.
The first meeting for its formation was held at the house of
Dr. Hopkins, at Newport, though the organization was completed at Providence.
eminent
Several gentlemen of Massachusetts,
for philanthropy
and
from other States, among
Connecticut.
piety,
were members, and a few
Edwards, of
whom was Jonathan
Although Rhode Island had provided that
all
of African descent born after March, 1784, should be free, this
society found sufficient scope for its labors in carrying out the
objects of its formation,
— " the abolition of
slavery, the relief
of persons unlawfully held in bondage, and for improving the
condition of the African race."
In 1790 the Connecticut Abolition Society was formed.
Ezra
Stiles, president of
were
its
Rhode
Dr.
Yale College, and Judge Baldwin,
president and secretary.
Though Connecticut,
like
had passed an act in 1781 providing for the
gradual abolition of slavery, and though there were less than
Island,
three thousand slaves in the State, yet the strong proslavery
feeling
and conservative
interest
which obtained there opened
�ABOLITION AND ABOLITION SOCIETIES.
a wide and important field for
its
members some
its service.
of the best and ablest
could then boast of
many
27
Numbering among
men
of a State which
distinguished for their piety, learn-
and political eminence, it labored with zeal and fidelity.
It was before this society that Jonathan Edwards the
ing,
younger, in 1791, proclaimed that " every man who cannot
show that his negro hath by his*- voluntary conduct forfeited
his liberty, is obligated immediately to
was
clearly promulgated the duty of
as distinctly as
it
manumit him."
Here
immediate emancipation,
has ever been enunciated by any antislavery
writer, orator, or society before or since.
And
this is a fact
of some significance, as well as of justice, to some of those
early pioneers in the cause of emancipation, because »of the
is a doctrine of more
Nor were the reasons assigned for this pronounced and unequivocal opinion less radical and uncompro" To hold a man," he solemnly avowed, " in a state
mising.
impression sometimes conveyed that this
modern
origin.
of slavery
who has a
him
guilty of robbing
right to his liberty is to be every day
of his liberty, or of man-stealing,
a greater sin in the sight of
God than concubinage
and
is
or forni-
cation."
Language more expressive of the
slavery could hardly be employed.
essential wickedness of
And
it
is to
be remem-
bered that this was the opinion, not only of one of the leading
minds of New England, but of a class of men which held with
him the duty of immediate repentance for sin, and of another
smaller but highly cultivated class which had accepted the new
philosophy of the French school.
An
Abolition Society was formed in
New
Jersey in 1792,
which largely contributed to the extirpation of slavery in that
Such societies were formed in the more Southern and
State.
more proslavery States of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.
Belonging to them and their auxiliaries were some of their
most eminent jurists and statesmen. They labored earnestly,
and looked forward hopefully to the day, then generally anticipated, when slavery would yield to the benign influences of
the Christian religion and of republican institutions, and pass
away.
�28
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
IN AMERICA.
The Baltimore Abolition Society declared the
objects of its
and humanity," and on
association to be founded in "reason
" an avowed enmity to slavery in every form."
The Virginia
Abolition Society was equally clear and explicit in
that righteousness exalteth a nation
;
its
and that slavery
avowal
is
not
only an odious degradation, but an outrageous violation of one
of the most essential rights of human nature, and utterly " re-
pugnant
to the precepts of the
Gospel."
These early abolition societies embraced in their
ship some of the purest philanthropists, the ripest
most eminent jurists and the honored statesmen of
They were deeply imbued with the spirit of liberty,
loyal to the precepts of Christianity.
memberscholars,
that age.
and were
Ever zealous, earnest,
and devoted, they labored effectively in the cause of emanciFor
pation and of the general elevation of the African race.
several years national conventions, in which these societies
Earnest arguments
were represented, were annually held.
and appeals were made by these conventions to Congress, to
the State legislatures, to the free people of color, and to the
country, to aid in the suppression of the slave-trade, the repeal
of
inhuman
statutes, the protection of free persons of color,
and
the promotion of the general interests of freedom.
The
antislavery
National
Convention of 1795 addressed
South Carolina, Georgia, and the people of the United States.
The address to South Carolina was written by Jonathan Ed-
wards the younger, a delegate from Connecticut. In that address he made an earnest appeal in favor of " a numerous class
of
men
existing
among them deprived
He
of their natural rights
upon them to ameliorate their condition, and to diffuse knowledge among them.
He declared, as a necessary consequence of the traffic in man,
that " the minds of our citizens are debased and their hearts
hardened by contemplating these people only through the me-
and
forcibly held in bondage."
dium
In
of avarice or prejudice."
the
address to the people of the United
Convention distinctly avowed
sal
called
its
States the
design to be " the univer-
emancipation of the wretched Africans who were yet in
bondage."
It thus
appealed to the people of
all
the States
�ABOLITION AND ABOLITION SOCIETIES.
"
We
cannot forbear expressing
to
29
you our earnest desire that
you
by every method
in your power which can promise any success, to procure either
an absolute repeal of all the laws in your State which countenance slavery, or such an amelioration of them as will gradYet, even should that great
ually produce an entire abolition.
end be happily attained, it cannot put a period to the necessity
will continue without ceasing to endeavor,
—
The education of the emancipated
the noand most arduous task which we have to perform
will
require all our wisdom and virtue, and the constant exercise
of further labor.
blest
—
When we have broken
and restored the African to the enjoyment of his
rights, the great work of justice and benevolence is not accomThe new-born citizen must receive that instruction,
plished.
and those powerful impressions of moral and religious truth,
of the greatest skill and discretion.
his chains,
which
will render
him capable and
desirous of fulfilling the
various duties he owes to himself and to his country.
cating
some
in the higher branches of science,
and
By
edu-
all in
the
and in the precepts of religion and
morality, we shall not only do away the reproach and calumny
so unjustly lavished upon us, but confound the enemies of truth
by evincing that the unhappy sons of Africa, in spite of the
degrading influence of slavery, are in no wise inferior to the
more fortunate inhabitants of Europe and America."
The Convention, in these thorough and radical sentiments,
unquestionably represented the views, principles, and purposes
useful parts of learning,
of the abolition societies of those days.
As a mode of action,
they recommended periodical discourses " on the subject of
means of its abolition"; and they supported
recommendation by considerations not often exceeded in
thoroughness, cogency, and forcible expression. " If to many
persons," they say, "*who continue the hateful practice of enslaving their fellow-men, were often applied the force of reason
and the persuasion of eloquence, they might be awakened to a
sense of their injustice and startled with horror at the enorslavery and the
their
mity of their conduct."
While enlightened,
liberal,
and Christian statesmen and phiwas " an atro-
lanthropists believed with Franklin that slavery
�30
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
cious debasement of
IN AMERICA.
human nature," and desired with Washing-
ton to see some plan adopted by which
it
" could be abolished
by law," there was a powerful class, especially in the Carolinas
and Georgia, that actively and persistently resisted everything
that tended to the destruction of a system which secured to
them wealth, social distinction, and political power. It is indeed true, that the best portion of the cultivated and Christian
mind
of that day
saw the
of slavery, and the duty of
essential injustice
its
ever been seen since.
they have
and enormity
discontinuance, as clearly as
But the uneducated and
unreflecting masses, taking counsel of their feelings of indo-
lence and avarice, and of those induced, in the language of
Jefferson, by their " quiet and monotonous course of colonial
life," largely
influenced and led, too, by the dominant class, had
sympathy with these abstract ideas of right, justice, and
humanity, and little disposition to legislate in harmony with
Mr. Jefferson -wrote, near the close of life, that he
them.
" soon saw that nothing was to be hoped from such " and he
added that, at the first or second session of the Virginia legislature, of which he himself was a member, Colonel Bland, " one
of the oldest, ablest, and most respectable members, was denounced as an enemy to his country, and was treated with the
greatest indecorum,"* for moving " a moderate protection of
little
;
the laws to these people."
—
Washington, JefAlthough the leading men of Virginia
were hostile to slavery, and were
Henry, and Mason
pronounced emancipationists, yet so powerful and despotic was
the slaveholding class, and so indifferent were the masses of
—
ferson,
the people, that Washington, writing to Lafayette in 1785,
only two years after the close of the war fought in the name of
human
equality, confessed that " petitions for the abolition of
slavery presented to the Virginia legislature could scarcely
Thus it happened that the same people,
obtain a hearing."
speaking in the language of their most humane and
divines, philanthropists, statesmen, and
vated men,
trious
—
Revolutionary
words of
influence
liberty
;
leaders,
— uttered
the
clear,
cultiillus-
ringing
while by their legislation, under the malign
lie to these utterances
of slavery, they gave the
and framed iniquity
into law.
�CHAPTER
SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORIES.
Public Domain.
III.
— ORDINANCE
OF
1787.
— Cessions of Territory by the States. — Mr. Jefferson's proposed
— Ordinance of 1787, reported by Nain Indiana. — Blessings of the Ordi-
Inhibition of Slavery in the Territories.
than Dane.
— Adopted by Congress. — Sanctioned by First Congress under the
— Efforts to suspend
— Cessions of North Carolina and Georgia, with Limitations
concerning Slavery. — The Mississippi Territory. — Debate on Mr. Thatcher's
Constitution.
it
nance of 17S7.
Antislavery
Amendment.
The Treaty
of Peace, by which the independence of the thir-
teen British Colonies was acknowledged, was signed at Paris
on the 30th of November, 1782. Beyond the western boundaries of the States, and between the 31st and 47th parallels of
latitude, lay a vast and fertile territory, conceded to be embraced within the limits of the new Republic.
Not only were
these rich lands looked to as a source of revenue for the pay-
ment
of the debt incurred in the "War of Independence, but
the far-seeing statesmen of that day saw that States carved
from
this territory
would exert a powerful,
if
not controlling
influence in shaping the destinies of the country.
future of the United States
scendent importance whether
or slave States.
it
it
effort
the
tran-
should be organized into free
Hence, among the
first
tinental Congress, after the British forces
was an
To
was then a question of
to fix the condition of
measures of the Con-
had
this
left
the country,
immense
public
domain.
The
ginia,
States of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, VirNorth Carolina, and Georgia each claimed severally,
under their respective charters, a portion of this territory.
These claims were warmly opposed by the landless States,
which justly held that this territory had been conjointly won,
and should therefore inure to the common benefit.
�32
RISE
On
the
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
first
IN AMERICA.
day of March, 1784, Mr. Jefferson presented
to
the Continental Congress, then assembled in Annapolis, a deed
of cession of all the lands claimed by Virginia northwest of
A
the Ohio River.
select
committee was appointed, consisting
of himself, Mr. Chase of Maryland, and Mr. Howell of
Island
and
;
ment
this
of the territory ceded, or to be ceded.
templated
Rhode
committee reported a plan for the governThis plan con-
ultimate division into seventeen States.
It was
therein provided that, " after the year of the Christian era
its
1800, there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude
in
any of these States, otherwise than in the punishment of
crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted."
This provision was stricken out on motion of Mr. Spaight
of North Carolina, seconded by Mr. Read of South Carolina.
It required the votes of
ordinance.
chusetts,
nine States to retain
Only six voted
Rhode
for
it,
— New
Island, Connecticut,
New
it
as a part of the
Hampshire, MassaYork, and Pennsyl-
Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina voted against
vania.
North Carolina was divided. Delaware and Georgia were
Mr. Dick of New Jersey voted to retain it but
it.
not present.
;
two members were required to give the vote of a State, that
was not represented in the vote. Though sixteen members voted for the prohibition of slavery, and only seven voted
against it, yet then, as so often since, slavery, though in a
lean minority, gained a victory that should have fallen to the
other side.
This important measure would have saved to
freedom not only the territory of the Northwest, but also Kenas
State
tucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi.
In March, 1785, Rufus King, a delegate from Massachusetts,
to modify the report made at the previous session, by
moved
inserting therein a total and immediate prohibition of slavery
failed.
In July, 1787, a committee, of which
Nathan Dane of Massachusetts was chairman, reported an
ordinance for the territory northwest of the Ohio, in which
but his motion
there should be neither slavery
With
it
fugitive slaves.
dom
nor involuntary servitude.
there was, however, a stipulation for the rendition of
This ordinance
— which
the fertile territory covered
now by
consecrated to freethe great States of
�.
— ORDINANCE
SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORIES.
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin
on the 13th of July, 1787
of
New York
;
OF
33
— was passed
every State voting for
alone voting against
1787.
it,
Mr. Yates
it.
In July, 1789, Mr. Fitzsimraons of Pennsylvania reported
in the
House of Representatives a
bill for
the government of
the territory northwest of the Ohio River, which passed both
houses without opposition.
tion of the first Congress
This act gave the emphatic sancunder the Constitution to the ordi-
nance of 1787, prohibiting forever slavery in the territory northwest of the Ohio.
But, notwithstanding this prohibition was so solemnly and
with such unanimity adopted, the most persistent efforts were
subsequently
made
to give slavery a foothold in that region.
After the admission of Ohio as a free State, the remainder of
that territory
of Indiana.
ing States,
— soon
was organized under the name of the Territory
Most of its settlers, coming from the slaveholdwith their former tastes, habits, and prejudices,
—
memorialized Congress for a temporary suspension of
the ordinance.
held in
1802.
The convention which
Its
sent this memorial was
presiding officer was Governor William
Henry Harrison, afterward President of the United States.
The memorial was referred by the House to a select committee, of which John Randolph, the brilliant but erratic Virginian, was chairman.
This committee reported that it was
" highly dangerous and inexpedient to impair a provision
wisely calculated to promote the happiness and prosperity of
the Northern country."
No
action was taken, as the session
terminated the following day.
In the next Congress the subject was referred to a commitwhich Coesar Rodney of Delaware
afterward Attor-
tee of
ney-General of the United States
it
— was
—
made chairman, and
reported in favor of a suspension of the antislavery restric-
Early in February, 1806, James M.
Garnett of Virginia, from a select committee, made a like
tion for a limited time.
report, though, as in the previous case,
no action was taken.
Another committee was appointed during the next year, of
which Mr. Parke, a delegate from the Territory, was chairman,
to which was referred a letter from Governor Harrison, with
�34
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
resolves from the Territorial legislature, favoring a temporary
suspension of the inhibition.
On
the 12th of February this
committee reported that the ordinance be suspended for ten
years from the 1st of January, 1808. Though this was the
third report proposing a temporary suspension of the ordinance
of 1787, Congress took no action upon either.
Governor Harrison and the legislature again united in a like
request, though at this time a portion of the inhabitants
it.
The subject in the Senate
was referred to a select committee, consisting of Franklin
remonstrated against granting
New
of North Carolina, Kitchell of
Ohio.
On
Jersey,
and
Tiffin
of
the 13th of November, 1807, this committee re-
ported a resolve, declaring
it
not expedient to suspend the
sixth article of the compact for the
tory northwest of the Ohio.
government of the
This report closed the
made by an undoubted majority
terri-
efforts
of the people of the Territory
from the operation of this
had the
support and hearty co-operation of General Harrison,
to be at least temporarily relieved
ordinance.
effective
In this struggle
their governor,
whom
it is
to be noted that they
the nation with so
bore into the Presidential chair in 1840.
much enthusiasm
Had their wishes
and those imperial States been lost to freedom, who can estimate the increased dangers that would have
Who can
imperilled the nation and darkened its pathway?
comprehend the aggravated difficulties which would have
attended the then future, but now accomplished, work of
emancipation ? There is little danger of overestimating the
benefits which the ordinance of 1787 has conferred on the
Northwest, or the measureless perils from which it saved the
land.
Its enactment must ever stand as one of the great
events of American history, one of the most important achievements in behalf of freedom.
Virginia having retained her claim to the Territory of Kentucky, into which many of her citizens had taken their slaves,
a new slave State was early carved out of it and added to the
Union. North Carolina, too, laid claim to Western territory,
but ceded Tennessee, in 1789, upon the condition that " no
prevailed, however,
legulation
made
or to be
made by Congress should tend
to
�SLAVERY
IN
THE TERRITORIES.
the emancipation of slaves."
— ORDINANCE
OF
35
1787.
This deed of cession was laid
before the Senate in the winter of 1790, and referred to a
committee, of which Oliver Ellsworth, afterward Chief Justice
of the
He
Supreme Court, was chairman.
reported a
bill
accepting the cession, and providing that the ordinance for the
government of the Northwest Territory should be applied
to
however, the clause prohibiting slavpassed the Senate without division was briefly
this cession, excepting,
The
ery.
bill
;
debated in the House, and concurred in with
Slavery had already entered the Territory
;
little
opposition.
and Congress, con-
senting with more or less reluctance to the hard conditions
imposed, gave assent to
its
Georgia claimed the
States of
Alabama and
continuance.
territory
forming subsequently the
She did not promptly
Mississippi.
follow the example of her sister States in ceding her territorial claims to the general
made
government
;
as her cession
was
2d of April, 1802, and then upon the peremptory condition that the ordinance of 1787 " shall, in all
not
its parts,
until the
extend to the territory contained in the present ceswhich forbids slavery."
sion, the article only excepted
Although Georgia had not previously relinquished her claim
territory, still settlements had been made
there, and the duty was imposed upon Congress of legislating
for the government of the people of that region.
In March,
to the Mississippi
1798, the House of Representatives proceeded to the consideration of the bill for the
government of that Territory.
expressly provided that a government similar in
all
It
respects to
that of the Northwestern Territory should be established, the
inhibition of slavery only excepted.
Mr. Thatcher of Massa-
chusetts remarking that he intended to
ing the rights of man,
moved
make
a motion touch-
excepting
Mr. Harper of South Carolina said that this was not
clause.
a legitimate
mode
of
to strike out the
supporting the rights of man.
regulation prohibiting slavery in the Northwest
but
it
would not be so
in Mississippi.
It
The
was proper
would be a decree
of the banishment of all persons settled there, and a decree
of the exclusion of all persons intending to go
Varnum,
there.
Mr.
of Massachusetts, afterward Speaker of the House,
�36
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
declared that Mr. Harper's remarks showed that he did not
all men
for " where there was
wish to support the rights of
;
to retain a part of our species in slavery there
a disposition
He
could not be proper respect for the rights of mankind."
looked upon the practice of holding blacks in slavery in this
country to be equally criminal witii the practice of the Algercarrying American citizens into slavery.
Mr. Rutwithdraw
Thatcher
to
wished
Mr.
ledge
his motion.
He
remarked that one gentleman called these men " property " ;
another said, " you hold these men in chains " and another
ines in
;
declared, " you violate the rights of
know
these
if
men were
Mr. Otis of Massachusetts
ficient
— an early representative
of that
Northern politicians who have always existed in
numbers
to
not property, and held as such by the
Spanish government.
class of
man," and wished
to betray their section in
— expressed
suf-
an emergency, and
the hope that
Mr.
Thatcher would not withdraw his amendment. He desired,
he said, that " an opportunity might be given to gentlemen
who came from the North to manifest that it was not their
give
to
slavery the victory
disposition to interfere with the' South in regard to that species
of property."
He
thought, he said,
— and thus
— that the
invited the
very violence he seemed to deprecate,
ment was adopted
if
amend-
that no slavery should exist in the territory
would be not only a sentence of banishment, but of war
that an immediate insunection would take place, and that the
inhabitants would not be suffered to retire, but would be massacred on the spot.
Mr. Foster, of the same State, thought that if the amendment was not withdrawn, a long debate might be had upon it.
To these remarks of his colleagues Mr. Thatcher replied that
it
;
he should not withdraw his motion.
be
just, the
be in
its
more
support.
it
Believing his course to
was opposed the more obstinate he should
Mr. Giles of Virginia then made the sug-
gestion, often repeated since, that if the slaves of other States
were permitted to go to the "Western States, and thus spread
themselves over a larger territory, there would be a greater
Mr. Hartley of
prospect of ameliorating their condition.
�SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORIES.
Pennsylvania
— ORDINANCE
OF
37
1787.
compelled to vote against the amendment,
felt
although he desired to gratify the wishes of philanthropists
by doing away with the system of slavery altogether.
Mr. Gallatin of Pennsylvania a gentleman of great learning and capacity,
who afterward rendered
signal service to his
country as a financier and diplomatist, maintained that the
amendment
which allowed
the Territory, could not be rejected for want of juris-
slavery in
striking out the provision of the bill
He confessed
diction.
he could not see how forbidding slavery
in Mississippi could affect it in
forbidding
was
it
rejected, slavery
during
its
South Carolina, any more than
Northwest Territory.
in the
was established
If the
amendment
for that country, not only
temporary government, but during
all
the time
it
The number of slaves would become so
by constant increase, that when the Territory became a
should be a State.
large,
State the slaveholders would be able to secure a constitution
recognizing and protecting slavery, and thereby making
it
per-
Having determined that slavery would be bad policy
the Northwest Territory, he saw no reason for a contrary
manent.
for
determination in respect to the Mississippi Territory.
Mr. Nicholas of Virginia thought that the rejection of the
amendment would be not only
but of the United States.
for the interest of the Territory,
But Mr. Thatcher firmly declared
that he could never be brought to believe that an individual
could have a right in anything that tended to the destruction
of the government
;
that he could have a right in any wrong,
as " property in slaves
be right."
was founded
in
wrong, and never could
Slavery " must be put a stop to
was begun the better."
members voting
for
it.
;
and the sooner
it
The amendment was lost, only twelve
The bill, however, was amended, on
motion of Mr. Harper, so as to prohibit the introduction of
slavery into the Territory from beyond the limits of the United
States.
In
this, the first
debate in Congress on the question of per-
mitting or excluding slavery in the Territories,
members emi-
nent as jurists and statesmen participated. Although they
entertained different views of its expediency, none of them
questioned or doubted
its
constitutionality.
The power of Con-
�38
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
gress to prohibit slavery in the Territories was then conceded
by the statesmen of the South as well as by the statesmen of
the North.
The dogma of " no power in Congress to prohibit
slavery in the Territories " had not then been invented.
By
this legislation the character of all the territory of the
United States was then fixed.
Mr. Jefferson's proposition,
would have prohibited slavery after 1800 in all
that territory.
It has ever been a source of profound regret
to the friends of freedom that his proposition failed.
In the
made
in 1784,
light of subsequent events, however,
it
is
not at
all clear
that
more would have been gained to freedom by its adoption than
was secured by Mr. Dane's ordinance, which only applied to
the Territory northwest of the Ohio River.
allowed in the Northwest Territory
powerful and persistent effort
ful
settlers,
vitude,
Had
slavery been
the year 1800, a
more
— and perhaps one more success-
— would have been made for
made by
till
its
retention than Avas actually
the emigrants from the South and the few, old French
who, in
and
if possible,
spite of the ordinance, retained
strove to legalize the
Indiana and
some
in ser-
system temporarily, and make,
Illinois slave States.
After the adoption of the Constitution the slaveholding class,
from the Potomac
social influence,
to the Gulf, rapidly increased in wealth,
and
political
power.
Emigrants from those
States settled the Territory south of the Ohio, and carried to
that region the habits, prejudices, and interests of their section.
They might have taken their slaves with them, made slave
laws and constitutions, and sought admission into the Union.
Perhaps the ordinance
tially, or
itself
might have been temporarily, par-
wholly set aside by the slaveholding class, which ob-
tained control of the Federal government at the beginning of
While Mr. Jefit for two generations.
might and probably would have failed to secure
to freedom the territory south of the Ohio, it might have imperilled it in the territory northwest of that river.
Mr. Dane's
probably
won
for
freedom
all
ordinance of 1787
that could have
been securely held, and will ever stand as one of the grandest
achievements in American history.
the century, and held
ferson's proviso
�CHAPTER
COMPROMISES OP THE CONSTITUTION.
SLAVE-TRADE.
The Failure
IV.
— SLAVE
REPRESENTATION.
RENDITION OF FUGITIVE SLAVES.
of the Confederation.
— Distress
and Discontent of the People.
—
—
Assembling of the Convention to frame a Constitution.
Difficulties and Dangers.
Antagonism between Freedom and Slavery.
Basis of Representation.
—
— Northern and Southern Parties developed. — Slave— Committee of Detail. — Duties on Exports.
holding Interest
Regulation of Commerce. — Slave-trade. — South Carolina and Georgia demand
Continuance. — The Bargain. — Slave Representation. — Slave-trade to be
continued Twenty Years. — Rendition of Fugitive Slaves. — The Compromise.
— The Slave Power developed.
—
— Debates
thereon.
successful.
its
When
had been withdrawn from the
army disbanded, and then, the common
danger removed, other evils revealed themselves and other
dangers menaced. The people were deeply embarrassed by
the
British forces
country, the American
public and private indebtedness, by a depreciated currency,
and by the general derangement of business, resulting from
an exhausting warfare with the first power of the globe. It
became almost impossible to enforce the collection of debts or
The distress and discontent of the
to maintain public order.
people revealed themselves in forcible attempts to obstruct the
action of the judicial tribunals, while
threatened anarchy and
tion,
civil
which had so signally
war.
failed to
the public disorders
Then,
too, the Confedera-
command
fully the resour-
more clearly manifested its
weakness. Then the statesmen and soldiers, whose wisdom
and valor had carried the country through the Revolution,
were profoundly concerned at the grave and ominous aspect of
Under this pressure of difficulties and dannational affairs.
gers, which threatened to defeat and destroy much of what
had been gained and won by the blood and treasure, the hardces of the country during the war,
�40
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
and hazards of the contest, a convention was called to
and it gave the country
revise the Articles of Confederation
the Constitution of the United States.
The convention assembled at Philadelphia in May, 1787.
It was a body of men of marked ability and large experience
It embraced many of the Revolutionary
in public affairs.
leaders, from both council-chamber and field, while among
its younger members were several who at once took rank
ships
;
among
the foremost public
men
of the
new Republic.
Nor did
their abilities exceed their necessities, or transcend the greatness
of the occasion.
To make
" a more perfect union " of States
so widely scattered on a narrow strip of the Atlantic coast, so
and
and purpose,
and fearful of the encroachments of others, impoverished and distressed by war, might
diverse in origin
so jealous of their
history, so alien in spirit
own
interests
reasonably be expected to disclose difficulties of the gravest
import.
In forming such a general government, of States so
unequal in territory, population, and wealth, there would naturally exist not merely the general reluctance to relinquish
their individual prerogatives as
independent States, but also
the fear of the larger States, that in the government their
influence would not be
commensurate with
their relative size,
while the smaller States would hardly be satisfied with a share
graduated by any such standard.
Their history immediately
preceding the assembling of the convention had but aggraState rights had been vigilantly
vated this natural tendency.
guarded, and State power reluctantly relinquished to the Conunder the pressing exigencies of war.
tinental Congress, even
State pride, too,
was intense
;
State rivalries
and jealousies
were active. Consequently, the more thoughtful members of
the convention apprehended that the main hindrances in the
way
of success would
spring from such sources,
that the great difficulty would
between the larger and smaller States.
revealed the fact that
all
— indeed,
be to reconcile the differences
The
result,
these difficulties were,
if
however,
not
lost,
overshadowed by another issue far more serious and threatenThe real obstacle was found in the antagonism between
ing.
freedom and slavery, between the States which had accepted
�COMPROMISES OF THE CONSTITUTION.
41
and were accepting the former and the States which clung
latter.
Indeed, we
have the statement of Mr. Madison himself that " the institution of slavery and its consequences furnished the line of disNor, in the lights of the present day and the
crimination."
with such persistent determination to the
revelations of the nation's subsequent history,
is
this at all
surprising.
The theory
first
of
human
equality had been enunciated by the
Continental Congress, and proclaimed in the deathless
words of the Declaration of Independence. It had been incorporated into the Bills of Rights of several of the States, and
had been
illustrated
by the judicial proceedings of several of
was held by some of the most eminent members of the convention, and also by other leading statesmen of
that era.
But there came into this convention of illustrious
men, assembled to frame a constitution for a Christian nation, a
powerful minority believing in and representing chattel slavery.
when its very existence was
In that crisis of the country,
in peril, and the only alternative seemed to be a constitution
their courts.
It
—
or anarchy,
their
— that
assent
minority
the
that
made
it
convention
a condition precedent to
should
exactions of the slaveholding interest.
of that interest,
—
able,
arbitrary,
and
comply with the
The
representatives
adroit,
vantage of the necessities of the country,
— taking
ad-
wrung from the
which then and thereafter
trammelled the hand of Liberty and armed the hand of
convention
fatal
concessions,
Slavery.
The framers
of the Constitution have been sharply criticised
These con-
for their concessions to the slaveholding interest.
antagonism with the doctrines of human
rights so grandly proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, greatly embarrassed them then, and have been used with
fatal force by the Slave Power in its dominating and aggrescessions, in
direct
But posterity, remembering the fearful stress
of circumstances under which those concessions were made,
and recalling the significant question of Alexander Hamilton,
Is it possible to deliberate between anarchy and confusion
sive career since.
l
-
on one
side,
and the chance of good on the other
6
?
" will niin-
�42
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
charity with its censure.
Whatever may be the
judgments of coming generations, removed from the disturbing and distorting influences of the past and present hour, and
occupying a higher plane of thought and feeling, concerning
the framers of the Constitution and their concessions to the
Slave Power under the terrible pressure to which they were
subjected, it does not become the men of later times, who have
made compromise after compromise, far greater sacrifices of
principle, and far more guilty concessions, with but a tithe of
that pressure resting upon them, to reproach them.
Whoever
gle large
else
may
men
be, they are not the
to cast stones.
There was a great struggle in the convention touching the
basis of representation in Congress, in which the question
of slavery largely mingled.
It
originated in the strife be-
tween the larger and smaller States, the latter contending for
an equal and the former for a proportional representation. The
Virginia plan proposed to base the representation on free inhabitants and three fifths of all other persons.
Twice the conven-
Having
tion voted in favor of a proportional representation.
failed to secure
an equal representation
representing the smaller States
in the
made
House, the party
a strenuous effort to
secure an equality of representation in the Senate
proposition
was defeated by a
tie vote.
bers, being defeated, manifested
On motion
of Mr.
much
The
;
but the
State-rights
mem-
dissatisfaction.
Sherman of Connecticut, a committee
conference of one from each State was appointed.
of
In this
committee Franklin proposed that the States should be equally
represented in the Senate
;
while for the House the Virginia
proposition should be adopted, allowing one representative for
forty thousand inhabitants, slaves being counted in the ratio
of three
It
fifths.
having been determined that the States should not be
equally represented in the House,
new
divisions
new
questions arose, and
and parties were developed. A committee, conGorham, King, Randolph, and Rutledge, re-
sisting of Morris,
ported a proposition that future representation should be distributed
among
and numbers.
the States in a
compound proportion of wealth
This report was referred to a committee of one
�SLAVE REPRESENTATION.
43
from each State and this committee reported the temporary
apportionment finally introduced into the Constitution, with a
House of sixty-five members. Future apportionments, how;
ever, could not be easily determined.
Mr. Patterson of
New
Jersey, one of the leaders of the party
of State Rights, opposed the representation of slaves, because
it afforded an " indirect encouragement of the slave-trade."
He
said that Congress, in its acts concerning the quota of troops,
word " slave," and substituted a descripHe could look upon slaves in no other light than as proption.
In reply,
erty, and strenuously opposed their representation.
Mr. Madison admitted the soundness of the general principle,
was ashamed
but thought
to use the
it
should forever silence the claims of the small
and he suggested that the House should be based on
the whole number of free inhabitants, and the Senate, which
represented property, on the whole number, including slaves.
Mr. King expressed the opinion that the Southern States,
being the richest, would not league themselves with the Northern unless some attention was paid to their wealth. It was
proposed by Mr. Randolph that the future apportionments
should be regulated by a periodical census. It was then
moved, as a substitute, by Mr. Williamson of North Carolina,
to reckon in the census the freemen, and three fifths of all
It was strenuously insisted by Pierce Butler
other persons.
and Charles C. Pinckney, of South Carolina, that slaves should
be counted like all other persons.
Mr. Williamson's proposition was supported by Mr. Gorham and Mr. Gerry, of Massachusetts.
It was insisted by Mr. Butler that the labor of a
slave in South Carolina is as productive as that of a freeman
States
;
in Massachusetts
as
freemen, and
;
that slaves are as valuable to the nation
that an equal
representation ought
to
be
allowed.
Mr. Mason of Virginia thought slaves ought not to be excluded in the basis of representation
The
;
but that they were not
was stoutly opposed
by Mr. Morris, as " an encouragement to the slave-trade, an
injustice to human nature." Mr. Wilson of Pennsylvania was
apprehensive that the people of his State would be disgusted
equal to freemen.
three-fifths clause
�44
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
He thought, if slaves
by this " blending of blacks and whites."
were admitted as
ity
citizens, they should
with other citizens
;
but
if
IN AMERICA.
be admitted on an equal-
as property, then, he asked,
not admit them as other property
to count slaves equally with free persons
was
South Carolina, and Georgia only voting for
son's substitute, basing the
why
Mr. Butler's amendment
?
House on a
lost,
it.
— Delaware,
Mr. William-
periodical census of the
inhabitants, slaves being counted in the ratio of three fifths,
— Massachusetts, New
was defeated,
Jersey, Delaware, Mary-
land, and South Carolina voting against
voted against
for slaves.
it
it.
South Carolina
because she demanded an equal representation
The
Randolph for a periodical
was then unanimously agreed,
proposition of Mr.
census was also defeated.
It
on motion of Mr. Morris, that taxation should be in proportion
to representation.
Up to this point, though the struggle had been sharp, slavery
to count
had rather lost than gained. The three propositions
the slaves according to their numbers, to count them in the ratio
had
of three fifths, and to have a periodical census taken
been lost. The proposition now before the convention was to
base all future apportionments upon the compound ratio of
wealth and numbers. As parliamentary eloquence and tactics
had not succeeded, something more stringent was demanded.
The soft words of persuasion had failed the virtue of stones
must be tried. The ever-present and ever-potent argument of
—
—
;
—
—
must be put in requisition. Nor
the whip
The recusant members were at once brought to
terms, and the fatal lesson was taught and learned which was
the plantation
did
it
fail.
not forgotten for nearly three quarters of a century.
General Davie of North Carolina, who had been a silent
and emphatically declared, " It is
I see," he said, " that it is meant by
time to speak out.
some gentlemen to deprive the Southern States of any repreI am sure that North Carolina will
sentation of their blacks.
never confederate on any terms that do not rate them at least as
member
three
to that time, arose
fifths.
effective,
and secured
at
mean
them altoThe menace was
once what no amount of debate had
If the Eastern States
gether, then the business
is
at
to exclude
an end."
�SLAVE REPRESENTATION.
4-j
accomplished.
Mr. Johnson of Connecticut at once arose
and hastened to declare that the whole population should be
Mr. Randolph renewed the proposition to count
counted.
The propslaves as three fifths in the basis of representation.
was now
osition
carried,
— Connecticut, Pennsylvania,
land, Virginia, North Carolina,
and Georgia voting
Jersey and Delaware opposing
By
South Carolina divided.
it
for
it
Mary-
New
;
while Massachusetts and
;
this vote it
was provided that the
half a million slaves in the five Southern States, and their increase in coming years, should be counted in the basis of rep-
and
in the Electoral College, in the
illogical
measure, by which votes were
resentation in the House,
ratio of three fifths.
Thus, by this most
given, in effect, to a portion of the
community from which not
only the right of citizenship, but
all rights,
withheld,
— and these votes not
to be cast
were studiously
by themselves, and
—
large
by their masters, for their injury,
power was placed in the hands of the slaveholding class, which
was long used with terrible effect for its aggrandizement and
for their benefit, but
the nation's harm.
many
In
of the
sharply contested and
evenly balanced struggles between the friends and foes of free-
dom
gave the latter the needed majority and turned the
it
scale against the cause of justice.
make Missouri
In the great struggle of
its victory
and
remove the landmarks of freedom, its
power for evil was equally decisive. In 1800 it decided the
presidential election, and gave it to the slaveholding Democracy, and thus enthroned the Slave Power in the General
1820, to
free, it
gave to slavery
;
in that of 1854, to
Government, from which
it
was never dislodged
until the elec-
tion of Mr. Lincoln.
On
Committee of Detail was appointed,
consisting of Rutledge, Randolph, Gorham, Ellsworth, and
Wilson. To this committee was referred the work of the convention, embodied in twenty-three resolutions, and the propositions offered by Mr. Charles Pinckney of South Carolina, and
the 24th of July a
also of
Mr. Patterson of
New
ney, one of the most eminent
Jersey.
men
Mr. Charles C. Pinck-
embodiment and exponent of the rising Slave Power, perhaps
of that age, the very
�46
"RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
emboldened by the success of the member from North Caroand pronounced another ultimatum of Southern demands. He reminded the convention that if it did not provide
lina, rose
proper security for Southern interests he should vote against
whatever report the committee should bring in. In other
words, it was a notice to the convention that the South would
demand not only an enumeration
representation, but the
right to
of slaves in the basis of
continue their importation
without taxation, and such other guaranties as the exigencies
of their peculiar institution demanded.
On
August the Committee of Detail brought in
was in substance a sketch of the Constitution
It provided that no duty should be laid
as finally adopted.
on exports, and that no navigation acts should be passed
except by a two-thirds vote. The importation of slaves was
not to be prohibited neither was any tax to be imposed upon
such importation. Those provisions were wholly in the interest of the slaveholders.
The exports of rice, tobacco, and
indigo
products of slave labor
were not to be taxed.
Slaves were to be imported untaxed and without hindrance
from the Federal government.
Foreign vessels were to
enter Southern ports and carry Southern products unembarits
the 6th of
report.
It
;
—
rassed
—
by any discriminating duties in favor of Northern
shipping.
The
avarice, the ambition,
and the sagacity of the
slave-
holding interest have never been more clearly revealed than in
Committee of Detail. At its head stood
John Rutledge, who completely embodied the pride, arrogance,
and dominating characteristics of the extreme South, and who
needed no hint from his colleague to watch over and guard its
interests.
Had the subtle and adroit policy of that report
been fully indorsed and adopted by the convention and the
people, the ascendency of the slave States, and the consequent
humiliation and helplessness of the free States, would have
this report of the
been complete.
The
first
Continental Congress, in the Articles of Associa-
had pledged the united colonies against the importation
of slaves
and the Congress of 1776, in releasing the colonies
tion,
;
�47
THE SLAVE-TRADE.
from some of the provisions of the Articles of Association, had
resolved that " no slave be imported into any of the United
Most of the States had united in prohibiting the
North Carolina had imposed a duty on importaslave-trade.
while South Carolina and Georgia were in favor, not
tions
States."
;
only of perpetuating slavery, but also of continuing the slavetraffic.
Some Northern merchants, forgetful of the pledges of
the government,
still
employed
their ships in the hateful trade.
Two years before the assembling of the convention, Dr. Samuel Hopkins had stated that portions of the people were " going into the practice of that sevenfold abomination, the slaveWhile Maryland and Virginia agreed with the slavetrade."
holders of South Carolina and Georgia against taxing exports,
the products of slave labor, and were opposed to navigation
laws for the encouragement of the shipping interest, they
were opposed
—
it
is
hardly uncharitable to believe, for the
twofold reason that they did not need foreign slaves, and
—
to
were themselves engaged in the domestic slave-traffic
the reopening and continuance of the African slave-trade.
Consequently the slaveholding class was not a unit in supporting the report of the Committee of Detail.
That
report, dictated
by the Carolinas and Georgia, deeply
aroused the feelings of delegates from the free States.
King
Mr.
of Massachusetts took the earliest opportunity to de-
nounce " the admission of slaves " into the basis of apportionment. He stated that by the report of the committee " the
importation of slaves could not be prohibited, and exports
could not be taxed "
;
that " there
and unreasonableness in
all this
could never be reconciled to
it.
was
He
slaves be imported without limitation,
in the national legislature.
so
much
inequality
that the people of the North
never could agree to
let
and then be represented
Either slaves should not be repre-
sented, or exports should be taxable."
Gouverneur Morris followed
in
an eloquent denunciation of
slavery, emphatically declaring that "
it was a nefarious instiwas the curse of Heaven on the States where it pre" Upon what principle is it," he asked, " that the
vailed."
Are they
slaves shall be computed in the representation ?
tution
;
it
�48
RISE
men
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
Then make them
IN AMERICA.
and let them vote. Are
no other property included ?
The houses in this city are worth more than all the wretched
slaves that cover the rice-swamps of South Carolina."
He
?
they property
?
Why,
citizens,
then,
is
declared that the inhabitants of the South,
who went
to the
humanity, tore away their fellow-creatures, and damned them to the
most cruel bondage, had more power than the citizens of the
coast of Africa, and, in defiance of the sacred laws of
who viewed with horror a practice so nefarious. He
added " that domestic slavery is the most prominent feature
North,
in the aristocratic countenance of the proposed Constitution.
The vassalage
of the poor has ever been the favorite offspring
And what
of the aristocracy.
to the Northern States
right, every impulse of
march
selves to
is
the proposed compensation
for a sacrifice of every principle of
humanity
They
?
are to bind them-
their militia, for the defence of the Southern
States, against those very slaves.
The Southern
States are
not to be restrained from importing fresh supplies of wretched
Africans at once to increase the danger of attack and the
dif-
nay, they are to be encouraged to
it by
having their votes in the national government increased in
proportion, and at the same time to have their slaves and
ficulty
of defence
;
exports exempt from
He
all contributions to the public service."
then emphatically avowed that he would " sooner submit
himself to a tax for paying for
all
the slaves in the United
States than to saddle posterity with such a constitution."
closed his speech by
moving
He
to confine the basis of representa^
tion to free inhabitants.
Roger Sherman opposed the motion
;
and, in doing
the very extraordinary declaration, for a
it,
made
New England man,
that he " did not regard the admission of negroes as liable to
such insuperable objections."
Charles Pinckney, in reply to
Mr. Morris, asserted that he could demonstrate that the
ies
and the Western
slaves.
fisher-
were more burdensome than the
Mr. Morris's motion was rejected,
voting for
When
frontiers
New
Jersey alone
it.
the clause
came up forbidding any
restrictions on the
importation of slaves, Luther Martin of Maryland
moved an
�THE SLAVE-TRADE.
amendment, allowing suck importation
49
to be taxed.
He
stated
were equal to three freemen, the permission
to import them was an encouragement of the slave-trade.
" Slaves," he said, " weakened the Union which other parts
are bound to protect.
The privilege of importing them is,
that, as five slaves
therefore, unreasonable.
Such a feature in the Constitution
is
inconsistent with the principles of the Revolution, and dishonorable to the
American character."
Mr. Rutledge, chairman of the committee, declared that he
" did not see
how
this section
would encourage the importation
In reply to the assertion that the Union was to
protect the slaves, he said that he would " readily exempt the
of slaves."
other States from every obligation to protect the South."
He
"
averred that religion and humanity have nothing to do with
this question.
The
nations.
Interest alone is the governing principle with
true question
is,
whether the Southern States
shall or shall not be parties to the
made by
Thus the
Union."
was
distinctly
tail,
that the Southern States would enter the
issue
the chairman of the Committee of De-
Union only on
the condition that the African slave-trade should be continued.
Appealing to commercial cupidity, he said that,
own
if
the North-
would not oppose
the increase of slaves, because it would increase the commodities of which they would become the carriers.
Nor was the
ern States consulted their
appeal without
interest, they
effect.
Mr. Ellsworth, a member of the committee, immediately
avowed himself in favor of the provision as it stood. " Let
every State," he said, " import what
or
wisdom
What
it
pleases.
The morality
of slavery are considerations belonging; to the States.
enriches a part enriches the whole, and the States are
the best judges of their particular interests.
eration
had not meddled with
this point
any greater necessity for bringing
it
;
The
old confed-
and he did not see
into the policy of the
new
one."
Charles Pinckney, speaking for the slaveholding class, em" South Carolina can never receive the
phatically asserted
plan, if
it
:
prohibits the slave-trade.
In every proposed exten-
sion of the powers of Congress, that State has expressly
and
�50
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
watchfully excepted the power of meddling with the importation of negroes."
George Mason of Virginia strongly denounced the slaveblame of it on the avarice of British merchants, and lamenting that his Eastern brothers had from
" Slavery," he said,
the lust of gain embarked in the traffic.
" discourages arts and manufactures. The poor despise labor
trade, laying the
when performed by slaves.
whites, who really enrich and
It
prevents the emigration of
strengthen the country.
—
It pro-
every master
duces the most pernicious effects on manners,
It brings the judgment of
of slaves is born a petty tyrant.
Heaven on a country.
effects,
ties."
By an
inevitable chain of causes
and
Providence punishes national sins by national calamiHe then avowed that he held it essential in every point
of view that the general government should have power to
prevent the increase of slavery.
Mr. Ellsworth thought that, if the question was to be viewed
moral light, the convention should go further, and free
In Maryland and Virginia it
those already in the country.
in a
was cheaper to raise than to import but in the sickly riceswamps, he coldly said, foreign importation was necessary, and
it would be unjust to South Carolina and Georgia to prohibit
" Let us not," he said, " intermeddle. As
their importation.
;
population increases, poor laborers will be so plenty as to renSlavery. in time will not be a speck in our
der slaves useless.
country."
Mr. Sherman joined Mr. Ellsworth in allowing the clause as
Charles C. Pinckney
reported by the committee to stand.
"
cannot do without
Georgia
and
South Carolina
avowed that
by stopping importation.
Her slaves will rise in value, and she has more than she wants.
It would be unfair to ask South Carolina and Georgia to confedThe importation of slaves, he
erate on such unequal terms."
slaves.
As
to Virginia, she will gain
maintained, would be for the benefit of the whole Union. The
more slaves, the more produce the greater carrying trade, the
;
more consumption, the more revenue. The delegation from
South Carolina united in the emphatic declaration that, if the
slave-trade
was prohibited, South Carolina would not come into
�THE SLAVE-TRADE.
the Union.
Mr. Baldwin of Georgia,
51
too,
avowed that
his
State would not confederate unless she were allowed to import
and Mr. Williamson joined in expressing the opinion
that, if South Carolina and Georgia were not allowed to import
slaves, they would not become members of the Union.
Mr.
Wilson of Pennsylvania suggested that, " if negroes were the
only imports not subject to a duty, such an exception would
amount to a bounty." Gerry of Massachusetts and Langdon of New Hampshire would give no sanction whatever to
slaves
;
the slave-trade.
Mr. King thought the exemption of slaves from duty, while
every other import was subject to
could not
fail to strike
it,
was an inequality that
the commercial sagacity of the Northern
and Middle States. Mr. Charles Pinckney hastened to move
a recommitment, with a view to a tax on slaves equal to a tax
imposed on other imports. His motion was seconded by Mr.
Rutledge, his colleague. It was proposed by Gouverneur Morris that the clauses relating to navigation laws and taxation on
exports should be referred,
making the
nant suggestion that " these things
significant
may form
and preg-
a bargain be-
tween the Northern and Southern States." The commitment
was supported by Mr. Randolph, who avowed that he would
rather risk the Constitution than support the clause as
it
stood.
Mr. Sherman said that a tax on slaves implied that they were
and Mr. Ellsworth continued to support the article
The motion to commit prevailed, and the matter was referred to a committee of one from
each State. This committee made " a bargain," and reported
it.
The prohibition of export duties was retained, the restriction of the enactment of navigation laws was stricken out, and
property
;
as reported by the committee.
the slave-trade permitted
till
1800, subject to the imposition of
such a duty on slaves as Congress might determine.
This report was supported by Mr. Williamson and Mr. Gor-
ham
;
but the tax was objected to by Mr. Sherman, because
it
implied that slaves were property, and because the tax was too
But Mr. Gorham replied that
men were
Mr.
property, but as a discouragement to their importation.
small to discourage importation.
the tax should be regarded, not as implying that
�52
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
Madison " thought
wrong
it
to
admit into the Constitution the
idea that there could be property in
therefore
made
IN AMERICA.
in the phraseology to
man," and a change was
remove that objection.
Mr. Charles C. Pinckney moved to extend the time of the
from 1800 to 1808. This motion was seconded by
Mr. Gorham of Massachusetts, and was carried by the votes
slave-trade
of
New
Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Georgia, and
South Carolina
;
against the votes of
New
Jersey, Pennsyl-
and Virginia. The restriction on the enactment of navigation laws was then stricken out and Charles
C. Pinckney, Mr. Butler, and Mr. Rutledge gave the vote of
vania, Delaware,
;
South Carolina in favor of striking out the restrictions, because of the liberal conduct of the Eastern States in giving
them twenty years of extension to the slave-trade.
Thus New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut stand
on the record as parties to a dishonorable and humiliating
" bargain," by which, for a mere commercial consideration,
the removal of
laws,
all restriction
on Congress
to enact navigation
— they gave twenty years to the African
strained by national legislation.
slave-traffic,
unre-
Opposition to giving Con-
gress power to encourage, develop, and protect the commercial
and navigating
interest of the nation
ness, jealousy,
and
sprung from the narrow-
all-pervading selfishness of
slaveholding
society. Statesmanship demanded that such restrictions should
be excluded from the organic law of a free and commercial
nation.
Duty to their own section, to their whole country,
required that the delegates from
New England
should resist
the incorporation of that plantation policy into the Constitution
they were framing for a continental empire.
But
it
will ever
be a matter of regret, as well as of reproach, that those
New
England States achieved their success by a surrender of principles in accord alike with the dictates of humanity and the
divine precepts of the Christian religion.
And,
as
men
cor-
apprehend the true nature of that " bargain," the real
significance and true value of Mr. Pinckney's damaging words
of praise will be appreciated, when he declared that " he had
rectly
had prejudices against the Eastern States before he came
here but he would acknowledge that he had found them as
;
�RENDITION OF FUGITIVE SLAVES.
53
and candid as any men whatever." Nor will the record
seem any more flattering because other extreme Southern men
joined in that commendation.
It will be remembered that when the Committee of Detail
was appointed, to which were referred the results then reached
by the convention, Charles C. Pinckney rose and reminded the
body that, if the committee failed to insert some provision
against the abolition of slavery, he should be bound by the duty
he owed South Carolina to vote against its report. At that
time slavery had disappeared, or was disappearing, in the seven
Northern States, where it never had to any great extent existed
but there were more than half a million of slaves in
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Georgia.
While many of the most eminent men of those
liberal
;
slavery to be in every
States, especially of Virginia, believed
form an
and desired the inauguration of a system of
emancipation the body of the people, influenced by pecuniary interests, and the pride, passion, and prejudices of race,
were in favor of its continuance. Statesmen, quick to discover
the drift of public sentiment, were then beginning to look to
the slaveholding interest as an element of political power.
In
the work of obtaining securities for slavery the able statesmen
evil,
;
South Carolina sent to the convention took the lead.
She
could enter no union, they said, accept no constitution, unless
slaves should enter into the basis of representation, the slave-
made
trade be continued, and provision be
for the rendition
of slaves escaping from their masters.
But the Committee of Detail reported no provision
rendition of fugitive
slaves.
When
the article
for the
came under
consideration providing that the citizens of each State should
be entitled to
all
the privileges and immunities of the citizens
of the several States, Mr. Pinckney again
" in favor of property in slaves."
The
demanded
article,
a provision
however, was
adopted without any such clause.
When the article respecting fugitives from justice escaping
from one State into another came up for consideration, Mr.
Butler, on behalf of South Carolina, moved to require " fugitive slaves and servants to be delivered up like criminals."
�54
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
This
amendment was
IN AMERICA.
objected to by Mr. Wilson, for the incon-
would require the delivery to be made
while Mr. Sherman remarked, with
little
more appreciation of the magnitude of the question
involved, that he saw " no more propriety in the public seizing
and surrendering a servant than a horse." Mr. Butler then
withdrew his amendment, for the purpose of putting it in a
new form. But the next day, the 29th of August, lie introduced it, and it was agreed to without a division.
This provision was inserted in the Constitution for the
express purpose of securing what did not exist under the
sequential reason that
it
expense
at the public
;
Articles of Confederation,
— the
from one State into another.
rendition of slaves escaping
General Pinckney, the expo-
nent of that class of slaveholders who were in favor of the per-
demanded
petuity of the slavery of the African race,
provision
Constitution
precedent to the
a condition
as
;
and the convention
of South Carolina for
its
"
We
phatically declared
in whatever part of
considering
:
General Pinckney em-
have a right to recover our slaves
America they may take
circumstances,
all
We
make.
would have made
the whole, I do not think
the best terms
was in our power
we could but, on
was stated by Mr.
it
better, if
them bad."
In short,
refuge.
we have made
for the security of this species of property
to
In the convention
yielded.
ratification
this
adoption of the
It
;
Madison, in the convention of Virginia, that " this clause was
expressly inserted to enable
them."
by Mr.
It
was
owners of slaves to reclaim
North Carolina Convention,
stated, too, in the
Iredell, afterward judge of the Supreme Court of the
United States, that, though the word " slave " was not men-
tioned, owing to the peculiar scruples of Northern delegates
on the subject of slavery, the
article
was inserted
to enable
masters to recover their slaves escaping into other States.
Thus was incorporated
into the Constitution that fearful
and
far-reaching provision which actually transformed the whole
territory of the
Republic into one vast hunting-ground, in
which brutal men
— such
as slavery alone can
make
— might
range at pleasure, and, under cover of the cruel and inhuman
statutes
it
authorized, hunt, seize, and return to bondage
men
�KENDITION OF FUGITIVE SLAVES.
55
and women whose only crimes were a desire to be free and a
heroism to dare the perils of escape for that priceless boon
;
while their friends, and the friends of justice and humanity,
could only look
impotent for help, blushing at their
on,
country's degradation, and sympathizing, though vainly, with
The only palliation to be urged for thus yielding
wicked demands and the imperious threats of slavemasters was the weakness of faith and courage naturally arising from the perils menacing the country, and the too confident expectation that slavery was to be but a temporary sysits victims.
r to the
tem, soon to pass away.
From
the opening of the
War
of the Revolution to the meet-
moved
The clash of arms, and the enunciation
ing of the convention, the supporters of slavery had
with hesitating step.
of the primal truth of
human
rights in the Declaration of
Independence, in the constitutions of several of the States,
and by eminent statesmen and philanthropists, threatened the
security and perpetuity of the system.
Action against the
slave-trade, emancipation in several of the
the permission of Virginia to
to their slaves,
Northern
humane masters
States,'
freedom
to give
the plan devised, but not adopted, for gradual
emancipation in Virginia by
Thomas
Jefferson and George
Wythe, the ordinance inhibiting slavery in the vast
territory
northwest of the Ohio, showed the tendencies of the age,
weakened the confidence of slaveholders in the stability of
their system, while at the same time they begot a too credulous expectation
among
the friends of freedom of
its
speedy
downfall.
But the incorporation of the fatal concessions to slavery
fundamental law of the nation breathed into the system new life, and inspired new hope in those desirous of its
into the
indefinite perpetuation.
Little did the
men
of that conven-
comprehend the full significance of their action in the
added vitality which these concessions imparted to the slave
tion
system.
Little did they anticipate the stimulus
be given to
territory,
it
which would
by a stable government, the opening of fresh
and the large increase of the cotton
culture.
Little
did they foresee the wonderful growth and expansion of a sys-
�56
RISE
tern that
its
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
was
IN AMERICA.
to poison the fountain of national life
pestiferous influences throughout the land.
and
diffuse
Nor did they
at all realize that even then they were bowing before a newborn power, which would for more than two generations pervert the government from the very purposes for which they
were establishing it, until at last
attempt to compass its overthrow.
it
should perish in the vain
«
�CHAPTER
PEOPOSED TAX ON SLAVES.
PETITIONS
GRESS.
—
V.
FIRST SLAVERY DEBATES
IN
CON-
POWERS
OF
THE
EMANCIPATION.
FOR
GOVERNMENT DEFINED.
— Proposition to tax Slaves Imported. — Debate on the
— Defeat of the Proposition. — Petitions Emancipation. —
Franklin's Memorial. — Excited Debate. — Special Committee. — Report of
the Committee. — Southern Members defend Slavery and the Slave-trade. —
Tone of the Debate. — Powers of Congress defined and declared. — Mr. MifPetition. — Right of Petition violated.
Meeting of Congress.
Amendment.
for
flin's
The
New
first
Congress under the Constitution met in the city of
though a quorum did not appear
York, in March, 1789
until
the 6th of April.
;
once addressed
It at
pressing duty of organizing the
viding
means
for its support.
itself to
new government, and
When
the
bill
the
of pro-
imposing a duty
on imports was under consideration in the House of Representatives, Mr. Parker of Virginia moved an amendment,
imposing a duty of ten dollars on every slave imported.
This amendment excited much interest, especially among the
members from South Carolina and Georgia. Mr. Smith, of
the former State, hastened to express the hope " that such
an important and serious proposition would not be hastily
adopted " and he averred that " no one topic had been yet
introduced so important to South Carolina and the welfare of
;
the Union."
Roger Sherman of Connecticut expressed his approval of
" the object of the motion, but did not think it a fit subject to
be embraced in this
the insertion of
bill.
human
He
could not reconcile himself to
beings as a subject of import
goods, wares, and merchandise."
the withdrawal of the
He
among
then earnestly urged
amendment, and suggested that
it
afterward be introduced as an independent proposition.
might
�58
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
IN AMERICA.
Mr. Jackson of Georgia declared that he was " not surprised,
however others might be, at the quarter whence this motion
came. Virginia, an old settled State, has her complement of
slaves, and, the natural increase being sufficient for her pur-
was careless of recruiting her numbers by importaBut gentlemen ought to let their neighbors get supplied
He expressed his conbefore they imposed such a burden."
pose, she
tion.
fidence that, on account of the unsuitableness of the motion to
Alluding petuthe business in hand, it would be withdrawn.
lantly to the " white slaves " " imported from all the jails of
"
Europe," he contended that they should be " equally taxed
with the African, and that such a course would be equally
constitutional
To
ker
and proper.
amendment, Mr. Par-
the suggestion of withdrawing the
— who
had, on moving
expressed his regret that the
it,
Constitution prevented Congress from prohibiting altogether
declared that, " having introduced
the importation of slaves
—
the motion on mature reflection, he did not like to withdraw
it."
He
proceeded further, and expressed the hope that
" Congress would do
nature
its
all
in their
inherent privileges
;
power
to
to restore to
wipe
stigma under which America labored
;
off,
to
human
if possible,
the
do away the incon-
our principles justly charged upon us and to
show by our actions the purer beneficence of the doctrine held
sistency in
;
out to the world in our Declaration of Independence."
Mr. Sherman again avowed his opposition to the amendment,
as it was inconsistent with the principle of the bill, which was
to raise revenue, while the principle of the
to correct a
moral
evil.
Fisher
Ames
amendment was
of Massachusetts ex-
pressed his detestation of " slavery from his soul
but he had
some doubts whether imposing a duty on such importation
would not have an appearance of countenancing the practice."
Mr. Jackson further opposed the amendment. " It is," he
;
said, " the fashion of the
day to favor the liberty of slaves.
and better off
Africa.
Experience has shown that liber-
I believe that they are better off as they are,
than they were in
ated slaves will not work for a living."
ginia would free her negroes,
He
then asked
if
Vir-
and declared that " when the
�FIRST SLAVERY DEBATES IN CONGRESS.
practice
comes
to be tried, then the
those charms which
make
it
sound of
59
liberty will lose
grateful to the ravished ear."
The amendment was supported by Mr. Bland of Virginia,
who expressed the wish that slavery had never been introduced
into America,
and was willing
to join in
any measure
to pre-
Mr. Madison said that the clause
vent its extending further.
was inserted, he believed,
" for the purpose of enabling Congress to give some testimony
in the Constitution allowing a tax
of the sense of America with respect to the African trade.
By
expressing a national disapprobation of that trade,
be hoped we
may
destroy
it is
to
and so save ourselves from refrom the imbecility ever attendant
it,
proaches and our posterity
upon a country filled with slaves. This is as much the interest of Carolina and Georgia as of any other State.
Every
addition they receive to their
number
of slaves tends to weak-
ness and renders them less capable of self-defence.
In case
of hostility with other nations, their slave population will be a
means, not of repelling invasion, but of inviting attack.
It is
the duty of the general government to protect every part of
the Union against danger, as well internal as external.
thing, therefore,
which tends
Every-
to increase this danger, though
it
might be a local affair, yet, if it involves national expense or
safety, becomes of concern to any part of the Union, and a
proper subject for the consideration of those charged with the
general administration of the government."
These views of Mr. Madison were humane, just, comprehenand statesmanlike. Had they been generally entertained
and adhered to by Southern statesmen, and accepted by
the Southern people, the amelioration, restriction, and extincsive,
tion of slavery, rather than its expansion
would have been
their chosen policy.
and perpetuation,
But widely differing
prevailed.
Not only the nation, indeed, but Mr.
Madison himself, and the class of Southern men he represented, failed to employ the powers here enunciated in behalf
of freedom and humanity, or to maintain the humane sentiments here avowed. They soon yielded to the force of circumstances, for which they had not calculated, and which they
seemed powerless to control and became, if not the advo-
counsels
;
�60
RISE
cates, the
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
consenting witnesses to the aggressive encroach-
ments and assaults on human rights. They had not anticipated and were not prepared for the soon disclosed fact, that
to the ordinary motives for the continued existence of slavery
there were to be added the stimulus of the greatly increased
industries developed
Nor had they then
and fostered by the new government.
how exacting and tyrannous the
realized
slave-masters, flushed with their successes in the convention,
would soon become, and with what tenacity and persistency
they would press the advantages they then gained. They had
faint conceptions of the concessions
made
in the Constitution
For from the time they were made
the demands of consistency and the logic of those concessions
were always against them. Consenting to the great wrong,
they lost too much of their moral power. Leaving the rock
of principle, they found no foothold on the shifting sands of
expediency and compromise, on which they could stand against
the compact forces of the Slave Power, however vile and desperate its cause might be.
Ever after these fatal concessions
in the Constitution the nation seemed like a strong man struggling in toils and meshes
or, rather, like the giant shorn of
his locks, sleeping in the lap of the wanton who had lured him
to the slave interest.
;
to dishonor, if not to destruction.
At the suggestion of Mr. Madison Mr. Parker withdrew his
amendment, with the understanding that it should be afterward brought up as a distinct measure. The subject was subsequently referred to a committee, of which he was made
chairman. He reported a bill which was referred to the next
session
but it was never acted upon. The men who extorted
from the framers of the Constitution the permission to continue
the slave-trade for twenty years were in no mood to allow a
tax of ten dollars on every imported African. They were not
only jealous of any action on the part of the Federal govern;
ment, but they determined to secure the
traffic in
human
full benefits
of the
flesh.
Within one year
after the organization of the first Congress,
memorials were presented deploring the evils of slavery and
praying for immediate action for their abatement. They re-
�PETITIONS FOR EMANCIPATION.
61
vealed a deep sense of justice, a high regard for the rights of
man, and a profound recognition of the claims of morality and
religion.
On the 11th of February, 1790, a petition was presented from the Quakers to the House of Representatives.
The memorialists alluded to the fact that " the same religious
society addressed, in 1783, the then Congress on the same subject
;
which body, though the Christian rectitude of the con-
cern was by the delegates generally acknowledged, yet, not
being vested with the powers of legislation, declined" acting
on the subject. They say " As professors of faith in that ever:
blessed,
all-perfect
Lawgiver,
undiminished obligation,
whose injunction remains of
— 'Whatsoever
ye would that
should do unto you, do ye even so unto them
'
;
men
and firmly be-
lieving that unfeigned righteousness in public as well as pri-
vate citizens
blessing
;
is
the only sure ground of hope of the divine
.... we
feel it
incumbent on
us, as a religious body,
to attempt to excite your attention to the affecting subject,"
and induce you
to " exert
extent of your power."
tation that the exercise
your upright endeavors to the
full
They expressed the confident expecof that power " must produce the
abolition of the slave-trade."
Mr. Hartley of Pennsylvania moved that a petition coming
from " so numerous and respectable a part of the community "
should be referred to a committee.
of South Carolina objected
petitioners were, there
;
To
this
motion Mr. Smith
saying, however respectable the
were others, equally respectable, op-
posed to their object. Mr. Parker of Virginia expressed his
pleasure that " so many were attending to matters of such mo-
mentous concern to the future happiness and prosperity of the
people."
Mr. Madison thought it proper to receive and consider the petition, " because, if there is anything within the
Federal authority to restrain such violation of the rights of
nature and of mankind,
it should be done."
But Mr. Stone
Maryland declared it " unfortunate that religious sects
seemed to imagine that they understood the rights of human
and Mr. Burke of
nature better than all the world besides "
South Carolina, referring contemptuously to some Quakers
present, said, " The men in the galleries were meddling with
of
;
�RISE
62
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
what did not belong
to
them
;
IX AMERICA.
and, though he had great re-
had more virtue
and religion than many others, perhaps not so much as some
spect for the Quakers, he did not think they
others."
Mr. Jackson of Georgia, an Englishman by birth, an officer
army, and a delegate to the convention
in the Revolutionary
which framed the Constitution, wanted " to know if the whole
morality of the world is confined to the Quakers ? Do they
understand the rights of mankind and the disposition of man-
The Saviour had more benevolence
?
and commiseration than they pretend to have, and he admitted
Mr; Gerry maintained the right of petition, and
slavery."
kind better than others
defended the action of the Society of Friends, who wished to
see measures pursued by every nation to wipe off the indelible
stain brought
rial
was
upon
all
finally laid
who were concerned
upon the
table,
in
it.
The memo-
and thus ended the
first
debate on antislavery petitions in Congress.
On
the 12th of February, 1790, a memorial was presented
from the " Pennsylvania Society
of Slavery " signed
and said
As
citizen died
this illustrious
people
the
are justified in
many
to
for
Promoting the Abolition
have been written by Franklin.
soon afterward, the American
regarding
it
and wisest of
his countrymen.
as the last
sage counsels bequeathed by
him
to
After alluding to the origin, objects, and general constituency
of the society, being " of various religious denominations," and
to the gratifying circumstance that similar associations were
forming at home and abroad, the memorial proceeds
:
" That
formed by the same Almighty Being, alike
objects of his care and equally designed for the enjoyment of
happiness, the Christian religion teaches us to believe, and the
mankind
are
all
Americans fully coincides with that position."
from the preamble of the Constitution, as indicating one of the objects of that instrument for promoting " the
political creed of
It quotes, too,
welfare and securing the blessings of liberty to the people of
the United States," which " blessings of liberty," it declares,
" ought rightfully to be administered without distinction of
color."
liberty
"
From
a persuasion, too,"
was originally the portion and
it
continues, " that equal
is still
the birthright of all
�PETITIONS FOR EMANCIPATION.
men, we earnestly entreat your serious attention
of slavery
63
to the subject
that yon will be pleased to countenance the restora-
;
unhappy men who, alone in this land of
freedom, are degraded to perpetual bondage, and who, amidst
tion to liberty of those
the general joy of surrounding freemen, are groaning in servile
sul
jection
;
that you will devise
means for removing
American people
sistency from the character of the
this incon;
.
.
.
.
and
that you will step to the very verge of power vested in you for
discouraging every species of
traffic
in the persons of our
fellow-men."
The memorial of the preceding day was called up, and both
were made the subject of an able and exciting debate. Mr.
Tucker of South Carolina was " surprised to see another memorial upon the same subject, and that signed by a man who
ought to have known the Constitution better." The argument,
so often repeated since, was urged, that the movement would
aggravate the very evil it was sought to ameliorate and remove,
by buoying up the slave with hopes which must be disappointed,
and necessitating a severity which would not otherwise be required.
He
parried the religious argument of the memorial
by urging the indorsement of the Southern clergy, who, he
condemn either slavery or the slave-trade. This
damaging reference was only too well deserved, and too significant of their subsequent and disastrous course, even up to and
throughout the Rebellion. With few exceptions, they failed
said, did not
as religious teachers of educating the people up to the stand-
ard of a scriptural morality, shirked the duties imposed upon
them by the claims of patriotism, humanity, and religion,
betrayed their sacred trust, and proved recreant alike to the
claims of benevolence and the Word of God. The weapons
they should have pointed against the cruel and wicked system they turned in its defence. Omniscience alone can esti-
mate how much of the subsequent
guilt, suffering,
and even
the destruction of the South was due to their influence
thus early became
the blind
who
blind.
There
were not wanting, likewise, at that early date, those who
urged the same arguments on which so many changes have
been rung since,
the same deprecatory allusions to the
—
leaders of the
�64
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
IN AMERICA.
danger of discussion, the same reminders of the compromises on which alone the Union was or could have been
based.
Mr. Baldwin of Georgia, a native of Connecticut, and
one of the framers of the Constitution, reminded members
that this was " a subject of a most delicate nature " that in
;
the convention " the Southern States were so tender upon this
point that they had wellnigh broken up without coming to
was emphatically declared by Mr.
Smith of South Carolina, that the Southern " States would
any. determination."
It
never have entered the Confederation unless their property
had been guaranteed
to
Confederacy," he said, " we did
And
moral motives.
"
them."
it
When we
from
my
I don't think
learn morals from .the petitioners.
into, this
and not from
constituents want to
want
I don't believe they
improvement in their moral systems.
learn it at home."
On
entered
political
If they do, they
can
the other hand, Mr. Scott of Pennsylvania defended
the memorialists, and
language the slave
said, " to be
condemned
in strong and unequivocal
" I look upon the slave-trade," he
traffic.
one of the most abominable things on earth
God nor
and,
;
on
humanity and the law of humanity. I cannot,
for my part, conceive how any person can be said to acquire
Perhaps in our legislative capacity we
property in another.
if
there were neither
Devil, I should oppose
it
principles of
can go no further than impose a duty of ten dollars. I do not
know how far I might go if I was one of the judges of the
United States, and these people were
claim their emancipation
;
but I
am
come
to
before
me and
sure I would go as far
as I could."
To
these
humane and noble
Georgia replied
he
:
utterances Mr. Jackson of
" If that gentleman
will find that it is not against
it.
is
He
guided by religion,
will see,
from Genesis
to Revelation, the current setting strong the other
reply to his declaration, that if he were a judge
In
way."
lie
would go
as far as he could in emancipating the people, he said
:
"I
judgment would be of short duration in
perhaps even the existence of such a judge would
believe
that his
Georgia
;
be of short duration."
�POWERS OF THE GOVERNMENT DEFINED.
The memorials were
65
referred to a select committee, consist-
ing of Foster of
New
ker of Virginia.
From
Hampshire, Gerry of Massachusetts,
Huntington of Connecticut, Lawrence of New York, Sinnickson of New Jersey, Hartley of Pennsylvania, and Parthis
committee Mr. Hartley made a
and carefully drawn up.
report, manifestly well considered
In
it
the committee say that, from the nature of the matters
contained in the memorials, they were induced to examine the
powers vested in Congress under the present Constitution.
Their conclusion was that the general government was prohibited from interfering with the slave-trade until the year
1808, that
cipation
it
of
was prohibited from interfering with the emanwithin the States, and that it had no
slaves
right to interfere with the internal regulations of particular
But they declared that Congress had power, if deemed
on each slave imported
that it had the power to interdict the trade for foreign supply, and that it might regulate the home traffic in the interStates.
advisable, to lay a tax of ten dollars
ests of
humanity
;
;
and that it might prohibit foreigners from
American ports. The committee closed
fitting out vessels in
by informing the memorialists that, so far as Congress could
do it constitutionally, it would aim to promote their humane
objects "
on the principles of
justice,
humanity, and good
policy."
A
report, however, so
guarded and carefully restrained by
the limitations of the Constitution, so moderate in tone and
temper, was received with marked demonstrations of hostility
by the representatives of the slaveholding class, and its consideration postponed for a week.
When it was taken up, Mr.
Smith of South Carolina moved to " negative the whole
But it was taken up by paragraphs, and the same
report."
line of argument, already sketched, was pursued.
The greatest violence and impatience, with denunciation and threats,
came from. South Carolina and Georgia,
then, as since, the
self-constituted guardians and defenders of Southern interThey applied the same epithets to
ests and Southern honor.
the Quakers then which their successors have so freely used
—
in
regard to
all
antislavery
reformers.
They stigmatized
�66
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
them, as they have Christians and philanthropists since, as
hypocritical pretenders to a sanctity they did not possess, as
factious intermeddlers with
what did not concern them.
They
declared the compromises of the Constitution to be the only
conditions on which the Union could be preserved
sternly
demanded
;
and they
that freedom of discussion on the subject
of slavery should not be tolerated.
Among
the champions of slavery, the most able and conspic-
uous, as well as rancorous and violent, were Smith, Tucker,
and Burke of South Carolina, and Jackson and Baldwin of
Mr. Smith made an elaborate defence of slavery
Georgia.
and the slave-trade on historical, scriptural, and humanitarian
grounds.
He
denied the " horrors of the Middle Passage,"
and contended that slaves imported from Africa were benefited by the change, as they were here saved from a worse fate
which awaited them in their native land. Freedom, however,
— men
was not without
its
enunciated with
great boldness and force the fundamental
true
and steady defenders,
who
principles, the primal truths, not only of natural rights
and
and duty. Trammelled,
indeed, by* those compromises which have always hampered
the advocates of human rights under the Constitution, even
the most conscientious and outspoken, they yet boldly denounced the system which had no sanction in reason or revThe most distinguished of these advocates were Yinelation.
obligation, but of Christian morality
ing of Delaware, aiid Scott and Boudinot of Pennsylvania.
This great and pregnant debate was closed on the 28d of
March, when a substitute for the report was adopted in committee of the whole.
On the suggestion of Mr. Madison, who
desired to quiet the fears of the South, by showing that Congress claimed no power to prohibit the slave-trade
and no power
to abolish slavery at
all,
till
1808,
the House, by a vote of
twenty-nine to twenty-five, entered on the journal the report
of the committee, and also the report of the committee of the
whole, as amendments to
that
report.
The .amendments
reported by the committee of the whole stood, therefore, as
the judgment of the House.
By
these resolutions the
House
of Bepresentatives declared
�POWERS OF THE GOVERNMENT DEFINED.
that
67
the importation of such persons as any of the States
should admit could not be prohibited by Congress before 1808
that Congress
had no power
to interfere with
the treatment of slaves in the States
ity to restrain the citizens of the
;
but that
it
had author-
United States from carrying
on the slave-trade to supply foreigners with slaves, and that
had the power
to
make
;
emancipation or
regulations for the
humane
it
treatment,
on their passage, of slaves imported by citizens into States
admitting such importations. Though these resolutions had
not the authority of a legislative enactment, yet in all the
subsequent conflicts growing out of the slavery question the
doctrines therein embodied have been generally recognized as
the true exposition of the Constitution, and of the powers of
Congress touching that matter.
This debate on slaveuy was strikingly characteristic and
It clearly revealed in tone and temper, matter
and manner, thought and language, that difference between
the friends of freedom and the supporters of slavery, which
has ever marked discussions growing out of their diversity of
interests, views, feelings, and purposes.
On the one side the
debate was grave, dignified, and regardful of the rights of man
and the authority of God on the other, it was flippant, contemptuous, and indifferent alike to the claims of humanity, the
courtesies of debate, and the binding obligations of a Christian
significant.
;
morality.
The
abolition societies of Pennsylvania,
Island, Connecticut,
rials calling
and Virginia,
upon Congress
New
York, Rhode
in 1791, presented
to exercise those
memo-
powers which the
House of Representatives had declared that Congress possessed, in the resolutions of the committee of the whole, which
had been entered upon the journal. These memorials were
referred to a special committee of which Mr. Benson of New
York was made chairman. No action was taken by the committee.
At the next session other memorials of a similar
character were presented.
But they were permitted to lie
without action or reference.
In November, 1792, Mr.
Warner
Mifflin, a
Ames
presented a petition from
Quaker gentleman of Delaware, setting
forth
�RISE
68
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
the injustice of slavery and the wrongs of the slave.
Two
days afterward Mr. Steele of North Carolina called attention
to the petition,
and moved that
it
be taken from the table and
returned to the petitioner, and that the record of
its
reception
Smith of South Carolina denounced the petition
as " the mere rant and rhapsody of a meddling fanatic, inter-
be erased.
He declared the real object
larded with texts of Scripture."
of the petition to be to " create disunion among the States
and
to
excite the
most horrible insurrections."
Declaring
that petitions of that character were not calculated to ameliorate the condition of the slaves, but to excite a spirit of rest-
which made greater securities necessary, he called
upon the House to sustain the motion, and thus convince " this
troublesome enthusiast, and others who might be disposed to
communicate their ravings and wild effusions, that they would
meet the treatment they justly deserve." Mr. Ames disaplessness,
proved the object of the petitioners
right of petition,
and
of the memorial.
justified,
;
but defended the general
on that ground, his presentation
The House sustained
the memorial to the petitioner
;
the motion to return
and Mr. Steele then withdrew
motion to erase the record of its reception from the journal.
This high-handed measure was a clear and palpable violation
his
of the constitutional right of petition, a gross indignity to the
petitioner,
and an
insult to a free people.
�CHAPTER
THE FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT OF
1793.
VI.
— PROPOSED
AMENDMENTS.
— Bill passed the Senate, — passed the
— Petition of Free Colored Men to be protected against — Exciting
Debate. — Memorial of Colored Men of Philadelphia. — Exciting and Violent
Debate. — Disunion threatened by Mr. Rutledge. — Action of the House.
— Amendment by Mr.
Further Legislation demanded. — Mr. Pindall's
Rich. — Mr. Storr's Amendment. — Debate on the Bill and Amendments. —
Mr. Fuller's Amendments. — Bill passed the House, — passed the Senate, with
up. — Mr. Wright's Resolution. —
Amendments. — House refused to take
Bill reported by Judiciary Committee. — Debated. — Recommitted to a Select
Committee. — Reported, but not acted on.
Bill for the Rendition of Fugitive Slaves.
House.
it.
Bill.
it
By
their persistency the statesmen representing the
Power secured from
Slave
the framers of the Constitution the pro-
vision for the rendition of fugitive slaves.
Having obtained
the incorporation of this provision into the fundamental law,
they early and eagerly sought
its
enforcement.
In the Senate, in November, 1792, Mr. Johnston of North
and Mr. Read of Delaware were appointed a committee for the consideration of matters relating to fugitives from justice, and slaves escaping from
their masters.
The committee reported a bill in December,
and on the 28th of the same month it was recommitted, and
Mr. Taylor of Virginia and Mr. Sherman of Connecticut
were added to the committee. On the 3d of January, 1793,
Mr. Johnston reported the original bill, with. amendments. It
was considered several days, and passed without a division.
On the 4th of February the House proceeded to its consideration, and the next day it passed by a vote of 48 to 7.
Thus
this act, which gave the slave-masters and their agents summary power to seize, hold, and return to slavery their fugitive
bondmen, passed the Senate without a dissenting voice and
Carolina, Mr. Cabot of Massachusetts,
;
�70
RISE
in the
AND FALL OP THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
House there were found only seven members
to record
by authority of which
so many inhuman and wicked deeds have been committed.
Under this Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 many arrests of persons alleged to have escaped from servitude were made, and
their votes against that dishonoring act,
much alarm among
free persons of color
free negroes, especially in the States of
was
At the
aware, were kidnapped and sold into slavery.
sion of the Fourth Congress a
Many
created.
Pennsylvania and Delfirst ses-
memorial was presented from
the legislature of Delaware, asking the protection of the general
this kidnapping.
It was referred to
Commerce, which made a report asking for
government against
the Committee on
instructions.
In December, 1796, on motion of Mr. Swanwick of Pennsylvania, the report of the previous session
consideration.
was taken up
.
for
Mr. Coit of Connecticut, a member of the
Committee of Commerce, thought the laws of the several
He did not
States fully adequate without further provisions.
wish the United States to " intermeddle " in the case. To this
Mr. Swanwick replied that the State laws were broken with
impunity.
He was
for obliging
masters of Vessels when they
took negroes on board to have certificates of their freedom.
Mr.
Murray of Maryland asked if the idea of preventing kidnapping meant the taking of " free negroes and selling them as
To
slaves, or the taking of slaves and making them free ? "
this question Mr. Swanwick replied that it was " intended to
prevent both evils." Any action of Congress was opposed by
Mr. Smith of South Carolina, because the matter was a
municipal regulation, which should be
tures.
left to
the State legisla-
The House was reminded by Mr. Smith
of
New
Jersey
had in many instances been taken upon ships at
night, and then carried to the West Indies and other parts of
the world and sold
and that the existing State laws could not
that negroes
;
prevent that fraudulent practice.
Mr. Sitgreaves and Mr. Swanwick earnestly urged immediate action for the protection of unfortunate negroes and mulattoes exposed,
by their color, to insult and injury.
of South Carolina feared that the " use of the
Mr. Smith
word
'
emanci-
�THE FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT OF
pation
'
71
1793.
" by Mr. Swanwick would spread alarm through some
of the States.
He would
drop the subject altogether.
Mr.
Nicholas of Virginia expressed the hope that the subject
would not be dismissed
for if they of the Southern States
" unfortunately held slaves, they ought not to contribute to
make
;
men." After further debate the report
was recommitted to the Committee on Commerce and on the
18th of January, 1797, Mr. Swanwick, by the instructions of
slaves of free
;
the committee, though against his
it
was not expedient
to interfere
own
opinion, reported that
with the existing laws of the
States on that subject.
In January, 1797, Mr. Swanwick presented a petition from
persons of African descent, natives of North Carolina,
who
had been emancipated and re-enslaved.
These persons set
forth that they had been liberated " under the hand and seal
of conscientious masters," by authority of a law pronounced
constitutional
that another law had been enacted under which
men of " cruel disposition and void of principle " were seeking
to re-enslave them
that they were reduced to the necessity of
separating from their nearest and most tender connections, and
;
;
of seeking refuge in other parts of the country, always liable
and reduced
bondage again, under the provisions
" To you only," they say, " under
God, can we apply, with any hope of effect, for redress of our
to be seized
to
of the Fugitive Slave Act.
grievances."
Mr. Swanwick desired that the
a select committee
petition
;
petition should be referred to
but Mr. Blount of North Carolina hoped the
would not be received.
A
committee on the ^Fugitive
Slave Act had been appointed, and Mr. Thatcher of Massachusetts thought this petition should be referred to that com-
He asserted that they were free people, and had an.
undoubted right to petition and be heard.
Mr. Swanwick
animadverted on the atrocity of a reward of ten dollars offered
for one of them if taken alive, and fifty dollars if found dead,
and no questions to be asked. He denounced that " horrid re-
mittee.
ward," which gentlemen could not hear without a " shudder,"
as an encouragement to put an end to that man's life.
Heath
and Madison of Virginia were in favor of
letting the petition
�RISE
72
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
on the table but Mr. Rutherford of the same State favored
the reference of the memorial to a committee, as the " great
hardships " represented in the petition appealed closely to the
lie
;
nicest feelings of the heart,
dictate a just decision."
and he " hoped humanity would
Mr. Gilbert of
New
Jersey thought
the petition " laid claim to the humanity of the House "
Mr. Smith of South Carolina was in favor of sealing
sending
it
it
;
but
up and
back to the petitioners.
Mr. Thatcher said the Fugitive Slave Act had no authority
over that set of men who claim the protection of that House,
which ought " always to lean toward freedom." Though they
could not give freedom to slaves, yet he hoped gentlemen
would not refuse to lend their aid to secure freemen against
tyrannical imposition.
Mr. Yarnum of Massachusetts said
the petitioners had received injury under the provisions of the
Fugitive Slave Act, as well as under the laws of North Carolina,
and they had an undoubted right
general government.
If
it
to the attention of the
should appear that they were
free,
and had received injuries under the Fugitive Slave Act, that
Act ought to be amended. Mr. Kitchell of New Jersey maintained that the question was not whether they were or- were
not slaves, but whether a committee should inquire into the
improper enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act in their case.
But the House refused to receive the petition, thirty-three votit and fifty against it.
In December, 1799, Robert Wain of Pennsylvania presented
a petition from colored men in Philadelphia, praying for the
revision of the Fugitive Slave Act and the laws relative to
the slave-trade, and for the adoption of such measures as
ing for
should in the course of time emancipate their brethren.
reference
was earnestly opposed by Mr. Rutledge
Carolina,
who contemptuously observed
Its
of South
that the gentlemen
their petitions had now put
hands of the "black gentlemen." These petitioners reminded the House that black people were in slavery.
He " thanked God that they were if they were not, dreadful
would be the consequences." Mr. Smilie of Pennsylvania said
that these colored people were " a part of the human species,
who formerly came forward with
them
into the
;
�THE FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT OF
73
1793.
equally capable of suffering and enjoying, equally the objects
of attention, and they had a claim to be heard."
Harrison Gray Otis had never seen a petition presented
under a more dangerous aspect and he opposed the reference.
Henry Lee of Virginia, father of Robert E. Lee, the rebel
;
general, would have the petition returned to the gentleman
who
to
presented
protect
it,
" as Congress had no power over slavery but
Mr.
it."
men would
Brown
Rhode Island hoped
of
that
impropriety of encouraging
slaves to come from Southern States to " become thieves and
Northern
the
see
vagabonds." He was not a slaveholder, but he considered
" slaves as much property as a farm or a ship." John Randolph,
who had
of the
House should be
just entered Congress, desired that the action
so decided as to deter persons from
thereafter
and Mr. Christie of
Maryland hoped the petition would go " under the table,
rather than on it."
He was in favor of taking up the Fugitive
Act, and, instead of weakening it, " making it stronger."
Robert Goodloe Harper thought the temper of revolt was
more perceptible among the slaves and Mr. Jones of Georgia hoped the petition would be treated with " the contempt it
merited, and thrown under the table."
In the course of the debate Mr. Thatcher fitly characterized
the remarks of his colleague, Mr. Otis, " as pitiful, mean,
virulent."
Mr. Edmond of Connecticut said it was unjust
in the House, instead of giving a patient attention, to treat
petitioning on that subject
;
;
the complaints of the petitioners with " an inattention that
passion alone could dictate."
Goode of Virginia that the
was the
was then proposed by Mr.
petition should receive the pointed
disapprobation of the House.
replied that this
It
first
To
this proposition
time he had ever
tion, or a part of a petition, to receive the
Mr. Thatcher
known
a peti-
marked disapproba-
If a petition in favor of objects so worthy
would be " a national indignity." Mr. Rutledge, perhaps the ablest, certainly the most devoted and outspoken of the champions of the slaveholding interest, emphatically proclaimed that the abolition of slavery would never
" There is," he said, " one alternative which
take place.
tion of the House.
was not heard,
it
10
�74
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
from
will save us
much,
— that
and,
driven to
if
is,
— but
it,
that
it,
we
we
IN AMERICA.
that alternative I deprecate very
are able to take care of ourselves;
will take care of ourselves."
The House
then resolved that those parts of the petition praying Congress
to legislate
on subjects from which the government
pre-
is
cluded by the Constitution had a tendency to create disquiet
and jealousy, and ought therefore
encouragement.
five
to receive
no countenance or
This resolution received the votes of eighty-
members, the
inflexible
Thatcher alone voting in the
negative.
This hesitating and timid action seems a lame and impotent
conclusion of a debate so imbued with the spirit of humanity,
justice,
and freedom on the one
though revealing on
part,
man and the
But is it, after all, when viewed
of the compromises of the Constitution, a matter
the other an utter disregard of the rights of
claims of Christian morality.
in the light
The concessions then made were, and ever have
?
weak and vulnerable points in all the conflicts between freedom and oppression. The framers of the fundamental law, avoiding the name of slavery, admitted into that
of surprise
been, the
instrument " the guilty fantasy that
man
can hold property in
man." The slaveholders in their struggles ever claimed that
" it was so nominated in the bond," and persistently demanded
And so the integrity, honor, and
their " pound of flesh."
and too
even the Christianity of the nation were invoked,
often successfully,
and the
— to
injustice of
—
sanction the schemes of inhumanity
men
determined to make the most of
advantages surrendered by those
fatal concessions.
Severe as were the provisions of this act, complaints were
continually
quate
made by
facilities for
slave-masters that
it
did not afford ade-
the recapture of their escaped slaves.
and a more
More
law
demanded.
In the House, in December, 1817, Mr. Pindall of Virginia,
Mr. Beecher of Ohio, and Mr. Anderson of Kentucky were
appointed a committee to devise more effectual means for the
A bill for this purpose was
reclamation of fugitive slaves.
and the House, on the 26th of January, 1818, proreported
stringent provisions
were
still
;
rigid enforcement of the
�THE FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT OF
ceeded to
its
consideration.
Vermont
so to
amend
it
were explained by
was moved by Mr. Rich
Its provisions
the chairman of the committee.
of
75
1793..
It
as to prevent the transportation of
any person claimed as a slave without taking such person
before a court of record and furnishing sufficient proof that
such person was a slave, and the property of the person
attempting to remove him, under a penalty of ten thousand
dollars.
Mr. Storrs of New York moved to amend the bill by
substituting, in lieu of the
amendment
section, providing that, if
any person, without a colorable
of Mr. Rich, a
new
claim, should procure a certificate or warrant to arrest or
transport any person not held as a slave, he should himself
be punished by imprisonment not exceeding fifteen years, or
by
fine
not exceeding
five
thousand dollars.
Mr. Pindall
united with Mr. Storrs in supporting his amendment, and Mr.
Rich vindicated his own amendment on the ground of the
but Mr. Storrs's amend-
enormity of the crime of kidnapping
;
ment was adopted by a large majority.
It was maintained by Mr. Claggett of £Jew Hampshire
that
existing laws secured to the claimants all the rights that the
Constitution guaranteed to them.
sary,
it
was
If
to restrain the claimants
any legislation was necesfrom the abuse of power.
Mr. Pindall maintained that the duty of delivering up fugitive
slaves was imposed on the States, and that Congress could by
law define and regulate the action of State officers in the performance of that duty. Mr. Fuller of Massachusetts moved
to strike out the first section of the
nestly in opposition to
bill,
because
it
transcended
and Mr. Strong spoke
the measure.
Mr. Cobb of Georgia
the provisions of the Constitution
;
earvin-
dicated the rights of the holders of slaves as " inalienable and
inviolable."
men might
Mr. Hopkinson of Pennsylvania thought that
free-
be apprehended, unless proper means of redress
were provided. John Holmes of Massachusetts, afterward senator from Maine, expressed the opinion that the bill could be so
worded as to be " unobjectionable " to anyone. The nature
of slave property,
stated, defined,
its evils,
and
and the rights of
illustrated
its
by Mr. Clay.
possessors were
Mr. Baldwin of
Pennsylvania, a native of Connecticut, a lawyer of eminence,
�76
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
and afterward a judge of the Supreme Court, maintained that
the Constitution conferred upon Congress the power so to legislate as to afford the fullest protection to the holders of slaves.
The amendment proposed by Mr. Fuller was rejected.
It was then moved by Mr. Rich to recommit the bill to the
committee to which was referred the memorial of the Quakers
of Baltimore, to report such action as would protect the free
The motion to recommit was
John Sergeant of Pennsylvania,
distinguished advocates and statesmen of that
to amend the bill by empowering the judges
people of color.
defeated without
a division.
one of the most
day, then moved
of the State in
which the person should be arrested, rather than the judges of
the State from which
it was alleged he had escaped, to determine whether such person owed service or labor. But this
amendment was defeated by a large majority. Mr. Rich offered
several other amendments to guard the rights of freemen, but
they were rejected. It was then, by a large majority, ordered
to a third reading.
The passage
Adams
of the
bill
was strenuously opposed by Benjamin
contained provisions " dangerous to liberty and to the safety of free persons of color "
of Massachusetts, because
it
;
and Mr. Livermore of New Hampshire opposed
it
because
it
provided that alleged fugitives were not to be identified until
they reached the State where the persons claiming them re-
This provision would expose free persons of color to be
dragged from one part of the country to another. Jonathan
who had served in the Senate from
Mason of Massachusetts
sided.
—
1800
to
1803, and who, though a Federalist, had been elected
House over Mr. Ritchie, son-in-law of Harrison Gray
by a few Federalists and by the Democratic party, and
who afterward betrayed his constituents by voting for the Misspoke at length in approval of the meassouri Compromise
He thought the tribunals of the South would decide more
ure.
So great was the leaning
correctly than those of the North.
to the
Otis,
—
against slavery in Massachusetts, that in ninety-nine cases out
of a hundred juries would decide in favor of the fugitive.
He
did not wish, by denying just facilities for the recovery of fugitive slaves, to
have the town where he lived " infested with the
runaways of the South."
�THE FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT OF
77
1793.
He was sustained by John Holmes, who did not think it
" competent in Massachusetts to try a question between a
Southern master and his slave," and he expressed the opinion that the freedom of no
by the passage of the
man
bill.
in the North would be affected
Mr. Storrs of New York followed,
and expressed his pleasure at the liberality manifested and
he hoped to see more of it displayed by gentlemen from the
North, as an assurance that they " were willing to sacrifice
some old prejudices to the spirit of harmony and mutual bene;
fit."
Mr. Whitman of Massachusetts denied the authority of
officers to perform the duty of arrest-
Congress to compel State
ing and returning fugitive slaves, and Mr. Williams of Connecticut opposed that provision under which a freeman might
be dragged to another part of the country, and have his liberty
endangered, if not destroyed. " In attempting," he said, " to
guard the rights of property to one class of
citizens, it
was un-
just that the rights of another class should be put in jeopardy."
The
was then passed by fifteen majority.
it was referred to a committee, of which John
J. Crittenden of Kentucky was chairman. He reported it with
amendments. The question was debated with much earnestMr. Smith of South Carolina spoke in its advocacy,
ness.
and sharply criticised the action of the Northern States. Mr.
Morrill of New Hampshire spoke at length in opposition to its
provisions
and it was also strongly opposed by Mr. Roberts
of Pennsylvania and by Mr. Burrill of Rhode Island.
It
bill
In the Senate
;
Sanford of
it;
—
Mr. Otis of Massachusetts, Mr.
York, and Mr. Taylor of Indiana, voting for
Mr. Horsey and Mr. Van Dyke, representing the slave State
passed by four majority,
New
of Delaware, voting against
it.
It
went back
to the
House
concurrence in amendments, and, though efforts were
to take
it
up,
it
was suffered
to lie
on the
table.
for
made
Northern
members who had voted for it began to be alarmed at their
own inconsiderate action, and shrank from the consummation
of that cruel measure.
Four years afterward, in 1821, Mr. Wright of Maryland
in-
troduced a resolution into the House of Representatives for the
appointment of a committee to consider the expediency of pro-
�RISE
78
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
viding by law more effectually to secure the rendition of fugitive slaves.
ers
He warmly
and others
hinted that,
deprecated the interference of Quak-
to prevent their reclamation,
if effectual
rights of Southern States, they
in support of their rights.
and
means were not taken
might be driven
significantly
to secure the
to take
The House, 'on motion
up arms
of Mr.
Camp-
bell of Pennsylvania, referred the resolution to the Judiciary
bill was reported.
It was moved by Mr.
Colden of New York so to amend it as to limit the power exercised under it to judges of courts of record.
It was maintained that the law of 1793 was " inadequate," and a bill was
" indispensably necessary." Mr. Colden then withdrew his
Committee, and a
proposed amendment, and moved as a test question to strike
out the enacting clause.
He
declared that he was "not one-
of those visionary philanthropists
who would contend
for im-
mediate and universal emancipation," but he believed the
inconsistent with the principles of liberty,
bill
and would have a
direct agency in promoting the traffic of selling free blacks for
which had been carried on to a great extent. On motion
Kentucky the bill was recommitted to
again reported back with amendments
committee,
and
a select
but no action thereupon was taken. Efforts to secure a law
more stringent than the act of 1793 were continued, however,
till they were crowned with success in the inhuruan act of
slaves
of Francis Johnson of
;
1850.
�CHAPTER
THE SLAVE-TRADE.
Increase of the Slave-trade.
—
Societies.
—
VII.
ITS PROHIBITION.
— Memorial of the National Convention of Abolition
by Mr. Trumbull and passed. — Memorial 6f Penn-
Bill reported
sylvania Quakers against the Re-enslavement of Emancipated Negroes in North
Carolina.
— Exciting
Debate.
— Mr.
Sitgreaves' Report adopted.
house's Bill amendatory of the Slave-trade Act of 1794.
— Senate
— Mr.
Hill-
Bill referred
— Reported with Amendments and passed.
of the Slave-trade. — A
reported in the House. — A
reported and passed in the Senate. — A
Debate thereon. — Mr. Sloan's Amendment. — Mr. Early's Threat. — Mr.
Sloan's Amendment defeated. — Mr. Bidwell's Amendment. — Death Penalty
proposed by Mr. Smilie. — Death Penalty defeated. — Bill recommitted. —
Bill reported. — Laid on the Table. — Senate
taken up, amended, and
passed. — Mr. Randolph's Defiance. — Further Legislation demanded.
to a Select
Committee
— President
in the
Jefferson
House.
recommends the Prohibition
Bill
Bill
Bill
The compromises
of the Constitution, by which the slave-
trade was allowed to continue
that odious
traffic.
The moral
1808, breathed
till
obligation
new
life
into
and restraining force
imposed by the early action of the Continental Congress in
prohibiting that traffic were greatly
by
this constitutional provision.
weakened or neutralized
Many who,
in the fervor of
the Revolutionary struggle, readily indorsed that noble action
were now
led, if they
did not engage in the odious
traffic
who were involved in it.
country under the new government,
themselves, to countenance those
The
rapid growth of the
the opening of fresh lands for settlement, and the increasing
demand
for Southern products, enhanced the price of slaves
and stimulated the hateful trade. The ports of South Carolina
and Georgia were opened wide to welcome cargoes of newly
The prohibitory laws of the States were
weakened or rendered nugatory by selfish interests
and
Northern capital, ships, sailors, and merchants shared in the
profits and in " the contamination of a traffic at which every
feeling of humanity must forever revolt."
enslaved Africans.
;
•
�80
RISE
On
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
day of January, 1794, a convention of delegates
Ten States
of abolition societies was held at Philadelphia.
the
first
General Joseph Bloornfield of
were represented.
New
afterward governor of that State, and a general in the
1812, presided.
It
recommended the
Jersey,
War
of
institution of annual dis-
courses on the subject of slavery, and also an annual convenIt also sent forth
tion of delegates of abolition societies.
an
address to the citizens of the United States from the pen of
that distinguished physician, philanthropist, and statesman, Dr.
Benjamin Rush.
A memorial,
signed by the president of the convention, was
presented to the House of Representatives, praying Congress to
pass a law to prohibit the
on by American
traffic carried
citi-
zens to supply slaves to foreign nations, and to prevent foreigners
from
trade.
fitting out vessels in this
country for the African slave-
This memorial, a petition of the Quakers at the Yearly
Meeting, and also one from the Providence Society for the abolition of the slave-trade,
were referred
a committee of
to
five,
of which Mr. Trumbull of Connecticut, who had been Speaker
House during the preceding Congress, was chairman.
was reported from this committee which, after being so
amended as to insert the word " foreign " before the word " ship,"
or " vessel," was passed. When it reached the Senate, an unsuccessful motion for postponement was made, and it passed that
of the
A bill
body.
In November,
1797,
Mr.
Gallatin of Pennsylvania pre-
sented to the House of Representatives a memorial of the
Quakers of that State, setting forth that one hundred and
made free by the members of that society in
North Carolina had been reduced to slavery again by retroactive laws.
The memorialists pronounced that act " an abominable tragedy, tending to bring down the righteous judgments
thirty-four slaves
of
Almighty God upon the land."
They
also called the atten-
tion of Congress to the " solemn league
with the Almighty," by which the
in 1774, decreed that they
first
would neither import slaves nor
purchase slaves imported by others.
this
and covenant made
Continental Congress,
They represented
that
solemn covenant had been contravened by the cruelties
�THE SLAVE-TRADE.
—
and wrongs practised on the colored race
Congress by timely and adequate legislation
wrongs and cause these cruelties to cease.
A
81
ITS PROHIBITION.
;
and they prayed
to redress these
sharp debate at once sprang up, in which, though the gen-
on the subject of
eral geographical divisions of sentiment
slav-
ery appear, which generally obtained through the long struggle
till its close, there were yet many
and marked exceptions in which the most hard and heartless
opinions fell from Northern lips, and generous and humane
sentiments were clearly pronounced by some men from the
South.
Robert Goodloe Harper, one of the most eminent public men of that day, and then a representative from South
with increasing distinctness
He
Carolina, led off in the opposition.
and the State legislatures should
monstrances complaining of what
thought that Congress
set their faces against " reit
was utterly impossible
to
alter."
Mr. Rutledge of the same State, who had been nominated
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, but
who had been
rejected by the Senate, thought the Quakers
ought to be censured by a report of the committee.
that they were a set of
men who
He avowed
attempted to seduce the ser-
vants of gentlemen travelling to the seat of government, and
were constantly importuning Congress
to interfere in a business
had no concern. Mr. Macon of North Carolina,
who served more than thirty years in Congress, was Speaker
of the House, and President pro tern, of the Senate, petulantly
remarked that the Quakers, " instead of being peace-makers,
were war-makers," as they were continually endeavoring in the
with which
it
Southern States to "
stir
up insurrection among the negroes."
Expressing himself sarcastically or very unreasonably, he said
it
was extraordinary that the Quakers should come, session
after session, with their petitions
;
for, if
they were dissatisfied
with the laws of North Carolina, they had only to transfer their
negroes to Pennsylvania, where they would be immediately set
free.
Even Mr. Sewell of Massachusetts, afterward Chief JusSupreme Court, denied that Congress could furnish
tice of its
redress to the re-enslaved freemen, since
the law of North Carolina.
11
it
could not change
�82
RISE
On
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
the other hand, the reference of the memorial was advo-
cated by Mr. Thatcher of Massachusetts, whose twelve years
from 1789
in Congress,
to
He
devotion to freedom.
1801, were years of undeviating
maintained that, if the Quakers
thought themselves aggrieved,
their petitions " three,
five,
grievances were redressed.
led
many
willing to have
was
their duty to present
seventy times,"
or
until
their
Mr. Swanwick of Pennsylvania
expressed the opinion that the
shown
it
uncommon warmth which was
persons to believe that gentlemen were un-
such matters
looked into.
Mr.
Gallatin
scouted the idea that the petition would shake the property
of the country,
when
it
was only a paper reminding them of
certain black men, not slaves, but freemen.
Mr. Allen of
Connecticut trusted the petition would not be rejected, as
its
would be highly disrespectful to a society revered by
Mr. Livevery man who sets a value on virtue and integrity.
ingston of New York, afterward General Jackson's Secretary
of State, said that, if the petitioners were of the description
if they had endeavored to raise insurrection in
represented,
he
one part of the country and practise robbery in another,
should not be inclined to pay much respect to them.
rejection
—
—
Thus the debate ran on, revealing rather
interests, and associations of the different
the individuality,
participants than
the well-matured convictions and formally accepted positions
of either persons or parties in the
strife.
In
new and
untried
circumstances they were evidently grappling with a question
they did not fully understand, whose height and depth, length
and breadth, they did but imperfectly comprehend. If they did
jump at conclusions, evidently much that was said in that
not
debate was rather the utterance of
first
impressions than of
well-reasoned deductions, carefully drawn from a patient and
thorough examination.
Thus Mr. Parker
of Massachusetts, afterward Chief Justice
of that State, opposed the reference of the petition because
it
had no
power to act while Mr. Bayard, a lawyer of great eminence
from Delaware, declared that he was warranted in saying that
the Constitution gave the House jurisdiction over the matter
asked Congress to act upon a subject on which
;
it
�THE SLAVE-TRADE.
—
ITS PROHIBITION.
83
made free by their masters,
no State had the right to make ex post facto laws."
Josiah Parker of Virginia insolently remarked that he would
consent to the petition's lying on the table or under the table.
Much more reasonably and frankly did Mr. Nicholas of the
same State declare that it would be for the honor of people
of the re-enslavement of those
for "
holding slaves to look into the matter, as "
interest of
it
was not
for the
He
slaveholders to cover improper practices."
should, indeed, be sorry
if his
possessing property of that kind
him to cover the violation of another man's rights.
Mr. Gordon of New Hampshire saw nothing in the memo-
obliged
rial calling for the interference
reminded by Mr. Thatcher
of Congress.
that, while they
- Gentlemen were
were opposing the
reading of the memorial, they were filing off in squads and
fighting to get a sight of
it.
Mr. Smith of Maryland coolly
said that the laws of Virginia permitting emancipation
by the
masters made the slaves of neighboring States unhappy and
The memorial
gave their masters considerable uneasiness.
was then
referred to a committee of five, of which Mr. Sit-
greaves of Pennsylvania was chairman.
After several confer-
ences with the memorialists, and a careful examination of the
subject, the
committee reported
strictly a judicial question,
it
as their opinion that
it
was
with which Congress, as a legisla-
tive body, could not legitimately
Though Mr.
intermeddle.
Rutledge and Mr. Thatcher expressed themselves dissatisfied
with the report,
The
it
was adopted by a large majority.
act of 1794, to prevent the fitting out of vessels in the
ports of the United States engaged in supplying slaves to
foreigners, did not accomplish the purpose intended.
legislation
was demanded.
year 1799, Mr. Hillhouse of Connecticut
for the
law.
appointment of a committee
moved
for the
in the Senate
revision of the
The motion being adopted, a committee of
sisting of
Further
Accordingly, near the close of the
himself, Dexter of
Delaware, were appointed,
three, con-
Massachusetts, and
who
reported a
bill
Read
of
which was
passed.
Near the
close of April, 1800, the
consideration of the
bill
House proceeded
received from the Senate.
to the
In the
�84
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
New England found little occasion for
complacency when she compared the utterances of one of her
debate which followed
representatives,
John Brown of Rhode
Island, with those of
the representatives of Virginia and Delaware.
Making the
was improper to prevent the
citizens of the United States from participating in a trade
enjoyed by all European nations, Mr. Brown said he well
knew that Congress was drilled into passing the previous act
by the well-known abolition society, otherwise the Society of
Friends, who were " very troublesome till they got the act
extraordinary declaration that
He
passed."
thought
it
and
it
it
poor policy to prevent a trade allowed
ought to be considered wrong, in a
moral point of view, to prevent it, as the people themselves
profited by it.
It ought to be a matter of national policy, as
Avowing such
it would bring in a revenue to the treasury.
he
of
course,
sentiments,
was,
in favor of postponing the furto be profitable
;
ther consideration of the measure.
In striking contrast with these heartless and immoral sen-
who said
common with the
timents were those of Mr. Nicholas of Virginia,
that, as a
Southern man, he was obliged, in
people of the South, to keep
men
in a state of slavery
;
but
they were endeavoring to ameliorate the condition of that race.
Mr. Bayard agreed with Mr. Brown that the government could
derive a large revenue from the support of the slave-trade,
but he thought " a more dishonorable item of revenue could
not be imagined."
He pronounced
tremely imperfect, and moved
the
bill,
however, ex-
reference to a select com-
This motion, though opposed by Mr. Rutledge, was
mittee.
adopted
its
;
the bill was recommitted, reported back with amend-
— only
The Senate
became a law.
Among the consequences of the insurrection and revolution
in San Domingo were the violent expulsion and expatriation
of large numbers of the defeated. Among them were negroes,
who sought and found refuge in the United States. The presence of a few men of the African race who had fought for liberty and independence aroused alike the fears and passions
of the slave-masters.
The horrors of a servile insurrection
ments, and adopted,
five
voting against
promptly concurred in the amendments, and
it
it.
�THE SLAVE-TRADE.
—
85
ITS PROHIBITION.
loomed up before their excited imaginations and those who
saw thousands of slaves imported into South Carolina and other
Southern States, with no compunctions of conscience or solicitude as to the result, were greatly alarmed and their zeal was
greatly quickened by the arrival of a few black men from San
Domingo with minds inflamed by dreams of liberty. LegislaMemorials were presented from North
tion was demanded.
Carolina, setting forth the dangers to the Southern States from
These memorials
the immigration of this class of persons.
were referred to a committee, of which Mr. Hill of that State
was chairman. He reported a bill in January, 1803, forbidding under severe penalties the coming of such persons, already
;
forbidden by the laws of several of the States.
This advanced position and
new demand, made
in the inter-
which would
have been largely increased had their full significance and bearing been clearly comprehended. Mr. Bacon of Massachusetts
was dissatisfied with the principles involved in that measure.
ests of slavery, excited both opposition, and alarm,
He
emphatically declared that he was not to be " intimidated
by a personal reflection or affected sneers, nor yet by any inhuman threats that can be uttered to supply the place of manly
discussion."
He avowed
that the proposed
measure made
discriminations between citizens of the United States
;
that
such citizens could not, for the purposes of commerce or in
case of distress, enter the ports of particular States, or sail
along their coasts, without subjecting themselves to the severe
penalties of the
bill.
He
further declared that
same discrimination between
between citizens of the United States.
Mr. Mott of New Jersey objected to
unconstitutionality.
it
made
the
citizens of particular States as
Mr. Mitchell of
it
on the ground of
New York moved
its
its re-
commitment for the purpose of amendment; which motion
was supported by several members, on the ground of its alleged
unconstitutionality,
and because
it
abridged the rights of the
colored citizens of some of the States by prohibiting their en-
trance into certain States, under the severe penalties of a fine
of a thousand dollars and the forfeiture of the vessel carrying
them.
This recommitment was strenuously opposed by Hill,
�86
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
Early, and Randolph, who acknowledged that " its penalties
were rigorous, but were only such as the imminent danger of
the Southern States called for." Though the motion for a recom-
mitment was
lost,
another motion, by Mr. Nicholson of Mary-
land, to recommit to a select committee
majority.
cations,
Senate
it
it
was carried by a small
Being reported in a new draft, with some modifiwas adopted by a vote of three to one. In the
was referred
to a
without amendments, and
it
committee, which reported
became a law, inhuman as
it
it
was, and inherently opposed to the then loudly vaunted doc-
human rights and to the fundamental principles of
newly
established republican institutions.
the
In 1803 South Carolina repealed her law prohibiting the imtrine of
portation of slaves.
This action was deeply regretted by most
of her sister States, both on account of
ness and inhumanity, and because
it
its intrinsic
wrongful-
plainly revealed the drift
of her public sentiment to be, not toward the amelioration and
speedy extinction of slavery, as expected and predicted by the authors of the compromises of the Constitution, but rather a stride
in the opposite direction.
iquitous
traffic,
To check and
discourage this in-
early in January, 1804, Mr.
Bard of Pennsyl-
vania introduced a resolution imposing a tax of ten dollars on
The House did not proceed
every slave imported.
sideration
Lowndes
until the middle of
the next month,
to
its
con-
when Mr.
of South Carolina led off in the debate, which, like
the previous discussion, revealed what seemed to be crude and
hastily formed opinions, rather than the
defined argumentation of
men who had
matured and sharply
long studied and delib-
mooted
would not pre-
erately chosen the one or the other of the two sides of a
question.
He
opposed the tax because, while
it
vent the importation of a single slave, the fact of the govern-
ment's deriving a revenue from
it
could be viewed in no other
light than a sanction of the traffic.
Though opposed
to the
slave-trade himself, he admitted that the Southern people felt a
it, and that the acquisition of Louisiana, then
made, would strengthen that interest. Mr. Bedinger of
Kentucky thought such a law would rather sanction than
discourage the trade and Mr. Macon, Speaker of the House,
deep interest in
just
;
�THE SLAVE-TRADE.
opposed
it
necticut, a
•the
—
ITS PROHIBITION.
87
Roger Griswold of Congentleman of large capacity and great influence in
as an impolitic measure.
Federal party, declared his abhorrence of the slave-trade
;
would appear to the world
that Congress was raising a revenue from " a commerce in
but he opposed the tax because
it
slaves."
Mr. Bard, however, spoke earnestly in favor of his resolution,
and maintained that the tax proposed was designed
to inter-
pose every discouragement to the importation of slaves, and
was supported only incidentally as a source of revenue. It was
also eloquently supported by Mr. Mitchell of New York, who
reminded the House that in various parts of the country outfits
were made
hension
;
for slave
that,
voyages without secrecy, shame, or appre-
countenanced by their fellow-citizens, who were
buy slaves as they were to collect and bring them
men, as greedy as the sharks of the element on which they sailed, " clandestinely embarked the sooty
offspring of the Eastern for the ill-fated soil of the Western
as willing to
to market, merciless
He estimated that during the preceding year
twenty thousand enslaved negroes had been added, by smug-
hemisphere."
gling, to the plantation stock of Georgia
and South Carolina.
Mr. Stanton of Rhode Island, in a similar
the House
selling the
strain,
members
his gratification to find honorable
who " reprobate the infamous
human species." It was not
expressed
in every part of
traffic
of buying and
his intention to crim-
whose late conduct had created serious
and well-founded alarm but he could not " connive at a meas-
inate South Carolina,
;
ure that goes to shake the pillars of public security, threatens
corruption to the morals of our citizens, and tarnishes the
American character."
Mr. Southard of
New
at the introduction of the resolution, because "
tional legislature
an opportunity
to
Jersey rejoiced
it
gave the na-
hear their opinions against
Even a South Carolina representative,
Mr. Thomas Moore, though he opposed the tax, expressed
the hope that the House would discourage the impolitic act of
the increase of slaves."
by enacting a law expressive of its disapprobation.
There were others, however, more pronounced in their
his State
opposition to the resolution because
it
was introduced
in the
�88
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
Thus Mr. Huger of South Carolina
maintained that the Constitution was " the offspring of coninterests of freedom.
cession and compromise," that under
it South Carolina enjoyed
" the exclusive right of judging of the propriety of allowing
the trade or prohibiting
it
"
;
and he
felt
sensibly the singling
out of his State for censure for doing what she had a right to
He emphatically asserted that the people of the North,
do.
" who make the most noise upon the subject, are those who,
when they go
to the South, first hire, then buy, and, last of all,
among
turn out the severest masters
us."
This ill-natured
criticism was undoubtedly then, and has been unquestionably
Of a similar spirit were the remarks of Mr.
since, too true.
Eppes of Virginia, son-in-law of President Jefferson, who
said that he lived in a State where slaves were as much the
but he did not know that the
subject of taxation as lands
statute-books of Virginia were stained by imposing taxes upon
them. According to some estimates, one hundred thousand
Accordingly, a
slaves would be imported in four years.
million
dollars
would
therefrom.
Mr.
revenue of a
of
accrue
Early moved its postponement till the first Monday of May
and his motion was supported by Gregg of Pennsylvania,
Lyon of Kentucky, and Huger. But it failed, and the resolution was adopted by a large majority, and referred to the Committee of Ways and Means, which immediately reported a bill.
;
Mr. Lowndes moved that its consideration be postponed till
first day of December, which was opposed by Mr. Eppes,
the
and supported by Mr. Jackson but it failed of securing the
necessary vote, though subsequently a motion of Mr. Findley
;
to postpone to the second
Monday
of
March prevailed by a
majority of six.
During the debate Mr. Rodney of Delaware expressed his
that " so inhuman a practice was justly reprobated by all." He said that every gentleman from the South
as well as the East deprecated the act of South Carolina. But
gratification
he was in favor of delaying action
State could be ascertained.
to
me
"
to
it.
To
the sentiment of that
No man,"
a friendship for slavery.
warmly opposed
till
blot
I
it
he said, " can ascribe
have been uniformly and
out of the pages of our
�—
THE SLAVE-TRADE.
country
ITS PROHIBITION.
one of the objects nearest
is
my
heart.
89
my own
In
State I have hitherto maintained an unequal conflict on this
But great
subject.
Little
is
the force of truth, and
it
will prevail."
did this distinguished son of Delaware then imagine
that his State would,
when
the trial came, be
among
the most
persistent in opposition to the policy of emancipation.
Elmer
of
New
Mr.
Jersey advocated the passage of the measure,
was predicated on a sound principle of morality and
economy. The bill, however, never came to a vote, owing to
the pressure of the representatives from South Carolina, to
because
it
allow her legislature to repeal the obnoxious act.
never retraced her steps
;
But she
and, though in that whole debate
not one word of apology or defence was raised in behalf of
her disgraceful action and position, she persisted in her policy,
and the infamous
traffic
was vigorously prosecuted under the
sanction of her laws.
The time
empowering Congress to
was approaching. Mr. Jefferthe second session of the Ninth Con-
fixed by the Constitution
prohibit the African slave-trade
son, in his message to
gress, in 1806, thus alluded to the subject
:
" I congratulate
you, fellow-citizens, on the approach of a period at which you
may
interpose your authority constitutionally to withdraw the
citizens of the
United States from
human
all participation in
the vio-
which has been so long continued on
the unoffending inhabitants of Africa, and which the morality,
the reputation, and the best interests of the country have long
been eager to prescribe. Although no law you can pass can
lation of
rights
first day of the year 1808, yet
not too long to prevent, by timely
take prohibitory effect until the
the intervening period
notice, expeditions
is
which cannot be completed before that
day."
The subject, however, like everything connected with slavery
and its recognition in the Constitution, was beset with difficulties,
resulting from the abnormal state of affairs, and the per-
tinacity
of the
slaveholders
against any legislation
which
threatened to interfere with their system. Rightly concluding that there would be infractions of any law that could be
framed against the horrible but profitable traffic, it was, of
12
�90
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
EISE
course, needful to affix penalties against
make some
IN
its
AMERICA/
and
hands of
violation,
disposition of the victims found in the
men who might be detected in that violation.
These two points were the subjects of special interest, as
they became the themes of much angry discussion.
the guilty
So much of the President's message as related to the prohibition of the slave-trade
was referred
to a select committee,
of which Mr. Early of Georgia was chairman.
was promptly introduced into the Senate,
A
bill, too,
to prevent the im-
portation of slaves after the 1st of January, 1808.
referred to a committee, of which Mr. Bradley of
It
was
Vermont
was chairman. He reported it back, and it became the subject
of an earnest and excited debate for three weeks, when it was
A similar bill had been reported
body by Mr. Early on the 15th of the same month. It
had six sections. Among them was one making it unlawful
to import any person of color, with intent to keep or sell
passed and sent to the House.
in that
another, forfeiting to the United States any person so im-
and another still, imposing the forfeiture of vessels,
and fines upon persons fitting out such vessels. In the long
and earnest debate which followed was revealed the fact that
there was no dissent from the proposition to put an end to
the odious traffic. Whether from motives of policy, humanity,
or Christian morality, there was a general acquiescence in
the prohibition.
The questions a\ issue were concerning the
proper penalties to be prescribed, and the proper disposition
to be made of any Africans who might be imported in contravention of the law.
These were vehemently and passionately
discussed.
The slave-masters, who had early acquired almost
complete ascendency in the government, seemed determined
that their cherished system should receive no damage from
this proposed prohibition. Whatever else might follow, slavery
must not be harmed. The debate, however, revealed great
diversity of views, even among those whose purposes were in
the main alike.
ported
;
Mr. Sloan of
moved
to
New Jersey, a member of the
amend
feited " the
the
bill
by inserting
Society of Friends,
word " for-
after the
words," and such person or slave shall be entitled
�THE SLAVE-TRADE.
—
ITS PROHIBITION.
91
Mr. Alston of North Carolina doubted the
power of Congress to free slaves imported into any particular
Mr. Eppes
State when the laws directed they should be sold.
to his freedom."
moved
to
amend
the
amendment,
so as to provide that the for-
feiture should take place in the States
amendment, providing that a person should be forfeited
and yet should be free. To this Mr. Sloan replied that
Sloan's
and
where slavery was not
Mr. Early thought there was an absurdity in Mr.
permitted.
sold,
ought
imporselling
United
States,
or
them
therein.
tation of slaves into the
it
to be the object of the bill totally to prohibit the
The amendment was then vehemently opposed by Mr. Early,
who declared that " on the decision of this question would turn
another,
whether the government would now prohibit the
—
slave-trade or not.
It is true, if
we pass
this bill as
it
stands,
that persons imported will not only be forfeited, but be sold as
and be afterward kept as such.
slaves,
truth,
This
— melancholy because without such a
of persons, in
case
a melancholy
What can we do
pass no law that can be effectual.
description
is
provision
we can
with this
they are brought into this
country in contravention of this act ? " "I am not prepared,"
said Mr. Smilie of Pennsylvania, " to say what is best to be
done
the
;
but I will never give
Shall we, while
bill.
this traffic, take
traders
?
my
we
consent to the last section of
are attempting to put a stop' to
upon ourselves the odium of being
slave-
"
The Speaker, Mr. Macon, expressed the opinion that the
sentiment was unanimous against the importation of slaves
but he confessed that there were grave
of deciding what was to
difficulties in the
become of cargoes imported.
;
way
Those
knew nothing about the country, could not speak its
language, and he desired to know what was to become of them.
persons
Mr. Early, after saying that the most formidable aspect in
which this question could present itself was that of making
them free in slaveholding communities, emphatically proclaimed that, if they were turned loose " upon us, we must
either get rid of
not
my
tance.
them or they of
practice to be
us.
I will
speak out
;
it
is
mealy-mouthed on a subject of impor-
Not one of them
will be left alive in a year."
�92
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
Mr. Barker of Massachusetts thought the
imported
illegally
made free and returned to their native land
but the amendment was rejected, only nineteen voting for it.
Mr. Bidwell of Massachusetts having moved to strike out the
Africans should be
forfeiture clause,
;
Mr. Quincy of the same State opposed the
motion, remarking that this afforded the only way by which the
United States could get control of them.
made
ported into the South, they would be
North, they would become vagabonds.
Carolina
;
into the
if
Mr. Williams of North
sneeringly remarked that gentlemen were " com-
pletely hobbled,"
— that they
must go on or
stick
where they
Mr. Pitkin of Connecticut strongly objected
were.
were im-
If they
slaves
to forfeit-
ing the imported Africans, and moved to recommit the
The motion was
bill to
and it was recommitted to a committee of seven, of which Mr. Early was
made chairman. Mr. Smilie, remarking that the captain of a
slave-ship was guilty of murder, proposed for the consideration
of the select committee a new section, providing that any one
duly convicted of violating the law should suffer death.
When the debate was resumed, Mr. Findley of Pennsylvania
a select committee.
carried,
advocated the binding out of the forfeited negroes for a term
of years.
Mr. Bidwell opposed the forfeiture clause, because
and implied that the
to the question what
should be done with the imported Africans, he was willing to
" agree to any practicable method."
Mr. Quincy made a long and very able speech. He regretted
that they could not devise some plan to which they all might
assent
and he thought it might be effected " if gentlemen
would come down from their high abstract ground to the level
it
proceeded wholly on a
false principle,
As
importer had a right to his slave.
;
of things in their actual state."
Alluding to the assertion that
the African prince and the slave-trader could acquire no right
of property in the captive prisoner of the former, or in the purchased slaves of the latter, he said " Their conclusions are
:
correct
;
their principles are solid.
Refer the claim of either
dicts
hundred juries of New England, and five hundred verBut the misfortune is
would be obtained against it
that,
notwithstanding
to five
all
these unquestionable principles, the
�THE SLAVE-TRADE.
—
93
ITS PROHIBITION.
African prince does at this day, and after this law passes
To
sell his subjects.
in
them
;
and they are passed,
like other property,
another in their native country.
A
title
will,
practical purposes a title is acquired
all
But
from one
to
this is not the worst.
to this description of persons is not only allowed in
Africa, but
is
tion of your
and must be
which
state of things to
legislate.
after
How?
Do
your law passes, in a large sec-
Now this
own country
Ave
all
is
that real, practical
must look and on which we must
we can to prohibit. If you fail in
—
and such persons are imported, then forfeit,
because
that is the surest mode of prohibition, by taking away the inducement to purchase because the government, with the title
in its own hands, can exercise its rights in the interests of
humanity. The objection " that it admits a title is only in
this,
;
'
'
seeming.
there
is,
All that
more or
government,
shall
necessarily implied
is
less,
What
to be used for their good.
do with them
may
is
that
all
of
title
passes into the hands of the general
be
left for
the government
future consideration."
Mr. Macon having said that this was a commercial ques-
which the laws of nations have nothing to
remarked that this question is connected with
tion merely, with
do, Mr. Smilie
principles of a higher order than those merely commercial.
Repeating the
self evident truths of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence, he inquired
commercial principles.
how
these rights are connected with
The motion
to strike out the clause
by a large majority. The report of the
select committee coming up for consideration on the last day
of the month and year, a motion was made to substitute imprisonment for not less than five nor more than ten years for
on
forfeiture
was
lost
the penalty of death, for the violation of the proposed law.
Mr. Sloan remarked that there were many crimes inferior to
punishable with death.
Depicting the horrors of the
this
traffic,
he affirmed that "there should be a proportion
in
these things."
Mr. Ely of Massachusetts thought
crimes, and he
it
the most heinous of
advocated so severe a punishment because
he wished to adopt
the most effectual
method
to
stop
it.
Mr. Tallmadge of Connecticut expressed surprise that where
�AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
94
RISE
there
was such unanimity of purpose as
IN AMERICA.
to the end, there
"
should be such diversity of sentiment as to the means.
only wish," he said, "
that
we may,
My
so exemplary a punishment
Alluding to the
suppress it."
is to affix to it
if possible, totally
between those laws early enacted in the civilized
world and those given to the Jews, he quoted the command
" And he that stealeth a man and selleth him, or if he be
similarity
:
found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death," and in" If this was the punishment by Heaven decreed for
quired
:
man-stealers and man-sellers, then shall imprisonment and
now
fines be substituted
nable
of
traffic,
which
?
Shall
we
place this
I fear erelong will call
the vengeance
"
of minor offences ?
Heaven on our heads, in the list
Mr. Moseley of Connecticut, alluding to " the
with which Southern
most abomi-
down
men
air of
charged the crime of
triumph "
this traffic to
who were importing
the people of the Northern States
slaves
wonder that they should be so
tender of these Northern men. He believed that if any of his
into their markets, expressed
section were convicted of this grave offence, his constituents
would thank the South for hanging them. Alluding to the
fact that in some States " a man is put to death for stealing
" Suppose some philosophical
fifty dollars," Mr. Smilie said
historian, some ages hence, should find that we punish such
:
trifles
with death, but this
traffic
with simple imprisonment,
would not such a paragraph in his history be an everlasting
disgrace to our country
?
"
But there were not wanting those who made no concealof the tendency and drift of their sentiments and
feelings, by counselling mild measures against even the vile
some who, in their determimiscreants of the slave-traffic,
nation to maintain and profit by its fruits, found an adequate
reason for dealing gently with those who only furnished them
ment
—
these fruits.
Thus, Mr. Early doubted the propriety of the
death penalty, because the people would not execute it. For,
he said, " Southern people do not regard this traffic a crime.
They
are
all
concerned in slavery.
They consider
it
an
evil,
and apprehend, at some future day, mischievous consequences
but few consider it a crime. It is best to be candid on this
;
�THE SLAVE-TRADE.
If
subject
—
they considered
necessarily accuse themselves.
majority of
ITS PROHIBITION.
it
crime,
a
95
they would
I will tell the truth.
them do not consider
even an
it
A
large
Indorsing
evil."
same view, Mr. Holland of North Carolina went a step
further, and said, by implication at least, that there was no
essential difference, not only between the foreign and domestic
slave-trade, but he added, with damaging emphasis, between
He said " The
it and the common practice of slavery itself.
importer might say to the informer that he had done no worse,
the
:
nor even so bad, as he.
It is true
that I have these slaves
have transported them from one master to
another.
I am not guilty of holding human beings in bondage.
But you are. You have hundreds on your plantation
By your purchase you tempt
in this miserable condition.
from Africa
;
but
I
traders to increase the
evil.
He might
hold the same lan-
guage to the jury and the judge who try him.
Under such
circumstances the law inflicting death would not be executed."
Mr. Clay of Pennsylvania insisted that the death penalty for
the violation of this law could not be carried into effect even
in his State.
those
And Mr.
Stanton of Rhode Island said that
who bought were as bad as those who import, and demuch "but," he added, thus revealing
serve hanging just as
his sympathies
upon the
;
subject, " I cannot believe that a
man
ought to be hung for only stealing a negro." The motion to
strike out the death penalty was carried by a vote of sixtythree to fifty-two
;
and
it is
to be noted that these
admissions concerning slavery came from
was a
its
damaging
defenders.
It
and not an enemy, who said that there was no
essential difference, not only between the foreign and domestic
slave-trade, but between it and the common practice of slavery
itself.
It was an advocate who said that they who bought
were as bad as those who import, and " deserve hanging just
as much."
friend,
Early in January, 1807, Mr. Pindley offered a proviso that
" no person shall be sold as a slave by virtue of this act "
;
but
it
was
day the
by the casting vote of the Speaker. The next
was recommitted, on motion of Mr. Bedinger, to
lost
bill
a committee of seventeen,
who
so
amended
it
as to provide
�RISE
96
that
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
persons imported in violation of the act should be
all
sent to the free States, bound out for a limited time, and
made
The Senate
free.
committee, and
to the
was
bill
same
House proceeded
That portion of the
also referred to the
on the 9th of February the
consideration of the measure.
act authorizing the President to take such persons as were
forfeited and " indenture them as apprentices or servants, as
beneficial for them and safe for the United States, out,
however, of the slave States " led to a heated and angry debate,
most
lasting the whole day.
Even
mild and,
this
favorable disposition of such persons
it would seem,
was strenuously opposed
Mr. Early emphatically declared that " the
people of the South would resist this provision of the bill with
by Southern men.
their lives "
;
and he moved
to
amend
it
by providing that
negroes so imported should be delivered to the State authoribe disposed of as they
ties, to
may
determine.
His violent
utterances, however, were sharply rebuked by Mr. Smilie,
who
reminded him that the House was not to be frightened by
threats of civil war.
Mr. Early explained that he only meant
would be necessary to enforce the act.
was laid upon the table. The Senate bill was
then taken up, and the death penalty stricken out, by a major-
to say that troops
The House
bill
ity of nineteen.
It
forbade the transportation, for purposes of
any negro on board of any vessel under forty tons'
burden but, on motion of Mr. Early, it was amended so as to
sale, of
;
exclude the Senate prohibition of the domestic slave-trade.
The Senate bill also provided that neither importer nor purpersons illegally imported.
Mr. Williams moved to substitute the word " retain " for the
word " have " or " gain " and the motion to strike out was
agreed to, but the word " hold " instead of " retain " was substituted.
Mr. Williams then vehemently declared that the sub-
chaser should gain any legal
title to
;
word " hold " instead of " retain" would lead
to the destruction and massacre of the whites in the Southern
The Senate bill as thus amended was passed, only five
States.
stitution of that
voting in the negative.
amendments, excepting the proviso allowing the domestic slave-trade, the House
The Senate promptly concurring
in the
�THE SLAVE-TRADE.
—
97
ITS PROHIBITION.
resumed the consideration of the bill. On the motion to recede
from the amendment, John Randolph, who had remained silent
during the debate, made a violent and defiant speech, declaring, " if the bill passed without the
amendment, the Southern
people would set the law at defiance, and he would set the ex-
The House voted not
ample."
to recede,
and a committee of
This committee adopted a modificonference was appointed.
cation, forbidding " the transportation of slaves coastwise in
under forty tons with a view
vessels
The
to sale."
report caused a very acrimonious debate.
said " he had rather lose the
bills of
bill,
Mr. Randolph
he had rather lose
the session, he had rather lose every
bill
all
the
passed since
the establishment of the government, than agree to the provision contained in this slave
stitution in ruins."
"
not worth a single farthing."
sion, a vote
bill.
The whole
It
went
After
blow up the ConMr. Williams, " is
to
bill," said
much acrimonious
discus-
was reached, and the modification was adopted by
The Senate accepting
a majority of fourteen.
the bill was passed.
the modification,
Subsequently a committee was chosen,
on motion of Mr. Randolph, to prepare an explanatory act.
He reported a bill, which was referred to the committee of the
whole, from which it never emerged.
In defiance of the laws of Congress and the claims of
humanity, the foreign slave-trade continued to be stealthily
carried on
and the domestic slave-trade, too, by land and sea,
;
was prosecuted with increasing
vigor.
It was estimated that
not less than fifteen thousand slaves were annually imported
into the Southern States.
The domestic slave-trade was stim-
demand from the Gulf States. To its
and horrors were added those growing
out of an extensive system of kidnapping.
The honor of the
country and the claims of humanity alike demanded additional
ulated by the increasing
ordinary hardships
legislation.
13
�CHAPTER
VIII.
DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN SLAVE-TRADE.
— NEGOTIATIONS
WITH
FOREIGN POWERS.
—
— Cruel Character of the
— Christian Sentiment.
— Action
of Mr. Burrell. — Rufus King. — Mr.
Morrill. — Mr. Eaton's Motion. — Mercer's Resolution. — Passage of the
— Mr. Gorham's Report. — Co-operation with Foreign Powers recommended.
— Treaty of 1815. — British Proposition. — Mr. Rush's Treaty. — Action of
England. — Dilatory Action of the Senate. — Treaty amended. — Mr. Clay's
Reply. — Insincerity of the American Government.
Extent of Domestic and Foreign Slave-trade.
— Prosecution of the
of the Quakers. — Motion
Slave-breeding.
Traffic.
Foreign Trade.
Bill.
American slavery was multiform
Among
pacities for evil.
stood out, in bold and black
and domestic.
sale
all
This, in
in
its
aspects
and
ca-
these various phases and features
all its
relief,
— foreign
— from the
the slave-trade,
developments,
first
of his captive by the robber chief in Africa, through
the horrors of the middle passage and the slave coffle,
the last transfer,
only did
many
exertions for
— was an
Not
most strenuous
essential part of the system.
of the slave-masters
its
till
make
their
protection and preservation, but those exer-
tions were too often connived at, if not aided, by the general
government.
A
true estimate, then, of the extent and blame-
worthiness of the national complicity in this great crime
re-
quires a glance at the character and amount of that commerce
in
human
beings.
After the peace of 1815 the
demand
for slave labor greatly
increased, and the price of slaves largely advanced.
Conse-
quently the slave-trade was prosecuted with renewed vigor.
Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Virginia became the
seat of the disgraceful traffic, the head-quarters
and
field
of
operations of those who, in the prosecution of their terrible
business, here sought its victims and furnished supplies for the
�DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN SLAVE-TRADE.
99
Southwestern market. So cruel and shameless did the trade
become that many masters themselves and defenders of the
system revolted at such demonstrations, and entered their
earnest protests against the logical sequences of their
own
John Randolph denounced it as inhuman and abominable, and moved for a committee of investigation
but nothEven a governor of South Carolina, in a
ing came of it.
message to his legislature, denounced " this remorseless and
merciless traffic, the ceaseless dragging along the streets and
highways of a crowd of suffering victims to minister to insatiable
And this is
avarice," and he, too, invoked legislative action.
but a tithe of Southern testimony, not to be impeached by the
charge of abolition, prejudice, and extravagance. A Kentucky
theories.
;
synod of the Presbyterian church thus refers
often seen in that State, proclaiming,
" There
of our system."
is
it
not a village,"
to the slave coffle,
said,
it
"the iniquity
adds, " that does
not behold the sad procession of manacled victims."
Van Burcn's
Paulding, afterward Mr.
Mr.
Secretary of the Navy,
thus describes a party of these Northern slaves, which he met
" In a cart," he said,
in 1815, sold for a Southern market.
" tumbled like pigs, were half a dozen half-naked black children,
who seemed
to
have been actually broiled to sleep,
fol-
lowed by scantily clothed women, without shoes or stockings, and men, bareheaded, half clad, and chained together
with an ox-chain," followed by a white
belt.
A Southern
man
with pistols in his
same kind of procession
chains riveted upon their person, half
editor wrote of the
as " with heavy, galling
naked, half starved," these victims of man's unfeeling rapacity, were travelling to a region where " their miserable condition will be second only to the wretched creatures in hell."
They were
The Border States had become slavebreeding communities, making the raising of slaves a special
Nor were these
rare, extreme, exceptional cases.
the order of the day.
and fostered
interest.
Baltimore journal said
large business
;
quoting Southern testimony, a
" Dealing in slaves has become a
Still
:
establishments are
made
in several places in
Maryland and Virginia, at which they are sold like cattle.
These places of deposit are strongly built, and well supplied
�100
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
IN AMERICA.
with iron thumb-screws and gags, and are ornamented with
cow-skins, oftentimes bloody."
Thomas
Jefferson Randolph
said in the Virginia legislature, in 1832, that the State
grand menagerie, where
oxen for the shambles."
men
was one
are reared for the market like
Comparing the domestic and foreign
pronounced the former" much the worse " for
while the latter, he said, only took " strangers in aspect, lanslave-trade, he
;
guage, and manner," in the former, an individual takes those
he might have put it far more
he had " known from infancy,"
tears " them from the mother's arms," and sells
strongly,
—
—
them "
into a strange country,
to cruel taskmasters."
and added, "
sists
much
I
among
a strange people, subject
Mr. Gholson admitted the like
do not hesitate to say that in
of our wealth."
its
fact,
increase con-
Professor Dew, afterwards presi-
dent of William and Mary College, in a review of the great
debate in the Virginia legislature, in 1831 - 32, on the slavery
upon to answer the objection that this
would depopulate Virginia of its black population, which
he did by saying that it added largely to its revenues, and thus
" becomes an advantage to the State, and docs not check the
black population as much as at first view we might imagine,
because it furnishes every inducement to the master to attend
to the negroes, to encourage breeding, and to cause the greatest
question, felt called
traffic
number
possible to be raised
Virginia
is
in fact a negro-
raising State for other States."
Now when
it
is
remembered that
this
was not spoken
in
the heat of debate by a political partisan, but written by a cul-
man
in the calm retirement of his study,
young men in the venerable college of his
State,
discoursing of slave-breeding and slave-selling as if
they were mere matters of political economy, precisely as he
would write of raising stock and improved breeds of animals,
the one as
coolly putting the two abhorrent ideas together,
and arguing that the
indecent as the other was inhuman,
stimulus thus given to slave-breeding was an adequate compen-
tivated, scholarly
an educator,
—
too, of
—
sation for the losses incurred by slave-selling,
—
— something of
the moral tendency of the system he defends and advocates
may
be estimated.
And what
gives its deepest shading to
�DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN SLAVE-TRADE.
101
dark picture is the fact that this increase was secured
by a persistent ignoring of the family relation, that these slaves
were born out of wedlock, and were the fruits of a promiscuous
this
concubinage.
It this
vading the upper
was the
must have been simply
class
style of
thought and feeling per-
strata of society, the sentiments of the lower
horrible,
and the utter
social
demoralization which the rebellion revealed ceases to be a matter of
In the prosecution of this terrible business, by
wonder.
the confession of the slave-dealers themselves, the family
tie
was disregarded, and infants were taken from the mother's
arms, while she was sold and they retained. And this traffic
had become so enormous that in 1836 it was estimated that
the number sold from the single State of Virginia was forty
thousand, yielding a return of twenty-four millions of dollars.
It
was, in
fact,
the great business, licensed and protected by
laws, advertised in the papers, and recognized as one of the
branches of legitimate production and trade.
Of course there
humanity, and shame
were those in whom the sense of justice,
was not altogether extinct, and they realized
Editors saw
demned
it,
it
and denounced
it,
its
enormity.
ecclesiastical bodies
judges charged juries, and juries presented
it
conas a
Thus Judge Morrill, of the Circuit
Court, charged the grand jury of Washington that " the fre-
grievance and nuisance.
quency with which the streets of this city have been crowded
with manacled captives, sometimes on the sabbath, cannot fail
to shock all humane persons."
While these scenes were enacting in the interests of the
slave-traffic, the foreign was still prosecuted with
Without adducing the facts, it may be sufficient to
quote the language of Judge Story, of the Supreme Court
domestic
vigor.
of the United States, in a charge to a grand jury in 1819.
"
have," he said, " but too many proofs from unquestion-
We
able sources that
— the African trade —
is still
carried on with
the implacable ferocity and insatiable rapacity of former times.
Avarice has grown more subtle in
and
seizes its prey with
suppressed by
to their very
its
its evasions, and it watches
an appetite quickened, rather than
guilty vigils.
mouths
—
I
American
citizens are steeped
can scarcely use too bold a figure
—
in
�102
AND FALL OP THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
this
stfeam of iniquity."
And
IN AMERICA.
the numbers thus smuggled
were estimated by a Southern
man at from thirteen thousand to fifteen thousand annually.
These statistics of the domestic and foreign traffic
are easily written, but who can measure the unmitigated
into the country at that time
wrongs and untold wretchedness involved in the
of each one of the
transportation
stand
If
?
victims for
sale
whom
and
they
Mr. Jefferson's arraignment of slavery was not
extravagant, when he declared that one hour of the slave's
bondage was fraught with greater evil than ages of the oppression of Great Britain, in revolt from which our fathers fought
through the Revolution, what shall be said of the superadded
horrors, not only of a single year's export from a single State
of forty thousand men,
aggregate of
all
women, and
the States and
all
children, but of the vast
the years of this iniquitous
And what shall be said of the scores of thousands of
?
smuggled victims of foreign and piratical expeditions, extending over the same years, subjected not only to the ordinary
trade
horrors of the slave-trade, but to sufferings greatly increased
and intensified by the outlawry and ban of the civilized world,
under which they must be conducted ? Surely it transcends
all
human
conception.
was not strange, perhaps, that vile and rapacious men
were found ready and reckless enough to engage in this illfavored commerce in the bodies and souls of men, and that
for the extravagant profits which rewarded a successful venture in the foreign trade there were those who would run
the risk of detection but it was a singular, an astounding fact
that a young and professedly Christian republic was found,
It
;
if
not indorsing, yet consenting to
least tolerating
it.
it,
—
if
not protecting, at
For the disgraceful record not only reveals
the fact that Congress, though often petitioned to abolish the
interstate slave-trade, always refused such prayers, not even
adopting any regulations in the interests of humanity in relation to
it,
but
it
shows that " an
official
document was submit-
ted," in 1819, by Mr. Nourse, Register of the Treasury, in
which he
certified that,
though the act of 1807, abolishing the
government of the
slave-trade, required the forfeiture to the
�DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN SLAVE-TRADE.
103
Africans thus illegally introduced into the country, yet of the
more than a hundred thousand which, by Southern admission,
had been surreptitiously brought here, there were no records
in the Treasury Department of any forfeitures under the
When Anthony Burns was to be remanded to slavery,
act.
the whole military and naval power of the general government was placed at the disposal of the slave-master, and he
was remanded to his cruel bondage. Of more than a hundred
thousand persons imported into the United States in violation
of law and entitled to their freedom by
least in the
way provided
it,
not one found
it,
at
in the statute.
and persistent outrage upon all law,
divine, excited the sympathy, the indignation, and
Nor was the
the apprehension of the humane and patriotic.
country ever without earnest protestants and witnesses for the
right and against the wrong.
The faithful Quakers and others
besieged Congress with their petitions, though generally with
unsatisfying and indifferent results.
In March, 1817, Mr.
Of course
human and
this wholesale
Roberts of Pennsylvania introduced a resolution asking for
the appointment of a committee
to inquire
into the expe-
diency of making further provision against the introduction
of slaves.
A
committee was granted, which reported a
that passed both Houses.
By
its
bill
provisions the penalties of
the Prohibitory Act were applied to the fitting out of vessels for
the trade and the transportation of slaves to any country
and
where negroes were found on shipboard, the burden
of proof was put on those in whose possession they were found.
Notwithstanding this legislation, however, the foreign and
domestic slave-trade went on unchecked. Further legislation
and the rigorous enforcement of existing laws were demanded
by the friends of freedom and humanity. The Quakers, as
ever on the alert, were foremost in calling for the suppression
of both the foreign and domestic traffic.
The Yearly Meeting
of Friends sent a memorial to Congress near the close of the
year 1817, for further provision by law for the suppression of
the trade in negroes between the Middle and Southern States.
This memorial was referred by the Senate to a committee of
five, of which Mr. Goldsborough of Maryland was chairman.
in all cases
;
�104
RISE
A
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
few days afterwards Mr. Burrill of Rhode Island moved
that the committee, to which had been referred the memorial,
be instructed to inquire into the expediency of amending the
laws concerning the slave-trade, and also to consider the expediency of consulting with other nations, with a view to the
entire abolition of that traffic.
Mr. Troup of Georgia ex-
pressed his readiness to enforce, within the jurisdiction of the
United States, the abolition of the African slave-trade, but he
was not ready to co-operate with other nations for its suppression.
But it was strenuously maintained by Mr. Burrill that
the slave-trade could be abolished only by concert and co-operaThe venerable Rufus King, one of
tion with other nations.
the framers of the Constitution, thought the nation was bound,
by its principles and the promises it had made, to go farther
than it had ever gone for the suppression of a traffic so abhor-
He
rent.
confessed he could not see
how
co-operation with
other nations for this purpose could lead to entangling alliances or jeopardize the country.
Mr. Campbell of Tennessee was opposed to such co-opera-
He
and England
to give up the slave-trade, and
to
they should refuse, whether we were to attempt to compel
them to do it by force of arms. To this Mr. Burrill replied,
that no nation would be very likely to go to war for the slavetrade.
On the contrary, Spain and Portugal might be inIt was asserted by
fluenced by the acts of other countries.
Mr. Barbour of Virginia that the State he represented took
we were to
induce Spain and Portugal
tion.
asked,
if
unite with France
the lead in the effort " to exterminate the horrible traffic."
He
feared nothing from an alliance with any nation whose
only object was humanity.
Through
the
Executive alone,
however, could the proper arrangements be effected with other
nations.
He
then moved to strike out the clause of the resolu-
tion seeking the co-operation of other nations.
Mr. Morrill of
New Hampshire made
an earnest and enthusi-
speech in favor of the termination of slavery itself. He
maintained that " we were a Christian nation, that the Bible
astic
was our moral guide, that its principles were sacred, its preThe frowns of
cepts salutary, and its commands obligatory.
�DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN SLAVE-TRADE.
Heaven and the threatenings of God
rested on
105
men
for their
Babj lon the great had
To avert the
in the souls of men.
ingratitude to their fellow-mortals.
T
had a traffic
judgments of Heaven, let the inhuman traffic be abolished to
the ends of the earth."
Senators were reminded by Mr. King
that the concert proposed with other nations was not the union
of arms, but of opinions, of example, and of influence, for the
purpose of inducing Spain and Portugal to accede to the compact already made with other nations, to put an end to the
fallen, for she
The motion
African slave-trade.
to
strike out
relating to concert with other nations
was
lost
the
clause
by one vote,
and the resolution was then adopted.
At the next session, in December, 1818, on motion of Mr.
Eaton of Tennessee, the Senate appointed a select committee
to inquire whether any and what amendments to existing laws
were necessary to prevent the importation of slaves. Early in
February Mr. Eaton reported a bill supplementary to the act
of 1817.
In tho House Mr. Mercer introduced two resolutions calling
upon the Navy and Treasury Departments for information concerning the slave-trade. On the loth of January Mr. Middleton of South Carolina, chairman of the committee to which
had been referred so much of the President's message as related to the slave-trade, reported a bill in addition to the several acts prohibiting that traffic.
consideration.
The
The House proceeded
to its
sections of the bill providing bounties for
the crews of vessels capturing slaves imported, and for inform-
whose evidence should lead to the conviction of smugglers
of slaves, were strenuously opposed by Mr. Strother of Virginia but the bill was defended by Mr. Mercer in all its parts.
On motion of Mr. Pindall of the same State, the House
ers
;
amended
it
so as to
punish with death every person
should import, or aid and abet the importation
negro, with intent to
sell
of,
or use such negro as a slave, or
should purchase such negro so imported.
In the Senate Mr. Eaton reported
it
It
who
any African
who
was then passed.
from the committee with
an amendment, striking out the provision making the violation
of the law punishable with death. This amendment was agreed
14
�106
to,
KISE
the
bill
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
was passed, the House concurred, and
it
became a
law.
At
the ensuing session in December, 1819, the House ap-
pointed a select committee on the slave-trade.
Mr. Mercer
reported three resolutions authorizing the President to negotiate
The
with foreign powers.
first
of the three
was agreed
by a large majority, but was lost in the Senate after a brief
debate, in which it was earnestly supported by Burrill, King,
to
and Lowrie of Pennsylvania, and opposed by Smith of South
Carolina, and Walker and King of Alabama.
In the
month
Gorham
of April, 1822, Mr.
of Massachusetts,
from the committee to which had been referred so much of the
President's message as related to the slave-trade, made an able
report, closing with the recommendation that the President be
requested to make arrangements with one or more of the maritime powers of Europe for the more effectual suppression of
But
the slave-trade.
this
humane
proposition was resisted.
Mr. Poinsett of South Carolina stated that the resolution was
carried by a bare majority of the committee, and that he did
not concur in the measure recommended.
At
the next session, in December, the President in his an-
nual message again called the attention of Congress to the
African slave-trade.
On motion
that portion of the message
of Mr. Taylor of
was referred
New York
to a select committee.
Mr. Gorham, who had reported at the previous session in favor
A resoof concert with foreign powers, was made chairman.
lution
was introduced by Mr. Mercer, ever an earnest and conmeasures tending to the utter extinction
sistent advocate of
of the
traffic,
requesting the President to prosecute negotia-
tions with the maritime powers of
effectual abolition,
and
Europe and America
for its
for its ultimate denunciation as piracy,
under the law of nations, by the consent of the civilized world.
He expressed the opinion that not less than thirteen thousand
negroes were even then annually smuggled into the Southern
States.
a"
He
emphatically denounced the African slave-trade as
crime, begun on a barbarous shore, claimed by no civilized
state,
and subject
to
no moral law
rism, a curse extended to the
;
a remnant of ancient barba-
New World
by the colonial policy
�NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE FOREIGN POWERS.
107
He would fix upon the African slave-dealer the
and stigma of being a pirate and a felon, and he implored
the House to sustain the policy of such a legal characterization.
Mr. Wright of Maryland would have the " government listen
to the voice of distressed humanity, and unite with the powers
of the Old."
guilt
of Europe in a qualified search, proposed by Lord Castlereagh
in his noble agency for the suppression of the African slave-
Mr. Mercer's resolutions were then agreed to with only
trade."
nine dissenting votes.
In the House, in December, 1823, so much of the President's
message as related to the slave-trade was referred to a. select
committee, of which Mr. Govan of South Carolina was chairman. On motion of Mr. Mercer, it was instructed to consider
the expediency of prohibiting citizens of the United States,
under the severe penalties of existing laws, from
slave-trading expeditions in foreign ports.
A
fitting out
bill to this effect
was reported by the committee, but the House took no action
thereupon.
But the representations of President Monroe, the efforts of
humane and just in and out of Congress, did little to ar-
the
rest the prosecution of a traffic nurtured
by the avarice and
stimulated by the slave system of the United States.
had
it
Though
ever been.
lation implied both desire
in fact but
Thus
the legislation and attempted legis-
and design
to prevent
it,
keep the promise to the ear and break
they did
it
to the
hope.
As
the sensitiveness and jealousies of the slave-masters had
rendered abortive
legislation
against
all
attempts at
the
home
to
secure practical
so were
slave-traffic,
the pretended
put forth by the government to accomplish a like
efforts
object through negotiations with foreign powers equally futile.
Though
it
seemed
to be earnest
and honest of purpose
attempts, they never became effective.
present
its
It
in its
always contrived to
plans and purposes in such shape, or coupled with
such conditions, that they never reached any satisfactory conclusion.
In the Treaty of Peace of 1815
traffic
in
slaves
was
irreconcilable
it
was declared that the
with
the
principles of
�108
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
humanity and
justice, that the
IN AMERICA.
two governments were desirits entire abolition
and the
ous of continuing their efforts for
;
two contracting parties pledged themselves to use their best
endeavors to accomplish that object. Three years after the
ratification of the treaty Lord Castlereagh proposed to the
American Minister, Mr. Rush, to concede to each other's ships
of war a qualified right of search, with the power of detaining
vessels of either country found with slaves actually on board.
To
this fair
and just proposition a
positive refusal
returned by the American government.
had been
In 1819 Parliament
requested the Prince Regent to renew his beneficent endeavors
with the United States for the suppression of the
traffic
;
but
these practical propositions of the British government did not
meet with a favorable response.
On
the 29th of January, 1823, Mr. Stratford Canning, the
British Minister at Washington, reminded Mr.
Adams,
Secre-
tary of State, of the pledge given at the Treaty of Ghent,
requesting the American government to assent to a plan pro-
prosed by Great Britain, or to suggest some other in
He
its stead.
was informed that the United States proposed a mutual
making the penalty of slave-trading piracy. To
Mr. Canning replied that his government
desired that any British subject who defied the law and disstipulation,
this
proposition
honored his country by engaging
in a trade of blood should
be detected and brought to justice " even by foreign hands,
and from under the protection of her flag." But he proposed
that the mutual right of search should be conceded for a limited time, be restricted to certain parts of the ocean,
confined to a certain
number of
proportioned by mutual consent.
and be
cruisers on each side, to be
This proposition, too, so hon-
orable to the British government,
was
rejected.
Despatches,
however, were forwarded to France, Spain, Portugal, Russia,
Netherlands, Buenos Ayres, and Colombia, expressing the
desire of this
the
common
government
to
make
the slave-trade piracy by
consent of the civilized world.
In June, 1823, Mr. Rush was instructed to conclude a treaty
with Great Britain for the suppression of the slave-trade and
the draft of a convention was forwarded to him, authorizing
;
�NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE FOREIGN POWERS.
109
and conclude a treaty " on the basis of a legislative prohibition of the slave-trade by both parties, under the
But the British Minister, confident of the
penalty of piracy."
him
to propose
action of Parliament, said Mr. Rush in his letter to Mr. Adams,
gave " their unhesitating consent to the principle denouncing
On the 13th of March, 1824, a treaty
London, which was nearly a verbatim draft of
Parliament hastened to pass an
that sent from Washington.
the
conditions
exacted by the United
compliance
with
Act in
States.
In this Act it was declared that all British subjects,
found guilty of slave-trading, " shall suffer death without benefit
of clergy, and loss of lands and goods and chattels, as pirates,
It was profelons, and robbers upon the sea ought to surfer."
vided in this treaty that the cruisers of the United States and
Great Britain, on the coast ot Africa, America, and the West
Indies, might seize slavers under the British or American flag,
and send them to the country where they belonged to be tried
the slave-trade as piracy."
was signed
at
as pirates.
This treaty, made in the interests of humanity and of
which would have been
and America, was laid before
civilization, the ratification of
honorable to England
and delayed
action.
On
the
16th
the
That body
Senate of the United States on the 30th of April.
hesitated
alike
of
May
the
British Minister addressed a letter to the Secretary of State,
reminding him that the treaty had originated with this government, and that England had, without hesitation, complied with the condition by making the slave-trade piracy.
Thus pressed, the President sent a message to the Senate, in
which he reminded that body that the rejection of the treaty
would subject the nation, the Executive, and Congress to the
charge of insincerity and inconsistency. He also expressed
the conviction that it would be impossible to detect the pirates
without entering and searching the vessels, and that it would
be inconsistent in us, with the statute of piracy in our hands,
to
deny the common right of search
the Senate
still
mutilated, and then ratified
vided for the
for the
pirates.
But
hesitated, and, after long debates, changed,
right
of
the treaty.
search on
the
So much as procoast
of
America,
�110
KISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
and so much as applied
citizens
to
IN AMERICA.
chartered vessels,
or
to
the
of either country carrying on the trade under the
foreign flag, were stricken out.
Few
vessels, however, direct
from Africa, landed slaves in the United States. They were
generally landed on some of the West India Islands and
taken to the United States in small vessels so that all that
;
was necessary for them to do was to charter vessels instead of
owning them, and to run up a foreign flag instead of their
own. Of course the treaty, thus emasculated, could do little
to arrest the trade.
The
British
government refused
mutilated and weakened, though
to assent to the treaty thus
offered, through its minisWashington, to give its assent on the condition of allowing the mutual right of search on the coast of America. To
this proposition Mr. Clay, Secretary of State, replied that, from
it
ter at
the views entertained by the Senate,
tinue the negotiations.
it
He reminded
was inexpedient
to con-
the British Cabinet that a
similar connection had been formed with Colombia on the 10th
of December, 1824, the coast of America being excepted from
its
operation, and yet, notwithstanding this conciliatory feature,
the Senate had, by a large majority, refused to ratify
it.
This language of Mr. Clay, from his high position, his antecedents, and connection with a Northern President, clearly in-
dicated not only the manifest drift of the government, but the
men
strong pressure upon the aspiring public
of those days.
which Mr. Monroe so much dreaded
the imputation, the nation's " inconsistency and insincerity."
For it became manifest that it not only merited the sarcasm of
It revealed, too, that of
the British caricature, representing
it
with the Declaration of
Independence in the one hand and a brandished whip over
affrighted slaves in the other, but the charge of a pretended
But
interest in an object it did not wish to see accomplished.
why
this vacillating
and equivocal policy
?
Foremost among
the reasons was, the large and powerful minority in the ex-
treme South, who loved slavery and everything tending to invigorate and support it,
a minority inflexible and imperious
—
in its
demands.
opposition
The Border
was based upon
slave States opposed
interest rather than
it,
but their
upon moral con-
�NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE FOREIGN POWERS.
siderations.
principle.
Ill
The Northern States, indeed, opposed it from
Bnt there was even there a large commercial class,
either implicated in the trade itself, or anxious to conciliate
This class was
Southern interest and secure Southern favor.
never hearty in
irrational
its
opposition to Southern demands, however
And
and extreme.
cians, ever anxious to obtain
then there was a class of
and retain power.
obsequious to those determined Southern
politi-
They were
men who,
with their
auxiliaries, then and since, made and unmade parties
and their candidates. Surely, from such a composite, harmony
and consistency in right, or even in wrong, could hardly be expected.
For, diffused everywhere was the recognition of the
fact always weakening the right and strengthening the wrong,
tha£ slavery and the slave-trade were essentially alike, and that
hearty opposition to the latter was illogical and untenable so
long as the former was enshrined in the Constitution and pro-
Northern
tected by the government.
Here, then, lay the
difficulty, as
mysteries of American diplomacy.
here
is
found the key to the
The nation attempted the
impossible feat of moving at once in opposite directions, per-
sonating on the same stage, at the same time, the angel of
erty and the
demon
of slavery.
better than a masquerade,
either cloaking
under
fair
Hence
made up
its
policy
was
lib-
little
of feints and disguises,
pretences the most shameless of
purposes, or, where concealment was impossible, avowing a
policy in direct antagonism to every
avowed principle of its
Of the British rule in India an English writer has said
"A government cannot be administered
according to the standard of the moral law, which violated, in
form of government.
:
its
establishment, every principle of the Decalogue."
Equally
was it for the government of the United States to do
justly and love mercy so long as it was bound by the compromises of the Constitution to recognize and maintain " the
difficult
sum
of
all villanies."
It
could not do right so long as the origi-
nal sin remained unrepented of and unforsaken.
�CHAPTER
IX.
FOREIGN RELATION OP THE GOVERNMENT INFLUENCED BY SLAVERY.
— Treaty of 1783. — Demands on
— Jay's Treaty. — Free Negroes of San Domingo. — Demands of
Napoleon. — Monroe Doctrine. — Congress
Panama. — Report of the Com— Debate. — War of 1812. — Randolph's Speech. —
mittee on Foreign
the Peace Commissioners. — Treaty of Ghent. — Demands on
Instruction
the Commander of the British Squadron. — Position of the British Government. — Persistent Demands of the American Government
Payment of
Slaves. — Decision referred to Russia. — Proposed Invasion of Cuba by Mexico.
— Debate in the
— Intervention of the Government of the United
Senate. — Instructions of Mr. Clay to the Panama Commissioners.
American Government humiliated by Slavery.
England.
at
Affairs.
to
for
States.
The
necessities of slavery not only brought
it
into constant
contact with freemen and free institutions at home, but often and
seriously disturbed the foreign relations of the
ment.
of
its
American govern-
Perhaps among the most mischievous and mortifying
influences was the humiliating attitude in which it placed
the nation before the world.
history of the Slave
Power
is
Indeed, the saddest page of the
the record of the nation's diplo-
matic correspondence with other governments upon this subject.
The
persistent
masters forced
it
and shameless requirements of the
ever to compromise
its dignity,
slave-
consistency,
and conscience by registering their edicts at home, and boisterIt was not a paid
ously demanding their execution abroad.
agent indeed,
for, like that of
the slaves themselves,
its service
it
was an unrequited toil, its
which
incurred and the increased rigors of the despotism by
Even a cursory survey of its course in these
it was bound.
foreign relations will reveal ample and mournful evidences of
the national subserviency and sacrifices to those vile behests.
At the very outset, before the government was fairly launched,
only rewards being the disgrace
or the Treaty of Peace signed, even in the very efforts to secure
�FOREIGN RELATIONS INFLUENCED BY SLAVERY.
113
this solicitude was revealed, as if the conservation of slaverywas more important than the salvation of the country.
During the progress of the war many slaves, having escaped
from their masters, found refuge on hoard British vessels, and
were carried away. At the critical moment of negotiating this
treaty the slave-masters, for both pecuniary and political reasons, seized this most inopportune juncture to press their claims
They found one subservient
for compensation for such slaves.
to their wishes, in Henry Laurens of South Carolina, who was
one of the commission, consisting of himself, Franklin, Adams,
and Jay, sent to Paris on this important and delicate errand.
At his suggestion the seventh article was inserted in the
Treaty of Peace, by which it was provided that the British
army " should not carry away any negroes or other property."
Mr. Chief Justice Jay was afterward appointed to negotiate
a treaty of amity and commerce.
He was instructed by the
government to demand compensation for these slaves. Lord
Granville resisted the demand and declined its payment.
In
communicating the fact to this government Mr. Jay characterized the claim as " an odious one," and the treaty was made
it,
without the provision.
position in the
consequently encountered stern op-
It
Senate.
resolution affirming that "
Gunn of Georgia presented a
many negroes and other property "
Mr.
had been carried away by the British army in contravention
of the Treaty of Peace.
The President was required to renew
negotiations to secure indemnity for such losses and the commissioner was further instructed, if he failed to secure the
desired compensation under the treaty, to press the claim on
the ground that tp grant it would " tend to produce the desired
friendship between the two governments."
And this pertinacity in its demands was only a representative fact, indicating
the deep and determined purpose of the Slave Power, even in
;
its
beginnings, to inaugurate a policy that was never remitted,
until the
had
itself
One
power
itself
evoked in
was stricken down by the very
its
own
conflict it
behalf.
of the consequences of the French Revolution
investiture of the free blacks of
leges of citizenship.
15
was the
San Domingo with the privi-
This application of the revolutionary
�114
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
watchwords of that stormy period, its " Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," excited great commotion and opposition in that
island, especially
tion
among
its
white inhabitants.
was fostered by British
aid, and,
tunes of war, continued until 1798,
full
This commo-
with the varying
when
for-
the negroes, left in
possession of the island, free and emancipated, organized
Though Napoleon sought
the government of Hayti.
to resub-
jugate the island, and sacrificed in the attempt some forty
thousand troops, the French commander was forced to surrender to the victorious Haytien armies in 1802, and Hayti
became an independent nation, subsequently acknowledged
as such by the governments of France and England.
Of course the existence of such a government on the very
borders of this nation necessarily provoked demonstrations
and responses from the American government. The natural
supposition should have been that a government with such an
origin and history, with so much resembling its own, would
have kindled into a
warm and glowing enthusiasm
thy and good wishes of the United States.
the sympa-
She should have
eagerly welcomed this young republic to her side as one of the
accompanying
fruits of
her
own
struggle.
The welcome
Though
tually extended was, however, wholly different.
Haytien government had been established
ac-
the
for several years
without the presence of a single hostile soldier, and without
even one alleged offence, the American Congress passed, in
The reasons
young republic, trying the experiment of free government under circumstances so peculiar
and difficult, were more unworthy than the act itself. The
French Emperor, irritated by his defeat and great losses,
sought to secure unworthy concessions from the American
government, and to gain by diplomacy what he had so signally failed to secure by arms.
He meant to starve into
180G, an Act to suspend commercial intercourse.
of this unfriendly act against a
subjection a brave
people
whom
he could not coerce.
He
demanded of the United States the immediate
cessation of commerce with those he styled " the rebels
of San Domingo, that race of African slaves, the reproach
accordingly
and refuse of nature," affirming
also that he expected "
from
�FOREIGN RELATIONS INFLUENCED BY SLAVERY.
115
and candor of the government of the Union, that
it promptly."
How was that imperious demand received ? With the dignity which should have marked
the conduct of a nation basing its claims to nationality on
the dignity
an end be put to
the public proclamation of the great doctrine of
and equality
?
On
the contrary, the
demanded
human
rights
legislation
was
rushed through Congress with indecorous haste in less than
two months.
The same temper and purpose of the government were
exhibited in its attitude towards Hayti in connection with the
Panama Congress. In his Annual Message to Congress, in
1823, Mr. Monroe announced as the policy of the United
States, that European powers would not be permitted to interfere in the affairs of the nations on the American Continent,
and that this continent should not be considered as subject to
future colonization by those powers.
That declaration, known
as the " Monroe doctrine," inspired Mexico and the nations
of South America, struggling for independence, with great
An inviconfidence in the government of the United States.
tation was extended on the 2d of November, by the Colombian
Minister at Washington, to the government of the United
States, to send commissioners to the proposed Congress at
Panama.
Among
the adoption of
the topics proposed for consideration was
effectual means for " the entire abolition
more
of the African slave-trade, by a more general and uniform
co-operation."
in this request,
There was more of force and significance
from the fact that the United States had pro-
posed a convention with Colombia for this very purpose, to
which the latter had acceded, though as yet the United States
had withheld its final ratification. That invitation was accepted by Mr. Adams and John Sergeant of Pennsylvania
and Richard C. Anderson of Kentucky were nominated as commissioners, and William B. Rochester of New York as secretary.
The President in his first Annual Message, in 1825,
called the attention of Congress to the Panama Mission, and
;
so
much
to the
was referred
had been announced
of his Message as related to that subject
Committee on Foreign Affairs.
in the invitation, that
among
It
the subjects to be considered at
�116
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
Panama were
IN AMERICA.
and the condition of Hayti,
the slave-trade
Cuba, and Porto Rico. This committee, through its chairman,
Mr. Macon of North Carolina, made an elaborate report, written by Mr. Tazewell of Virginia, a
member of the committee,
The proposition to
against the expediency of the mission.
meet the South American States in the proposed Congress at
Panama intensely excited and aroused the slaveholding interests.
The Committee on Foreign Affairs consequently embodied and expressed in their report the opinions and purposes
of the Slave Power.
The committee declared that the policy
of the government towards Hayti had been fixed for more
than a third of a century.
" coffee from her and pay
We
"
We
for it
;
purchase," says the report,
but we interchange no con-
no mulatto consuls or black
ambassadors from her and why ?
Because the peace of
eleven States in this Union will not permit the fruits of a sucsuls or ministers.
receive
;
cessful negro insurrection to be exhibited
will not permit black consuls
among them.
and ambassadors
It
to establish
cities, and to parade through our country,
and to give their fellow-blacks in the United States proof in
hand of the honors that await them in a like successful effort
on their part. It will not permit the fact to be seen and told,
that for the murder of their masters and mistresses they are
themselves in our
to find friends
The
among
the white people of the United States."
report proceeded to declare emphatically that the question
that it could
of Haytien independence had been determined
and that
not be discussed " in this chamber on this day "
;
;
Congress should not advise and consult in a council with
nations,
white,
who had put
—"
erals in
five nations,
their
five
man on an equality with the
who have at this moment black gen-
a black
armies and mulatto members in their con-
gresses."
The
report of the committee, declaring
it
inexpedient to
send commissioners to Panama, was defeated by
five majority,
and the Senate, on motion of Mr. Mills of Massachusetts,
proceeded to consider the nominations.
The question
elicited
a very able debate, in which senators representing the interests of slavery enunciated 'very explicitly the
opinions and
�FOREIGN RELATIONS INFLUENCED BY SLAVERY.
117
In that debate RobY. Hayne of South Carolina took the lead. He asserted
that the question of slavery was a domestic question, and that
the language of the United States to foreign nations ought
purposes of the slaveholding oligarchy.
ert
to be, "
We
cannot permit
it
to be touched."
He
declared
that he considered
the rights of the slaveholding States
" in that species of property as not open to discussion either
here or elsewhere "
that " to call into question our rights
;
is
grossly to violate them, to attempt to instruct us on this
subject
is
is
to
insult
us,
to
dare to
wantonly to invade our peace."
assail
As
•
to
our institutions
the slave-trade,
he congratulated the Senate that treaties with England and
Colombia had failed. He said that the question of the independence of Hayti could not be considered in connection
with revolutionary governments, who had marched to victory
under universal emancipation, and had colored men at the
head of their armies, in their legislative halls, and in their
departments.
He insisted that the government
should direct " all our ministers in South America and Mex-
executive
ico to protest against the independence of Hayti."
He
de-
nounced Mr. Sergeant as " a distinguished advocate of the
Missouri restriction, an acknowledged abolitionist," sent to
plead the cause of the South at the Congress of Panama.
Mr. Hamilton of South Carolina affirmed the sentiments of
the Southern people to be that " Haytien independence is not
to be tolerated in any form."
Mr. Johnson of Louisiana was
explicit
and
equally
decided.
Indeed, he went a step further,
and avowed that the nation should not recognize the independence of Hayti, but that it should remonstrate with the South
American governments and Mexico against such acknowledgment.
In 1838, twelve years
later,
a petition was presented, pray-
ing for the usual recognition of international relations with
that republic.
But
it
was received with the same hostile
demonstrations.
Mr. Legare of South Carolina characterized
the petition as treason, and the petitioners " as traitors, not to
their country only, but to the
of Virginia
was equally
whole human race."
Mr. Wise
denouncing
desire as
violent,
the
�118
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
LN AMERICA.
" the abolition spirit " that would have men of such an origin
recognized by commercial and international reciprocity. "Nor
would he do
And
it,"
he
" if they had been free for centuries."
and intolerant opposition was maintained
said,
this persistent
before the world, not only to the. manifest
damage
of national
reputation, but also to the detriment of the commercial interests of the country.
" as
"
We
stand aloof," says Mr. Grennell,
they were a lawless tribe of savages.
While all other
powers have long since acknowledged them as an independent
sovereignty, we refuse to recognize them.
Others profit by
if
commerce at our expense."
The war of 1812 against England,
their
and
final treaty of peace, afforded
in its inception, progress,
another occasion for similar
demonstrations on the part of the slave interest, and a similar
The number of
war exceeded twelve
hundred thousand. From the organization of the government
under the Constitution, in 1789, they had doubled in numbers
and increased at least fivefold in value. Although the slavetrade had been prohibited for more than four years, several
thousands of slaves were annually smuggled into the country,
and the domestic slave-trade had largely increased under the
subserviency on the part of the government.
slaves at the time of the declaration of
stimulating influences of the Louisiana purchase, the opening
new lands, and the rapid increase of the cotton culture.
The South, then under the complete control of the slave-masters, was gaining a like ascendency over the Federal government, and a dominating influence over, the non-slaveholding
of
States.
war John Randolph, speakdenounced the idea of a war for
maritime rights, by the invasion of Canada, while the coast of
" While talkthe Southern States was exposed to the enemy.
On
the eve of the declaration of
ing in opposition to
it,
bitterly
ing," he said, " of Canada,
der for our safety at
home.
we have
I
too
speak from
much
facts,
reason to shud-
when
I say that
Richmond, that the frightclosely to her bosom,
more
ened mother does not hug her infant
not knowing what may have happened." He denounced " the
infernal principles of French fraternity," declared that there
the night bell never tolls for fire in
�FOREIGN RELATIONS INFLUENCED BY SLAVERY.
were not " wanting members, of
this
House
119
to preach
on this
floor the doctrine of imprescriptible rights to a crowded audi-
ence of blacks in the galleries
equal
to their
masters
;
teaching them that they are
;
them
in other words, advising
to
Similar doctrines, he said, are
cut their masters' throats."
spread throughout the South by Yankee pedlers
;
and there
are even owners of slaves so infatuated as, by the general tenor
of their conversation, by their contempt of order, morality, and
religion, unthinkingly to cherish these
He
seeds of destruction.
asserted that the whole South had been thrown, by the
spreading of these infernal doctrines, into a state of insecurity,
and that men, dead to the operation of moral causes, had taken
from the slave the habits of loyalty and obedience which lightened his servitude, and were now trusting to " the mere physical strength of the shackle " that holds him.
prived
him
him of
all
moral restraint," he said
;
" You have de" you have tempted
knowledge just enough to perfect him
in wickedness you- have opened his eyes to his nakedness
you have roused his nature against the hand that has fed him
and has clothed him and has cherished him in sickness,
that
hand which, before he became a pupil in your school, he was
accustomed to press to his lips with respectful affection you
have done all this,
and now you point him to the whip and
to eat of the tree of
;
;
—
;
—
the gibbet as incentives to sullen, reluctant obedience."
said there
was not a spot on
all
*
He
the shores of the Chesapeake
Bay, the city of Baltimore alone excepted, safe from attack or
capable of defence
and he expressed the hope that God would
;
forbid that the Southern States should ever see on their shores
an enemy with these " infernal principles of French fraterj^
nity " in the van.
Whether the slaves had imbibed the infernal principles of
French fraternity or not, many availed themselves of the
presence of British blockading vessels in Southern waters,
Chesapeake Bay,
of American masters and accept
pecially in the
vice, or
It
is
to
become
free
es-
to leave the enforced service
offers to enter the British ser-
settlers
in the
British Possessions.
stated by Mr. Hildreth, in his History of the United
States, that a plan to take possession of the isthmus
between
�120
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
the Delaware and Chesapeake .Bays, and there train a black
army, was only rejected because the British, being slaveholders themselves, did not like to encourage insurrection elsewhere.
In the year 1814 peace commissioners were appointed.
In
the instructions given these commissioners by Mr. Monroe, Secretary of State, they were directed to be watchful of the inter-
In his instructions of the 28th of
ests of the slaveholders.
January, 1814, he said " the negroes, taken from the Southern
States, should be returned to their owners, or paid for at their
full
value."
Indeed, this was one of the conditions on which
they were to insist in the proposed negotiations.
In the treaty
of peace, negotiated at Ghent, the restoration of slaves was
expressly provided
of
for.
When
it
was
ratified,
on the 17th
February, 1815, three commissioners were immediately
appointed, to repair at once to the British squadron in the
Chesapeake Bay, with authority to receive absconding slaves on
The commander of the squadron promptly
board such vessels.
and peremptorily refused
porary
The officer in temtreaty had no reference
their surrender.
command maintained that the
who had sought protection on board
to slaves
and that
it
British vessels,
only applied to slaves " originally captured in forts
and who were remaining in such forts or places at
its ratification by the two governments."
of Admiral Cockburn the demand was rearrival
On the
newed but he gave the same interpretation to the treaty,
though at the same time he surrendered eighty slaves found
on Cumberland Island when it was captured by the British
forces, and who had not been removed at the time of the
Mr. Monroe, Secretary of State, at
ratification of the treaty.
once applied to the English Charge* des Affaires at Washington,
or places^
the time of
;
requesting
him
to direct the British naval
commander
to sur-
But that officer, putting the same conupon
the
treaty
struction
as had been put upon it by the British
naval officers, refused to comply with the request. The British
render the fugitives.
squadron sailing for Bermuda with the fugitives on board, the
government immediately despatched an agent, with authority to
demand
of the governor of that island their surrender.
�FOREIGN RELATIONS INFLUENCED BY SLAVERY.
demand
121
government of the United States for
the surrender of men who had sought liberty and protection
under the' flag of England, the British governor emphatically
replied that he " would rather Bermuda, with every man, woman,
and child in it, were sunk under the sea, than surrender one
slave that had sought protection under the flag of England."
Notwithstanding this brave and manly response, worthy alike
To
this
of the
of the individual and of the representative of the British gov-
ernment, the American agent
still
persisted in his claim,
and
addressed the Admiral then in those waters, offering to furnish
him a
list
of the slaves.
But Admiral
Griffith
assured Mr.
Spaulding, the agent of the United States, that there was no
one at Bermuda or any other British port " competent to de-
up persons who, during the late wars, had placed themunder the protection of the British flag." Repulsed by
both the civil and naval officers of England, the government
of the United States demanded of the British Cabinet the execution of the treaty, as it understood it, by the surrender of
fugitive slaves who had taken refuge from oppression on board
the vessels of that government. But the demand was promptly
rejected, and the American government was assured by Lord
Castlereagh that England would never have consented to a
treaty that required the delivery of persons who had sought its
liver
selves
protection.
The government of the United
States, completely dominat-
ed by the slaveholders, persisting in
its demands, the British
government consented to refer the question to the decision
of the Emperor of Russia.
The Emperor decided in favor
of the construction of the treaty
ernment.
made by
After further negotiations
missioners should be appointed,
it
the American govwas decided that com-
who should hold
their ses-
and adjust the claims presented,
and decide upon the number and value of the slaves. The
commissioners, on the part of the United States, insisting on
interest, further negotiations were entered into, and the British
government paid over, by the convention of November, 1826,
more than twelve hundred thousand dollars, in full of all demands. Thus, during nearly twelve years, the government of
sions in "Washington, receive
16
�122
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
the United States pressed upon the British government the
payment
in full for persons
who had
fled
from the cruelty and
nameless wrongs of chattel slavery and found freedom and
protection on the decks of the British navy.
To
secure the
re-enslavement of the escaping fugitives, or payment in
full
and bodies of these victims of oppression, the
American government made its demands at the negotiations
at Ghent, pressed them on British admirals, governors, charge
des affaires, and the British Cabinet, before the imperial master of Russia, and even higgled for interest before the joint
commission appointed to adjust and fix the price of human
for the souls
chattels.
�CHAPTER
X.
INDIAN POLICY AFFECTED BY SLAVERY.
— EXILES
OF FLORIDA.
— Escape of Slaves into Florida. — Return
— Commissioners to negotiate a Treaty with the Creeks.
— Action of Georgia. — Protection demanded. — Failure of Negotiations. —
Treaty negotiated
New York. — Stipulation
the Return of Slaves. —
Spanish Authorities refuse to surrender Slaves. — Misconduct of Georgia. —
Fugitive Slaves. — Commissioners appointed to meet
Claims on England
Washington. — Annexation of Florida pressed by the Slave
the Creeks
Power. — Amelia Island seized by Georgia. — Expedition sent by Georgia into
Florida to capture Fugitives. — Raid into Florida. — Negro Fort. — Order of
invade Florida. — Negro Fort captured. — Exiles
General Jackson
Disgraceful Attitude of the Nation.
of Fugitives refused.
at
for
for
in
to
killed,
— Disgrace of the Nation. — General Jackson enters Florida. — Defeats the Indians. — Acquisition of Florida. — Treaty
captured, and reduced to Slavery.
of Indian Spring.
tives captured
It
— Treaty
by the Arnry.
of
Camp
Moultrie.
— Seizure
of Slaves.
— Fugi-
— Slave -catchers permitted to hunt Slaves.
was a standing charge against the Abolitionists that they
over-estimated the evils of slavery, exaggerated the wrongs of
the slave, the guilt of the master, and the complicity of the
government.
No
accusation was ever more unfounded.
half was never told.
As
tion of slaveholding society never attributed to
of,
The
the civil war revealed a demoralizait
or
dreamed
so do careful researches into the history of the country un-
fold a course of procedure indefensible according to
any stand-
ard of morality, however low, and unrelieved by any acts of
generosity, humanity, or true dignity of character.
graceful and humiliating
attitude of the
The
government in
disits
dealings with foreign powers whenever the interests of slavery
were involved have been traced already. Its intercourse with
the Indians, whenever these interests were in issue, has exhibited the same determined devotion to the system, coupled with
deeds of wanton injustice and cruelty towards a few savages,
whose real offence was that of giving food and shelter to black
men escaping from their masters.
�124
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
Spanish settlements were made in Florida in the year 1558,
and slaves were soon after introduced. Subsequently settlements were made on the Appalachicola River by slaves escaping from South Carolina and finding refuge there.
Obtaining
lands from the Spanish government, they became a part of the
military defences of the country.
among
They
also found asylums
the Creek Indians in the State of Georgia.
As
early
South Carolina demanded of Georgia a return of
but the demand was promptly rejected.
these fugitives
as 1738
;
Early, too, slaves escaping from their masters in Georgia
found refuge with the Creeks, and with the fugitive slaves
there formed settlements upon the Appalachicola and Suwanee
rivers, acquired property
and became the owners of
flocks
and
Indeed, so frequent and annoying did these escapes
herds.
become, that the Council of Safety early sent a communication to the Continental Congress, asking for troops to prevent
them.
General Lee, too, called the attention of Congress to
evil, and also to the fact that these escaping fugitives
the same
were finding asylums among the Indians and the Florida
exiles.
Commissioners were, in consequence, appointed in
1785 to negotiate a treaty with the Creek Indians. They were
met at Galphinton by commissioners from Georgia. These
demanded a stipulation for the return of the slaves
who were then with the Indians, and of any who might thereafter escape.
As the Creeks were not represented, the United
latter
States commissioners declined to act, and retired.
had
left,
After they
however, the Georgia commissioners, in direct viola-
tion of the Articles of Confederation,
made
a treaty with the
vepresentatives of two townships, out of about one hundred be-
longing to the Creek .nation.
This treaty, negotiated by per-
sons without authority on either part, provided that the Indians
should restore
all
negroes
who were then
come among them, belonging
to
or might thereafter
citizens of
Georgia.
The
commissioners, reporting their action to the legislature of their
State, received its formal thanks for what was done in plain
and palpable violation of its confederate obligations, while the
same body recorded their condemnation of the United States
commissioners, because they refused to be parties to a treaty
so fraudulent
and unauthorized.
�indiAn policy affected by slavery.
125
In attempting to enforce this treaty Georgia became involved
in Indian hostilities, forcing then, as so frequently afterwards,
the general government to action, and an espousal of her high-
handed
itself,
assaults, not
as
it
merely upon the poor Creeks, but upon
stooped to the ignoble service of recording and
enforcing the edicts of that ever-grasping and contumacious
The commissioners who were previously appointed
State.
were now instructed
all fugitive
On
to negotiate a treaty
which should restore
slaves belonging to citizens of the United States.
the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, the
upon the Federal government for
protection against the Indians, from whom she claimed territory
ostensibly ceded by the treaties of Galphinton and Shoulder
Bone, though they were wrongfully obtained and promptly
repudiated by those not fairly represented in the fraudulent
transactions.
President Washington appointed commissioners, and the governor of Georgia placed in their hands the
names of one hundred and ten negroes, alleged to have left
their masters during the Revolution, and to have found an
asylum among the Indians. Though they were received with
great respect by the Indians, their attempts at negotiation failed.
Colonel Willett, a Revolutionary officer, was then sent, who succeeded in inducing a delegation to visit New York, where a
treaty was negotiated in August, 1790.
Framed in the interauthorities of Georgia called
ests of Georgia slaveholders,
it
stipulated for the return of
Thus, by a characteristic
fatality and
which have ever marked its self-assumed vassalage
under the new Constitution, the government placed the brand
of its own dishonor upon its first exercise of the treaty-mak-
absconding slaves.
fatuity,
ing power, by prosecuting
its
edly in behalf of slavery.
By this treaty the Creek
the commander of the United
pledged
itself to deliver to
negotiations clearly and confess-
forces, stationed at a specified point, all negroes held
and
nation
States
by them
;
was further provided that if they were not delivered before the 1st of June, 1791, the governor of Georgia might send
three persons to claim and receive them.
By this treaty, also,
it
which the President fondly hoped had laid the foundations of
the future peace and prosperity of the Southwestern frontier,
�126
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
the Creeks had
made
IN AMERICA.
stipulations, professing not only to
bind
the Seminoles, another tribe, but a tribe residing in Florida,
and under the jurisdiction of Spain. These latter, however,
denied this assumed authority, and utterly repudiated the provisions of the treaty the Creeks had presumed to make.
Of
course the latter could not
fulfil its
stipulations without invad-
ing Florida and forcibly seizing those
who had sought
to
secure their freedom under the Spanish crown.
In consequence of the persistent urgency of the Georgia
slaveholders, an agent
was sent by the Creeks
to negotiate for
the return of the exiles, but the Spanish authorities peremptorily refused to surrender
them again
to slavery.
The
treaty
being thus repudiated by the Spanish authorities and the exiles,
Georgia, failing to secure her escaping slaves, denounced
and declared that she would not be bound by
what had been adopted without consultation with her commisit
herself,
sioners.
Accordingly she sent a military force into the Creek
country, attacked one of their towns, killed some of the people,
and burned
their dwellings.
If this conduct could be stripped
of all the accessories of governmental prestige, and the forms
and
dialect of courts,
and
be- tested
by the principles and claims
of simple morality, as applied to the ordinary rules of
conduct,
it
would be
difficult to
selfishness, dishonesty,
wanton
equal
it
human
by any examples of
and disregard of the
and fair dealing. And
General Knox, Secretary of War,
cruelty,
clearest claims of humanity, equity,
yet, notwithstanding all this,
in 1794,
make an
recommended
to the President that
Congress should
appropriation for the owners of these exiles,
—a
Washington in a special message in
its favor.
No action, however, was taken.
By the Treaty of Peace it had been stipulated that the British
forces, in retiring from the country, should not carry away
any negroes or other property. The Southern slaveholders,
who had lost several thousands of slaves during the war, were
inspired with confidence that they would receive compensation
also for those who had escaped to the British West Indies, and
for those who had enlisted in the British army. The British
ministry, however, firmly refused to negotiate for any such
proposition indorsed by
�INDIAN POLICY AFFECTED BY SLAVERY.
indemnification.
127
Exasperated by this refusal, they pressed their
greater pertinacity, and by so doing greatly
embarrassed the successive administrations of the general gov-
claims with
still
Failing to defeat Jay's Treaty, which they opposed
ernment.
payment for their absconding slaves,
the Georgia slaveholders grew more and more clamorous for
the return of slaves who had found refuge in Florida. For,
increasing in numbers and prosperity, they exerted no inconsiderable influence upon their neighboring bondmen, who very
naturally desired to share with them the blessings of freedom.
Pressed, therefore, by the clamorous demands of the slavebecause
it
did not secure
holders, Washington, in
meet the
chiefs
1796, appointed
commissioners to
and head men of the Creeks
at Colerain, for the
purpose of forming a
new
This council was attended
treaty.
by commissioners on the part of Georgia who, failing in their
attempts to control by their dictation the commissioners of the
United States, left the council before the close of its deliberaThe chiefs of the Creek nation maintained that they
tions.
were bound only to return negroes captured after the Treaty
They declared that they had delivered up all they
of Peace.
could, and they expressed their willingness at some future time
to
deliver
up other negroes, when they could do
so.
Yet,
neither the commissioners of the United States nor of the In-
dian chiefs at this council said anything about delivering up
the exiles
who bad
fled into Florida
;
nor
is
there any evidence
that the commissioners of Georgia, at this council, insisted on
the obligations of the Creeks to return the negroes residing
with the Seminoles in Florida.
Nor was there any other than the robber's right to make any
For nearly half a century
from 1750, when
the Seminoles left Georgia
they had refused any allegiance
to that State, had maintained their independence, and had
such demand.
—
—
received the protection of the Spanish government.
Such a
denial of prerogative, and such a maintenance of indepen-
dence for so long a time, would have been sufficient answer
to
any such claim among
civilized nations.
obvious and less defined coherence
Could the far
among savage
less
tribes per-
petuate an allegiance persistently denied, and invalidate an
�128
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
independence so long and so stoutly maintained ? Surely,
naught but the exigencies of slavery and the sublime impu-
dence of
claim,
its
much
defenders could ever have conceived of such a
less
have maintained
it.
And yet the unquesNew York recog-
tionably false allegation that the treaty of
nized that claim was adhered
to,
and the interpretation of
Georgia then and years afterward was persisted in, that the
Seminoles were bound by this alleged compact of the Creeks,
though they were living under Spanish rule.
was done, however, during the administrations of
Jefferson, to disturb these exiles, and they increased in numbers and prosperity.
But in 1802 it was
enacted, in a new law regulating intercourse with Indian tribes,
that the value of any slave escaping and taking up his resiLittle
Adams and
dence with any Indian tribe in the United States should be
Of course the slaves, who had escaped
from Georgia, with their children and grandchil-
secured to his master.
into Florida
dren around them, excited the cupidity and hostility of the
Georgia slaveholders.
But living on Spanish
soil,
and under
the protection of Spanish laws, they were beyond their reach.
To seek
by obtaining jurisdiction over this
territory became, then, the object of effort. The annexation of
their re-enslavement
Florida was, therefore,
terest
warmly pressed by the slaveholding
upon the government.
in-
Consequently a law was passed
in secret session, in 1811, for taking possession of Florida
;
and
General Matthews, a Georgia slaveholder, without either permission or negotiation, took possession of Amelia Island.
The
government of Spain, of course, remonstrated, and the act was
disavowed by the President. Matthews was recalled, and Governor Mitchell appointed a commissioner,
who continued
to
hold forcible possession of the island, in violation of the claims
of national comity and good faith towards the Spanish govern-
ment.
In 1812 the governor of Georgia, in like violation of national faith, sent an
mand
armed
force into Florida,
under the com-
of the adjutant-general of that Slate, for the utterly
indefensible
and outrageous purpose of exterminating the
whom the Indians would
Seminoles, and recapturing the slaves
�EXILES OF FLORIDA.
But
not surrender.
this force,
129
meeting with
little
success,
number
obliged to return after having stolen a large
was
of slaves
from their Spanish masters.
Those thus deprived of their
and thirty years
slaves urged their demands for compensation
afterward John Quincy Adams presented a list of more than
;
Georgia,
ninety slaves thus stolen.
persisting in
still
pose, resolved, through its legislature, that Florida
its
pur-
was neces-
and an act was passed to raise a military
Augustine, and punish the Indians. A
military force was therefore raised, and another raid into
Spanish territory was made, a few towns were burned, and
cornfields were destroyed
but the expedition returned, unsary to
its safety,
force to reduce
St.
;
able cither to conquer Florida, exterminate the Seminoles, or
capture the hated exiles.
Another circumstance occurred soon
after,
not only exhibit-
ing the same determination on the part of the slaveholders,
but the humiliating alacrity of the general government to do
their bidding
and execute
1812 a small British
force,
upon the unDuring the war of
their ignoble purpose
offending blacks and their kind protectors.
under Lieutenant-Colonel Nichols,
landed in Florida, and built a fort upon the Appalachicola River.
After the close of the war and the withdrawal of the British
forces this fort
was
left in
tations extended for
of
possession of the exiles, whose plan-
many
miles up the river. In the month
May, 1815, General Gaines, commanding on the Southern
frontier,
wrote to the Secretary of
War
that these exiles
had
taken possession of that fort. He and other officers kept watch
of this " negro fort," and in their correspondence with the
government denounced the negroes as runaways and outlaws,
although they had committed no offence, and were peaceably
pursuing their
This
fort,
own
affairs.
though sixty miles from the frontiers of the United
States, greatly excited the attention of the military authorities,
who,
like the
government, were in
full
sympathy with the
In the month of May, 1816, General Jackson
wrote to General Gaines that the fort " ought to be blown up,
slaveholders.
regardless of the ground on which
"
if
it stands
and," he added,
your mind has formed the same conclusion, destroy it, and
17
;
�130
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
return the stolen negroes and property to their rightful own-
This permission to invade the territory of a power with
which the nation was at peace was promptly acted upon by
General Gaines. Colonel Clinch with his regiment and a few
hundred Creek Indians, under Mcintosh, one of their chiefs,
entered Florida literally " to blow up the fort and return the
Commodore Patterson denegroes to their rightful owners."
tailed Sailing-Master Lewis, with two gunboats, to assist the
military forces in this slave-catching foray. This military and
ers."
naval force, on the 27th of July, assaulted this " negro fort,"
which had gathered three hundred and thirty-four persons,
many of whom were women and children, nearly all being
either negroes who had escaped from the United States or their
in
descendants.
After a brief cannonade a hot shot entered the
powder-magazine, which blew up, instantly killing two hundred
and seventy, and injuring all but three others. Monette, in his
" History of the Valley of the Mississippi," says that nearly the
whole of the inmates were involved in indiscriminate destruc" The cries of the
not one sixth of the whole escaped.
tion
;
wounded, the groans of the dying, with the shouts and yells of
the Indians, rendered the scene horrible beyond description."
Those who recovered from their wounds were delivered over to
claimants in Georgia. In some instances they were given up
to the descendants of those who claimed to have owned their
ancestors generations before.
More than twenty years afterward Congress assumed the
responsibility and guilt of this wicked and wanton act, and
passed without opposition a
bill
giving five thousand dollars
and crews of the gunboats for their gallant conduct in this brutal and bloody massacre, which will stand, in
the words of Mr. Giddings, in his " Exiles of Florida," " as
one of the darkest crimes which stains the history of any civilIn this massacre it is estimated that more than
ized nation."
one third of the Florida exiles perished, or were re-enslaved.
to the officers
Mr. Clay and other senators and representatives condemned
this lawless invasion of Florida, as an act of hostility towards
Spain
;
but not a voice was raised in condemnation of those
against the weak and comparatively defenceless
atrocities
�131
EXILES OF FLORIDA.
blacks
and the Indian friends who shared
their fate.
So
strangely oblivious had the nation become to the simplest
claims of humanity and justice.
Outrages so violent and unprovoked could of necessity be
The sense of such
neither forgotten nor easily forgiven.
wronged and outraged humanity rankled
in the breasts of the
Indians, and they could not but retaliate, however hopeless
their condition,
ple so
fare.*
hostile
much
They
and however
mad
their attempt against a peo-
numbers and in the arts of wardid retaliate, though but feebly and yet their
demonstrations were seized upon as an occasion for
their superior in
;
sending forces into their country in plain violation of international law.
In 1817 General Gaines was ordered to enter
Florida, and General Jackson took the field for the subj ligation of the Indians
latter entered the
and
and the
exiles.
With a
large force the
country in April, 1818, defeated the Indians
and destroyed several of their towns. The neknowing there was' no alternative but death or slavery,
exiles,
groes,
fought bravely in several actions, but were finally defeated at
The
towards the more
More than half of the
exiles had perished, and a vast amount of wretchedness was
occasioned by this lawless, cruel, and wicked invasion. Not
only were all domestic quiet and thrift at an end, and the
Suvvanee River.
survivors
retired
southern portions of the Territory.
productive industry of these people checked, but their flocks,
herds, and other property were destroyed.
An
inconsiderable
number were captured and returned to their greedy. masters.
But as a people they were unconquered. They had set the
government at defiance, and had baffled all its attempts to
subjugate them.
Besides, slaves still escaping from Georgia
and Alabama were soon added to their numbers, and they
seemed to the excited and sensitive slave-masters a growing
menace on their southern border.
Baffled in their appeal to arms, the slave-masters were not
disheartened, but determined to seek through diplomacy what
They therefore
demanded the annexation of Florida, and an obsequious government purchased it by yielding its claim to Texas and
they could not gain by military achievements.
;
�132
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IX AMERICA.
rims the Seminoles and the exiles of Florida were brought
under a contra! they so much dreaded, and had so much rea-
son to dread.
pressed with
As
that were not enough, the slaveholders
if
redoubled
and
scandalous
claims of indemnity for the slaves
quently, under the direction of Mr.
War,
a treaty
was negotiated
at - Indian
Spring.*'
of valuable
land were
By
thousand dollars were
claimed by Georgia.
importunity
they had
their
Conse-
lost.
Calhoun. Secretary of
in IS 21. with the Creek Indiaus
this treaty live
millions of acres
and two hundred and fifty
apart for the payment for slaves
ceded,
set
Out of
fund the claims of Georgia
this
Thus Georgia, instead of the punishment
she so richly deserved for her violent and disloyal conduct
towards the general government, as well as for her wanton
outrages upon the Indians and the exiles, was paid for her
were paid
in 1S22.
slaves from
extorted from the
and though the amount
received, according to Attorney-General Wirt, was three times
their actual value, yet they clamored for the one hundred and
the proceeds of lands thus
helpless victims of superior force
:
forty-one thousand dollars held by the United States, which
really belonged to the Creeks.
And
this
sum was
afterwards
paid to them.
In September. 1^22. General Jackson proposed another outra^e and act of tyrannous oppression upon the
that they should be united with the Creeks
Seminoles
and returned
to
the Creek nation, because, he said, these Indian settlements
He
" wuiild be a perpetual harbor for our slaves."
also declared
that " these
das. or
runaway slaves must lie removed from the FloriIn negoscenes of murder and confusion will exist.*'
tiating the
••
Indian
Spring
nation, as seen above,
of
the
Seminoles.
deemed and held
"*
treaty with
the
was held responsible
who
against
conduct
were
But having obtained
their earnest
a part of the nation.
Creeks, that
for the
protest
compensation for runaway slaves from the Creeks, the govern-
ment, with shameless audacity, changed
sumed
position
and
demanded
as-
The
and Mr. Calhoun, regardof the inconsistencies into which it mierht lead him, was
interests of slavery
less
its
that the Seminoles were an independent people.
this
:
�EXILES OF FLORIDA.
ever true to
slavery.
A
treaty
Seminoles in September, 1*23. at
133
was negotiated with the
Camp
Moultrie.
JJv
treaty the Indians were to retire from the coast, where
homes and property and the graves
their
occupy a country south of
I
"
protection by the
all
Tampa
this
-
of their dead, and
Bay, where they were prom-
government of the United States against
persons whatsoever."
this treaty the Seminolea were compelled to stipulate
" to be active and vigilant in preventing the retreating to or
By
them of any absconding
and they further ;•_
to use
all necessary exertions to apprehend and deliver the same to
the agent, who shall receive orders to compensate them agreeably to the trouble and expense incurred.''
The country
which the exiles had cultivated and bravely defended was
given up to white men, and they were compelled to retire and
find their homes in the swamps and forests of the interior.
Unscrupulous oppressors not only seized the possessions of
their escaped fugitives, hut whenever they could seize the fugitives themselves they made them their slaves.
Slave-catchers
sought by fraud and violence to obtain possession of those
ssing through the country assigned
slave or fugitive
from justice
;
negroes wherever they could be found, as the presumption of
law was that every black man was a slave unless he could
prove himself free. The Indians held a few slaves, and these
were often seized by the whites. They justly complained, but
having no knowledge of legal proceedings, had no remedy.
The Secretarv
9
fugitive slaves
of
War,*
among
1825,S issued an order concerning
Q
the Seminoles, and directed the Indian
in
agent at Tallahassee to take measures to enable the slave
claimants to identify their property so that it might be immediately restored.
This Indian agent, in obedience to his in" Let the chiefs distinctly
structions, emphatically declared
:
understand that they are not to harbor runaway negroes, and
that they will be required to give up such negroes as are now
residing within their limits."
The
military forces of the United
States being openly detailed to arrest fugitives, the
Commis-
sioner of Indian Affairs at Washington, in 1*27. wrote to
the Indian agent in Florida, reproving him for his remissness
�134
in
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
making such
particular cases,
captures.
and
He
IN AMERICA.
even went so far as to decide
to order the agent in Florida to capture
certain slaves then claimed by certain persons.
The Indian
chiefs complained that, contrary to the stipulations of the treaty
made
at
Camp
Moultrie, white
To
searching for slaves.
chief against the violation
men were
in their country
these remonstrances of the savage
of
the treaty the agent of the
United States had no other reply to
make than
to state the
fact that they were there by permission given them by the
Secretary of War.
Thus these
slave-catchers, unscrupulous,
make money,
were by the permission of the government roaming over the
Indian country, contrary to the sacred guaranties of the nation.
heartless,
The
and
cruel, with the simple intent to
and outrages
perpetrated upon the negroes and Indians continued. A complete despotism reigned.
The Indians became alarmed and
indignant at these persistent aggressions, and war seemed
rapacity of
again inevitable.
the
slave-traders
increased,
�CHAPTER
THE MISSOURI STRUGGLE.
XI.
— THE
COMPROMISES.
— Missouri Territory. — Bill authorizing the Territory
— Mr. Tallmadge's Amendment prohibiting Slavery. —
— Inhibition of Slavery stricken
Exciting Debate. — Amendment agreed
— Territory of Arkansas organized. — Mr. Tayout by the Senate. — Bill
Amendment. — Bill introduced by Mr. Scott to authorize Missouri to
form a Constitution. — Maine and Missouri united in the Senate. — Mr. RobAmendment for the Inhibition of Slavery. — Debate in the Senate. —
— Bill passed the Senate.
Mr. Thomas's Amendment. — Amendment agreed
— House disagree to Senate's Amendment. — Mr. Taylor's Amendment. — Bill
passed. — Conference Committee. — Prohibition of Slavery defeated in the
The Louisiana Purchase.
to form a Constitution.
to.
lost.
lor's
erts's
to.
House.
—
Triumph
The
Prohibition of Slavery north of the Parallel of 36° 30' agreed
of the Slave
to.
—
Power complete.
necessities of the
West and
the permanent interests of
the nation required that the United States should possess and
control the Mississippi River from
its
sources to the Gulf.
The acquisition of Louisiana in 1803, by which that control
was obtained, with the full possession of a vast and fertile territory, was a measure of transcendent importance.
Wherever
settlements had been made, however, slavery had gained a
foothold, and it soon became apparent that the geographical
position and fertile soil of this extensive domain would greatly
strengthen the slaveholders, who had already secured a large
if not a commanding influence in the general government.
They who believed in the perpetuity of the system, and desired to see it protected and strengthened, enthusiastically
welcomed this large addition of territory, with the increased
value of their slaves which it promised, and the augmentation of political power it foretokened. But far-seeing .states-
men
in the North,
though conceding the national advantages
of the purchase, rightly dreaded, as the event proved,
fluence on the free institutions of the country.
They
its in-
plainly
�136
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
foresaw that
it
IN AMERICA.
would intensify the haughty and exacting
of the class that had assumed,
all
spirit
too successfully, to direct and
give character to the policy of the government.
The Louisiana purchase was divided by
two
act of Congress into
by the thirty-third parallel of latitude.
territories
part which lay south of the parallel
was
That
and
called Orleans,
it was called Louisiana.
When
was admitted as a State, in 1812, it
the part which lay north of
the Territory of Orleans
was
called Louisiana,
name
On
and the Louisiana Territory received the
of the Missouri Territory.
the 16th of March, 1818, petitions were presented to the
House
of Representatives by citizens of Missouri, praying that
the Territory might be permitted to form a constitution and
be admitted into the Union.
These memorials were referred
which Mr. Scott, Territorial Delegate,
This committee reported a bill on the 3d of
to a select committee, of
was chairman.
April but no action was taken at that session.
At the next
session a memorial was received from the Territorial legislature, praying that Missouri might be permitted to form a State
constitution
and the House, in February, 1819, proceeded to
;
;
bill to authorize it to form a constituand enter the Union.
Mr. Tallmadge of New York offered an amendment provid-
the consideration of a
tion
ing that
all
persons born after the admission of the State
should be free
;
and
also providing for the gradual emancipa-
tion of persons then held as slaves.
a sharp and prolonged debate,
his
amendment
This amendment led to
when Mr. Tallmadge modified
so as to provide that the further introduction
of slavery be prohibited, and that
all
children born within the
State after its admission shall be free at the age of twenty-five
years.
Mr. John
W.
Taylor of
New York,
of the House, maintained that Congress
afterward Speaker
had
full
power
to pro-
hibit the introduction of slavery as a condition of admission,
would be wise to use that power. He reminded the
opponents of prohibition that they had often disclaimed the sin
of the original introduction of slavery, and had thrown it back
upon their ancestors. " If they have tried slavery," he said,
" and found it a curse
if they desire to dissipate the gloom
and that
it
;
�THE MISSOURI STRUGGLE.
with which
soil
;
COMPROMISES.
covers their land, I call upon
it
from the territory in question,
corrupt
— THE
let
'
them
to exclude
it
seeds in this un-
its
not our children, looking back to the proceed-
ings of this day, say of us, as
of our fathers,
— plant not
137
We
we have been constrained
wish their decision had been
to say
different.'
"
Mr. Clay, then Speaker of the House, earnestly opposed the
amendment, and emphatically asserted that Congress had no
right whatever to prescribe any condition to the newly organized States, but must admit them by a single act, leaving their
sovereign rights unrestricted.
Mr. Fuller of Massachusetts, a
lawyer of eminence, father of Margaret Fuller D'Ossoli, thought
the
amendment implied nothing more than
tion of Missouri should be republican.
that the constitu-
He
maintained with
and ability that the exclusion of all colored men from
political freedom and making them property was a palpable
invasion of right and an utter abandonment of principle and
clearness
duty.
was strenuously maintained by Philip P. Barbour of VirSpeaker of the House and judge of the Supreme Court of the United States, that Congress had no conIt
ginia, afterward
stitutional right to enact the
proposed amendment
;
and,
if it
would be highly impolitic and unjust to exercise it.
This eminent lawyer and jurist, however, expressly
admitted that Congress, having the power to make all needful
rules and regulations respecting the Territories, had also the
power to " establish the principle now proposed " in the em-
had the power,
it
bryo State, while it continued to be a Territory.
" An opportunity is now presented," said Mr. Livermore of
New Hampshire, " if not to diminish, at least to prevent the
growth of a sin that sits heavy on the soul of every one of us.
By embracing this opportunity we may retrieve the national
character, and in
to pass
some degree our own.
unimproved,
that our Constitution
abolition of slavery
is
;
But
if
we
suffer it
us at least be consistent, and declare
was made
to
impose slavery, and not to
Let us no longer
establish liberty.
design
let
away with
tell
idle
tales about the
colonization societies, if their
only to rid us of free blacks and turbulent slaves.
Have done, also, with
18
Bible societies, whose views are extended
�138
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
to Africa
IN AMERICA.
and the East Indies, while they overlook the deplora-
ble condition of our sable brethren within our
Make no more laws
the world
must
own
borders.
to prohibit the importation of the slaves, for
see that the object of such laws is alone to pro-
market of the
and blood
man, which we are about to establish in the West, and to
enhance the price of sturdy wretches, raised like black cattle
and horses, on our own plantations, for sale." The amendment was sustained by the Committee of the Whole by a vote
hibit the glutting of a prodigious
flesh
of
of seventy-nine to sixty-seven.
On
the 16th of the
debate was resumed.
same month
this earnest and exciting
Mr. Scott, the delegate from Missouri,
He
spoke at great length against the prohibition of slavery.
talked of the Ides of March, and warned Congress that the
amendment was " big with the fate of Csesar and of Rome."
Mr. Colston of Virginia was especially excited and violent.
accused Mr. Livermore of speaking to the galleries, and,
He
by his language, of attempting to excite a servile war and
insolently declared that he was " no better than Arbuthnot
and Ambrister, and deserved no better fate." During that
;
debate Mr. Cobb of Georgia asserted with
the friends of the
if
be dissolved.
all
amendment
much
feeling that
Union would
he said, " which
persisted the
" They were kindling a fire,"
the waters of the ocean could not extinguish.
It
could be
extinguished only in blood."
mover of the amendment in a
speech of great boldness and vigor. In reply to Mr. Cobb he
" If a dissolution of the Union must take place, let it
said
If civil war, which gentlemen so much threaten, must
be so
My hold on life is probacome, I can only say, Let it come
The debate was
closed by the
:
!
!
bly as
frail as
any
man who
hears
me
it shall be devoted to the service of
of
man.
;
my
but while that
If blood is necessary to extinguish
have assisted
to
any
portion of the
slavery
six.
fire
kindle, I can assure gentlemen, while
the necessity, I shall not forbear to contribute
The
life lasts
country, to the freedom
amendment
my
which
I
I regret
mite."
forbidding the introduction of
was then adopted by a vote of eighty-seven to seventyof the amendment, by which chil-
The second portion
�THE MISSOURI STRUGGLE.
— THE
COMPROMISES.
139
dren born after the admission of the State should be made free
was adopted by eighty-two to seventywas then passed by ninety-seven to fifty-six.
at the age of thirty-five,
and the
six,
The
bill
Senate, on the 27th of February, struck out of the
that portion of Mr. Tallmadge's
free,
seven
amendment making
bill
children
born after the admission of the State, by thirty-one to
;
and the portion excluding
slavery, by twenty-two to
sixteen.
The House, by
a majority of two, refused to concur with the
The Senate, however,
amendment, Mr. Taylor moved that the House
adhere to its disagreement, and sustained his motion by a
vigorous speech, in which he was strongly supported by Mr.
Tallmadge, and Mr. Mills of Massachusetts. The House
adhered by twelve majority, and the bill was lost.
In the .following December Mr. Robertson of Kentucky
moved that the House appoint a committee to consider the
expediency of establishing a Territorial government over so
Senate in striking out the prohibition.
adhering to
much
its
of the Missouri Territory as lay south of the parallel
of 36° 30'.
The committee, being appointed, reported a
bill
providing a Territorial government for the southern part of
the Missouri Territory, to be called the Territory of Arkan-
When
sas.
came up
it
for consideration,
Mr. Taylor moved
the prohibition of slavery in the proposed Territory.
amendment gave
rise to a
heated debate.
his deep regret at its introduction,
and charged
its
with being under the influence of negrophobia.
of Virginia charged
battery.
the
way
It
for
its
This
Mr. Clay expressed
supporters
Mr. Nelson
friends with fighting behind a
masked
was, he thought, an entering w^edge to prepare
an attack by Congress on the property of masters
in their slaves in the several States.
An
made by Mr. Taylor for the inhibiMr. Walker of North Carolina declared if
Southern men were prohibited from taking their slaves into
the Territory, their " land would be an uncultivated waste, a
earnest appeal was
tion of slavery.
fruitless soil "
but if its slaves were freely permitted to go
beyond the Mississippi, then " your lands," he said, " will be
sold, your soil will be cultivated, and your country will flour;
�140
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
Louis
ish."
McLane
IN AMERICA.
of Delaware denied the power of Con-
gress to prohibit slavery in the Territories, or to
make such
prohibition a condition of admitting a State into the Union.
He
even maintained the extreme position of denying the right
of any State to emancipate slaves.
He asked
:
"
What would
be said of the legislature of the State of Delaware or Maryland,
if,
by law, they were to declare
their limits to be free
?
Could
it
all
the slaves within
be pretended for a
that they would have any right to do so
moment
?
So much of Mr. Taylor's amendment as prohibited the introduction of slavery was rejected by the close vote of seventy to
seventy-one
;
but so
much
as provided that all children born
slaves should be free at the age of twenty-five
by a majority of two.
was agreed
to
Mr. Williams of North Carolina moved
but his motion failed by the same majority.
was then moved by Mr. Robertson to recommit the bill to a
select committee, with instructions to strike out the amendments and this motion was carried by the casting vote of the
Speaker. The committee to whom the bill was recommitted
consisted of Robertson of Kentucky, Silsbee and Mills of
Massachusetts, Burwell of Virginia, and Lowndes of South
Carolina.
Thus Mr. Clay, who had been in favor of excluding slavery from Kentucky, and who professed to believe
" slavery to be a wrong, a grievous wrong, no contingency can
make right," not only secured this recommitment by his casting vote, but constituted the committee hostile to the humane
provisions of the amendment.
This action reveals and illustrates the sacrifices of principle and of conscience which the
aspiring public men of the nation have been compelled to
make, in order to secure the favor and support of the exacting and dominating Power which so long and so completely
dictated what the policy and who the rulers of the nation
a reconsideration
;
It
;
should be.
The committee reported in favor of striking out the amendment but the House, by a majority of two, voted to sustain
it.
It was then moved by Mr. Taylor that neither slavery nor
;
involuntary servitude should be introduced into the Territory.
This amendment was supported by Mr. Pitkin of Connecticut,
�THE MISSOURI STRUGGLE.
— THE
COMPROMISES.
141
and opposed by Mr. "Whitman of Massachusetts, who had voted
It was lost, however, by a vote of eighty-six to ninety.
It was then proposed
by Mr. Taylor to prohibit slavery in all the territory north of
36° 30'
but after an excited debate he withdrew his proposition, and the bill passed without any restriction.
When it
came up for consideration in the Senate, Mr. Roberts of Pennsylvania moved to prohibit slavery.
His amendment was
defeated by a majority of five, and Arkansas became a slaveholding Territory, and the South again triumphed.
The XVIth Congress met on the 6th of December, 1819. On
for the prohibition of slavery in Missouri.
;
motion of Mr. Scott, the memorials in favor of the admission of Missouri as a State were referred to a select committee, consisting of himself, Robertson of Kentucky, Terrill of
Georgia, Strothcr of Virginia, and
member
De Witt of New York, one
On the 9th Mr. Scott
only being from the free States.
reported a
for its
bill
admission on an equal footing with the
original States.
In the Senate the memorial of the Territorial legislature of
Missouri was referred to the Judiciary Committee, of which
Mr. Smith of South Carolina was chairman.
reported the House
amendment
for the
bill
This committee
admission of Maine, with an
authorizing the people of Missouri to form a State
constitution.
The
bill
coming up
for consideration,
Mr. Rob-
moved to recommit it, with instructions to
leave out the amendment.
This motion was supported by
Mellen and Otis of Massachusetts, Burrill of Rhode Island,
Dana of Connecticut, and opposed by Smith of South Caro-
erts of Pennsylvania
lina
and Lloyd of Maryland, but was
lost
by a majority of
seven.
The
consideration of the
and Mr. Roberts moved
to
bill
was resumed
amend
it
in the Senate,
by the provision that the
introduction of slavery should be absolutely and irrevocably
prohibited, supporting his
cible speech.
amendment
in a very able
and
for-
Mr. Elliot of Georgia, however, declared the
contemplated restriction to be " unauthorized by the Constitution, in contravention of a
and opposed by the
Mr. Lowrie of Pennsylvania
solemn treaty
suggestions of sound policy."
;
�142
said,
EISE
if
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
the
alternative,
as
IN AMERICA.
intimated by the opponents
slavery restriction, were a dissolution of the
extension of slavery over the whole Western
will choose the former,
though the choice
is
of
Union or the
territory, " I
one that
fills
my
mind with horror."
The proposition was advocated by Morrill of New Hampshire, Mellen of Massachusetts, and Burrill
of Rhode Island
and opposed by Walker of Georgia, Macon
;
of North Carolina, and Pinckney of Maryland.
Mr. Otis of Massachusetts, though he had voted for the
admission of Missouri at the previous session, now made a most
earnest and eloquent speech in favor of prohibition, closing with
the declaration that he
was " unable
which should counteract the
to agree to
spirit of the
any measure
age by increasing the
mischief of slavery to a degree boundless in extent and perpetual in duration, and to entail on posterity a scourge for which
we reproach
the memory of our ancestors."
Mr. Ruggles of
Ohio declared, in the same strain, that " this clay's legislation
is
not to perish with us,
people of Missouri
fifty
—
it is
to
endure
The
for centuries.
years hence will trace, not to a British
king, not to a corrupt British Parliament, but to Congress, the
evils of slavery."
On the other hand, with equal if not greater positiveness
and feeling, Southern members opposed the amendment. Mr.
Smith of South Carolina characterized the efforts against the
extension of slavery as " the misguided influences of fanati-
Mr. Tan Dyke of Delaware, though
had adopted resolutions in favor of the restriction,
now made a constitutional argument against the amendment.
Mr. James Barbour of Virginia, afterward Secretary of War,
and Minister to England under the administration of John
Quincy Adams, spoke at great length against the restriction.
Though, like most of the Virginia statesmen of that day,
admitting that slavery was mixed with good and evil,
the
cism and humanity."
his State
latter greatly predominating,
— he charged that the
—
advocates
of restriction were violating the Constitution, trampling under-
immeasurand laying the
Richard M. Johnson of
foot the plighted faith of the nation, inflicting an
able act of injustice on one half of the country,
foundation of an incurable hatred.
�THE MISSOURI STRUGGLE.
— THE
COMPROMISES.
143
Kentucky, afterward Vice-President of the United States,
declared that " the friends of prohibition would check the
progress of humanity, tighten the bands of the captive, prolong the time of slavery, and augment
its evils,
excite every
discordant passion of the soul, and produce jargon, animosity,
and
strife."
ment
The
vote was then taken on Mr. Roberts's amend-
prohibiting slavery in Missouri, and
was defeated by
it
nine majority.
During the debate Rufus King, who had again entered the
Senate from New York, made two elaborate and powerful
speeches in favor of the inhibition of slavery in the
They were regarded
States.
new
as the fullest, most thorough,
and exhaustive presentations made in that debate. John
Quincy Adams, who heard them, said that he unravelled with
ingenious and subtle analysis many sophistical tissues of the
slaveholders, and laid down the position of the natural liband that the
erty of man, and its incompatibility with slavery
great slaveholders gnawed their lips and clenched their fists as
William Pinkney, the distinguished Marythey heard him.
who had declared, thirty years before,
land lawyer and orator,
;
—
that "
if
slavery continues
fifty
years longer
its effects will
seen in the decline of the spirit of liberty in the free States,"
addressed the Senate for three hours, in a speech of great
quence and power, against
its
be
—
elo-
prohibition in Missouri.
The Senate having by a majority of two voted to join Maine
and Missouri in the same bill, Mr. Thomas of Illinois moved
an amendment providing that in all the country ceded by
France to the United States north of 36° 30' there should be
neither slavery nor involuntary servitude.
to
amend
the
amendment by excluding
Mr. Trimble moved
slavery from all the
territory west of the Mississippi River, excepting Louisiana,
Arkansas, and Missouri
;
but
amendment was adopted by
it
was
rejected.
Mr. Thomas's
a decided majority, and the
bill
was passed by a vote of twenty-four to twenty.
The bill was taken up in the House on the 26th of January,
and Mr. Storrs moved to amend it so as to prohibit slavery
north of the parallel of 38° west of the Mississippi.
lor,
Mr. Taymoving, as an amendment, that there should be neither
�144
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
slavery nor involuntary servitude in the State,
made an
elab-
argument in its support. He was immediately followed
by Mr. Holmes, who, though a representative from Massachusetts, was found willing to lead off in the opposition.
He declared, if he was reduced to the alternative of holding slaves
orate
in Missouri or violating the
Constitution of his country, he
would not permit " a doubt to cloud his choice." Thus was
opened that remarkable debate in the popular branch of Congress which, estimated by the test of substantial ability or of
wide-spread and far-reaching results, finds few equals in the
legislative history of the nation.
Freedom found worthy
representatives and advocates.
sylvania, true to her then proud
and
Penn-
traditional pre-eminence,
spoke manly words through the distinguished representative
and lawyer of Philadelphia, John Sergeant, who said that
he was not afraid of what is called popular excitement.
Believing that
all
history teaches that revolutions are
not
the work of men, but of time and circumstances, he said
" Nothing can present a more frightful indication than public
indifference to such a question as this.
It is
not by rigorously
maintaining great moral and political principles in their purity
that
we incur danger."
" Let the standard of freedom," he
said," be planted in Missouri by the hands of the Constitution,
and
let
— men
its
banner wave over the heads of none but freemen,
them by their
retaining the image impressed upon
Creator, and dependent upon none but God and the laws.
Then, as our republican States extend, republican principles
will go
hand
in
hand with republican
practice, the love of
liberty with the sense of justice."
Mr. Hemphill, also of Pennsj-lvania, made a learned and exMr.
haustive argument in favor of Mr. Taylor's amendment.
Cook
of Illinois believed
best and noblest motives,
the measure
had originated
in the
— motives dictated by humanity and
the well-being of the nation.
Though opposing the popular
" I believe, if the voice of futurity
feeling of Missouri, he said
:
could be heard, I should receive her approbation and her grati-
She might come from the wilderness, with her locks
wet with the dews of the night, and knock at your door for
tude.
�THE MISSOURI STRUGGLE.
admittance
she
till
On
COMPROMISES.
145
with weakness; and, unless she comes
freedom and a pledge against the future
falls
in the white rohes of
with
evils of slavery,
— THE
my
consent she will not be admitted."
the other hand, Slavery put forth her strong
men
to plead
her cause and dragoon the government into submission 1o
her haughty behests.
Of course Mr. Clay's clarion voice was
heard loudest in the din of
name
in the sacred
strife,
summoning
his countrymen,
of patriotic devotion to the nation, to
low his lead, as he consecrated
talents, position,
at the shrine of the exacting
Power
sacrifice.
He
fol-
and influence
that claimed the cruel
spoke for four hours against the expediency
and right of restriction. Mr. McLane of Delaware spoke in
the same strain.
Mr. Reid of Georgia declared that the welthough
fare and security of the citizens forbade emancipation
he would hail the day as the most glorious in its dawning which
;
should behold, with safety to
lation placed
its
white citizens, the black popu-
on the high elevation of equal rights and clothed
with the privileges of American citizens.
Mr. Hardin of Kentucky accused the advocates of prohibiunder false colors. " It would be more magnanimous," he said, " to haul down the colors on which are
tion of fighting
engraven humanity, morality, and religion, and unfurl the
genuine banner, on which is written a contest for political conGeneral Smythe of Virginia, whose
speeches were more remarkable for length and dulness than for
sequence and mastery."
other qualities, declared that he would not apologize for the
length of his speech on that occasion
;
for
he had spoken " to
preserve our citizens from massacre, our wives and daughters
from violation, and our children from being impaled by the
most inhuman of savages."
John Tyler, afterward President of the United States, always
pliant
a
instrument of the Slave Power, and a rebel in the late
Northern republicans to pause and
was to be over their firm and
steadfast friends of the South.
He maintained that slaves
were guaranteed as property in the Constitution. Northern
gentlemen, he said, should " not forget themselves. Rail at
rebellion, appealed to the
remember that
slavery as
much
their triumph
as
19
you
please.
I point
you
to the Constitu-
�146
EISE
tion,
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
and say
to
IN AMERICA.
you that yoa have not only acknowledged our
right to this species of property, but you have gone
much
fur-
ther and have bound yourselves to rivet the chains of the slave."
He
told
-
the friends of prohibition that they might return to
and receive votes of thanks but, instead of
would be uttered
their constituents
;
blessings, the deepest curses of posterity
against their destructive policy.
In the midst of the debate, which had run for nearly a month,
the
House
bill for
the admission of Maine was returned, with
an amendment authorizing the people of Missouri to form a
State government. Mr. Taylor moved that the House disagree,
while Mr. Scott
moved
that
it
be referred to the committee of
the whole, which had under consideration the Missouri
After a brief debate, Mr. Scott's
amendment was
rejected
bill.
by a
The House resuming the consideration of
the Maine and Missouri bill, John Randolph made a long speech
against the Senate's amendment excluding slavery north of 36°
30'.
The next day the House disagreed to the Senate's amendment uniting the bills for the admission of Maine and Missouri,
while so much of the amendment as prohibited slavery from
territory north of 36° 30' was disagreed to, and the debate was
decisive majority.
resumed.
Mr. Plummer of New Hampshire, in reply to Mr. Clay, who had
warned the men of New England not to intrude upon him their
New England notions, declared that those notions were liberty,
equality, and the rights of man. " These are the notions," he
said, " which we must cast aside when we leave our happy
homes, and which, if by chance they find their way into this
hall, are to be repelled with the charge of fanaticism, folly, and
negrophobia.
Sir, if there be any madness in this case, it is
the madness of those who hug slavery to their bosoms. If
there be any infatuation,
it is
the infatuation of those
who
are
erous institution
Union rather than not extend this pestifbeyond the Mississippi." Mr. Fuller of Mas-
sachusetts said,
if
willing to dissolve the
Missouri would be strong in war, let her
invite only freemen,
freedom
;
who will defend their families and their
who can seek their own happiness only
" not slaves,
by withering the arm that holds them in bondage."
�THE MISSOURI STRUGGLE.
On
the 28th of February
on
that the Senate insisted
of Mr. Taylor,
was voted
it
a majority of twenty-one.
it
its
to
— THE
147
COMPROMISES.
was announced to the House
amendment when, on motion
adhere to its disagreement by
;
Proceeding to the consideration of
the bill, the House rejected Mr. Storrs's amendment excluding slavery from territory north of 36° 80'. Mr. Allen of Mas-
sachusetts moved to amend the bill by striking out the word
" white," so as to extend the privilege of voting to all male
citizens, supporting his
amendment by a speech
of
some length.
His amendment, however, received only his own vote. Both
Mr. Clay and Mr. Storrs sought such a modification of Mr.
Taylor's amendment, already adopted, as to
Though they supported
recommendation.
with great earnestness,
On
the House.
it
make
it
a mere
their proposition
failed of receiving the sanction of
the next day Mr. Storrs
moved
his
amend-
ment, providing that Mr. Taylor's amendment should be ofbut it
fered for the free acceptance or rejection of Missouri
;
was rejected. Mr. Taylor's amendment was then agreed to
by eight majority the bill was ordered to a third reading, and
on the 1st of March it was passed by a vote of ninety-one to
;
eighty-two.
On
the
same day the House agreed
to a conference, asked
by the Senate, on the bill for the admission of the State of
Maine. The Senate appointed on the Committee of Conference
for
Thomas
of Illinois,
Pinkney of Maryland, and Barbour of
The House added Holmes and Parker of MassachuTaylor of Xew York, Lowndes of South Carolina, and
Virginia.
setts,
Kinsey of
New
The next day
Jersey.
the Missouri bill
was taken up
and, on motion of Mr. Barbour, so
much
of the
in the Senate,
bill
as prohib-
was stricken out by twenty-seven to fifteen. Mr.
Thomas moved to amend the bill by adding a section exclud-
ited slavery
Mr. Trimble moved to amend
amendment by prohibiting slavery in all territory ceded
by France, excepting Louisiana, Missouri, and Arkansas. His
ing slavery north of 36°
30'.
that
motion, however, received only twelve votes, and the amend-
ment
On
Thomas was adopted.
same day Mr. Holmes, from the committee of con-
of Mr.
the
�148
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
ference, reported to the House that the Senate secede from its
amendment to the bill for the admission of Maine and that
the House strike out from the bill authorizing the people of
;
Missouri to form a constitution the prohibition of slavery, and
insert the inhibition of slavery in all the territories ceded
France north of the parallel of 36°
upon the
table,
of the Senate's
tion
was
30'.
and the House proceeded
amendments
The
to the consideration
The
to the Missouri bill.
so divided as to be first taken
hibition of slavery in that State.
by
report was laid
ques-
on striking out the pro-
Mr. Lowndes spoke briefly
compromise recommended by the committee
of conference.
He declared that its adoption would restore
tranquillity to the country,
a result demanded by every consideration of discretion, of moderation, of wisdom, and of vir-
in support of the
—
Mr. Holmes of Massachusetts spoke for the compromise,
and Mr. Adams of the same State against it. Kinsey of New
Jersey, Stevens of Connecticut, and Mercer of Virginia ear-
tue.
nestly advocated the compromise.
On
the question of striking
out the restriction the vote stood yeas ninety, nays eighty-
seven
;
member from the slave States voting for
and fourteen members from the free States voting
Though the legislatures of New York, New Jersey,
not a single
prohibition,
against
it.
and Pennsylvania had adopted resolutions in favor of such prohibition, seven members from those States recorded their votes
New England, too,
against the sentiments embodied in them.
furnished seven representatives
thus proved themselves
claims of humanity, the rights of man, and the
false to the
permanent
who
interests of the country.
with the Senate in inserting in the
The motion
bill
to
concur
the clause inhibiting
slavery in the territory acquired from France north of 86° 30'
was then agreed
to
by a vote of one hundred and
thirty-four
to forty-two.
Throughout the long struggle the President and
net had manifested the deepest interest.
the
bill
On
he submitted to them the question
:
his cabi-
the passage of
"
Has Congress
the constitutional power to prohibit slavery in a Territory
To this question an affirmative answer was given, though
but Mr.
Adams were
of the opinion that the
?
"
all
word " forever "
�THE MISSOURI STRUGGLE.
— THE
COMPROMISES.
149
in the prohibitory clause did not interfere with the right of any-
State that might be organized from that territory to prohibit
Having received from
or establish slavery.
members
the
all
of his cabinet the opinion that the proviso forever prohibiting
slavery north of the parallel of
36° 30'
was
President Monroe affixed his signature to the
The
victory of the Slave
constitutional,
bill.
Power was now complete
was fastened upon the Territory of Arkansas and the
and the dark cloud, surcharged with
wrongs and woes, rolled heavily across the
of Missouri
less
Under
the
;
skilful lead of
slavery
;
new
its
State
number-
Mississippi.
her distinguished sons and cham-
pions, in both the legislative
and executive departments of gov-
ernment, the slaveholding South imposed upon the country,
thus basely betrayed and subdued, another compromise,
compromise, however,
of the vile
by
it
;
and
false
—a
to be kept only so long as the interests
system which exacted
it
could be promoted
then to be ruthlessly broken and treated as a thing of
naught.
This Missouri struggle, which so aroused and called into action the vital forces of
freedom and slavery, demonstrated the
startling fact that the race of Southern statesmen
slavery to be a temporary evil, to be abolished at
who
believed
some
future
time and in some yet unforeseen way, had passed away.
new
It
who had
learned either to believe that it
was " a positive good," or so to " conquer their prejudices " as to
subordinate their convictions to the assumed necessities of the
revealed a
class,
system and the intolerant demands of that rapidly increasingPresident Monroe, who believed that slavery " preyed
power.
on the
vitals " of the State
souri restriction.
which tolerated
it,
opposed the Mis-
Several of his Cabinet actively labored to de-
Even John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State, favored
the Missouri Compromise, " believing it to be," he said, " all
that could be effected under the present Constitution, and from
extreme unwillingness to put the Union in hazard." He stated
that " the impression produced on his mind by the progress of
the discussion was, that the bargain between freedom and
slavery contained in the Constitution of the United States was
morally and politically inconsistent with the principles on
feat
it.
�150
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
•which alone our Revolution could be justified
;
cruel
and op-
pressive by riveting the chains of slavery, by pledging the faith
of freedom to maintain and perpetuate the tyranny of the master
;
and grossly unequal and impolitic by admitting that slaves
are at once enemies to be kept in subjection, property to be
secured and returned to
its
resented themselves, but for
owners, and persons not to be rep-
whom
their masters are privileged
The
with nearly a double share of representation.
quence has been that
this slave representation
conse-
has governed
Benjamin's portion above his brethren has ravened
In the morning he has devoured the prey, and in
the evening has divided the spoil."
the Union.
as a wolf.
Mr. Jefferson, who was the father of the party then in power,
its councils, though he had
wielding a potential influence in
once prepared a plan for the prohibition of slavery which was
designed to secure to freedom all the territory from the Lakes
became alarmed and shrunk appalled before the
it fell upon his ear " like the
fire-bell at midnight."
He, too, yielded to the pressure, and
condemned the men who were battling for the very principles
he had himself so grandly enunciated and ably defended. Mr.
Madison, also, the calm and judicious statesman who would
not allow the word " slave " to desecrate the Constitution,
trembled for the fate of the Union, menaced by the madness
of the slave-masters, and threw the weight of his great name
in favor of a policy which would subject Missouri to the same
influences which had so sadly blighted and despoiled his once
proud commonwealth.
Never before had the antislavery sentiment of the North
Popular meetings were
been so quickened and aroused.
holden, in which Federalists and Democrats enthusiastically
and cordially united. Public addresses were made, and petito the Gulf,
fury of the strife, declaring that
tions
and memorials were sent
assembled and voted
Boston
to Congress.
to
restrain the increase of slavery in
into the Union.
The
memorialize
new
citizens of
Congress to
States to be admitted
This memorial, drawn up by Daniel Webster,
set forth that " the happiness of
unborn millions was at issue "
new country encouraged
that the admission of slavery into a
;
�— THE
THE MISSOURI STRUGGLE.
COMPROMISES.
151
"rapacity, fraud, and violence," tarnished " the proud fame
of the country," and rendered questionable all " professions
of regard for the rights of humanity or the liberties of
kind."
man-
This calm and dignified paper, in which the issues
were put with great discrimination and emphasis, closed with
this manly and earnest appeal
"As inhabitants of a free
country, as citizens of a great and rising republic, as members of a Christian community, as living in a liberal and en:
and as feeling ourselves called upon by the
and humanity, we have presumed to offer
our sentiments to Congress on this question with a solicitude for the event far beyond what a common occasion could
lightened
age,
dictates of religion
inspire."
These sentiments, so strongly and eloquently expressed,
were entertained with singular unanimity, not alone by the
people of Massachusetts, but by the people of New England
and of the entire North.
The legislatures of New York,
New
Jersey,
Pennsylvania,
Delaware,
Ohio,
and
Indiana
passed resolutions affirming the power and duty of Congress
Western
These resolutions, adopted with little opposition,
were based upon the indestructible principles of humanity,
justice, and liberty.
The legislature of Pennsylvania, without
to prohibit slavery in the States to be carved out of
territory.
a dissenting vote, supported the
icy
of prohibiting
slavery in
humane and enlightened
Missouri.
pol-
Their resolutions
proclaimed with emphasis that " they are persuaded that to
open the fertile regions of the West to a servile race would
tend to increase their numbers beyond
past example, would
open a new and steady market for the lawless venders of
human flesh, and render all schemes for obliterating this foul
blot upon the American character useless and unavailing."
They denounced
all
the attempt to bring Missouri into the
Union
as a slaveholding State as a measure " to spread the crimes
and
cruelties of slavery
from the banks of the Mississippi to
the shores of the Pacific."
States, "
And
they invoked the several
by the duty they owe to the Deity, by the veneration
which they entertain for the memories of the founders of the
Republic, and by a tender regard for posterity, to protest
�152
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
against
its
IN AMERICA.
adoption, to refuse to covenant with crime, and to
limit the range of
an
evil that already
hangs in awful boding
over so large a portion of the Union."
Nor was
the South less united and determined.
ers were, indeed,
more
persistent
and
adroit.
Its lead-
Compact
in
organization, united in purpose and plan, in full possession of
the government, and, as might be expected in support of such
a crime against nature and religion, not over-scrupulous, they
found means to alarm and persuade,
ern
men
people,
if
not to corrupt, North-
to betray their section, blight the hopes of their
and
sacrifice the
permanent
interests
of the whole
country.
Mortified at their betrayal, aggrieved at their defeat, and
apprehensive in view of these demonstrations of slaveholding
power, the more thoughtful Northern men began to comprehend more clearly the radical incompatibility between slave
and free institutions. Governor Wolcott of Connecticut, in his
address to the legislature of that State, thus expressed the
growing conviction " It cannot have escaped your attention
:
that a diversity of habits and principles of government exist
in this country
;
and
I think
it is
evident that slavery
is
grad-
ually forming those distinctions which, according to invariable laws of
human
action, constitute the characteristic differ-
ence between aristocratical and
democratical institutions."
These differences, wrought by slavery, in the ideas, social life,
and institutions of the North and South, so distinctly revealed
in the Missouri struggle, continued, in their
development, to
become more and more antagonistic and divergent, until, after
the conflicts of forty years, the two systems grappled in the
bloody struggle of
civil
war.
�CHAPTER
ADMISSION OF MISSOURI.
XII.
— ATTEMPT TO INTRODUCE SLAVERY INTO
ILLINOIS.
— Eesolution of Admission in the Senate. — Mr. Eaton's
— Mr. Wilson's Proviso. — Debate. — Passage of the Resolution of
Admission. — Report by Mr. Lowndes in the House. — Remarks by Sergeant,
Lowndes, Cook. — House Resolution rejected. — Senate Resolution
ferred to a Committee of Thirteen. — Report of Committee rejected. — Speech
of Mr. Pinckney. — Mr. Brown's Proposition. — Appointment of Joint Special
Committee. — Mr. Clay's Compromise adopted. — Conditions accepted by Mis— Slave Codes. — Governor Coles. — Defeat of the
— Slaves in
Constitution of Missouri.
Proviso.
Storrs,
re-
Illinois.
souri.
Plot to
make
Illinois a Slave State.
This action of Congress having
lish,
for
left
Missouri free to estab-
guard, and perpetuate the slave system, the convention
framing the constitution not only established slavery, but
provided in that instrument that
it
should be the duty of the
general assembly, as soon as might be, to pass such laws as
were necessary to prevent free negroes or mulattoes on any
pretext whatever from coming into or settling in the State.
Elated by their great triumph
tion,
not only of the
common
its
framers proposed the viola-
principles of humanity, but of
the rights of citizenship, as guaranteed by the Constitution
of the United States.
The second
session of the
the 13th of November, 1820.
XVI. Congress convened on
The next day the President
sent to the Senate a copy of the constitution of Missouri.
was
It
which Mr. Smith of
On the 29th the committee
referred to a select committee, of
South Carolina was chairman.
admission of Missouri.
The
chairman stated that the constitution was republican in form,
and he trusted it would at once be acted upon, and the members of the new State promptly admitted to the national counreported a resolution for the
20
�AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
154
RISE
cils.
Mr. Eaton of Tennessee moved that
IN AMERICA.
its
be postponed, in order that he might examine
consideration
it,
to see if
it
were conformable in all respects with the Constitution of the
United States. He suggested that " there were controverted
points in it."
Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky did not
" The question," he said, "swal-
object to the postponement.
lows up, in
fact,
every other
;
and, until
settled,
it is
we
not go on with the ordinary business of the session."
can-
was
remarked by Mr. Barbour of Virginia that he had supposed
the question had been decided at the last session.
So fully
persuaded was he of the fact that he had supposed that
" accursed would be the hand that would again open this
It
The motion prevailed, and the
came up again on the 6th of December. Although
Mr. Barbour suggested that the mind of every senator was
fully made up, and the question could be decided without
fountain of bitter waters."
question
debate, " the controverted points " in the constitution were at
once revealed.
Mr. Eaton moved to add a proviso that " nothing herein
contained shall be so construed as to give the assent of Congress to any provision of the constitution of Missouri,
if
any
such there be, that contravenes the clause in the Constitution of the
United States which declares that
each State shall be entitled to
all
the several States.'"
ties of citizens of
moved by Mr. Wilson
of
New
'
the citizens of
the privileges and immuni-
A
proviso was then
Jersey, referring specifically to
the objectionable clause in the constitution of Missouri
it
received the votes of only nine members.
viso
was then
;
but
Mr. Eaton's pro-
lost.
Mr. Burrill of Rhode Island, a dissenting member of the
committee, then addressed the Senate. He was a ripe scholar
and an eminent lawyer, by whose early death his State and the
Speaking with clearness and
precision, he maintained that the act admitting Missouri was
in the nature of a contract between the United States and the
people of Missouri and it was competent for Congress, and it
was its duty, to see if that contract had been faithfully fulfilled.
Referring to the obnoxious clause, he said he connation sustained a serious loss.
;
�ADMISSION OF MISSOURI.
ceived
it
to be " entirely
repugnant to the Constitution of the
In Massachusetts there is no distinction of
United States.
color,
155
and
same
possess precisely the
all
rights.
Can
it
be
possible for Missouri, consistently with the Constitution, to ex-
clude any of those citizens of Massachusetts from the State
The
States of this
Union are not independent
they framed the Constitution they used the language
'
?
When
nations.
We,
the
Sanction this improper clause now, and you sanction
people.'
it for all
time to come
to avoid
it, it
and, however
;
we may
desire hereafter
will be irrevocably fixed."
Mr. Smith, chairman of the committee, followed in an elab" The history of the ancient
"
world," he said,
affords no precedent.
As no example is
orate speech of great length.
found in the history of any other nation, and this being the
first
time when this question has occurred in our own govern-
ment, whether
free negroes
and mulattoes are
citizens,
we must
ascertain their status from the Constitution of the United States
and the State constitutions. They furnish a mass of evidence,
which none but a sceptic can doubt, that they have been considered a part of the body politic neither by the general government nor the State governments." Of the self-evident truths
of the Declaration of Independence, he significantly asked
" If this were a declaration of independence for the blacks as
well as the whites,
at once
and
let
why
them
did you not all emancipate your slaves
join you in the
war
?
"
Referring to the
naturalization laws, he maintained that they were for white
persons only.
He showed
that in several of the free
States
white inhabitants only were allowed political privileges.
By
and mortifying recital of national as well as State legislation, he was able to show how strangely and cruelly the nation had discriminated for the whites and against the blacks.
He closed by presenting a tabular statement, procured from
the custom-house in Charleston, South Carolina, of the names
of all the vessels, and their owners, which had entered that
From that stateport during the four years ending in 1807.
ment it appeared that citizens of Rhode Island had imported
one fifth of all which had been brought
eight thousand slaves,
into the country " thus showing," he said, " that those people
a
full
—
;
�156
RISE
who most
man
flesh
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
deprecate the evils of slavery and the
can
sell
human
flesh with
traffic in
hu-
an easy conscience when
a profitable market can be found."
John Holmes of Maine, who had,
as representative from
Massachusetts, at the preceding session, labored so efficiently
and
compromise the rights
of freemen, now made a specious argument, in which he maintained that Missouri had not impaired her claim for admission
by prohibiting the entrance of free negroes and mulattoes.
Asserting that States might enact laws against paupers and
vagabonds, he alleged that it was safe to assume that manumitted slaves would become such. He also maintained that
free negroes and mulattoes were not citizens within the meaning and intent of the Constitution, and contended that no one
could be a citizen unless he had an agency in the formation
and administration of the laws that free negroes and mulattoes had not that agency, and therefore were not citizens
to defeat prohibition in Missouri
to
;
and hence their exclusion by Missouri was not an infraction
of the Constitution.
Mr. Otis of Massachusetts replied in a speech of great eleTo Mr. Holmes's definition of citizenship
gance and force.
and argument thereon he replied that if an unjust State government might " create odious and other distinctions between
its privileged and other classes," that certainly could not
divest them of " the right of protection in life, liberty, and
property, of residence, and inheritable blood." The resolution,
after further debate, was passed by eight majority.
In the House of Representatives Mr. Scott, early in the
session, presented the constitution of Missouri, which was referred to a select committee, of which Mr. Lowndes of South
Carolina was chairman. A report was promptly made in favor
of its admission as a State.
It was the subject of continuous
debate for several days.
Mr. Sergeant of Pennsylvania made
a very able speech in opposition to
its
adoption.
Referring to
the clause of the Constitution giving to the citizens of one
State the privileges and immunities of citizens in other States,
he declared his inability to see how that could be constitutional
which forbade a citizen of Massachusetts " to set his foot in
�157
ADMISSION OF MISSOURI.
The simple
the State of Missouri."
that is asked for
is all
now
privilege of locomotion
and surely that must be one of the
;
and immunities of citizenship. This learned lawyer
and able and upright statesman said unequivocally that this
privileges
clause of the constitution of Missouri respecting free people of
color was " a plain and palpable infraction of the Constitution
that " the plain course, then, was not
of the United States "
;
to receive the constitution"
House
;
and that
it
was " the duty of
this
to reject it."
Mr. Storrs of
New
York, who had steadily voted, at the pre-
vious session, against the restriction of slavery in Missouri,
avowed
it
to be his intention to vote against the admission of
that State, because her constitution
stitution of the
was repugnant
He made
United States.
to the
Con-
a learned and able
speech, in which he maintained that the clause in the Constitution which secured to the citizens of each State the privileges
and immunities of the citizens of the several States is " laid
deep in the structure of the government," " is capable of no
construction which does not plainly denote the universality of
its operation and its uniform application to individual right
The same sentiments were maintained by Mr. Hemphill of Pennsylvania
and Mr. Mallory of Vermont.
These views were combated by Lowndes, by Philip P. Barbour and Archer of Virginia, and by McLane of Delaware, in
elaborate but specious arguments.
Mr. Barbour considered
free persons of color as a nondescript class.
In some States
they have some civil rights, in others none in some States
they have some political rights, in others none.
.Mr. Lowndes
" No federal privileges had been conferred upon that
said
degraded caste of our population rejected as they were in every
State from social and political privileges, either by the protec-
throughout every portion of the nation."
;
:
,
tion of law or the feelings of society."
Mr. Cook of
Illinois
made
the point, that Congress, in con-
sideration of military services,
had granted land bounties
for
lands in Missouri, some of which had been received by free
people of color.
soil.
They had thus acquired a
fee simple of the
These rights even the United States could not take away
�158
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
and yet Missouri, a subordinate power, proposed
This encroachment he pronounced " both unjustifiable and unconstitutional."
The debate was brought to a close on the 13th of December,
or infringe
virtually to
;
do that very thing.
and the resolution of admission was rejected by a majority
This result produced much excitement. Mr.
of fourteen.
Lowndes immediately arose and said, with deep feeling " I
do not wish to be disrespectful to a majority of the House but
:
;
I feel
it
my
duty to
call
on them, having rejected the resolution
proposed by a committee of their appointment, to devise and
propose the means necessary to protect the Territory."
The
deep emotion exhibited by Mr. Lowndes, one of the ablest and
most courteous and moderate of Southern
statesmen, was fully shared by the representatives and people
of the slaveholding States, who, with like feelings, were less
choice and courteous in their modes of expression.
In the latter part of January Mr. Eustis of Massachusetts
proposed that Missouri should be admitted on condition that
she should expunge from her constitution the clause discrimicertainly one of the
nating against free people of color.
After various motions the
Mr.
weeks of the session, then immediately arose and gave notice that he should
move to take up the Senate resolution. On the 29th he made
the promised motion, and supported it in an earnest and powerful argument, in which he denied that there was any repug-
proposition
Clay,
was
rejected by a vote approaching unanimity.
who had been absent during
the
first
nance between the clauses so often referred to in the constitutions of the United States
An amendment was
and of Missouri.
then offered by Mr. Foote of Connecti-
cut, providing that Missouri should be
admitted on condition
that she should expunge the objectionable clause.
This amend-
ment, after various motions and modifications, was rejected by
Other amendments were offered, and the
a decided majority.
debate ranged over the general subjects of the evils of slavery,
the rights of the South, the balance of power, and the obliga-
and value of the Union. When the several amendments
which had been offered and debated were rejected, Mr. Clay
tions
moved
that the Senate resolution should be referred to a select
�ADMISSION OF MISSOURI.
159
This motion was agreed to
committee of thirteen.
made
mittee was appointed, and he was
The committee made an
;
the com-
chairman.
its
early report.
Referring to the
conflicting views entertained by
members,
this report declared
that the committee thought
best that, without either side
abandoning
its
an amendment
it
opinion, an endeavor should be
made
to
frame
to the Senate resolution, which, without com-
promising either, should guard and guarantee the rights of
The
both.
gist of the resolution
was contained
mental condition and two provisos.
It
in a fundadeclared that " the
said State shall never pass any law preventing
any description
of persons from going to and settling in the said State
now
are or
may become
citizens of
who
any State of the Union
provided that the State, by solemn public act, shall declare
its
assent to this fundamental condition, and provided that this
act shall not be so construed as to take from Missouri any
power exercised by any of the original States."
right or
After exciting debates and various proposed amendments, the
resolution
was brought
to eighty-three nays.
to a vote,
and rejected by eighty yeas
This vote was strangely significant of
the state of public sentiment, and the almost even balance of
parties in that excited contest.
Thus the report of the
select
committee was at first rejected in the committee of the whole,
then accepted by the House, then rejected on the third read-
and then finally defeated by six majority.
During this close and desperate struggle several earnest
and powerful speeches were made. Among them was one by
ing, reconsidered,
Charles Pinckney. Referring to the fact that he was a member of the convention that framed the Constitution of the
United States, he avowed that " the article on which so much
and on the meaning of which the whole of the
to turn, and which is in these words, The
citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and
immunities in every State,' having been made by me, it is
supposed I must know or perfectly recollect what I meant by
In answer, I say that at the time I drew the clause of the
it.
stress is laid,
question
is
made
Constitution I
in the
knew
'
that there did not then exist such a thing
Union as a black or colored
citizen
;
nor could
I
then
�160
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
have conceived
in
it
;
nor do I
it
IN AMERICA.
possible such a thing could ever have existed
now
believe one does exist in it."
of this explicit statement, he proceeded to define
tuted a citizen in his
own
New England
He
man was
States even, that the black
not so regarded after the abolition of slavery there.
to the cruel laws
consti-
which the black man was
then charged upon the North,
State, in
certainly not so regarded.
upon the
In defence
what
and practices of the
Referring
free States,
he main-
tained that, so far from treating free colored persons as
zens, the people of those States
citi-
deemed any admixture
of
blood or any connection with them to be a disgrace.
This second defeat of the proposition for the admission of
Missouri deepened and intensified the sectional feeling in
Congress and in the country.
by resolution
Mr. Brown of Kentucky sought
to repeal the slavery restriction
embodied
Missouri Compromise of the preceding session.
elaborate speech in support of his proposition
in the
He made
;
but
it
an
was
defeated by a decisive vote.
On
the 22d of February Mr. Clay
made another
effort to
secure the admission of Missouri by moving for the appoint-
ment
Houses to conand report what action can be taken or
agreed upon concerning it. After an hour's debate the motion was agreed to, and a committee of twenty-three on the
The Senate conpart of the House was chosen by ballot.
curred in the vote by a large majority, and chose seven men,
of a joint special committee of the two
sider the
at the
subject
head of
whom was John Holmes
of Maine.
The
joint
committee reported a resolution, which its chairman, Mr.
Clay, considered as being the same in effect as that reported
by the committee of thirteen. It was very briefly considered,
the previous question was moved, and the bill passed by a
majority of six.
The resolution was sent to the Senate, and
passed by the decided vote of twenty-eight to fourteen.
Thus
the determined purpose, persistency, and tact of the Slave
Power, sustained by the active influences of the President
and his cabinet, again triumphed.
The legislature of Missouri promptly complied with the
conditions of the compromise, which required " that the
�ATTEMPT TO INTRODUCE SLAVERY INTO
161
ILLINOIS.
fourth clause of the twenty-sixth section of the third article of
the constitution submitted on the part of said State to Congress shall never be construed to authorize the passage of any
law, and that no law shall be passed in conformity thereto, by
which any
citizen of either of the States in this
Union
shall
be excluded from the enjoyment of any of the privileges and
immunities to which such citizen
stitution of the
under the Con-
is entitled
United States."
Thus was closed the Missouri controversy, which had lasted
more than two years, and which had stirred the country to its
The debates were earnest, able, and
profoundest depths.
often eloquent.
Seldom has any question drawn out a debate
Not only were the
in Congress so elaborate and exhaustive.
conflicting principles of freedom
interests of the
dices,
two sections
and pride of both
and slavery
at stake
sides
;
at issue,
and the
but the passions, preju-
The
members
were thoroughly aroused.
personal and pecuniary interests of the Southern
and those they represented were immediately and seriously
The South was a unit. Her representatives were
therefore impelled to put forth the most strenuous efforts.
In
that great struggle it was admitted that slavery, rather than
involved.
freedom,
commanded
the services not only of the most earnest
but of the most eloquent debaters of both Houses, and of
statesmen of the largest experience and most commanding
influence in the country.
During
this Missouri struggle a conspiracy
was formed to
Both of her Senators were
natives of the South, and they had pertinaciously opposed
make
Illinois
a slave
State.
the prohibition of slavery in Missouri, while her Representative
was
its
A majority of its
time unquestionably approved of the action of
earnest and eloquent advocate.
settlers at that
their Senators.
had been largely settled by emigrants from the
carried with them their love of slavery and their
unreasoning prejudices against free negroes.
In 1807 the
Territorial legislature of Indiana made it lawful for any owner
or possessor of any negroes or mulattoes above fifteen years
Illinois
South,
who
21
�162
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
of age to bring
the
present
them
IN AMERICA.
which then included
Within thirty days he was
into that Territory,
State of Illinois.
required to take such negro before the clerk of the county
court and enter into an agreement with the latter by which
he was to serve him a given number of years. If the negro
refused to enter into such an agreement, he was to be taken
back within sixty days to the place from which lie came.
This act provided, further, that any owner or possessor of ne-
groes under fifteen years of age was authorized to hold the
males
till they were thirty-five, and the females until they
were thirty-two years of age, " to service and labor." It also
provided that the children bora of these registered servants
should be held to like service, the males till they were thirty
years and the females
When
till
they were twenty-eight years of age.
became a Territory it reaffirmed these laws.
By their inhuman provisions Southern masters could take their
slaves into this Territory, and compel them to enter into contracts to serve them a number of years, exceeding their natIllinois
ural lives, or be sent back to
perpetual servitude.
Their
children under fifteen years of age and those born after enter-
ing the Territory were also doomed to the same service for
a period of years.
and
This was practically involuntary servitude,
the public sentiment,
way
Such was
in direct violation of the ordinance of 1787.
and so great were the
of asserting their rights, that
many
difficulties in the
negroes were held in
a bondage as severe as any that prevailed in the Southern
States.
By
the constitution of Illinois, adopted in 1818, suffrage
limited to free white persons
forbidden, and
made
it
;
was
the introduction of slavery was
was provided that no contracts should be
for a longer period
than one year.
It provided,
ever, that all preceding contracts should be valid
;
but
howit
re-
quired that the children of such registered servants should
become
free at the lawful age.
On
the admission of the State
the legislature had hastened to enact a code of black laws,
most of which were taken from the slave codes of Virginia and
Kentucky, from which States most of the settlers had emigrated.
Fines were imposed upon persons bringing negroes into the
�ATTEMPT TO INTRODUCE SLAVERY INTO
ILLINOIS.
163
State
and negroes found without certificates of freedom were
doomed to be sold into slavery for one year. Free negroes
were compelled to give sureties, and when convicted of any
;
petty offences, they were to be punished with stripes.
These
degrading laws were often cruelly enforced, and for more than
forty years they continued to disgrace the statute-book of that
rising State.
After the admission of Missouri, emigrants from Virginia
and Kentucky, with their long trains of teams and negroes,
passed through portions of the State on their way to Missouri.
Many of them were men of wealth and education, and as they
passed along with their droves of negroes, they did not
fail to
remind the settlers and land speculators that they had been
excluded from purchasing their lands and settling among them
Of course these land-owners
by the prohibition of slavery.
envied the good fortune of Missouri. Feeling that the prospects of Illinois had been blasted by freedom, they nursed the
make
desire to
it
a slave State.
the election of 1822.
The
This purpose was carried into
legislature
was carried by the friends
of slavery, though, on account of dividing their votes between
two candidates, they
for governor,
failed to carry either of their candidates
and Edward Coles was elected
to the
guberna-
Mr. Coles was a native
of Virginia, a gentleman of culture and character, had emantorial chair
by the friends of freedom.
moved with them to Illinois in 1818, and
them upon lands which he had given them. He had
been private secretary of Mr. Madison, was the personal friend
of Mr. Jefferson, and an uncompromising emancipationist.
cipated his slaves,
settled
There were
to
in Illinois a
whom, by common
few French settlers holding slaves,
consent, neither the constitution of the
State nor the principle of the ordinance of
When
applied.
mended
1787 had been
the legislature met, Governor Coles recom-
the emancipation of these slaves.
This recommen-
dation incensed the advocates of slavery, and they sought to
amend
the constitution.
To
call a
convention for that purpose
required a two-thirds vote of both branches of the legislature,
ratified
by a vote of the people.
They had the
in the Senate, but lacked one vote in the
purposes,
—
to carry the convention,
House.
and
requisite vote
They had two
to elect a proslavery
�164
EISE
AND FALL OP THE SLAVE POWER
candidate for the United States Senate.
testants for one of the counties,
;
.
There were two con-
— one of them would vote
their candidate for the Senate, but
vention
IN AMERICA.
would not vote
for
for the con-
the other would vote for the convention, but not for the
candidate.
They admitted the contesting member
that was
and after
using his vote for that purpose expelled him from the House
and admitted the other. By this audacious trick and reckless
willing to vote for their candidate for the Senate,
profligacy of principle the advocates of slavery, true to
its in-
and violence, carried their point, and the call for
the convention was submitted to the people.
Having accomplished this purpose, with low-bred and indecent effrontery
they formed a disorderly procession, under the lead of the lieutenant-governor, several judges and a majority of the legislature, of the rowdy elements of the capital, and " with blowing of
horns and beating of drums and tin pans," they marched to the
residence of the governor and to those of the other members in
sympathy with him, to insult, by their riotous demonstrations,
stincts of fraud
those opposed to
making
Illinois a slave State.
But Governor
They were
Coles and his friends were not to be intimidated.
rather strengthened than shaken in their purpose to exclude
from
Illinois a
system that inspired such displays of
its fero-
and brutalizing influence upon every one enlisted in its
advocacy and support. They appealed to the people not to
Papers were established,
ratify the action of the legislature.
and Governor Coles, David Blackwell, Thomas Lippincott,
George Churchill, Morris Birkbeck, Judge Lockwood, and
other leading men made public addresses and prepared articles for the press and pamphlets for circulation against the
suicidal policy of giving that great commonwealth to slavery.
The Methodist and Baptist clergy, many of whom had been
Southern men who had seen and experienced the evils of the
system, labored zealously and effectively for the same good
purpose.
After an excited and bitter contest, of more than
fifteen months, the proposed convention was voted down by a
majority of more than two thousand. The victory was comThe friends of liberty throughout the country,
plete and final.
dejected by the result of the Missouri struggle, found some compensation in the thought that Illinois had been saved to freedom.
cious
�CHAPTER
XIII.
—
EARLY ANTISLAVERY MOVEMENTS.
BENJAMIN LUNDY.
LLOYD GARRISON.
Aggressive and Dominating Spirit of Slavery.
—
— WILLIAM
— Elias Hicks. — Antislavery in
—
—
—
—
—
—
Kentucky and Tennessee.
Benjamin Lundy.
He organizes an Antislavery
Society in Ohio.
Kemoved to Tennessee.
"Genius of Emancipation."
Established Abolition Societies in North Carolina.
Meeting of the American
Abolition Convention.
Political Action recommended.
Establishes his
Paper in Baltimore.
Visits the Eastern States.
Joined by Mr. Garrison.
Imprisonment of Mr. Garrison,
Paper removed to Washington.
Establishes
the " National Inquirer."
Removal to the West.
Death.
Character.
Mr. Garrison.
Joins Mr. Lundy.
Adopts the Doctrine of Immediate
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
Emancipation. — Denunciation of the Slave-trade. — Imprisoned
Baltimore.
— Release through Intervention of Arthur Tappan. — Denounces the Colonization Society. — Establishes "The Liberator." — Public Sentiment. — Rewards
his Arrest. — His Fearlessness,
and Persistency.
—
—
in
offered for
Inflexibility,
In the Missouri struggle freedom and slavery grappled for
Freedom
and slavery won. Freedom beslavery became bolder, more
aggressive, and more dominating.
Freedom retreated from
one lost position to another slavery advanced from conquest
the mastery.
came
lost,
timid, hesitating, yielding
;
;
to conquest.
Several years of unresisted despotism of the
Power followed this consummation of the Missouri comThe dark spirit of slavery swayed the policy of the
republic.
Southern legislatures repealed the more humane
acts of their slave codes, revived the more severe laws of colonial legislation, and enacted statutes still more inhuman.
Slave
promise.
Northern States,
too,
were guilty of enacting similar statutory
provisions in the interest of oppression.
the people was lulled into quiet by the
The conscience of
new scheme
of African
and religand public men bent in unresisting submission before this all-conquering despotism, whose
colonization.
Institutions of learning, benevolence,
ion, political organizations
�166
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
aggressive advances became more resistless, as
successive
its
But amid this general defection and complete surrender there were a few who kept the
faith of the fathers, and firmly and bravely adhered to the
doctrines of human rights.
Even in that dark night there
were Christian men who not only believed, but faithfully enunciated the creed of human fraternity, equality, and liberty
though their movements were individual and local, and their
appeals were unheeded by the great body of the people.
Indeed, there have always been witnesses for the truth and it has
been a sad aggravation of the national apostasy that it was
effected in spite of the earnest protests of these faithful men.
Among these witnesses were the Quakers, especially the followers of Elias Hicks. As early as the year 1814 he published
In it he maintained that the slavea work on African slavery.
holder had no moral right whatever to the man he styled his
victories
became more complete.
;
He
slave, or to the products of his labor.
also enunciated the
incontrovertible principles that the slaveholder
than a criminal possession of the
bondman
;
had no other
that he could
had
no more right than the original possessor, whose right was
and that each holder of a slave, no
founded on violence
matter how many hands that slave may have passed through,
convey no right to a second person
;
that the purchaser
;
is guilty
of the crime of the
leader, so with
most of
first
perpetrator.
his followers,
—
As with
the
tbeir opposition to
was always earnest and unequivocal.
There was, also, a large infusion of antislavery feeling,
especially among the churches of Kentucky and Tennessee,
many of whose ministers proclaimed with great clearness and
It was,
force the distinctive doctrines of modern abolition.
however, their misfortune and grief to dwell in communities
where the proslavery spirit was becoming increasingly intolerant and controlling in its influence on the public mind,
Acrendering their residence uncomfortable and unsafe.
cordingly, such men as Rev. John Rankin, a native of Tennessee, with their flocks, removed to the free States across
the Ohio River, and there retained and insisted on the same
sentiments for which they were ostracized in their former
slavery
�BENJAMIN LUNDY.
167
homes. In New England the proportion of antislavery men
was much smaller, though there were some. Among them
William Goodell, who in 1821 was publishing a reformatory paper in Providence, had taken a deep interest in the
Missouri struggle, enunciated very clearly the primary principles of
human
rights,
and was
for
more than
forty years
connected with an antislavery press.
most devoted,
and prominent antiwas Benjamin Lundy. From
1815 to 1830 his labors were immense, involving great personal hardship and sacrifice, and placing him far in advance
He was a
of all contemporaneous or earlier Abolitionists.
native of New Jersey, and of Quaker origin.
At the age of
nineteen he went to Wheeling, in Western Virginia, where he
served an apprenticeship and worked at the trade of saddler.
He was evidently from the outset an earnest and thoughtful
man. While his companions were prone to dissipation, he
devoted his leisure hours to reading and he was also a reguWheellar attendant on the meetings of his denomination.
But
far the
effective,
slavery worker of those days
;
ing being a great thoroughfare for the slave-trade, through
which often passed the coffies of that nefarious traffic, his
sympathies were largely enlisted in behalf of its helpless and
" My heart," he said, " was deeply grieved
hopeless victims.
abomination.
I heard the wail of the captive, I
at the gross
felt his pang of distress, and the iron entered my soul."
Though he did not then and there enter upon what soon
became his life work, yet he unquestionably received his baptism into the spirit of the great reform of which he was an
honored pioneer, while largely instrumental in persuading
others to enter upon it.
Even Mr. Garrison thus gratefully and gracefully refers to
" Now, if I have in any way,
his obligations to Mr. Lundy
however humble, done anything toward calling attention to
:
slavery, or bringing about the glorious prospect of a complete
jubilee in our country at
no distant day,
I feel that I
owe
everything in this matter, instrumentally and under God, to
Benjamin Lundy
who devoted
so
I feel it
many
due to the
years of his
life
memory
of one
so faithfully to the
�168
EISE
cause
of
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
oppressed that I should state this reminis-
the
cence."
Having married, he settled in Ohio, a few miles west of
He was prosperous in business, and happy in his
domestic relations " having," he said, " a loving wife and two
beautiful little daughters, that it was a real happiness to posBut, notwithstanding his success in busisess and cherish."
ness and the attractions of his home, he felt and yielded to the
higher claims of humanity. His heart was troubled at the sad
condition of the slaves, whose wrongs and sufferings he well
knew. He enjoyed, he said, no peace of mind, and came to
the conclusion that he must not only feel, but act for the suffering bondmen.
Calling a few friends together at his house, he
unbosomed his feelings. An antislavery organization, called
" The Union Humane Society," was formed which within a
few months contained nearly five hundred members, residing
Wheeling.
;
;
in several counties in that section of the State.
was formed
in 1815.
He
This society
soon issued an appeal
to
the phi-
lanthropists of the United States, in which he proposed that
societies should
be formed wherever a
sufficient
number
persons could be found to join them, with a uniform
and constitution.
It
was
of
title
also suggested that these societies
should correspond with each other, and co-operate in the gen-
measures of their organization.
Not long afterward Mr. Charles Osborn commenced the pub-
eral
lication of a journal
lanthropist."
For
it
at Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, called "
Mr. Lundy furnished
articles,
The Phi-
and he was
soon invited to take an interest in the paper and superintend
That he might be able
must disencumber himself of his
the office.
he
which he unsuc-
to accept the invitation,
business,
by taking his stock in trade to St.
Reaching that city in the midst of the Missouri struggle, and comprehending at a glance the nature of the question
at .issue, he entered into the conflict with great earnestness and
Through the newspapers of Missouri and Illinois he
vigor.
portrayed the evils of slavery and the wickedness of its needcessfully attempted to do
Louis.
less expansion.
Returning
to Ohio,
he commenced the publication of a paper
�BENJAMIN LUNDY.
whose
169
and purpose were well expressed by
spirit
—
name,
its
"Genius of Universal Emancipation,"
a journal that
was destined from the start to a marked and stormy career.
After several months it was removed to Tennessee, where it
obtained quite a wide circulation, and was at that time the only
the
During his
distinctive antislavery paper in the country.
resi-
dence there he visited Philadelphia for the purpose of attending the American Convention for the Abolition of Slavery,
" travelling," he says, " six hundred miles on horseback in
midwinter, and at his
and money not
tislavery
men
own expense,"
—a
cost of time, labor,
by the most devoted anDuring this time he made the
often, if ever, equalled
of later years.
acquaintance of other Abolitionists
;
and, though without
much
encouragement, concluded to remove his paper to Baltimore.
" Having arranged," he said, " my business in Tennessee,
my
I shouldered
in the
summer
gave his
knapsack, and set out for Baltimore on foot
of 1824."
At Deep Creek, North Carolina, he
public lecture on slavery.
first
He
delivered fifteen
or twenty antislavery addresses in different parts of the State,
and
assisted in the organization of a dozen antislavery socie-
which largely and rapidly increased, until in three years
they embraced some three thousand members, comprising many
persons of position and eminence.
Pursuing his journey through the middle of Virginia, he
held meetings, and effected the organization of several antities,
Arriving at Baltimore, where
slavery societies in that State.
he proposed to establish his paper, he was received, he tells
even by the antislavery men, " civilly, but coolly enough."
us,
They expressed strong doubts of
very
little
encouragement.
and in 1824 commenced
visited Hayti
;
Still
its
his success,
and gave him
he determined
publication.
to persevere,
The next year he
but found, on his return, that his wife had died
during his absence, that his
home was broken
up, and his
Collecting them, and placing them with
he confided, he says " I renewed my vows
children scattered.
whom
my energies
friends in
to devote
:
to the cause of the slave, until the nation
shall be effectually roused in his behalf."
a few
warm
friends,
22
With the
whose sympathy and counsel were
aid of
freely
�170
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER IN AMERICA.
given, he not only continued the publication of his paper, but
was
successful in the organization of several societies.
Believing the question of emancipation to be a political one,
he took a deep interest in the presidential election of 1824, and
He
rendered effective service to the victorious party.
also
his readiness to support the Colonization Society, " if
avowed
united with
ness, the total
it
work of justice and righteousextirpation of slavery from the soil of America."
its
policy that great
Avowing emancipation
could not for a
primary object with him, he
to be the
moment think
of joining in any colonization
scheme which had not that object in view. In the summer of
1825 he commenced a series of articles on the domestic slavetrade, which greatly excited the slave-dealers of Baltimore,
and unquestionably was the provoking cause of the brutal assault made upon him in the streets of that city, occasioning, in
the end, his removal.
In the year 1826 the American Convention for the AboliSlavery was holden in
tion of
fluence
;
Baltimore, through his in-
which were represented, directly and
in
indirectly,
eighty-one societies, seventy-three being located in slavehold-
hundred and
which one hundred and six were in the Southern States. About the same
time Mr. Lundy issued an address to the Abolitionists, maintaining that the most expedient course to be pursued was to
There were
ina; States.
at that time about one
forty antislavery societies in the country, of
" go straight forward with firmness and resolution in the road
we have already begun to travel, neither turning to the right
the glorious mansion where
where men esteem their
and
crowned with mercy,
fellow-men as brethren. For my own part," he said, " I never
calculate how soon the cause of rational liberty will triumph
hand nor
to the left, until
we reach
justice sits
over that of cruelty and despotism in the country."
Though
these were his sentiments of uncalculating devotion, and he
and secondary consome recorded remarks of his, a
was regardless
of personal consequences
siderations,
evident, from
few months
and
it is
on the rapid growth of antislavery sentiment
during the twenty preceding years, that, like most
later,
societies
of the early Abolitionists, he calculated on a far easier
and
ear-
�BENJAMIN LUNDY.
lier
171
triumph than the nation was destined
saw and
felt
the wickedness of slavery
they could not, comprehend
very foundation of the
how firmly
;
it
They
to witness.
but they did not, as
was embedded in the
and ecclesias-
civil, industrial, social,
tical institutions of the country, or estimate aright the tenacity
of
its
hold on
life.
Mr. Lundy, however, clearly comprehended and
fully ac-
knowledged the necessity and the duty of political action. In
commenting, in the summer of 1827, on the resolution of a
county antislavery society in Ohio, that its members would
support no persons for office who were not opposed to slavery,
and who would not use all lawful means to remedy the evil by
the most speedy and efficient measures, he declared that, if the
friends of genuine republicanism would act upon that principle, a change for the better would soon be witnessed.
He held
it to be a grand mistake that the people of the free States had
nothing to do with slaves. " They guarantee," he said, " the
man in this country. Let them wash
hands of the crime
there is blood on every finger."
"
Later he said
I now fearlessly and boldly assert that the
oppression of the colored
their
;
:
subject of slavery
is
no
State-rights matter, but that all the
citizens in this republic are interested in its extinction, and, if
we abolish it, the influence and government of the United
must effect it." Still later, in 1837, he said " The
question of abolishing slavery, when it shall be acted on, must
be settled at the ballot." Thus clearly defined and lucidly expressed were his views of the evil and its remedy.
The disever
States
:
cussions of thirty years did not materially enlarge or improve
the argument.
In May, 1828, Mr. Lundy
made
a journey to the Eastern
At New York he formed the acquaintance of Arthur
Tappan. At Providence he met William Goodell, of whom,
States.
considering the latter's subsequent career, he has left the sin^
gular record " I endeavored to arouse him, but he was at that
:
At Boston he
said he
could hear of no Abolitionists resident in the place.
In the
time slow of speech on that subject."
house where he boarded he met Mr. Garrison,
to find, but
who had not then turned
whom
he wished
his attention particularly
�172
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
to the subject,
"The
though he had noticed favorably his paper in
National Philanthropist," a temperance journal he was
He
then editing.
come
IN AMERICA.
found in him a congenial
in the surrounding
apathy.
most welHonestly inquiring and
spirit,
he not only responded favorably to his appeals, but
rendered present aid in procuring subscribers and getting up
receptive,
Mr. Lundy also visited the clergy and called a
whom he unfolded his
meetings.
meeting, at which eight were present, to
Most assented,
plans.
whom
—
at least, did not oppose,
— except-
he challenged to public debate.
His chalwas not accepted. He also visited New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, and New York.
During this tour
five
months
he
travelled
hundreds of miles, often on foot,
of
and delivered forty-three public addresses " scattering," he
said, " the seed of antislavery in strong and luxuriant soil,"
.'"
although it " was then the very winter of philanthropy
ing one,
lenge, however,
;
Returning to Baltimore, he attended, as delegate from
Maryland, the American Convention for the Abolition of Slavery.
At this meeting it was resolved that the Convention
should thereafter be permanently held in the city of Washington.
One was held
in the winter of 1829.
But that was
the last, notwithstanding this resolution, of a series of con-
ventions inaugurated in 1794
;
so little did the antislavery
of those days understand the strength of the foe
men
or their
own weakness.
But while others faltered, Mr. Lundy did
He remembered his
the need of help.
Boston, and his interview with Mr. Garrison and he
though he
not,
visit to
felt
;
have him for a coadjutor in this unequal strife.
Accordingly, in the autumn of 1828, he visited New England,
longed
to
him in the editorial management of the " Genius." Mr. Garrison was then editing a
paper in Vermont, and he thus describes Mr. Lundy's visit
" He had taken his staff in hand and travelled all the way to
the Green Mountains.
He came to lay it on my conscience
and my soul that I should join him in this work of seeking the
to persuade him, if possible, to join
And
abolition of slavery.
growing disposition
him
:
'
I will join
and then we
will
had
he so presented the case, with the
up the cause, that I said to
you as soon as my engagement ends here
"
see what can be done.'
v
I
to take
;
�BENJAMIN LUNDY.
summer
In the
173
of the following year Mr. Garrison, on Mr.
Lundy's return from Hayti,
fulfilled his
promise, and became
one of the editors of the paper, though the two were not in
But they were both honest
full accord in all their sentiments.
and earnest, and their aims were one. Elizabeth Margaret
Chandler was also engaged as an assistant, and the paper was
changed from a monthly to a weekly journal, and was vigorously conducted in the interests of temperance, emancipation,
and peace.
Miss Chandler soon issued an appeal to the ladies
of the United States, urging
them
to enlist in the cause of
emancipation, and to form female antislavery societies, like
those in Great Britain.
At about
same time Mr. Lundy announced through
the
his
columns, that the American government was attempting a
negotiation with Mexico for the purchase of Texas.
With
his usual practical sagacity,
negotiations were
made
assuming that
all
such attempted
for the support of slavery,
he sounded
the alarm and began an opposition which he never remitted.
Nor was he content with
ceeded, at the cost of
danger, to
visit
and
this general protest
much
;
he soon pro-
personal sacrifice, exposure, and
travel once
and again over large portions
of that country and of Mexico, often in disguise.
personal inspection,
and escaped
made
By
this
in the general behalf of the slave
he became familiar with the whole
so that the information gained was of great serfugitives,
Texan
plot,
vice to
John Quincy Adams and others during the annexation
struggle, even then casting its baleful
shadows before.
The connection between Mr. Lundy and Mr. Garrison was
not, however, productive of all the
anticipated.
good the former had fondly
The growing exasperation
of the slaveholding
portion of the city at any interference with the system
was
greatly intensified and brought to a crisis by the severe attacks
of Mr. Garrison upon the domestic slave-traffic in general, and
upon the conduct of a New England master of a vessel, in
particular, in taking a cargo of slaves to the
market.
A
were the
result,
inevitable.
prosecution,
trial,
New
Orleans
conviction, and imprisonment
rendering a dissolution of their partnership
Another circumstance had unquestionably added
�174
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
A colored man, in
had published a pamphlet,
which was freely condemned by Mr. Lundy, in which, arraigning with terrible and merciless severity the slave-masters for
their wrongs inflicted on the poor bondmen, and breathing a
most vindictive spirit, he counselled the colored race to take
fuel to the flame already
name
Boston, by the
burning
fiercely.
of Walker,
vengeance into their own hands.
Consequently,
city,
when Mr. Garrison had been driven from
the same spirit of persecution followed Mr. Lundy.
the
The
governor required him to give bail, libel suits and threatened
imprisonment lowered, and personal outrage and violence in
the streets rendered longer residence unsafe.
He was finally
compelled to succumb and remove his paper to Washington.
Through his influence, while in that city, an antislavery society
was formed and a memorial, signed by more than a thousand
;
citizens of the District of
Columbia, was presented to Congress
and the slave-trade.
for the abolition of slavery
His paper failing for want of patronage, he started another
in 1836, in Philadelphia, called the " National Inquirer."
from this
Re-
and being succeeded by John G. Whittier, who changed the name to " The Pennsylvania Freeman,"
he proposed to go West, and resume the publication of the
" Genius" in some town in the great valley. Having gathered
up his little store of earthly possessions, he deposited them
tiring
in 1838,
new Pennsylvania Hall, which, with his deposit, was
burned by the mob in the spring of 1838. Nothing daunted
or disheartened by what he termed this " total sacrifice on
the altar of universal emancipation," saying, " they have not
yet got my conscience, they have not taken my heart," he still
After many disappersisted in his purpose of going West.
pointments, he succeeded in getting out a few numbers but,
in the
;
and help, it could not be said to have been
But the good man's work was finished. He was
for lack of funds
established.
attacked with the fever of the country, and, after a brief illness,
died on the 23d of August, 1839, in the
fifty-first
year of his
age.
Thus passed away
full
in the
prime of his manhood and in the
maturity of his powers one of the most humane, unselfish,
�BENJAMIN LUNDY.
laborious,
men
and persistent of men.
rendering greater service
;
175
There have been abler men,
but few have possessed more
more uncalculating
self-abnegation, or have
up the measure of their lives with more self-sacrificing
From the year 1820 to 1830
labors for the good of others.
he states that he travelled twenty-five thousand miles, five
thousand on foot that he visited nineteen States, made two
voyages to Hayti, and delivered more than two hundred public
Nor were the last nine years of his life less replete
addresses.
with like achievements. During those years, in addition to
his other abundant labors, he made several tours to Canada,
Texas, and Mexico, in the earnest, but vain search after shelter and relief for the lowly ones who could not find protection
Indeed, as richly did he merit, as he on
in their native land.
whom it was bestowed,
as his service was more laborious,
the splendid
more protracted, and more widely extended,
eulogium of Burke on the philanthropist Howard " His was
a voyage of discovery, a circumnavigation of charity."
And this service was rendered under circumstances well
calculated to try his temper and test his strength of principle
for not only did he perform those journeyings often on foot
and always without the modern appliances of travel, but most
of his multitudinous labors were performed without the stimulus of success or the cheering words of sympathy and encouragement. His pilgrimage from Maryland to Vermont, " staff
in hand," for the simple chance of enlisting a co-laborer was
sadly significant.
He was called to lead the " forlorn hope "
largeness of heart,
filled
;
—
—
:
;
of a desperate cause against opposing foes increasing in
bers and flushed with recent victories.
he was compelled
government, and of resistance
among
slavery
num-
not only that, but
witness the manifest decadence of the
to
spirit of liberty in the
demands of
And
to the
the masses of his countrymen.
Twenty-three years of such labor, under such circumstances,
are not often paralleled even in the annals of Christian mis-
sions
Earle,
and reforms.
say of
him
:
Well does his biographer, Mr. Thomas
" Having resolved, twenty-three years
before his decease, to devote his energies to the relief of the
suffering slave
and the oppressed man of
color,
he persevered
�176
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
by difficulties and undismayed by danby disappointments and unsubdued by
sacrifices.
Alone, often on foot, he encountered fatigue, hunger, and exposure, the frosts and snows of winter, the rains and
scorching sun of summer, the contagion of pestilence and the
miasmatic effluvia of insalubrious regions, ever pressing onward toward the attainment of the great object to which he
had dedicated his existence."
In the great conflict between freedom and slavery in America
many names became historic, a few illustrious. No person is
to the end, undeterred
gers, undiscouraged
more inseparably associated with that struggle than William
Lloyd Garrison. Men have differed, do and will differ, in their
estimate of his distinctive doctrines and modes of action, and
of his influence on the final result
;
but he will ever be asso-
memories with the conflict which emancipated
one race and broke the power of another.
Born at Newburyport, Massachusetts, December 12, 1804,
Mr. Garrison learned the art of printing, and commenced his
He was first coneditorial career at twenty-one years of age.
nected with the " Free Press," in his native town next with
the " National Philanthropist," a temperance paper, published
ciated in their
;
then with the " Journal of the Times," at Bennington, Vermont then with the " Genius of Universal Emanciand finally, with " The Liberator,"
pation," at Baltimore
in Boston
;
;
;
which he established in Boston, January 1, 1831, and of
which he was the editor during the thirty-five years of its exDuring these forty years of continuous editorial seristence.
vice he evinced singular personal independence, rare moral
courage, and an uncompromising fidelity to his convictions and
to the claims of humanity.
While at Boston, in the spring of 1828, he became acquainted
with Benjamin Lundy, then on his first tour to the Eastern
States in the service of the slave.
He
there listened to the
cogent reasonings and was moved by the tender appeals of
that singularly disinterested and tireless champion,
consecrated his
and ever
When,
life
gratefully
to the cause of his oppressed
who had
countrymen,
acknowledged these obligations.
assumed the editorial control
in 1828, Mr. Garrison
�WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.
177
of the " Journal of the Times," at Bennington, Vermont, he
announced in his editorial address that the paper would be independent in the broadest and stoutest signification of the
term that it should be trammelled by no interest, biassed by no
He distinctly avowed that he had
sect, awed by no power.
three objects in view, which he should pursue through life,
whether in that place or elsewhere and those three objects were
" the suppression of intemperance and its associate vices, the
gradual emancipation of every slave in the Republic, and the
He pledged himself that what
perpetuity of national peace."
;
;
might be wanting in vigor should be made up in zeal. This
independence and this avowal elicited from Mr. Lundy, who
had sought to secure Mr. Garrison's services for his " Genius of
Universal Emancipation," the warmest commendations, because
he had shown " a laudable disposition to advocate the claims
of the poor, distressed African upon our sympathy and justice."
And he declared, if he continued to advocate the cause of the
unfortunate negro, that " his talents will render him a most
valuable coadjutor in this holy undertaking."
Mr. Garrison continued his connection with the " Journal of
the Times " for several months
summer
;
but in the latter part of the
Lundy in the
new field he was
of 1829 he became associated with Mr.
editorship of his paper, in Baltimore.
In this
brought into more immediate contact with slavery
his utterances
were no
less decided
and strong,
still
;
and yet
proclaim-
ing his unrelenting hostility to slavery, intemperance, and war.
Although
at first
he had looked with favor on the colonization
scheme, as " an auxiliary to abolition" deserving encourage-
ment, yet utterly inadequate alone, a short residence at Baltimore, and a
of
its
fuller
acquaintance with the
spirit
and purposes
him to discard and denounce it, and
time onward to become one of its most uncompro-
advocates, soon led
from that
mising
On
foes.
the subject of slavery he claimed that slaves
were entitled to complete and immediate emancipation that
expediency had no place in the consideration of questions of
;
simple right
;
that,
even
if
admitted into the discussion,
the question of expediency were
it
remained true that the sooner
and that, if the idea
the chains were broken the wiser the act
23
;
�178
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
of removing the slaves from the country were not visionary, as
he contended
it
was,
all
colored people born on the soil had the
right to remain, and none
The
had the right to compel their removal.
and the duty of immediate eman-
sinfulness of slavery
had been often proclaimed
cipation
before,
— at
stance, if not in the precise phraseology of the
least, in sub-
new
formula.
Edwards, Hopkins, and Emmons, of the last century, as Wesley before them, who had condensed his estimate of the system into that burning and oft-repeated sentence, " Slavery is
the
sum
of all villanies,"
had
stated, as strongly as language
could express the thought, the essential wrongfulness of the
system, and the duty of immediate repentance, with the conse-
quent fruits meet for repentance.
name
Rev. John Rankin, whose
honorably associated with the earlier antislavery
is
efforts
was a native of Tennessee and he tes"
boyhood " a majority of the people of Easttifies that in his
ern Tennessee, though not of the State, were Abolitionists. In
Kentucky, where he was first settled in the ministry, he says
" We had our abolition societies, auxiliary to a State society
of the present century,
;
:
then existing."
ery, while the
He
spoke openly against the " sin " of slav-
people of his church showed the sincerity of
their opposition by leaving the State almost as a body, because
of the increasing proslavery spirit of the people therein.
At
an anniversary meeting of the American Antislavery Society
at
New
York, he declared that he himself and the antislavery
South believed and avowed the doctrine of im-
societies of the
mediate emancipation.
In Ohio the antislavery sentiment was not only decided, but
active.
Indeed, several years before the formation of the
American Antislavery Society the Chilicothe Presbytery made
strenuous efforts to purge the Presbyterian Church of the sin
of slavery.
The Cincinnati Sjmod, on motion of Dr. Samuel
Crothers, unanimously " resolved that the holding of slaves
for gain is heinous sin
and scandal."
In 1825 Elizabeth Hey-
England, a member of the Society of Friends, had published a pamphlet, entitled, " Immediate, not Gradual Emancirick, of
pation,"
which was somewhat in advance of the general
sentiment of the British people, though they were not long in
�WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.
arriving at the
same conclusion.
Oliver Johnson,
who had
same sentiment
in his
It is
179
stated, however,
by
on the highest authority, that Mr.
Garrison had not seen the work before he wrought out the
it
own mind, basing
his conclusion
on
the two-fold grounds of " moral duty and logical necessity."
There can be no doubt that the new circumstances in which
Mr. Garrison found himself, with the sad and revolting scenes
which were daily enacted before his eyes in a slaveholding community, and in a slave-mart like Baltimore, quickened both
mind and heart, and hastened convictions to which he soon ar-
and which, when reached, he was not slow to enunciand strong. For not only was
slavery there, with its ordinary incidents of " wrong and outrage," but Baltimore was then, next to Richmond, the great
rived,
ate in language unequivocal
It was the slavewhere was the slave-prison and where could
be witnessed the revolting atrocities of the auction-block and
the saddening exhibitions of the coffie and the slave-ship, with
their heart-breaking partings, their apprehensions, and their
Northern slave-mart of the Border States.
trader's exchange,
despairing dread of impending evils.
In a community where
such scenes were common, and among a people accustomed
them and acquiescent in them, Mr. Garrison was not long
to
in
tracing the logic of the system, and in detecting the real ten-
dency of colonization, and the empty pretensions of those who
advocated it as a means of removing the evils of the system
of oppression.
The subject, however, which more particularly stirred his
soul and fired his indignation, and which called forth his fiercest anathemas, was the interstate slave-trade.
In the prosecution of this general traffic an incident and illustration soon
occurred which especially excited his feelings, and called forth
his sternest rebukes
captain of a vessel
and his most objurgatory language.
owned by Francis Todd,
of his
own
The
native
town of Newburyport, took, with the owner's consent, a cargo
In consequence of the
of slaves for the New Orleans market.
severity of his rebuke and his unmeasured words of condemnation, both a civil and criminal suit were instituted against
Mr. Garrison. Tried by a proslavery court and jury, he was,
�180
RISE
AND FALL OP THE SLAVE POWER
of course, convicted, and his
prisonment and
AMERICA
IN
sentence embraced both im-
fine.
The knowledge of this, and the great wrong done to an
American citizen simply for language employed only in behalf of freedom and against oppression, excited a good deal of
feeling, as it became known, among the philanthropists of the
time.
The case was brought by Mr. Lundy to the notice of
that munificent as well as earnest friend of the slave, Arthur
Tappan of New York, who
at once paid the fine
;
so that, after
an incarceration of seven weeks, Mr. Garrison was set free.
It is said that Henry Clay was on the point of doing the same
John G. Whittier, who
that Mr. Garrison had been an earnest and
effective advocate of the election of John Quincy Adams.
This action of the agents of slavery completed the work already
far advanced, and made Mr. Garrison ever afterward an un-
thing, through the earnest solicitation of
represented to
him
compromising,
if
not a bitter foe, not only to slavery, but to
him and the object
and determined hostility. Nothing was too high or too low, nothing was too strong or too saeverything that interposed itself between
of his unconquerable aversion
cred, to escape his fierce denunciations.
No
iconoclast ever
dashed down more remorselessly the idols of popular regard.
of eternal hostility to Rome which the youthful Hanwas made to swear was not more sacredly kept than was
the vow of the young reformer, as he went forth from that Baltimore prison, against that power which held millions of his
countrymen in chains, and which would silence free speech
and destroy the liberty of the press.
From
Imprisonment neither intimidated nor silenced him.
that Baltimore jail he sent forth a letter in which he arraigned the law and the arbitrary conduct of the court. " Is
it," he asked, " supposed by Judge Brice that his frowns can
intimidate me, or his sentence stifle my voice on the subject of
The oath
nibal
oppression
?
dence gives
He does not know me. So long as a good Provime strength and intellect, I will not cease to de-
clare that the existence of slavery in this country
reproach to the American
name
;
nor will
is
a foul
I hesitate to pro-
claim the guilt of kidnappers, slavery abettors, or slave-owners,
�WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.
wherever they
exalted.
I
am
may
little for
that
my
or however high
reside,
my
only in the alphabet of
perfect a useful work.
It is
the people of color
181
;
feelings are so cold
my shame
they
task
;
my
be
that I have done so
yea, before God, I feel
and
may
time shall
humbled
language so weak.
A
must be sacrificed to open the eyes of the
I expect, and
nation, and to show the tyranny of our laws.
am willing to be persecuted, imprisoned, and bound for advocating the rights of my colored countrymen and I should
deserve to be a slave myself if I shrank from that danger."
free white victim
;
This violent individual demonstration was, however, but
significant of the general feeling
slavery sheet and
its
and policy toward
heroic conductors.
this anti-
Nor did the persecu-
and libel suits which they prompted fail of
Former friends timidly shrunk from the fierce
conflict, and withheld both their moral and pecuniary support
and even these earnest and brave men were compelled so far
to succumb to the popular pressure as to dissolve their partnership, and the paper was changed from a weekly to a monthly
tions, slanders,
their purpose.
journal.
But, though not agreed in all things, they parted
with " the kindliest feelings and mutual personal regard."
Mr. Lundy declared that Mr. Garrison " had proven himself a
faithful
and able coadjutor
in the great
and holy cause"; and
the latter, in separating from his philanthropic friend, ex-
pressed the hope that "
we
shall ever
remain one in
spirit
and purpose."
After his liberation from prison, in June, 1830, Mr. Garri-
son proceeded North, delivering a course of antislavery lectures in Philadelphia,
ton, Charlestown,
New
and other
York,
cities
New Haven,
Hartford, Bos-
and towns of
New
England.
In these lectures he maintained the sinfulness of slavery, and
the duty of immediate and unconditional emancipation.
colonization scheme, which
The
had obtained a strong hold upon
the confidence and support of the churches and the benevolent
people of the* North, was sternly arraigned, and the designs of
its
originators were declared to be hostile to the free people of
color in the slaveholding States.
especially to
members
Earnest appeals were made,
of Christian
churches, to engage at
�182
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
once in the work of immediate and unconditional emancipa-
which was proclaimed
and
But these views were far in advance
of the prevailing sentiments of even most of the members of
the churches
and although some gladly accepted them, the
many were either hostile or indifferent. It was often with difficulty, therefore, that churches were opened for his addresses,
and sometimes they were positively refused.
In the month of August he issued proposals for the publica-
tion,
to be the duty of the people
the right of the slave.
;
tion of a journal, to be called "
Washington.
The
The
Liberator," in the city of
proposition, though hailed with favor by a
few persons in different sections of the country, was " palsied
by public indifference." The persecutions against Mr. Lundy
had also been so great in Baltimore that he had been compelled to remove the " Genius of Universal Emancipation " to
the seat of the Federal government, thus rendering the establishment of " The Liberator " there less necessary.
But there was another reason
for
changing the place of the
publication of the proposed journal.
Mr. Garrison in his
first
This reason
is
given by
number, which was published
—
in
Boston, in January, 1831
" During my recent tour," he says, " for the purpose of
:
exciting the minds of the people by a series of discourses on
the subject of slavery, every place that I visited gave fresh
evidence of the fact that a greater revolution in public senti-
ment was
and particularly in
New England, than at the South. I found contempt more bitter, detraction more relentless, prejudice more stubborn, and
apathy more frozen than among slaveowners themselves. Of
course,
to be effected in the free States,
there
were individual exceptions
This state of things
afflicted,
to
the
contrary.
but did not dishearten me.
I
up the standard of emancipation in the eyes of the nation, within sight of Bunker Hill,
and in the birthplace of Liberty. That standard is now unfurled
and long may it float, unhurt by the spoliations of
determined at every hazard to
lift
;
time or the missiles of a desperate
be broken and every
pressors
tremble,
—
bondman
foe,
— yea,
set free
let their secret
!
till
every chain
Let Southern op-
abettors
tremble,
—
let
�WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.
Northern apologists tremble,
their
—
let
183
the enemies of
all
"
the persecuted blacks tremble
In establishing " The Liberator," Mr. Garrison announced
!
that he should not array himself as the political partisan of
any man, and that, in defending the great cause of human
rights, he wished " to derive the assistance of all religions and
of
parties."
all
Many
Mr.
in
Garrison's
deemed
his language too vituperative, denunciatory,
Some
vere.
who had become deeply interested
addresses in the summer and autumn
persons, however,
earnestly desired the success of his cause,
strated with him.
am aware
guage
but
;
is
many
that
often remon-
—
object to the severity of
there not cause for severity
and as uncompromising as
as truth,
had
se-
who
In his salutatory address, referring to
these remonstrances, he said:
" I
and
of his earliest and most intimate friends,
?
my
lan-
I will
be as harsh
On
this subject
justice.
do not wish to think or speak or write with moderation.
I
No
No
!
Tell a
!
moderate alarm
;
man whose
tell
him
the hands of the ravisher
from the
cate her babe
me
am
—
;
to
house
on
is
to
fire
give a
moderately rescue his wife from
the mother to gradually extri-
tell
fire into
which
it
has fallen
;
but urge
not to use moderation in a cause like the present.
in earnest,
I will
will not equivocate,
not retreat a single inch,
The apathy
leap from
"
dead
—I
of the people
its
pedestal,
and
—
— and
I will
I
not excuse,
will be heard.
I
make every
is
enough
to
hasten the resurrection of the
to
statue
!
To
replied
"It
those
:
is
—
who
questioned the wisdom of his
course, he
am retarding the cause of emancimy invective and the precipitancy
The charge is not true. On this question
pretended that I
pation by the coarseness of
of
my
my
measures.
influence,
humble as it is,
and shall be
siderable extent,
ciously, but beneficially,
is felt at .this
felt in
— not
moment
to a con-
coming years, not perni-
as a curse, but as a blessing;
and posterity will bear testimony that I was right. I desire
to thank God that he enables me to disregard the fear of man
'
�184
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
that bringeth a snare,' and to speak his truth in
its
simplicity
and power."
He
closed with the
vow
to oppose
and thwart the brutalizing
sway of oppression,
"
till
Afric's chains
Are burst, and freedom rules the rescued land."
Mr. Garrison's partner in the publication of " The Liberawas Mr. Isaac Knapp, a printer, like himself, and also a
tor "
native of the
The paper was commenced without
same town.
funds and
hensive and cosmopolitan motto, "
without a single subscriber.
my countrymen
My
Bearing the comprecountry
is
the world,
mankind," it appealed to no party, sect,
Both editor and prinor interest for recognition and support.
and it was only thus
ter labored hard and fared meagrely
and a marvel it was at that
that their journal lived.
But Mr. Garrison had a mission to fulfil, and he bravely
are all
;
—
—
met the conditions
of his
estimate
it
For, whatever
imposed.
policy,
faith
be the
and whatever may have been his
meed
mistakes, none can withhold the
moral courage and
may
of admiration at the
he exhibited as he entered upon his
work. Hardly grander were their exhibition when Galwas working out his problem of the solar system, willing
when Columbus was travelto " wait a century for a reader "
ling through Europe, from court to court, from philosopher to
life's
lileo
;
new theory
of a
when Luther was
nail-
prince, in the vain search for a convert to his
western passage to the Indies
;
or even
ing his theses to the door of the church, and thus braving the
—
with
thunders of the Vatican, than when that young man
no advantages of birth or culture, with wounds still bleeding
from his recent encounter with the dark and bloody tyrant, in
his dingy
room of
sixteen feet square, at once his sanctum,
workshop, and home
— made assault upon a despotism which
not only trampled millions of slaves in the dust, but domi-
nated the whole country, binding both church and state in
weapons of warfare from the
Word and the Declaration
It must have been something more than
of Independence.
" the grace of indignation " which urged him on, which
chains,
and there forged
his
indestructible materials of God's
�WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.
185
crowned him with the honors of imprisonment, gave him the
mob
garland of a rope, the escort of a
of Boston's " respecta-
and standing," and extorted such honorable mention by
Southern governors and legislatures as can now be gathered
from their records.
It was not that Mr. Garrison discovered any new truths, or
that he stood alone, which gave him his prominence from the
The sinfulness of slaveholding and the duty of its
start.
immediate relinquishment had been as unequivocally proclaimed by others, and there were those then in the field as
It must have arisen partly,
decided and pronounced as he.
bility
at least,
from the peculiar
state of public opinion at that time.
Power
After the crowning triumph of the Slave
Compromise, and
defeat of Mr.
in the Missouri
in the sectional victory of the South,
Adams and
by the
the election of General Jackson,
there seemed to be a general acquiescence on the part of the
people in these triumphs, and a growing disposition to remit
further antislavery effort.
The nation had reached
its
nadir
;
for,
though there were
subsequently other aggressions, more flagrant outrages, and
new
concessions and compromises, yet never after that was
Cowed and silent before
number of protestants growing fewer and feebler, the very boldness and seeming audacity
of the young man in his attic, telling the nation that he was
in earnest and would be heard, aroused attention.
The very
deliberation with which he heralded and began the assault, the
the nation so voiceless and timid.
the domineering Power, with the
stern defiance he bade the foe at
gauntlet of mortal combat,
and
made him
the
feet
he threw the
mark
for criticism
demonstration, as well as the rallying point of
hostile
those
whose
who sympatbized with him
impartiality, too,
in spirit
between sects and
and
parties,
in purpose.
men and
His
schools,
and laws, and whatever arrayed itself against the
remained neutral, increased that attention and criti-
constitutions
slave or
cism.
His pen,
if possible,
severe, caustic,
and exasper-
had been his speech. While friends generally
and questioned, and the people condemned, the
ating than
doubted
was more
24
�186
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
slaveholders were stung to madness.
IN AMERICA.
Before the close of the
year, the Vigilance Association of Columbia, South Caro-
first
lina,
" composed of gentlemen
offered a
reward of
fifteen
of the
first
hundred dollars
respectability,"
for the apprehen-
sion and conviction of any white person detected in circulating in that State " the newspaper called The Liberator.'
'
'
The corporation
of Georgetown, in the District of Columbia,
passed an ordinance rendering
color to take from the
Boston called
'
The
it
penal for any free person of
post-office " the
Liberator,' " the
paper published in
punishment
for
each
of-
fence to be twenty dollars' fine or thirty days' imprisonment.
In case the offender was not able to pay the
for
fine, or the fees
imprisonment, he was to be sold into slavery for four
The grand jury
months.
instigation
of
the
of Raleigh, North Carolina, at the
attorney-general,
against the editor and publisher of "
made an indictment
The Liberator " for its
The legislature of Georgia prowhich was promptly signed by Governor Lumpkin, offering a reward of five thousand dollars for
the arrest, prosecution, and trial to conviction, under the laws
circulation in that county.
ceeded to pass an
act,
of the State, of the editor or publisher " of a certain paper
called
'
The
Liberator,' published in the
town of Boston and
State of Massachusetts."
But neither the doubts of
friends, the
condemnation of the
North, nor the threats and offered rewards of the South, moved
Mr. Garrison from his purpose.
secutors,
and avowed
He
bade defiance
to his per-
He
his readiness to die, if need be.
—
unshaken,
he says, " like the oak, like the Alps,
slander
and prejustorm-proof.
Opposition and abuse and
stood,
dice
and
judicial tyranny
not discouraged
;
I
am
add
to the flame of
not dismayed
;
my
zeal.
I
am
but bolder and more
confident than ever."
Nor
is
there any doubt that his voice and pen were
among
the most potent influences that produced the antislavery revival of that day.
Antislavery societies were formed, antislav-
ery presses were established, and antislavery lectures abounded.
Nine years after the establishment of " The Liberator " there
were nearly two thousand antislavery
societies,
with a
mem-
�WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.
bership of some two hundred thousand.
187
This result, however,
was not secured without agitation, controversy, and strife.
Nor were these all outside of the societies. Within them
were discords and dissensions, growing out of the nature
of their work and the character of their members.
For
the latter were generally, and almost of necessity, persons of
positive convictions
and
self-assertion,
engaged
in a
work of
appalling magnitude and beset with unanticipated difficulties.
who gathered around Mr.
Garrison, adopted and defended his views, and recognized him
as their leader.
Embracing many men, and especially women,
Especially true was this of those
and eloquence, they were a small, compact,
and somewhat destructive body, who, with marked
characteristics and occasional idiosnycrasies, yet seemed to be
swayed by a common impulse, and to be committed not only
to a common object, but to the pursuit of that object by modes
of talent, culture,
aggressive,
peculiarly their own.
In pursuance of their object, they avowed the purpose of
granting quarter to
nothing which,
that hearty co-operation
them and
in
their apprehension,
that object.
Not finding
and ready acquiescence
in their utter-
interposed itself between
ances and modes of action in church or state which they
desired or hoped for, but oftener hostility
and persecution,
they soon arrayed themselves in antagonism to the leading
influences of both.
And
so, singularly
enough, they presented
countrymen the practical solecism of
endeavoring to reform the government by renouncing ail connection with it of seeking to remove a political evil by refusing all association with political parties, by whose action alone
that evil could be reached
of depending alone on moral suasion, and an appeal to the consciences of the people, and yet
coming out of all the religious associations and assemblies of
what appeared
to their
;
;
the land.
This arraying themselves against the patriotism,
the partisanship, and the religious sentiment of the great body
of the people prevented harmonious co-operation,
and rendered
inevitable, sooner or later, a disruption of the national society.
In that separation, which took place in 1840, but a small part
remained with Mr. Garrison,
— probably not
more than one
�188
RISE
fifth
of the
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
members
IN AMERICA.
of the antislavery societies then exist-
and these were confined mainly to New England, and
mostly to Eastern Massachusetts.
Nor did their numbers
increase during the conflicts of the subsequent twenty years.
Indeed, it is doubtful whether, in 1860, when Mr. Lincoln was
elected by a vote of nearly two millions, on a clearly defined
and distinct issue with the Slave Power, there were more
Abolitionists of that school than there were twenty years
before, when the American Antislavery Society was rent in
During all this period, however, they acted, as they
twain.
professed, " without concealment and without compromise."
Whatever may be the estimate of the weight of their influence
ing
;
on public opinion, none will ever doubt the sincerity of their
convictions, the purity of their motives, the boldness of their
utterances, or the inflexibility of their purposes.
�CHAPTER
XIV.
—
SOUTHAMPTON
THE VIRGINIA CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.
SLAVERY DEBATE IN THE LEGISLATURE.
SURRECTION.
IN-
— Struggle between Eastern and Western Virginia.
— Slaveholding Interest Successful. — Southampton Insurrection. — Nat
Turner. — Message of Governor Floyd. — Resolution of Mr. Summers. — Debate on Slavery. — Proposition of Thomas Jefferson Randolph. — Mr. Goode's
Motion to discharge the Committee. — Report of the Committee. — Mr. Preston's Amendment. — Speeches of Mr. Moore, Mr. Boiling, Mr. Randolph,
Constitutional Convention.
Mr. Rives, Mr. Brodnax, Mr. Daniel, Mr. Faulkner, Mr. Knox, Mr. Summers, Mr. McDowell.
The
— The " Richmond Inquirer." — Reaction
in the State.
utterances of slaveholders in the Virginia convention of
1829-30, and in her legislature of 1831-32, were suggestive
of far more than their immediate intent.
They revealed, in
language as strong and unequivocal as any ever used by Abolitionists, so freely charged with extravagance and exaggeration,
the evils and appalling dangers of slavery.
They revealed,
too, both the sense of insecurity and alarm which pervaded
society, and the desperation of a growing class determined to
cling to the evil, however great, and to risk the consequences,
however serious.
The convention was called for the revision of its constitution.
Ex-Presidents Madison and Monroe, Chief Justice Marshall,
and several eminent statesmen, were members. For years
much dissatisfaction had existed in the western section of
the
State,
where there were comparatively few
slaves, with
the basis of representation, which gave political power to a
minority of the white people in the tide-water and eastern portions of the State.
holders,
was strong
This minority, largely composed of slavein talent, in wealth,
and
in social position.
The members from Western and Middle Virginia
to base
representation on white population alone.
propos-ed
The com-
�190
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
mittee on the legislative department of the constitution, by a
vote of thirteen to eleven, reported in favor of the white basia
for the
House, but by an equally divided vote rejected the prop-
it for the Senate.
An earnest and excited
commenced, and continued through several weeks.
A proposition to base the Senate on federal numbers and the
House on white population was also defeated by a similar vote.
An arbitrary apportionment was finally adopted, and the repre-
osition to adopt
struggle
sentatives of the " old families,"
who were
the special guar-
dians of the siaveholding section, triumphed over those
who
had, at the opening of the convention, cherished high hopes of
wresting political power from them.
And
so here, as
erally the case everywhere, in the conflicts
porters
and opposers of the Slave Power, the
borne.
was gen-
between the suplatter
were over-
01
In the month of August, 1831, the people of Virginia were
startled
by the Southampton insurrection.
Its leader
was Nat
Turner, then a slave about thirty-one years of age.
From
childhood he seemed to have been the victim of superstition
have grown up in the belief that he was
accomplish some great purpose. Austere in life
and fanaticism, and
destined to
to
and manners, he impressed upon his personal associates the
conviction that he was a prophet of the Lord, and that he was
guided by Divine inspiration. In his confession he said: "On
the 12th of May, 1828, I heard a loud noise in the heavens,
and the spirit instantly appeared to me and said, The serpent was loosened, and Christ had laid down the yoke he had
borne for the sins of men, and that I should take it on and
fight against the serpent, for the time was fast approaching
when the first should be last and the last should be first, and
by signs in the heavens that it would make known to me when
I should commence the great work, and until the first sign
should appear I should conceal it from the knowledge of men.'
On the appearance of the sign, which was to be the eclipse of
the sun in February, 1881, he was to arise and slay his enemies.
He states that immediately on the appearance of that sign the
seal was removed from his lips, and he communicated the great
work he had to do to his associates. The 4th of July was fixed
'
�THE SOUTHAMPTON INSURRECTION.
191
upon as the day for rising, but bis mind was so affected by the
magnitude of the undertaking that he fell sick, and that time
passed. " The sign appeared again," he said, and lie then determined to wait no longer. The insurrection commenced on
the night of the 21st of August by the massacre of his master,
Mr. Joseph Travis, and his family. He and his associates had
agreed that until they could arm and equip themselves and
could raise a sufficient force, neither age nor sex should be
spared
;
and
this policy
was invariably pursued.
They
pro-
ceeded from house to house, massacring the whites, until their
—
all mounted and
numbers were increased to more than fifty,
armed with guns and swords, axes and clubs. But the country
was soon aroused, and they were met, fired upon, and dis-
persed.
Deserted by his associates, Turner, after concealing
himself for several weeks, was discovered, tried, and executed
in
November
of that year.
In this insurrection sixty-one white
persons and more than a hundred slaves were killed or exe-
The excitement in Virginia and throughout the South
was intense. The " Richmond Whig " declared that another
cuted.
such insurrection would be followed by putting the whole black
Portions of the community were thrown
and the thrilling cry of the affrighted people, in
peril of their lives and imploring protection, day after day filled
the ears of the governor of that great commonwealth.
The legislature met early in December.
In his message
Governor Floyd called its attention to the Southampton insurrace to the sword.
into panic,
rection.
at
He
stated that a " banditti of slaves," not exceeding
any time seventy
in
number, rose upon the defenceless inmost " shocking
habitants, and, under circumstances of the
and horrid barbarity," put to death sixty-one persons. He
the promptitude and despatch with which the officers and militia had performed their duty, as also the cheerful
commended
people.
He commended, too, the officers, soland sailors of the United States army and navy for their
prompt and efficient action. Asserting that there was reason
alacrity of the
diers,
was not confined to
was too much cause for the
suspicion that the plans of -"treason, insurrection, and mur-
to believe that the spirit of insurrection
the slaves, he declared that there
�192
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
IN AMERICA.
been " designed and matured by unrestrained
some of the neighboring States." Asserting, too,
the most active among themselves in stirring up "the spirit
der " had
fanatics in
that
of revolt " were the negro preachers, he expressed the conviction
that
silenced.
the
He
public good required that they should be
urged a revision of the laws intended to pre-
serve " in due subordination " the slave population, and sug-
gested the idea that
move
it
would be indispensably necessary
to re-
the free people of color from the State.
So much of the governor's message as related to the insurrection was referred to a committee. Mr. Summers of Western
Virginia submitted a resolution, calling on the governor to lay
before the legislature a copy of the correspondence between
Governor Monroe and President Jefferson, in 1801, upon the
subject of obtaining lands beyond the limits of the State, to
which
free persons of color
might be removed.
Petitions were
presented, signed by slaveholders, praying the legislature for
the removal of free negroes.
Among
these petitions
was one
from the Society of Friends, suggesting that legislative measures might be taken for the emancipation of slaves, and for
their removal
from the
State.
On
the question of the refer-
ence of this petition to a special committee, a debate of great earnestness and significance arose. Mr. Roane, who had presented
it,
made a temperate argument
in favor of its reception
and
Mr. Moore said that the free negro population was
reference.
a nuisance which the interests of the people required to be removed. But there was, he said, " another and greater nuisance,
— slavery
itself."
He avowed
that he
was not one of those
fanatics, always crying out against the horrors of slavery, but
he thought
it
should
now
be considered by the legislature
and by the people themselves. The reference of the petition
to the committee was advocated by Mr. Brodnax, its chairman.
The hearing of the petition, he said, did not imply that any legislation would be recommended for the emancipation of slaves
but he was opposed to allowing the nations to believe that " the
State of Virginia was not willing even to think of an ultimate
deliveiy from the greatest curse that God in his wrath ever
inflicted upon a people." He emphatically declared that when
�SLAVERY DEBATE IN THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE.
men were
forced to lock their doors at night, and open
morning
the
them
in
to receive their servants to light their fires, with
pistols in their
dence and
193
hands, surely some measures to restore confi-
Under such circumstances
were better to seek a home in
security were necessary.
"
life became a burden, and it
some distant realm, and leave the graves of
their fathers, than
endure so precarious a condition." " Is there a man," he
asked, " in Virginia who does not lament that there ever was
a slave in the State
?
And
is
there a
man who
considers the
decay of our prosperity, and the retrograde movement of this
who
once flourishing commonwealth,
to the pregnant cause of slavery
does not attribute this
"
?
Mr. Boiling avowed himself in favor of considering the
"
tion.
We
peti-
talk of freedom," he said, " while slavery exists
and speak with horror of the tyranny of the Turk
an evil which the best interests of the community require should be removed, which was deemed the bane of
our happiness by the fathers of the commonwealth, and to
which we trace the cause of the depression of Eastern Virginia.
Every intelligent individual admits that slavery is the most
in the land,
but
we
;
foster
pernicious of
all
the evils with which the body politic can be
By none is this position denied, if we except the
John Randolph, who goes about like a troubled spirit,
afflicted.
erratic
malignantly assaulting every individual against
spleen
is
whom
his
excited."
Mr. Chandler expressed his desire for the removal of the
and for a plan that might remove, at some future
time, " the greatest curse that has ever been inflicted upon
free blacks,
this State."
He declared that he should look upon the day on
which " the deliverance of the Commonwealth from the burdens of slavery should be consummated as the most glorious
William C. Rives was opposed
in the annals of Virginia."
to any plan of emancipation, because its agitation at that
time would be " injudicious, if not perilous." The rejection
of this petition of the Quakers
was moved by Mr. Goode
but his motion was rejected by a vote of more than three to
one,
A
and
its
reference to the special committee
day or two afterwards Mr. Goode,
25
was
carried.
who assumed
the
�194
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
championship of the slaveholders, rose and asked the select
committee what progress had been made, and when it intended
To
chairman replied that it was
and he hoped to report
Mr. Goode then said that he believed the
in a few days.
course that had been taken would be productive of dangerous consequences and he gave notice that he should, the next
to report.
this question the
vigorously pursuing
its
investigation,
;
day, submit a resolution that would save the committee from
further investigation.
In accordance with this notice he
in-
troduced a resolution to discharge the committee, declaring
that
it
was not expedient
to legislate further
on the subject
of emancipation.
Thomas Jefferson Randolph, a grandson of Mr. Jefferson,
moved to amend the resolution so as to instruct the committee
to inquire into the expediency of submitting to a vote of the
qualified electors the proposition of providing
by law that the
children of female slaves, born after the 4th of July, 1840,
should become the property of the commonwealth, the males
at the age of twenty-one, the females at the age of eighteen
then to be hired out until a sufficient
sum be
;
realized to defray
the expense of their removal beyond the limits of the United
States.
But even
this
moderate proposition was resisted by
Mr. Goode, who declared that the continuance of the discus-
and excite
must
be
disappointed.
hopes in the colored population which
While Mr. Goode' s resolution to discharge the committee was
under consideration, the committee reported that it was inexpedient for the legislature to make any enactments for the abolition of slavery, and the question of its disposition was at once
made the subject of discussion. Mr. Newton was in favor of
laying the report of the committee on the table, and of taking
up Mr. Randolph's amendment, which he denounced as a monsion would prolong the anxieties of the citizens,
strous proposition that struck at the foundation of republican
The motion to lay upon the table was then reand Mr. Preston, afterward Secretary of the Navy
under President Taylor, moved, as an amendment to the
report, to strike out the word " inexpedient " and insert the
word " expedient."
government.jected,
�SLAVERY DEBATE
Then commenced an
IN
THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE.
195
elaborate and exhaustive debate, which
continued without limitation or restriction for several weeks.
It
was one of the
ablest,
most eloquent, and
brilliant
de-
bates that ever took place in the legislature of any of the
Most of those who participated in it were young and
men, who afterward achieved high positions and commanding influence. Many of them then clearly saw and vividly set forth the terrible evils which slavery had wrought, and
the appalling difficulties and dangers that beset them.
Yet,
clearly as they saw them and vividly as they portrayed them,
they not only failed to comprehend their full import, but they
entirely failed in marking out the way of escape, and in devising the means for their extrication.
Mr. Moore said that the apostle might as well have closed
his eyes upon the light which shone from heaven, or have
turned a deaf ear to the voice from on high, as for the legislature to stifle the spirit of inquiry as to the best means of
freeing Virginia from the curse of slavery,
" the severest
calamity that has ever befallen any portion of the human race."
Among the many evils he pointed out and forcibly portrayed
was " its irresistible tendency to undermine and destroy everything like virtue and morality in the community."
Asserting that ignorance was the inseparable companion of slavery,
he declared it to be the purpose of the master to see that
States.
rising
—
" the ignorance of his slaves shall be as profound as possible."
Maintaining that this ignorance rendered the slave
incapable of deciding between right and wrong, he affirmed
that he
was never actuated by those inspiring and enno-
bling motives that prompt the free to praiseworthy deeds
and that he was habituated from
his
;
infancy to sacrifice
truth without remorse, to escape the punishment too apt to
be
inflicted.
He
averred that the impulses of passion were
never restrained in him by the dread of infamy and
grace.
dis-
Referring to the declining prosperity of Virginia, he
said that the State below tide-water wore " an appearance of
almost utter desolation, distressing to the beholder"
;
that " tall
and thick forests of pine, everywhere to be seen encroaching
upon the once cultivated fields, cast a deep gloom over the
�196
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
IN AMERICA.
if nature mourned over the misfortunes
man." Maintaining that it was due to their character as a
magnanimous people not to withhold from their negroes rights
they had declared to be the common property of the human
land, which looked as
of
race, he
would make a determined
effort to free their
wealth of this element of disgrace and danger.
that
Common-
He
declared
mattered not whether oppression was exercised over
it
few individuals or over millions
;
that " the autocrat of Russia
was no more deserving of the name of tyrant for having sent
his hordes to plant the blood-stained banner of despotism upon
the walls of Warsaw, amid the ruins of all that was dear
to freemen, than was the petty tyrant in any other quarter
of the globe, who is equally regardless of the acknowledged
rights of man."
Mr. Boiling declared that the advocates of slavery, while
" drunk with prejudice," claimed to be sober, and sought to
crown all its opponents with opprobrious epithets. He averred
that slavery was " a great and appalling evil, a blighting and
withering curse upon this land." " Many a brave man," he
said, "
who would
battle,
face without shrinking the terrible array of
and with a
mouth, has
felt his
fearless
heart spur upon the
cannon's
blood in icy currents flow back upon
source, from the chilling, the fearful thought, that
should return to the
home he had
left
its
when he
he should be greeted,
not with the smile of joy and of welcome, but by the mangled
He described the desolation
"
"
in
portions of Virginia lying
that
met and fatigued the eye
corses of his butchered family."
below the mountains, and affirmed that there was no point to
which they could turn where the great evil did not stare them
and that it was a bone of contention between Eastern and Western Virginia, between the slaveholding and non-
in the face
;
slaveholding States.
amendment, Mr. Randolph maintained
was the dark, the appalling, and the despairing future
that had awakened the public mind, rather than the Southampton insurrection. He asked whether silence would restore
the death-like apathy of the negro's mind.
It might be wise
Briefly supporting his
that
it
to let
it
sleep in its torpor
;
but " has not," he asked, "
its
dark
�SLAVERY DEBATE
chaos been illumined
?
IN
THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE.
Does
it
not
move and
197
and think ?
advancing,
it must
feel
—
The hour of the eradication of the evil is
come. Whether it is effected by the energy of our own minds,
or by the bloody scenes of Southampton and San Domingo, is
a tale for future history."
Speaking for slavery, Mr. Gholson deprecated discussion,
" We," he said,
it fraught with incalculable mischief.
deeming
" debate
this is
it,
the press debates
done as
if
it,
everybody debates
it
;
and
all
the slaves around us had neither eyes nor ears."
Maintaining, however, that discussion could
avoided, he called upon gentlemen
now no
longer be
who regarded Mr. Ran-
dolph's proposition as "monstrous and unconstitutional" to
" meet
publicly,
it
— publicly to discuss
it,
publicly to expose
and publicly to reject it." He thought his constituents
would be filled with wonder at the light which illumined the
present age, and with mortification at their present ignorance.
They really believe, he said, that slaves are property, and that
This opinion had been imthey belong to their masters.
pressed upon their minds at quite a tender age
and in spite
it,
;
new
of the
lights,
they believed that " by the Constitution of
the United States and the laws of Virginia slaves were property,
which dying
men might
bequeath, and living
men might
convey by deeds." His constituents had always considered
that " the owner of land had a reasonable right to its annual
profits,
the owner of orchards to their
owner of brood mares
annual
to their products,
fruits,
the
and the owner of
female slaves to their increase."
He
said that the wretched
and misguided
fanatic
who
led
the Southampton massacre thought he saw the light of the
age, but all his light
and
all his inspiration
the darkness of the grave.
He
were shrouded in
said that northern lights
had
appeared, and incendiary publications had cast their illuminat-
ing rays
among them,
bloodshed.
He
pictures of the poverty
and
who had drawn gloomy
to conduct the slave to massacre
thought gentlemen
and
thriftless agriculture of Virginia
were better poets than planters, and that there was more happiness and less misery among the slaves of Virginia than among
the laboring poor of Europe or the servants of the North.
He
�198
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
thought other Southern States would not applaud the rash and
They were engaged, he said,
" With the indiscretion of
children we are playing with torches and firebrands, either
regardless or forgetful that magazines are under and around
precipitate conduct of Virginia.
in a rash
and intemperate debate.
Should it be the pleasure of this body in an evil
hour to connect with its history the adoption of this unjust,
partial, tyrannical, and monstrous measure, permit me in the
us
presence of
my
country to offer a prayer to Heaven, that the
recording angel, as he writes
and
blot
it
it
down, may drop a tear upon
it
out forever."
Mr. Rives said that he saw no occasion for excitement, and
trusted as the debate progressed there would be found nothing
He thought the Southampton insurrection
had brought nothing new to the minds of the people of Virginia,
as it was but an earlier and more melancholy realization of
their apprehensions.
While he was not filled with apprehensions and alarms, he thought it was the part of wisdom to look
ahead, and the duty of public men to scent out and ward off
to arouse or alarm.
danger, however remote.
Mr. Brodnax addressed the House at great length. He
thought the spirit of the age would not tolerate suppression,
was the subject of grave consideration in all parts
and that " the people all over the world are
thinking about it, speaking about it, and writing about it."
Although he maintained that slavery was " a mildew which
has blighted every region it has touched, from the foundation
of the world," he made the strange and preposterous affirmathat slavery
of the country,
tion
that he
was opposed
to
any system of emancipation
which interfered with private property, affected its value, or
took a single slave from his master without his consent. Denouncing the moderate plan of emancipation proposed by Mr.
Randolph as monstrous in its features and principles, he declared that owners of that kind of property would not and
ought not to submit to such a law that they woxild hurl from
;
who had conand if their sucthe people would burst into
their stations their unfaithful representatives,
tributed to bring such injustice
cessors could effect
no
repeal,
upon them
;
�SLAVERY DJEBATE IN THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE.
atoms the bonds that united Virginia in one
political
199
com-
munity.
" In listening," said Mr. Powell, " to an unrestrained
cussion upon a subject on which
we
dis-
are accustomed to breathe
our opinions with the lowest whisper, I feel that I
am
in a
dream. But a short time ago the bare utterance of sentiments now listened to with the most profound attention
would have been responded to by a simultaneous murmur of
disapprobation." He warned the House that when the slaves
should have become more enlightened and the love of freedom
should have sprung up in their bosoms, that the tragic scenes
of Southampton might become a common occurrence, and in
those convulsions and struggles their history might be written
in characters of blood.
Mr. Daniel remarked that it was an
age of change and revolution, the fruitful period of conventions
and speeches, but he had never expected
to see the legis-
lature of Virginia gravely debating the question
whether or
not the slaves they had inherited from their fathers were
property.
Mr. Faulkner, Minister to France at the opening of the
House in favor of the gradual extinction of slavery.
He said he was no enthusiast, no fanatic he
went for no agrarian laws, no confiscation of property, no wild
and chimerical schemes of abolition. But he went for such
practical measures, sanctioned by the most illustrious names
that adorned the annals of Virginia, as would rescue the
State from the appalling catastrophe which in time must
rebellion, addressed the
;
befall
He
it.
made by
those opposed to
emancipation, calculated to prejudice the public mind. " Our
propositions," he said, " have been denounced as monstrous,
referred to the statements
novel, violent,
and extraordinary.
We
have been represented
and as endangering the
State by rash and violent schemes of legisla-
as sounding a war-cry of insurrection,
tranquillity of this
tion."
He
gloried in the privilege of participating in proceed-
ings tending to help forward a revolution so grand and patriotic in its results.
in God's
name
let
" If slavery," he said, " can be eradicated,
us get rid of
it.
If
it
cannot, let that melan-
�200
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER JN AMERICA.
RISE
choly fact be distinctly ascertained, and let those who,
been
now awaiting with
told, are
we have
painful solicitude the result
of your determinations, pack up their household goods
find
among
the luxuriant forests and prairies of the
West
and
that
and repose which their native land does not afford."
remark of a sagacious politician on the
evening when the first debate sprung up on the presentation of
" Why do you gentlemen from the West,"
the Quaker petition.
he asked, " suffer yourselves to be fanned into such a tempest
security
He
referred to a
when
of 'passion
the subject of slavery
is
introduced into the
House ? The time will come, and before long, when there will
be no diversity of feeling or interest among us on that point,
when we
est."
shall all equally represent a slaveholding inter" It is," said Mr. Faulkner, " to arrest any such possi-
ble consequences to
my
country that
I
— one of the humblest,
— have
but not the least determined, of the Western delegation
raised
my
voice for emancipation.
Tax our
lands, vilify our
country, carry the sword of extermination through our
defenceless villages, but spare us, I implore you,
now
— spare
us
the curse of slavery, that bitterest drop from the chalice of
the destroying angel."
"Slavery," he said, "it
is admitted, is an evil; it is an
which presses heavily against the best interests of
institution
the State.
It
banishes free white labor
;
mechanic, the artisan, the manufacturer.
of occupation
;
it
it
exterminates the
It deprives
them
converts the energy of a community into
power into imbecility,
weak-
indolence,
its
ness.
being thus injurious, have we not a right to demand
its
Sir,
extermination
?
its
efficiency into
Shall society suffer that the landholder
may continue to gather his virgintial crop of human flesh ?
What is his mere pecuniary claim compared with the great
interests of the common weal ?
Must the country languish,
droop, die, that the slaveholder may flourish ?
Shall all
interests
be subservient to one,
slaveholding
?
Has not
classes their rights,
of slavery
He
?
all
rights
subordinate
to
the mechanic, have not the middle
— rights
incompatible with the existence
"
expressed his gratification that no gentleman had arisen
�SLAVERY DEBATE
IN
THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE.
201
avowed advocate of slavery, and declared
had gone by when such a voice could be listened
in that hall as the
that the day
to with patience, or
even forbearance.
He
regretted, too, that
any had entered the lists of discussion as its apologists, except
on the ground of uncontrollable necessity. If there was any
one who believed in the harmless character of slavery, he
compare the condition of that commonwealth,
it were by the avenging hand
of Heaven, with the descriptions of the same country by
those who first broke its virgin soil. To what is this ascribable ?
Alone to the withering and blasting effects of slavery.
He avowed himself opposed to any plan of emanciparequested
him
to
barren, desolate, and seared as
which was not mild, gradual, and prospective in its operation.
Delicate and difficult 'as was the subject, he would
tion
still
preach
" Our security," he added, " requires
it.
it.
the language of the wise and prophetic Jefferson, you
approach
it,
you must hear
it,
In
must
you must adopt some plan of
emancipation, or worse will follow."
Mr. Marshall proposed such an amendment to the Constitution of the
United States as would give the power to Congress
He would, by timely
"
precautions, endeavor to
avert that portentous cloud which
to appropriate
money
to aid the States.
already blackens the horizon, and which threatens at some
future day to pour its fury on our heads."
abolition of slavery
tion of the slave
;
He
thought the
was not desirable on account of the condi" but
it
is
ruinous to the whites,
— retards
improvement, roots out an industrious population, banishes the
yeomanry of the country, deprives the spinner, the weaver,
the smith, the shoemaker, the carpenter, of employment and
support.
This evil admits of no remedy. It is increasing,
and will continue to increase, until the whole State will be
inundated with one black wave covering her whole extent,
with a few white faces here and there floating on the surface."
Mr. Roane owned slaves, and valued them as highly as Mr.
Gholson valued his women and children, which he had asserted
were as much his property as his brood mares. He declared
that he would never interfere with the just rights of property,
26
�202
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
but he was in favor of action, because delay brought danger,
and he would not " halt and boggle and falter " while the
country was " groaning and travailing and suffocating under
the heaviest and blackest curse that ever afflicted freemen."
Mr. Wood was opposed to touching the question of abolition,
and he saw nothing in the Southampton insurrection calculated
He said if Virginia had
to inspire alarm or create distrust.
been settled by the Puritans her condition might have been
better without slavery, but the early settlers of Virginia were
English gentlemen, who came there not to devote themselves
to lives of labor
and
self-denial, but for the
purpose of enjoy-
ing the luxuries of the table, furnished alike by the forests and
" The people of Virginia," he said, " did not vex
the waters.
themselves with the harassing cares of commerce, nor were
They devoted them-
they reduced to the necessity of labor.
selves to social intercourse, to the cultivation of elegant litera-
ture and fine oratory.
In these they excelled, not only any
race in this Union, but perhaps in the world."
These words of the boastful Virginian breathe a
convey a sentiment which were not only
common
spirit
and
at the South,
The
but more or less admitted and acquiesced in at the North.
and culture of Southerners
urged
and
often
as at least some compenwere always claimed
sation for their servile system, and for their other less worthy
chivalry, generosity, refinement,
But the
qualities.
facts never justified such pretensions.
literature their authors
were few, and at best of
inferior
In
rank
;
while the meagreness of their contributions to science, letters,
and the
arts
has been generally conceded.
Prom
their pre-
tensions to superior generosity and refinement the war tore off
the mask, and revealed the fact that
shams,
or, at best,
Mr. Preston,
who had moved
committee so that
act,
most
it
all
such assumptions were
glaringly superficial.
to
amend
would declare that
it
the resolution of the
was " expedient " to
spoke eloquently in support of the position he had as-
sumed.
He
admitted that for two hundred years the thoughts,
words, and acts of Virginia had been suppressed, that their
mouths had been closed, and that all investigations in relation
had been stifled. He thanked God that the spell
to slavery
�SLAVERY DEBATE
IN
THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE.
203
was broken, that the scales had fallen from their eyes, and that
he was at liberty to speak every opinion he entertained. He
admitted that no emancipation could take place then, or in the
future, without an infringement upon the rights of property,
if those rights were, as was assumed, " superior to all law, and
above
all
He said
men he should
that if the
unhesitatingly
necessity."
slaves were white
rejoice in a revolution, as
it
and difference of race which made such an idea
appalling.
Referring to the declaration of Mr. Gholson that
much of the wealth of Eastern Virginia was in the increase of
" In the name of God, has it come
their slaves, he exclaimed
Does the wealth and the beauty and the chivalry
to this ?
of Virginia derive its support and owe its existence to the in-
was
their color
:
crease of slaves
The
"
?
policy of emancipation
and he declared that
it
was
was denounced by Mr. Knox,
susceptible of demonstration, that
might " trace the high
and elevated character which she has heretofore sustained";
and he expressed the opinion that " its continued existence is
to slavery, as it existed in Virginia, they
indispensably requisite, in order to preserve the forms of a republican government."
Mr. Summers of Western Virginia made a very able speech
against slavery west of the Blue Ridge.
section of Virginia were a separate
He
thought,
and independent
if
that
State, she
would annihilate slavery at a blow. " We do not," he said,
" desire that the hardy and'independent tenantry of our coun-
made
try should be
work
rule than to
way to those who have no other
and waste as much as they can,
and whose only interest is to avoid
to give
as
little
whose only impulse is fear,
the punishment of their employers.
We cannot desire to see
our mountains blackened with the slave, or that the fresh grass
of our valley should wither beneath his tread."
He would
not
advert to the great principles of eternal justice, that regarded
with equal beneficence
or condition
;
all
persons, without distinction of color
but he wished to better their
own
condition,
" to arrest the desolating scourge of our country, to save from
after ages the
accumulated
diless disease."
He
ills
of a then hopeless
maintained that men,
to
and reme-
remain slaves,
�204
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
that necessity had placed on the statute-books of Virginia " laws to close every avenue of knowl-
must remain ignorant
;
edge to the wretched negro, to extinguish that little spark that
glimmers in his bosom, and which ages of degradation have
The antiquary
not wholly destroyed."
feared,
" in attempting to annihilate the
and
in his researches, he
would not understand the necessity which
to
mind
justified
them
of a portion of our race,
withdraw from them the knowledge of their own im-
The
mortality and destiny beyond the grave.
love of lib-
was a scintilthe
eternal
rock
being,
and
could be exstruck
from
of.
lation
expressing
the
He closed with
tinguished only in the tomb."
hope that by emancipation they should save their posterity from
erty could not be eradicated by oppression.
It
the wretched inheritance and calamity of slavery, receive the
smile of
Heaven and the blessing
and that
after time
of their children's children,
would trace the origin of American abolition
to that debate.
Mr. Burr denied the sinfulness of slavery
were more
the Christian era, and that Christ saw
ness, and, although he
did not
tives of
;
said that there
than forty millions of slaves at the beginning of
condemn
came
slaveholding.
them
in their wretched-
into the world to rebuke sin,
He reminded
he
the representa-
Western Virginia that the dark wave of slavery which
haunted their imaginations had been rolling for centuries
against the mountains, and yet had " only cast a little spray
beyond.
The
foot of the negro delights not in the
dew
of the
The
mountain grass. He is
step
is
most
and
his
burning sun gives him life and vigor,
joyous on the arid plains."
Of this system, thus declared not to be " sinful," Mr. Berry
said that it was a cancer on the body politic, as certain, steady,
and fatal in its progress as any cancer on the physical system.
Of the slaves he said that they had as far as possible closed
" every avenue by which light might enter their minds," and
the child of the sandy desert.
that they
had
to go only
one step farther "
to extinguish the
capacity to see the light," to reduce them to the level of the
and, he added, " I am not certain that we
beasts of the field
;
would not do
it if
we could
find out the necessary process,
and
�SLAVERY DEBATE IN THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE.
205
He
that under the plea of necessity."
predicted that the
slaves would yet assert their liberty, and that " a death-strug-
gle
must come between the two
which one or the
This " death-struggle,"
classes, in
other will be extinguished forever."
of which the eloquent Virginian spoke,
terizing the " irrepressible conflict."
was
his form of charac-
It did
come
in less than
one generation, though not in the form here shadowed
In
it,
forth.
however, the slave system, and not one of the contestant
went down.
But the most eloquent and effective speech of this great debate was made by James McDowell, afterward governor of the
It was a masterly
State and a representative in Congress.
portra}'al of the ruin and demoralization wrought by slavery
in his native State.
Its wonderful and almost magical effect
upon the convention is a matter of tradition in Virginia to this
day. In describing the panic and terror wrought by the Southampton insurrection, and in reply to a member who had characterized it as a petty affair, he declared that it drove families
from their homes, assembled women and children in crowds, in
every condition of weakness and infirmity, and every suffering
that want and terror could inflict, to escape the terrible dread
classes,
"
of domestic assassination.
Was
that," he asked, " a
'
petty
which erected a peaceful and confiding portion of the
which outlawed from pity the unState into a military camp
beings
brothers
had offended ; which barred
whose
fortunate
affair,'
;
every door, penetrated every bosom with fear or suspicion
which so banished every sense of security from every man's
dwelling, that, let but a hoof or horn break upon the silence
of the night, and an aching throb would be driven to the heart ?
The husband would look to his weapon, and the mother would
shudder, and weep upon her cradle
Was it the fear of Nat
Turner and his deluded, drunken handful of followers, which
produced such effects ? Was it this that induced distant counties, where the very name of Southampton was strange, to arm
and equip for a struggle ? No, sir, it was the suspicion etera suspicion that a Nat
nally attached to the slave himself,
Turner might be in every family, that the same bloody deed
might be acted over at any time and in any place, that the
!
—
�206
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
ELSE
materials for
it
IN AMERICA.
were spread through the land, and were always
ready for a like explosion."
Not only
is
there the testimony of the great dehate, but the
press of the State was equally pronounced in
its
assertion of
The " Rich-
the evils and dangers of their system of slavery.
mond Inquirer," the leading paper of the State and of the
whole South, said on the 7th of January, 1832 " It is probable, from what we hear, that the committee on the colored popu:
some plan
lation will report
But
of color.
is
that
all
for getting rid of the free people
that can be done
Are we
?
to forever
suffer the greatest evil that
can scourge our land, not only to
remain, but to increase in
dimensions
eyes and avert our faces
its
we
if
will,'
'
?
We may shut
our
writes an eloquent South-
Carolinian, returning from the North a few weeks ago,
the dark and growing evil at our doors
'
but
and meet
the question we must at no distant day. God only knows what
it is the part of wise men to do on this momentous and appalling subject. But something ought to be done. Means, sure
then
it
is
;
but gradual, systematic but discreet, ought to be adopted for
reducing this mass of
and which
is
put
And
off.
will press
We
although
evil
which
is
pressing upon the South,
upon her the more heavily the longer
ought not to shut our eyes nor avert our
we speak almost without hope
it
faces.
that the commit-
tee or the legislature will do anything at the present session to
meet the question, yet we say now,
our hearts, that our wisest
men
in the
attention to this subject, nor can they give
Seldom,
cally,
if ever,
have the
utmost sincerity of
cannot give too
it
evils of slavery
much
too soon.'
of their
"
been more graphi-
not to say terrifically, portrayed, than in this remark-
able debate and discussion.
These men spoke and wrote of
what they knew. They described dangers and difficulties not
at a distance, but at home, in which they were involved, and
before which they trembled.
None can read their words, even
at this day, without feelings of sympathy and pity at their helpFor through the whole
less and almost hopeless condition.
remarks
the
of
most earnest and advanced,
debate, even in the
there was manifested an inability to grapple successfully with
a system, not only enshrined in their laws, but inwrought into
their
whole
social
life.
�SLAVERY DEBATE IN THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE.
207
This movement, however, though begun under auspices so
favorable and betokening success, and though thus ably sus-
tained in the halls of debate and by the press,
came
to nothing.
Looking to ultimate emancipation and expatriation, however
remote and gradual, it alarmed the slaveholding aristocracy
which had so long ruled Virginia, and which at once took the
Most of
alarm.
Discussion, sternly frowned upon, ceased.
the men, prominent in this debate, were either placed under
the ban of the Slave Power, or were compelled to placate
it
by succumbing to its behests, disowning their own words, and
becoming the active agents in defending what they once so
severely condemned.
Where, it may be asked, in the fiercest invectives, in the
most impassioned appeals and warnings, or in the wildest
ravings of any class of Abolitionists, can there' be found any
arraignment of the system of slavery more fearful, any confessions more damaging, or any condemnation more crushing,
than can be gathered from the words of this debate, carried
on by Southern men on Southern soil ? And where can be
found more mournful evidence, plentiful as it is, of the terrible power embodied in the slave system, which could convert,
as it soon did, such men, with talents and position so commanding, and with such admissions and confessions on their
lips, into strenuous advocates and sturdy defenders of what
they knew to be so full of guilt and harm to the individual,
of detriment and danger to the State ?
—
�CHAPTER XV.
THE FORMATION AND PURPOSES OF THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION
SOCIETY.
— Mr. Jefferson's Proposition. —
— Judge Tucker's Plans of Emancipa— Mercer's Resolutions. — Meetings of the Society. — Constitution
— Purpose. — Equivocal Position. — Declarations of Mr. Clay.
and
— Avowals of Advocates. — Views of the " African Repository." — Black
Laws. — Compulsory Colonization. — Action of Maryland Legislature. — Action of the Free People of Color. — Views of the National Conventions of
Free Colored Men. — Declaration of Mr. Webster. — Mr. Garrison's Mission
to England. — Eliot Cresson. — Protest of the British Abolitionists. — Address
of Mr. Garrison. — Hold of the Colonizationists upon the Country. — Their
Proscriptive Course. — Encouragement to Mobs.
Its Inconsistencies.
— Views
of Dr. Hopkins.
Resolutions of the Virginia Legislature.
tion.
Its
Its
Officers.
its
The American
Colonization Society was organized in the
year 1816, in the city of Washington.
were soon formed in most of the
with
its affiliated
States.
Auxiliary societies
This association,
organizations, contributed in no small degree
to influence the opinions
and actions of men, and
the irrepressible conflict of the last half-century.
nal formation and subsequent progress, in
ments, and acts,
it
its
to intensify
In
its origi-
avowals, argu-
was always singularly inconsistent and
manifestly yielded and pandered to the wicked
illogical.
It
prejudice
against race and
color
;
and yet
churches and Christians to assist in sustaining
it
it
called
upon
as an essen-
part of the missionary enterprise.
It cruelly aspersed and
defamed the free people of color and yet insisted that they
were the preordained instruments of Heaven for the civilization of Africa.
It evinced the most undisguised hostility to
Abolition and Abolitionists and yet it persistently pressed its
claims on the friends of the slave.
While it embraced many
wise and good men, actuated by philanthropic and Christian
tial
;
;
principles, its history compels the conviction that, unwittingly
�THE AMEKICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY.
209
or from design, its influence
was largely instrumental in producing that sad demoralization of the nation which rendered
possible the subsequent aggressions and triumphs of the Slave
Power.
How to suppress the slave-trade, how to abolish slavery, and
what disposition should be made of free people of color, were
questions that early occupied the minds of leading men both
North and South. Dr. Hopkins, the ablest champion of the
colored race in his day, was in favor of the extinction of the
slave-trade
of " averting the Divine judgments," and obtaining " the smile of Heaven " by delivering the country from
" the sin and calamity of slavery " ; and also of providing for
;
the education of colored children in useful learning, that they
might be raised to an acknowledged equality with white people.
Deeply concerned for the highest welfare of the colored
race, and for the advancement of civilization and Christianity,
he conceived and suggested the idea, even before the Revolution, of African colonization.
In his address on the slave-
trade and the slavery of the Africans before the Providence
Antislavery Society, in 1793, he more fully developed the idea
of a general
movement
for colonizing such colored persons in
Africa as might be desirous of going thither in order to
" maintain the practice of Christianity in the sight of their
;
now heathen
brethren, endeavor to instruct and civilize them,
and spread the knowledge of the gospel among them." In an
appendix to this powerful address, he expressed his confidence
that if a well-digested plan could be laid before the public,
might be carried into
to
"
the previous
when
State
effect.
action of
He
referred with
it
commendation
Massachusetts in resolving that,
a place can be found in Africa where the blacks of that
may
settle to their
advantage, they would furnish them
with shipping and provisions sufficient to transport them there,
and arms
sufficient to
defend them, and farming utensils
suffi-
cient to cultivate the land."
During the Revolution Mr. Jefferson proposed to incorporate into the revised code of Virginia a plan for colonizing free
persons of color.
At that time these were regarded as a
" lower caste," and, in the South at least, as " a disturbing
27
�210
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
IN AMERICA.
element to the peace of society and dangerous to the interests
Mr. Jefferson and other more advanced South-
of slavery."
ern
men were
The
tion.
in favor of general emancipation with coloniza-
idea of colonization, too,
entirely different class,
— by
those
was entertained by an
who wished
the presence and example of free negroes, but
posed to emancipation.
to be rid of
who were
op-
This feeling was greatly stimulated
and increased by the discovery, in 1800, of an alleged conspiracy of the negroes, in the country around Richmond, to seize
the magazine, the mills, and bridge across the James River,
take possession of the city, and issue a proclamation inviting
the blacks to rally to their standard.
But the scheme failed,
and several of the leaders were tried and executed. The feelings and fears, however, excited by it, were manifested at the
next meeting of the legislature. The governor was requested
to enter into correspondence with the President relative to the
purchase of land out of the limits of that State, " where persons obnoxious to the laws and dangerous to the peace of
society
may
be removed."
ject of obtaining lands
At the following
session the pro-
beyond the limits of the State was
distinctly declared to be for the purpose of securing a place to
which "
free
negroes and such as
may
be emancipated
may
be
sent."
As no
action was taken by the general government, the
legislature of Virginia, in 1805, instructed
gress from that
the
State
to
members
of Con-
secure a cession of territory in
new Louisiana purchase
for the purposes of colonization.
This action of several successive legislatures of Virginia was
taken in secret session, revealing the sense of insecurity that
prompted it.
cured by the
As no
had been selaw was enacted in
territory for this purpose
efforts of the legislature, a
1806, that slaves thereafter manumitted should leave the State
within one year, or be again reduced to slavery.
This action
of four legislatures clearly revealed the feelings and views
that then pervaded that State.
The same was
indicated by
the plan of emancipation proposed by Judge Tucker, one of
her most learned and distinguished
which
all
jurists.
In his plan, by
females born after a fixed period should be free, he
�THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY.
provided that no free black should hold
estate,
office,
211
possess real
keep arms, be a witness against white men, or maintain
a suit at law.
He
gave as a reason for these stern and inhu-
man
provisions, by which the ordinary privileges of freemen
would be withheld from them, that he wished " to render it
their inclination and their interest to seek those privileges in
some other climate."
In 1816 Charles Fenton Mercer introduced a resolution into
the legislature, which was nearly unanimously adopted, asking
the aid of Congress to procure in Africa, or elsewhere beyond
the limits of the United States, a territory " as an asylum for
such persons of color as are now
free, or
may desire
the same,
and for those who may be hereafter emancipated within this
commonwealth." It was afterward stated by Mr. Mercer that
his resolution was introduced prior, but with a view, to the
formation of a colonization society. It was stated, too, in a
published account of the formation of the American Colonization Society, that the meeting for that purpose was called by
those who believed the Virginia legislature had entered upon
the work with a spirit and determination to prosecute it with
vigor, and who also desired to secure the " aid" of the general
government. These facts justify the claims vauntingly put
forth in the Virginia Colonization Society, in 1836, that " the
plan of colonizing the free blacks, and such as might be
free, originated here.
ginia principles."
The
principles of the society
While, however,
it
was
colonization
who were
r
the action of the
Virginia legislature of 1816 which inspired this
the purposes avowed, there were
made
w ere Vir-
many Northern
movement
for
advocates of
actuated by other and higher motives.
In the autumn of that year a meeting was held in Princeton,
New
Jersey, under the lead of Rev. Dr. Robert Finley,
who
took a deep interest in the organization of such a society, and
who was long
identified with its operations.
Indeed, this gen-
tleman seems to have been the active agent in the movement
which resulted in its formation. He visited Washington early
in December, and was chiefly instrumental in calling the
meeting which assembled on the 21st of that month, in that
city, to consider the propriety and practicability of colonizing
�212
free
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
IN AMERICA.
people of color, and of forming an association for that
purpose.
Henry Clay
presided, spoke of the condition of the
and pronounced the cause a noble one,
"
which proposed to rid our country of a useless and pernicious, if not a dangerous, portion of its population "
and con-
free people of color,
;
templated, strangely enough, with such materials for factors
and agents, " the spreading of the arts of civilized life, and
the possible redemption from ignorance and barbarism of a
benighted quarter of the globe."
John Randolph
in
any wise
distinctly declared that this
meeting did not
negro slavery
affect the question of
;
but " must
materially tend to secure the property of every master in the
United States in his slaves."
On
the 28th another meeting
was held, and on the first day of the year 1817 the society
was fully organized by the choice of officers. Judge Bushrod
Washington, an associate justice of the Supreme Court, a
Virginia slaveholder, was chosen president
twelve of its
seventeen vice-presidents were from the South, and all, or
nearly all, of its twelve managers were slaveholders. The spirit
of its first president, if not of the society itself, was soon
;
manifested.
much
Learning, in 1821, that his slaves believed, inas-
was the nephew of Washington, and president of
the Colonization Society, that he intended to give them their
freedom, he called them together, stated what he had heard,
and coolly informed them that he had no such intention.
Shortly afterward he verified that cruel and wanton declaration by sending fifty-four of them from the very home of the
as he
Father of his Country to the
The
and objects
the
instrument
second
New
Orleans slave-market.
had no preamble setting forth the motive
of the organization.
Nor was there anything in
constitution
article, in
itself
indicating
which
it
was
"to be exclusively directed "
This omission of
all
its
purpose, excepting the
stated that
its
attention
was
to colonizing free people of color.
assigned motives indicated
its
equivocal
and double-faced policy, which ever seemed to be to secure at
one and the same time the co-operation of both the friends
and foes of the colored race,
of those who aided it because
they hoped thus to lessen the evils of slavery, and of those
—
�THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY.
who hoped
213
that the removal of the free would strengthen the
fetters of the
bond,
— of those
means of sending the gospel
who saw
in
it
thought of that gospel only to hate and oppose
The general
a providential
and of those who
to Africa,
it.
American Colonization Society
may be seen, too, in the avowed sentiments and feelings of its
leading members, advocates, and presses toward the free peoNot only were they wanting in expressions of
ple of color.
sympathy and words of encouragement and hope, but language highly depreciative, if not defamatory, was employed
concerning these victims of an unfeeling ostracism and tyrannous oppression. Mr. Clay declared " Of all classes of our
population, the most vicious is that of the free colored people.
Contaminated themselves, they extend their vices to all
around them. They are the most corrupt, abandoned, and
position of the
:
depraved."
man was
them " a horde of
General Mercer, who more than any other public
the master spirit of the enterprise, styled
miserable people, the objects of universal suspicion, subsisting
by plunder." A memorial of the Kentucky Colonization So" They are a milciety to Congress thus characterized them
:
dew on our
fields,
escutcheon."
An
a scourge to our backs, and a stain on our
editorial in the " African Repository," the
recognized organ of the society, represented
them
rant, degraded, mentally diseased, broken-spirited,
as " igno-
and scarcely
reached in their debasement by the heavenly light." And
again " They must be forever debased, forever useless, for:
ever a nuisance from which
it
were a blessing
for society to
be rid."
This cold-blooded characterization, too, was only equalled by
the reiterated assertions, and claim even, that there was no
remedy, no help,
at least in this country.
that " these prejudices of society " against
It was proclaimed
them were " inevi-
table and incurable," which " neither refinement, nor argument, nor education, nor religion itself can subdue." They
were considered as belonging to an " inferior caste," as occu-
pying a " station" from which " they can never rise, be their
They
talents, their enterprise, their virtues what they may.
�214
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
constitute a class by themselves, out of which no individual
can be elevated and below which none can be depressed."
To
and
these views of the character of the free people of color
their remediless condition should be
reasons for seeking their expatriation.
added the avowed
real intent and
The
animus of the movement were never in the interest of freedom,
or but exceptionally in that of the free people of color.
Its
avowed aim was to render slavery and its supporters
or, as Henry A. Wise honestly expressed it, " the
secure
more
great original principle " was " friendship for the slaveholdThe
ers," which, he said, it must continue to " maintain."
same principle was clearly recognized and avowed by Mr.
Webster, in his 7th of March speech, in which, among his
real, its
;
other overtures for Southern confidence, he pledged his support
to any proposition " or scheme of colonization " the South
might see fit to propose, " to relieve themselves from the burden of their free colored population." Though many Northern
antislavery men and Christians were lending it their aid, for
the promised good to Africa and the Africans, its leading
members and supporters were characterizing property in man
as "sacred," "as inviolable as any other in the country."
They said to the slaveholders " We know your rights, and
we respect them." They claimed Southern support on the
ground, as expressed by Randolph at its first meeting, that it
:
" would prove one of the greatest securities " to such property.
This idea even the " Repository " expressed, again and again,
in different forms
and phrases.
It
declared that removing free
people of color " would contribute more effectually to the continuance and strength " of slavery than anything else " would
;
augment instead of diminishing the value of the property left
behind " " would secure slaveholders and the whole Southern
country "
would render the slave who remains in America
more obedient, more faithful, more honest, and, consequently,
more useful to his master and " would provide and keep open
a drain for the excess beyond the occasion of profitable employ;
;
;
ment."
Corroborative of the same influence was the ill-disguised
in-
any plan
for
difference, not to say hostility, of its advocates to
�THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY.
215
the improvement and elevation of the very class whose wretched
condition they so vividly depicted.
While protesting against
the manumission of slaves unless coupled with expatriation,
calling abolition mere " enthusiasm," an " unsubstantial theory
of the rights of
abolitionists " fanatics," they ex-
man," and
misguided piety " which some"
"
manumissions, and asserted that
death-bed
times prompted
pressed their sorrow at the "
"
it
would be as humane
middle passage as
to set
had they no plans
to
throw slaves from the decks in the
free in this country." Not only
them
for the amelioration of the free people of
color themselves, but they heartlessly pronounced against any
which might be proposed by others.
Thus
the society, in an
elaborate address to the public, authoritatively defined
"
The moral,
its posi-
and political improvement of
people of color within the United States are objects foreign
tion
:
free
intellectual,
to the powers of the society."
Dr. Leonard Bacon, a distinguished clergyman of New
Haven, an officer of the society, thus gave his views concerning
its
mission
:
" It
is
not a missionary society, nor a society
for the suppression of the slave-trade,
nor a society for the im-
provement of the blacks, nor a society
for the abolition of slav-
ery
;
it is
simply a society for the establishment of a colony on
And
the coast of Africa."
tone and tenor of
and
addresses
its
that
these are but samples of the general
and speakers, of the documents
abounded for its advocacy and
writers
once
defence.
Among them the religious press was largely represented.
Thus a Southern paper declares " If free people of color were
generally taught to read, it might be an inducement for them to
remain in this country. We would offer them no such inducements." Nor were the Northern journals without sentiments
"
equally unfeeling. The New Haven " Religious Intelligencer
condemned any measures calculated to bind the colored population to this country by " seeking to raise them to a level with
:
the whites, whether by founding colleges or in any other way,"
because it would " divert attention and counteract and thwart
the whole plan of colonization."
Among
the
many
short-comings of the Colonization Society
�216
was
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
admitted failure to secure the confidence of the colored
its
people.
Though
and was
really incapable of accomplishing the objects of its
it
was ostensibly formed
in their interest,
organization without their voluntary co-operation and willing
acceptance of its assistance, it was never regarded with favor
by them. On the contrary, they always distrusted its pretensions and dreaded its influence.
Nor was it strange. For
the more intelligent could not have been unacquainted with
and with the open and cruel avowals
and all may have known
that the same men who were its members and defenders not
only oppressed their slaves, but demanded and indorsed those
most cruel laws against free colored people which not only dissomething of
its
history,
of its founders and early advocates
graced the statute-books of
all
;
slaveholding States, but sadly
disfigured Northern legislation.
The extreme aversion
of slaveholders to the presence of free
people of color, and their desire to be rid of them, aided by
the general prejudice against color, provoked a vast amount of
and wicked
hostile
" black laws " of
legislation, both
many
North and South.
The
of the free States were second in dis-
more summary and
The admitted inin both sections was to compel, in
graceful cruelty and injustice only to the
sanguinary slave-codes of the South
tent of such legislation
itself.
reality if not in form, these unfortunate ones to leave their
country, where their comfort, success, and security were persistently
and systematically disregarded, while they were made
the objects of provoking and painful social and legal oppressions.
This identity of interest and purpose, and at the South of
constituency even, between the party of slavery and the party
of colonization, not only prevented on the part of the latter
all
sympathy with the victims of these laws, but
also all dis-
countenance of the policy that demanded their enactment and
enforcement.
In point of
fact, the
Colonization Society seemed
rather to welcome such legislation as a
means
of furthering its
purposes and making the colored people willing to accept its
proffered aid.
Thus a writer in the " African Repository " ex"
How important that we hasten to clear our land of
claims
:
�THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY.
our
Mack
population
dren of Africa to a
What
!
home
Africans rise to empire
native palms.
;
217
demand, have the
man's country ?
be under the shade of
right, I
chil-
in a white
but
let it
Let the Atlantic billow heave
its
Let
their
high and
everlasting barrier between their country and ours."
Even
Colonization Society could speak almost
approvingly of the fact that " the colored man's prospects of a
the Massachusetts
happy home here are continually growing darker. The unwillingness to have a large free colored population is steadily
and it adds,
increasing in all the States exposed to it "
" such discouragements force them to think of Liberia."
In 1831 Maryland, in order that the State might be protected from the alleged " evils " growing out of the " connec;
tion " of her increasing free colored population with the slaves,
enacted some very stringent and barbarous laws,
— one
— and
for-
bidding manumission unless the slaves were sent away,
it
appropriated two hundred thousand dollars to be expended
by the Colonization Society of that State. At the next annual meeting of the parent society a resolution was passed
expressing the " highest gratification " at the continued efforts
of Maryland,
— embracing, of course, those barbarous laws in
regard to her free colored population.
said a
memorial of the
legislature,
Christian
in
men
New York
language
it
is
"
We
do not ask,"
Colonization Society to the
hardly credible civilized and
could have used, " that the provisions of our
and statute-book should be so modified as to
and exalt the condition of the colored people whilst
they remain with us. Let those provisions stand in all their
rigor, to work out the ultimate and unbounded good of these
constitution
relieve
people."
A
society with such an origin
and
object, constituency
and
avowals, could not escape the notice and criticism of the free
colored people themselves.
They seemed instinctively to di-
purpose and distrust its aims for, as early as 1817,
they held a meeting in the city of Richmond to express their
opposition to the scheme.
In the same year a similar meeting
was held in Philadelphia, in which they denounced as " cruel"
vine
its
;
" any measure or system of measures having a tendency to
28
�218
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
banish " them
ma
IN AMERICA.
expressed their deep abhorrence at the
;
.stig-
upon them as " a dangerous and useless part of the
community "
declared that they would never voluntarily
separate themselves from the slave population of the country
that, " without arts, without science, or a proper knowledge of
cast
;
government, to cast into the savage wilds of Africa the free
people of color seems to us the circuitous route by which they
must return
to perpetual
bondage."
Similar meetings were
held by the free people of color in Washington, Baltimore,
and
A
Northern
in all the
cities
and
States.
men was held in PhilaThat convention embodied and expressed
national convention of colored
delphia in 1831.
the sentiments of the free people of color.
tion Society
it
To
the Coloniza-
thus addressed itself: It would "respectfully
suggest to that august body of talent, learning, and worth
that, in our
of eminent
humble opinion, strengthened,
men
too,
by the opinions
in this country as well as in Europe, they are
pursuing the direct road to perpetuate slavery, with
all its
unchristian concomitants, in this boasted land of freedom
and, as citizens and
men whose
popularity for that institution,
manner beg
best blood
is
sapped to gain
we would in the most feeling
or, if we must be sacrificed to
them to desist
we would rather die at home. Many of
our fathers and some of us have fought and bled for the
and
liberty, independence, and peace which you now enjoy
deny
surely it would be ungenerous and unfeeling in you to
us a humble and quiet grave in that country which gave
us birth." This tender and touching appeal was the voice
of a quarter of a million of oppressed and suffering men
and women, who, though nominally free, were compelled
of
;
their philanthropy,
;
many of the burdens of that terrible system which
then held more than two millions of their race in chains.
The next year they met again in convention, and again ap-
to bear
pealed to the colonizationists " to cease their unhallowed persecutions."
They declared that
it
was unnecessary to repeat
" Our views and
their " protest against that institution."
sentiments," they said, " have long since gone to the world,
— the
wings of the wind have borne our disapprobation
to
�THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY.
219
it.
We have dated
and our views are strengthened by time and circumstances, and they hold the uppermost seat in our affections."
The free colored people have ever firmly and persistently
continued to avow their opposition to the society, and to enter
An association, so
their solemn protest against its policy.
Time
that institution.
our opposition from
its
itself
cannot erase
beginning
;
curiously conglomerate, could not continue harmonious.
Men
with such conflicting sentiments could not long see in the
same agency a legitimate means of promoting purposes so
Though it had a Northern face and words for
freedom, and numbered among its advocates such men as the
Tappans and Gerrit Smith, yet its Southern proclivities and
purposes were so much more prominent and pronounced, that
men whose philanthropy was something more than a name,
one after another, detected the deception and disavowed it.
Even Mr. Webster, as early as 1825, retired from a meeting
held in Boston to organize an auxiliary society, of which he
Lewis Tappan, its secretary, being authority
was chairman,
with the remark " Gentlemen, I will
for the statement,
have nothing more to do with the matter for I am satisfied
antagonistic.
—
—
:
;
it is
merely a plan of the slaveholders to get rid of the free
negroes."
The opposition
a scheme
first
nists,
of the free negroes, the manifest futility of
to effect emancipation,
dozen years of
its
which had sent out in the
history only a single thousand colo-
and the avowals of
its
Southern advocates and presses,
naturally excited the suspicions of the pious and philanthropic,
who had
and gladly welcomed it as an agency of promand led them to examine and finally discard its
early
ised good,
pretensions.
Previous to 1828, Arthur Tappan, an eminent merchant of
the city of
New
But he was led
York, had generously contributed to
to distrust its efficacy as
its
funds.
an instrumentality of
Christian benevolence, because blacks were sent out without
moral
any reference
to their
izing Africa
because slaves were liberated on the express con-
;
fitness to
become pioneers
in civil-
dition that they should go to Liberia, thus forcing a consent
�220
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
and because a part of the cargoes
powder, and arms.
as the 4th of July, 1829, William Lloyd Garrison
that should have been free
of the vessels sent were
As
IN AMERICA.
late, too,
;
New England rum,
delivered an address in Boston, before the Massachusetts Colonization
Society, in which, however, he dwelt with
much
force
In the autumn of that
on the woes and wrongs of the slave.
year he became associated with Benjamin
Lundy
in the publi-
cation of the " Genius of Universal Emancipation," in Balti-
While in that city he saw more clearly the workings
conization scheme, and came to the conclusion that,
if it were not the intention of its originators, it had nevertheless become its practical result, " to rivet still closer the fetters
of the slaves and deepen the prejudices against the free people
of color," and he became an advocate of the doctrine of immore.
of the
mediate emancipation.
Returning to the North, he became
its
champion, and the uncompromising opponent of the ColonizaSociety.
He and others found it difficult, however, to
awaken in the minds of the people the same distrust which
had taken such full possession of their own. But through
their agency the public mind was largely disabused of the
idea that it was an antislavery instrumentality, or that it
tended, in any degree, to the elevation of the free people of
tion
color.
The agents of the Colonization Society had
and appealed
ists of that
for support to the British people.
for
Abolition-
went there in 1830,
claims upon the vetwho were then engaged in the great work
Eliot Cresson
more than three years pressed
eran Abolitionists,
of
The
country had generally received, welcomed, and ac-
cepted their statements.
and
England,
visited
West India emancipation.
New England
its
After the organization of the
Antislavery Society, and several of
its
auxilia-
mind of
and Mr. Garrison was
was deemed
some of these unfounded impressions
deputed to visit England in the spring of 1833 for that purpose.
But he went, in the words of Samuel J. May, his early friend
and coadjutor, " with the execrations of the leading colonizaimportant to disabuse the British
ries, it
;
tionists
and
all
the proslavery partisans on his head."
Cordially welcomed, and burning 'with the zeal of profound
�THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY.
was anxious
convictions, he
advocates of colonization.
to grapple
He
221
without delay with the
at once challenged Mr. Cresscn
meet him for public discussion.
That champion, howwhose course Mr. Garrison afterward characterized as
" marked with cunning, duplicity, and cowardice," prudently
declined the challenge.
Mr. Garrison delivered several addresses, hi which he exposed the character of the society and
to
ever,
of
its
claims to antislavery support, in either England or
Having
America.
faithfully pointed out to the leading Aboli-
tionists the purposes
and tendencies of the
society, he received,
a few days before his return, a protest, addressed to the British
public, signed
by Wilberforce, Macaulay, Stephen, Lushingand other distinguished anti-
ton, Buxton, Cropper, O'Connell,
While acknowledging the colony of Liberia " to
be in itself a good thing," they utterly repudiated the principles of the society, declared it to be an obstacle to the " destruction of slavery throughout the world," and pronounced
slavery
men.
"
its pretexts to be delusion," and its " real effects dangerous."
These eminent men averred that the society took " its root
from a cruel prejudice and alienation in the whites of America
against the colored people, slave or free " ; that " it fosters and
increases a spirit of caste " ; " widens the breach between the
two races " " exposes the colored people to great practical
;
persecutions"; and "
is
calculated to swallow up
that feeling which America, as a Christian
cannot but entertain, that slavery
the law of
God and
and divert
free country,
alike incompatible with
is
the well-being of
and
man."
In sending this important document to the press, the leading
signature to which had been given by the illustrious Wilberforce a few days before his death
one of the closing acts of
—
his eventful
life,
— Mr. Garrison
a millstone about the neck of the
ciety sufficiently
dignation."
society
weighty to drown
Nor did he
was organized
exerted but
little
" This protest will hang
American Colonization So-
said
:
in
it
miscalculate.
in England,
influence.
it
an ocean of public
Though a
in-
colonization
existed only in
name and
This testimony, too, of those
distinguished philanthropists, as cheering to the Abolitionists
as it was exasperating to the Colonizationists, became a power-
�222
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
illusion which the latter had cast
Having aided in accomplishing this
purpose,
by which, perhaps, he rendered as great and essential a service to the antislavery cause as by any act of his life,
he returned to the United States, and issued an address to the
" The great object of
friends of the slave, in which he said
my mission namely, the exposure of the real character and
has been acobjects of the American Colonization Society
complished expeditiously, comprehensively, and effectually."
Imbittered by the success which had crowned the mission
of Mr. Garrison in England, and by its arraignment and abandonment by many of its former supporters, the friends of the
Colonization Society more fiercely than ever denounced the doctrine of immediate emancipation and its advocates.
Though
many good men, distinguished for their philanthropy and piety,
were continually withdrawing from its support and giving their
ful
agency in dispelling the
over the Northern mind.
—
—
:
—
—
adhesion to the doctrine of immediate emancipation, the society
was
still
strongly intrenched in the confidence and sympathy
of the influential classes.
Many
of the public
Clay, were earnest and eloquent in its defence.
in the churches
and
men,
like
Mr.
Leaders, too,
were active in its
Occupying positions of commanding-
institutions of learning
advocacy and support.
were indignant at the bold and uncompromising annunciation of unpalatable truths, and strove to put under
the ban of social and ecclesiastical proscription the humble and
influence, they
devoted
men who were
placing the antislavery cause on the
enduring basis of the rights of
human
nature and the laws of
God.
This intolerant and prescriptive action intensified the
public feeling, increased the popular excitement, and inspired
many
of the lawless deeds of that day, which brought such
reproach upon free institutions and dishonor upon the country.
Prominent men
in both
church and state consented to these
At least, if they did not
demonstrations of popular violence.
encourage and prompt them, they did not rebuke and oppose
them.
�CHAPTER XVI.
NEW ENGLAND AND NEW YORK
CITY ANTISLAVERY SOCIETIES.
Conference at the Office of Samuel E. Sewall.
of the Preamble
—
and Constitution of the
— Adjourned Meeting. — Adoption
New
England Antislavery Society.
— Principles enumerated. — Address to the People.
— First Annual Meeting. — Resolutions. — First Annual Report. — Mr. Garrison's Resolution in Favor of a National Convention. — "Emancipator." — Great
Excitement. — Public Meeting. — Organization of the New York City Antislavery Society. — Arthur Tappan. — Lewis Tappan. — William Goodell. —
Joshua Leavitt. — Colonizationists. — Denunciation of the Abolitionists.
Rapid Increase of the Abolitionists. — Publications of John G. Whittier, Lydia
Officers of the Society.
Amos
Maria Child,
A. Phelps.
While the doctrine of immediate emancipation, proclaimed
much earnestness and boldness by " The Liberator,"
with so
and incensed the many, it was welcomed and gladly
Adopting such sentiments, the latter naturally looked to association and co-operative action.
Accordingly, on the 13th of November, 1831, fifteen persons met at
the office of Samuel E. Sewall, then a rising young lawyer of
Boston, to consider the expediency of forming an antislavery
society.
It was the understanding that, if twelve persons
were found who would agree on the basis of immediate emanstartled
accepted by a few.
As only nine
number would thus agree no action was taken.
On the 16th of December another conference was held
cipation, such a society should be formed.
of
that
at
There were present Samuel E. Sewall, Ellis
Gray Loring, David Lee Child, lawyers of that city William
Lloyd Garrison, editor, and Isaac Knapp, publisher, of "The
Mr. Sewall's
office.
;
Liberator "
;
Oliver Johnson, Robert B. Hall, Isaac Child,
John Cutts Smith, and Joshua Coffin. Mr. Child, Mr. Sewall,
Mr. Garrison, Mr. Loring, and Mr. Johnson were appointed a
committee to prepare a constitution. The meeting was then
�224
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
till the first day of January, 1832, at which time
was an additional attendance of Alonzo Lewis, known as
the Lynn Bard, William J. Snelling, Dr. Abner Phelps, Rev.
Elijah Blanchard, and Dr. Gamaliel Bradford.
The committee reported a preamble and constitution.
After discussion,
the constitution was adopted, and the preamble referred to
adjourned
there
another committee, to report at an adjourned meeting, to be
held on the 6th, in the school-room under the African Baptist
Church, in Belknap Street.
At
that meeting the preamble, which
Snelling, was reported
was adopted.
The
;
was written by Mr.
and, after discussion and amendment,
constitution
was then signed by William
Lloyd Garrison, Oliver Johnson, Robert B. Hall, Arnold Buffum, William J. Snelling, John E. Fuller, Moses Thacher,
Joshua Coffin, Stillman B. Newcomb, Benjamin C. Bacon,
There were in the
Isaac Knapp, and Henry K. Stockton.
conferences which preceded the formation of the society differits name, principles, and policy.
David Lee Child, Samuel E. Sewall, and Ellis Gray Loring,
members of the committee to prepare the preamble and con-
ences of opinion in regard to
at
stitution,
movement,
first
declined
to
identify themselves with the
as they did not fully concur in the expediency of
putting forth at that time and in that form
all
the sentiments
But after a brief period they
became members of the society, and gave to the antislavery
cause the earnest and life-long devotion of their large abilities
contained in the preamble.
and influence. Among the earliest to join the new society
was the venerable John Kenrick, of Newton, who had been
He was
for many years an earnest and active Abolitionist.
subsequently made president, and in his will left the society
the
first
legacy
it
received.
came members, but
its
Several colored
at that early period
men
soon be-
no women joined
ranks.
Its officers consisted of a president,
two vice-presidents, a
corresponding secretary, a recording secretary, treasurer, and
a board of counsellors consisting of six members.
Buffum, a
dent.
member
of the Society of Friends,
Arnold
was made presi-
His father was a member of the old Abolition Society
�THE NEW ENGLAND ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY.
Rhode
225
and he was nurtured in the faith of immediate emancipation.
Seven years before, he had visited England
and made the acquaintance of Thomas Clarkson and other
eminent antislavery men and women of that kingdom. He
of
Island,
brought to
its
and devotion.
more prominently
Wil-
service faith, earnestness,
liam Lloyd Garrison, whose
name
is
identi-
modern antislavery than that of any other individual,
was made corresponding secretary. On the board of counsellors were Moses Thacher, Oliver Johnson, and Robert B.
Hall.
Mr. Thacher was a clergyman, and somewhat distinfied with
guished for his earnest advocacy of the theology of Dr.
mons, and
Masonry.
also for his hostility
He was
to
the author of the
by the society, and continued
till
first
address put forth
the close of the struggle an
effective laborer in the cause of emancipation.
was a young man, intending
Em-
the institution of Free
Mr. Johnson
He, however, early identified himself with the antislavery cause, and
became a practical and efficient worker, sometimes as a lecturer, but more generally as an editor.
When the society was
organized, he was the conductor of " The Christian Soldier,"
which he made at once a champion of the cause. During Mr.
Garrison's visit to England, in 1833, he had charge of " The
Liberator," and was at times assistant editor.
Afterward he
"
was connected for several years with the New York Tribune,"
and subsequently, at successive periods, editor of the " Antislavery Bugle," the " Pennsylvania Freeman," and the " Antislavery Standard," each of
He
to enter the ministry.
them a
radical antislavery journal.
labored in these different fields with tireless persistency for
the emancipation and enfranchisement of the negro race.
Hall entered upon the work with
much
Mr.
activity, but his subse-
He
quent career hardly came up to his early promise.
be-
came a clergyman of the Episcopal Church, and from that or
some other cause he lost something of his early zeal though
as a member of the XXXIVth and XXXVth Congresses his
;
votes were steadily on the side of freedom.
In the preamble the declaration was made that every person
and sane mind had a right to immediate freedom
from personal bondage that man could not, consistently with
of full age
;
29
�226
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
and the eternal and immutable principles of
man that whoever retained his
fellow-man in bondage was guilty of a grievous wrong that
difference of complexion was no reason why man should be
deprived of his natural rights, or subjected to any political
" While we advance these opinions," so read the
disability.
preamble, " as principles on which we intend to act, we declare that we will not operate on the existing relations of
society by other than peaceful and lawful means, and that we
will give no countenance to violence or insurrection."
Its
reason, religion,
justice, be the property of
;
;
second article declared " that the objects of the society shall
be to endeavor, by
and
all
means sanctioned by law, humanity,
United
improve the character and condition of free people
to inform and correct public opinion in relation to
religion, to effect the abolition of slavery in the
States, to
of color,
and rights, and to obtain for them equal politiand privileges with the whites."
The New England Antislavery Society, beginning its career
with the promulgation of the doctrine that immediate emancipation was the duty of the master and the right of the slave,
held its first public meeting in Essex Street Church, in Boston,
on the 29th of January, when a very able address was delivered by the Rev. Moses Thacher, then editor of the Boston
" Telegraph," a Hopkinsian journal of that city.
Other public addresses were made.
Arnold Buffum and Oliver Johnson
were appointed agents, and subsequently did much to arouse
Eminent philanthropists, in
public attention by their labors.
the United States and England, were early chosen honorary
members, and the society entered at once upon its work. It
issued an address to the people, and voted that, with a copy
of the constitution, it be sent to all the editors and clergymen
This address from the pen of Mr. Thacher,
of New England.
chairman of the board of counsellors, was very significant of
the spirit and purpose of the Abolitionists at that time, affirming that instead of violent they counselled only moral means.
He declared the object of the society to be " neither war nor
that the only influence it could exert must be that
sedition "
that " in the truth and
of " moral suasion," not " coercion "
their situation
cal rights
;
;
�THE NEW ENGLAND ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY.
God
the
we
of truth alone
227
trust for the success of our exer-
and with the truth and in the name of the God of truth
we plead for the cause of humanity." The address asserted
that the " fundamental principle upon which our constitution
'All things lohatsoever ye
is based is our Saviour's Golden Rule
would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.'' Hence
the grand articles in our creed, that God hath made of one
blood all the nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the
tions
;
:
'
earth
'
'
;
that all
dowed by
ness.'
are created equal
are
life,
liberty,
that
'
they are en-
and
and the pursuit of happi-
"
The address
also declared that the
ought to be an antislavery society
religious liberty, the Declaration
and
;
'
their Creator with certain inalienable rights,
among them
that
men
;
whole American people
that the spirit of civil and
of Independence, the spirit
letter of the Constitution, required
it
;
and that the
spirit
of the gospel of Christ and the voice of public, commutative,
and retributive justice imperiously demanded it. The duty of
immediate emancipation was unqualifiedly asserted and main"
tained.
an
evil
cipated.
he
is
We
now ;
believe,"
said the address, " that slavery is
and, of course, the slaves ought to be
If the thief is
now eman-
found in possession of stolen property,
required immediately to relinquish
it.
The slaveholder
and the man-stealer are in unlawful possession of the stolen
sons and daughters of Africa they ought, therefore, immediately to set them free.
Every principle which proves slavery
unjust, an evil, and a curse, equally demonstrates the duty of
immediate emancipation."
;
The number
who had, from
was then estimated to be two and a
Without impugning the motives of persons
of slaves
quarter millions.
feelings of the purest benevolence, advocated tbe
scheme was declared to be radically
wrong, tending to involve the country in remediless evils. It
policy of colonization, that
was contrary to justice, humanity, philanthropy, and the letter
and the spirit of the Golden Rule. The right of the emancipated black man to reside in the United States was an inheritance earned by the sweat of his brow.
It was affirmed that
colored men had the right of protection in their native land,
�228
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
and a right
IN AMERICA.
to the constitutional franchises of free citizens.
The nation was
earnestly called upon to be just, to avert the
scenes of San Domingo. There was declared to be but one
" The master must manumit his slave, or the
alternative
:
manumit himself.
Heaven, who is a God of
slave will
of
Word and
;
and
this alternative
a blessing and a curse.
slave,
have no doubt that the God
moment,
in his
providence, setting before the Southern planter this
very alternative
Be Free,
human
We
justice, is at this
blood.
in vassalage,
is to
To choose
embraces
the
first,
shut the floodgates of
To choose
life
and death,
.and say to the
human war and of
man
the latter, and hold the colored
must erelong break up the fountains of the great
deep, and have a direct tendency to unsheathe the sword of
vengeance, revolution, carnage, and death."
This address, so earnest, temperate, and firm, appealing not
and reason, invited
show
himself a friend to his country and a friend to the black man."
Based upon such principles, guided by such maxims, holding such articles of faith, and inspired by a spirit thus pure,
humane, and just, the New England Antislavery Society made
its appeal and entered upon the work of immediate emancipation.
It is a sad commentary on the philanthropy, patriotism,
and piety of those days that an association avowing such principles and proposing such measures should have encountered
so fierce a storm of obloquy and reproach, and been so long
and so persistently opposed by the leading influences in church
and state.- That simple historical fact utters a language of
sterner condemnation than pages of invective and indignant
to passion or prejudice, but to conscience
the co-operation of every philanthropist and Christian to "
characterization.
Still,
amid
all
this
opposition,
many
re-
sponded to the appeal, and the members rapidly increased.
On the 9th of January, 1833, its first annual meeting was
At this meeting Samuel E. Sewall introduced a resolution in favor of the abolition of slavery and the
slave-trade in the District of Columbia, and earnestly exhorted
holden in Boston.
the society to exert itself to put an end to that atrocious sys-
tem
tolerated at the seat of government.
submitted a resolution declaring that free
David Lee Child
people of color and
�THE NEW ENGLAND ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY.
had
229
and were less protected by law in the
United States than in any part of the world. In support of
his resolution, Mr. Child demonstrated, in an elaborate and
exhaustive speech and by references to the Civil Law, that the
slaves
less liberty
slaves were far better protected in their rights in the French,
Spanish, and Portuguese colonies than in the United States.
Amasa Walker, then
a merchant of Boston, submitted and
ably supported a resolution proclaiming the objects of the
England Antislavery Society
New
to be in strict accordance with
the plainest principles of religion, philanthropy, and patriotism.
An
elaborate report of the board of
Mr. Garrison.
It fully
the principles of the society.
tion a necessity.
ciety,
because "
It
managers was read by
explained the objects and vindicated
pronounced immediate
It
aboli-
sharply criticised the Colonization So-
neither calls for any change of conduct
it
toward people of color on the part of the nation, nor has in
itself any principle of reform."
It asserted that immediate
would remove the cause of bloodshed and insurrecwho are now at the mercy of
irresponsible masters and drivers
annihilate a system of licentiousness, incest, blood, and cruelty open an immense market
to mechanics and manufacturers, and afford facilities for eduabolition
tion
;
give protection to millions
;
;
cating the slaves in morals, science, and literature
;
extinguish
the fires of division between the North and the South, and
make
the bonds of union stronger than chains of iron permit
every slave to be supplied with a Bible, and place a hundred
;
thousand infants annually born of slave parents in primary
and sabbath schools. It conjured Abolitionists to maintain
ground firmly and confidently. It closed by proclaiming
their
that the blood of millions
who have
perished unredressed in
and lamentations of the millions
cruel servitude, the groans and supplications
this guilty land, the sufferings
who
yet remain in
of bleeding Africa, the cries of the suffering victims in the
holds of slave-ships
now wafted on the ocean, and the threatGod of all flesh, all demand
enings and the judgments of the
the utter and immediate annihilation of slavery.
At
this an-
nual meeting John Kenrick of Newton was chosen president,
�230
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
Samuel E. Sewall and Oliver Johnson were made correspond-
On motion of Mr. Garrison, the
board of managers were authorized to call a meeting of the
ing and recording secretaries.
friends of abolition, for the purpose of forming a national antislavery society, as being " essential to the complete regeneration of public sentiment
on the subject of slavery and
to the
speedy overthrow of that iniquitous system."
common rights of human
New England Antislavery
Organized on the basis of the
and the laws of God, the
ciety had proclaimed that the
ture
sin of slavery
repentance belonged to that generation.
naSo-
and the duty of
Its outspoken, clear,
and distinct enunciation of the sin of oppression and the duty
of immediate repentance had, during the first year of its existence, been welcomed with enthusiasm by thousands. During
no previous year in the history of the country had the questions pertaining to the existence of slavery been so lifted
up
domain of reason and conscience. Never had the cause
of the slave been so uncompromisingly held before the Amerito the
can people.
The
and
organization of the
its
New England
Antislavery Society
appeal to the conscience and reason of the country
evoked responses in several of the
free States.
Antislavery
were organized and many earnest, humane, and
men and women entered upon the work of emancipation.
Nearly all who engaged in the formation of such societies
societies
;
just
were members of Christian churches, and were taking, at the
same time, an active part in the religious, missionary, and
philanthropic enterprises of that day.
Indeed, during the first
five
years of the antislavery agitation,
its
promoters, regard-
work, looked with hope and
confident expectation to the churches and benevolent organizations for hearty sympathy and co-operation.
Unlike the great
ing the
effort as their religious
contest on the Missouri Compromise, which had a few years
before so profoundly stirred the country, this
than
political.
Consequently, they
was moral rather
who became members
of
these associations were accustomed to consider the questions
at issue in their
moral rather than in their
civil
bearings, and
�THE NEW YORK ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY.
to look for aid to Christians, churches,
and benevolent organ-
than to politicians, parties, and legislative
izations,
rather
bodies.
Unaccustomed
to
public affairs and sharing in the
general distrust of party politics, they seldont
from
to
231
political action,
and usually
failed
sought help
when they
did.
Although the churches generally failed to respond promptly
these Christian appeals for immediate action on behalf of
the oppressed, the Abolitionists, though disappointed, were not
The work went
disheartened.
Many
on.
antislavery socie-
Several antislavery newspapers were estaband a general system of antislavery agitation, having
been inaugurated, was continued. Among the papers established was the " Emancipator," commenced in New York in
March, 1833, by the pecuniary aid of Arthur Tappan, and
ties
were formed.
lished,
edited by Rev. Charles
W.
The establishment
Denison.
of
that journal in the commercial metropolis, in which the prin-
and policy of the friends of emancipation were clearly
and boldly set forth, together with other influences, caused
much excitement and aroused feelings of resentment and
hostility.
This was signally manifested by the proceedings
on the evening of the 2d of October, 1833, and subsequently.
The friends of immediate abolition were summoned by the
call of a committee, of which Joshua Leavitt was chairman, to meet at Clinton Hall to form a New York City Anticiples
On
slavery Society.
were posted in the
the South and
all
the afternoon Of that day large placards
streets,
calling
upon
all
persons from
persons disposed to manifest the true
ings of the State to meet at the
hostile demonstration
same time and
was of course
place.
feel-
A
anticipated.
The trustees of Clinton Hall refusing to fulfil their contract,
and an unsuccessful application having been made for other
rooms, a few antislavery men met in the street near the City
Hall, and consulted upon the possibility of holding the proposed
meeting. At the suggestion of Lewis Tappan, a trustee of
Chatham Street Chapel, it was determined to hold the meeting in the lecture-room of that building.
At the hour of meetdetermined Abolitionists, who had been personassembled. Arthur and Lewis Tappan passed
ing, about fifty
ally
notified,
�232
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
unrecognized through an immense concourse of
Tammany
bled in front of
men
assem-
Hall, preparatory to the premedi-
tated attack upon the proposed meeting.
The sexton of the
church, locking the iron gates in front of the building, placed
the keys in the hands of Lewis Tappan, who informed the
meeting that
it would probably be assaulted, and that soon
and that they should promptly despatch the business for which
they were assembled.
John Rankin, a merchant of that city and a devoted Abolitionist, was made chairman.
Amid those threatening demon;
strations the blessing of
appointed
at
invoked.
A committee,
meeting, reported a constitution,
God was
previous
a
which was quickly adopted. Arthur Tappan was chosen presElizur Wright, Jr., and Charles W. Denison were
ident
chosen corresponding and recording secretaries. The board
of managers consisted of Joshua Leavitt, Isaac T. Hopper,
;
Abraham
L. Cox, Lewis Tappan, and William Goodell.
The
meeting was adjourned, the keys were delivered to the sexton,
and the members retired through the main audience room of
They were followed by a man hav-
the chapel into a rear street.
He was,
however, discovered by the sexton, his light extinguished, and
ing a light in one hand and a dagger in the other.
he was
left to
grope his way in the darkness as he best could.
life had been consecrated
works of beneficence and the cause of the oppressed, refused to retire, and boldly faced the mob, as with shouts and
Mr. Hopper, a sturdy Quaker, whose
to
In their disappointment
threats they rushed into the chapel.
they seized a negro, called him Arthur Tappan, placed him in
the chair, and forced
him
make
to
a speech
;
which he did
very creditably to himself, though not very satisfactorily to
his auditors.
He
said
:
" Gentlemen, I
am
not used to mak-
ing speeches, and don't pretend to be qualified to do
one or two things
I
do know
:
one
is,
so.
God hath made
But
of one
all nations
and another is, all men are created equal,
and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable
rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
" " That will do," exclaimed his impatient hearers.
Now
Joshua Leavitt and Lewis Tappan devoted the night to pre-
blood
—
;
�THE NEW YORK AXTISLAYERY SOCIETY.
233
paring an account of the proceedings, and furnishing copies
for the city press,
little
whose readers the next morning were not a
surprised to find in the same journals both the statement
that " the agitators
had been put down," and an authorized
and the organization of
This society soon issued an address to the people
the society.
of the city in explanation and defence of immediate emancipation, and the principles and policy it proposed in its attempts
Nor were their doctrines
to secure it by the American people.
and policy all that were calculated to attract attention the
personnel of the new organization was not unworthy of its
Arthur Tappan,
noble sentiments and benignant purposes.
its president, was a native of Massachusetts.
He early became a distinguished and successful merchant of New York.
•An earnest Christian and philanthropist, his name was associated with nearly every missionary and reformatory enterprise of his day.
Modest, quiet, and unassuming, without
report of the doings of the meeting
;
much
facility
in the
use of tongue or pen, his
life
will be
remembered rather as one of deeds than words. Surrounded
by ledgers and invoices, clerks and customers, his ear and
hand were alike open to the appeals for personal charity, the
claims of an oppressed race or of a ruined world.
Munificent
as unostentatious in his gifts, his range of benevolence
was
wide and catholic.
His brother, Lewis Tappan, though unlike
him in many particulars, was no less earnest and devoted to
the cause of
reform and Christian benevolence.
brother, with
whom
Like his
he was so long associated in trade and
beneficence, he was a man of remarkable business capacity,
great courage, and a large-hearted philanthropy.
Unlike him,
he spoke and wrote with fluency, pungency, and vigor. Of
the many enterprises with which he has been connected his
and energy have made him the life and soul.
would," says a fellow-laborer, " oversee their immense
rare versatility
"
He
mercantile
business,
go on 'Change, write two editorials,
attend a meeting of the American Antislavery Society's executive committee, step into the noon prayer-meeting and pray
wind up by sitting in the church
and addressing a temperance meeting composed of ne-
or deliver an exhortation, and
session,
30
�234
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
groes in the evening,
all in
the same day
;
IN AMERICA.
all
the time would
be in a hurry, but never flurried, and would seem perfectly at
home in each of these vocations." He infused much of his
own energy and system into the new society, besides contributing largely to
its
funds.
Another member of that meeting and board was William
Goodell, a lifelong friend of the Tappans and of the slave.
Among
the earliest in the field, fond of abstract reasoning,
speculation,
and fundamental
principles,
he was, perhaps, too
prone to adopt extreme opinions and impracticable theories.
and prolix, he often condensed his
thoughts and gave them most clear, terse, and forcible expresEminently conscientious and of undaunted courage and
sion.
untiring industry, he rendered invaluable service to an unpopFor
ular but righteous cause in the days of its feebleness.
half a century he developed and brought to light by his indefatigable labors a mass of facts and reasonings on the subject,
which have afforded rich materials for the more effective use
by other men of more popular tact and talent. His " History of Slavery and Antislavery " is a magazine from which
the speakers and writers of a generation drew their weapons
of attack and defence in the great conflict.
Another of the veterans who was present at that meeting was
Joshua Leavitt, a man of varied intelligence and of acknowledged ability, logical in his mode of thought, clear and forci-
Though
apt to be diffuse
ble in his style of expression.
From
his long connection with
the press and frequent residence in Washington, where he was
on terms of intimacy with Adams, Giddings, Slade, and other
men of similar character, his information upon the political re-
and bearings of slavery came to be comprehensive,
and minute, and therefore of great practical service to
the antislavery cause.
He was a fertile and voluminous writer,
and by his editorials, tracts, and other papers, did much to enlighten the people and prepare them for political action.
A
strong free-trader, his sympathies were more with the Democratic party than with the Whigs, whom he manifestly disliked, and by whom his dislike was cordially reciprocated.
Such was the origin, material, and purpose of the New York
lations
varied,
�THE NEW YORK ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY.
235
men and means, and did much in those
and keep before the public eye the great
And
truths of human fraternity and man's political rights.
yet, though it embraced so much of intellectual and moral
worth, with sentiments so humane and Christian, and purposes
society.
was able
It
in
early days to bring
so carefully and guardedly enunciated, it was at once denounced by mob and press, by truckling partisanship and religious conservatism. The Colonizationists, deeming this organ-
ization
and
doctrines antagonistic to their own, joined in the
its
At a meeting held a few days after its
was bitterly denounced
general denunciation.
organization, immediate emancipation
and Abolitionists sternly rebuked. Chancellor Walworth, whose
name was for many years associated with religious and benevolent organizations, flippantly styled such generous,
humane
and Christian men as had founded the new society " visionDavid B. Ogary enthusiasts " and " reckless demagogues."
den, one of the leaders of the New York bar, branded them
as " fanatics,"
and declared
their doctrines " opposed to the
Constitution," and their organization " the poetry of philan-
Even
thropy."
men
the
Theodore Frelinghuysen,
eminent among
of his age for the purity of his public
character, and for his zeal
and
and private
activity in the cause of religion
and benevolence, characterized the antislavery movement as
" the very wildness of fanaticism." Such language from such
men,
in the then feverish condition of the public
mind, clearly
tended to deepen the prejudices of those who had confidence
in their integrity, piety,
and wisdom, and
to arouse the brutal
passions of the rough and reckless.
How much
such language, uttered at that time, contributed
to arouse the spirit of violence which was so fearfully developed
in that city during the
men
next year will never be known.
If such
could so violate the sanctities of Christian character and
was it strange that the mob should invade the
no more sacred, of private dwellings and the house
confidence,
sanctities,
of
God
?
In the light of to-day, was
it
less censurable in
Chancellors Walworth and Frelinghuysen thus to arraign the
and conduct of such men, and that in regard
and plans so pure and benign, than for the un-
public character
to purposes
�236
EISE
named and
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
lawless ruffianism of
New York
Tappan and Dr. Cox, or break
meeting at Chatham Street Chapel ?
of Lewis
IN AMERICA.
to rifle the
houses
and disperse the
into
Notwithstanding, however, this violent and systematic opposition, the cause of
immediate emancipation made rapid
No less than twenty-five periodicals
progress during the year.
and newspapers gave
it
their support.
twenty-four clergymen, mostly in
New
One hundred and
England, united in an
address to the public, setting forth similar sentiments.
During
the year John G. Whittier published his " Justice and Expedi-
ency," an earnest, tender, and eloquent appeal to his country-
men
in behalf of oppressed millions
who were
perishing as the
About
brute perished and whose blood was upon the nation.
the same time, Mrs. Lydia Maria Child issued her " Appeal in
FAVOR OF THAT CLASS OF AMERICANS CALLED AFRICANS."
This
volume, of more than two hundred pages, was a work of rare
merit, and exerted, perhaps
influence
more than any
other, a powerful
upon thoughtful and cultivated minds.
At the
be-
ginning of the same year, Rev. Amos A. Phelps published his
" Lectures upon Slavery and its Remedy," in a volume of
nearly three hundred pages. Of this work Mr. Garrison, many
years afterward, said " that it elucidated the nature of slavery,
making property in man, and the duty of immediate
emancipation, in a manner so masterly as never to have been
It was an encyclosurpassed by any writer since that time.
paedia of fact, argument, illustration, and logic."
the sin of
�CHAPTER XVII.
HOSTILITY TO COLORED SCHOOLS.
— MISS
CRANDALL'S SCHOOL
SUPPRESSED.
Slavery Hostile to Education.
— Proposed Collegiate School
New Haven. — Noyes
at
Hampshire.
— Colored
New
Haven.
Academy
Hostile Action of the Citizens of
in
—
New
— Institution broken up. — Miss
— Admission of Colored Pupils. — Hostility
Students admitted.
Crandall's School in Connecticut.
— Arbitrary Legislation. — Imprisonment of Miss Crandall. —
— Arthur Tappan. —
— Failure of the Prosecution. —
of Miss Crandall. — Incendiary Attempts. — Abandonment of her
of the People.
Samuel
J.
May.
Persecution
School.
Trial.
— Her Opposers Triumphant.
Among
the essential conditions of
necessary ignorance of
its
victims.
American slavery was the
By
its
own
inexorable laws
they were doomed to moral and mental debasement.
Conse-
quently the slaveholder and his abettors looked with disfavor
upon any
which were designed or calculated to instruct
any of his race. Free persons of
color, at the North as well as the South, had felt the full force
Generous efforts to instruct their
of this admitted necessity.
darkened minds encountered opposition, as they themselves
were made to feel the repressive influences of this wicked and
abnormal system. Wherever such efforts had been made to
efforts
either the slave himself or
establish institutions for the higher culture of colored youth,
The antislavery movement, howhad excited higher hopes and aspirations. The more
advanced of the colored race, and their friends who were
pledged to the immediate emancipation of the slave and the
protection and elevation of free people of color, saw the necessity and recognized the duty either of founding institutions
they had signally failed.
ever,
for their education or of
opening for their admission those
already established.
of
New Eng-
land to
to
her for en-
The well-known devotion
popular education caused them to look
�238
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN
AMERICA
couragement, as that portion of the country where their hopes
But they were speedily doomed to disapto feel that, though the tree of slavery
was planted on Southern soil, its branches overshadowed, as
its roots penetrated, the whole land, shedding its blighting
influences on Northern as well as Southern hearts.
might be
realized.
made
pointment, and
At
the convention, held in Philadelphia in 1831, of the dele-
gates of free people of color from the several States,
resolved to
make an
the manual-labor plan.
A
was
on
committee was appointed to raise
the necessary funds and carry,
tion.
it
effort to establish a collegiate school
if possible,
the plan into execu-
In their appeal to the public, they stated with great
clearness the difficulties experienced by colored children in
gaining admission into seminaries of learning, as also into
They further
manufacturing and mechanical establishments.
recommended
that the proposed institution should be located
in the city of
New Haven, and
rated into
plan the principle of self-support
its
that there should be incorpo;
so that stu-
dents might, with the attainment of that object, cultivate
habits of industry and obtain useful information and skill in
mechanical and agricultural pursuits while pursuing their
classical studies.
Bishop White of Philadelphia and several
clergymen of distinction gave their prompt and cordial approval to the project.
Connecticut was distinguished for
its
system of
diversified
common
industries.
its literary institutions,
schools, its mechanical pursuits
and
This motion, however, to establish
its borders a seminary of learning for the education
and higher culture of colored youth created the most profound
excitement and called forth the most determined resistance.
The mayor of New Haven at once summoned a meeting of its
citizens " to take into consideration a scheme said to be in
within
progress for the establishment in this city of a college for the
At this meeting, held on the
was resolved by the mayor, common
education of colored youth."
8th of September, 1831,
council,
and
it
legal voters of the city that "
we
will resist the
establishment of the proposed college in this place by every
lawful means."
In the preamble to these resolutions, the
�HOSTILITY TO COLORED SCHOOLS.
239
doctrine of immediate emancipation and the founding of colleges for the education of colored people were pronounced an
unwarrantable and dangerous interference with the internal
concerns of the State, which ought to be discouraged.
In that
crowded assembly, in a city distinguished for its educational
institutions and facilities, which had responded so generously
to the claims of the Colonization Society for the civilization of
Africa, and* the appeals of the missionary enterprise for the
conversion of the world, only one voice was raised against
and inhuman resolution. That was
the voice of Rev. Simeon S. Jocelyn, who was among the earliest, not only to accept the doctrine of immediate emancipation, but to labor earnestly and persistently for the moral
and educational elevation of the free people of color. Thus,
by the cruel and wicked prejudices of the people of Connectithat unjust, unchristian,
cut,
pel
many
whose
of
whom
professed a personal interest in that gos-
and
practical requirements
realization they then so
strangely ignored, was defeated this beneficent purpose for
promoting the improvement of the colored race.
This action of the citizens of
aged, did not prevent
still
New Haven,
while
it
discour-
further efforts for the establishment
of such an academic institution in
New
England.
Several
thousand dollars were subscribed, and several places were
The trustees of the
recommended for its establishment.
Noyes Academy, in Canaan, New Hampshire, opened their
institution
for the
admission
of
colored students.
Several
young men entered the academy, and for a time the friends
of the colored race were encouraged to believe that an institution had been found where colored youth might enjoy the
means of acquiring an advanced education. That hope, howA legal town-meeting was called,
ever, was soon dispelled.
and held on the 3d of July, 1835, at which, after discussion,
a committee was chosen to remove the academy.
From an
official account, published in the New Hampshire " Patriot,"
the leading Democratic paper of the State, it appears that,
on the morning of the 10th of August, the committee, aided
by some three hundred persons with one hundred yoke of
oxen and the necessary apparatus, proceeded to the execu-
�240
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
tion of their discreditable task.
IN
AMERICA.
most
stated that the
It is
respectable and wealthy farmers of that vicinity were engaged
"
in this lawless procedure.
The building," says
this official
account, " was safely landed on the corner near the Baptist
meeting-house, where
it
stands, not like the
Bunker's heights, erected in
memory
who fought and fell struggling for
ment of those living spirits who
monument on
of those departed spirits
liberty, but as the
monu-
are struggling to destroy
'
what our fathers have gained."
This was in the year of grace 1835. And what was the
offence ?
A dozen colored youth were admitted into Noyes
Academy, an incorporated institution in the State of New
Hampshire, on equal terms with other youth, for moral and
intellectual culture.
That was all,
the very head and front
of their offending.
For this offence the citizens, in formal
town-meeting assembled, voted to remove it from its foundations.
The committee, with unseemly alacrity, hastened to
carry into effect this strange vote and, as if that were not
enough, as if servility must needs go further, all unconscious
of the disgrace involved in such a record, rushed into print, and
sent an official account to the leading paper of the State,
and all this, too, in the name of " liberty "
Could there be a
greater or stranger confusion of ideas ?
Could the fanaticism
of slavery go further ? How demoralized the community which
could furnish the actors in such a drama, and thus applaud
—
;
—
!
it
when enacted
Miss Prudence C rand all, a member of the Society of Friends,
had established a good reputation as a teacher in Plainfield,
Connecticut.
In the autumn of 1832, invited by several
prominent
citizens, she
purchased a large house in the village
of Canterbury, and established a school for young ladies in
the higher branches of education.
mencing her
girl,
a
school, she admitted
member
A
few months after com-
Sarah Harris, a colored
of the village church.
She had attended
the district school, and desired, to use her
get a
dren."
Miss
little
more
learning,
— enough
to
own words,
" to
teach colored chil-
Although she had been a classmate of some of
Crandall's pupils in the district school, objection
was
�HOSTILITY TO COLORED SCHOOLS.
241
soon raised to her remaining in this institution, and remonstrances were
made by
the new
them belonged
several patrons of
against her continuance, though some of
same church, and though they knew nothing
school
to the
to her discredit,
except that she belonged to the proscribed race.
But
their
prejudices against color and their pride of caste were aroused,
and they were resolved it should never be said that their
daughters " went to school with a nigger." Miss Crandall
had invested all her property in the building, and had incurred
something of a debt besides and the alternative presented to
;
her of dismissing that colored
girl or losing
her white pupils
was a sore trial. She, however, met the issue bravely, grandly,
and in the spirit of self-abnegation and devotion to principle,
leaving the event with God.
Having determined on her course, she advertised that at the
commencement of her next term, her school would be opened
for young ladies and little misses of color, and others who
might wish to attend. The people of Canterbury, on learning
the fact, were greatly enraged and thrown into intense excite-
ment.
A
town meeting was
called on the 9th of March, before
the term began, to adopt measures to avert or abate the threat-
ened " nuisance."
In the mean time Miss Crandall was grossly
and slandered. Rev. Samuel J. May, then a pastor
in the neighboring town of Brooklyn, George W. Benson,
and Arnold Buffum, president and agent of the New England
Antislavery Society, were commissioned by her to represent
her cause at the town meeting. At the meeting resolutions
were introduced protesting against the opening of such a
school, and suggesting the appointment of the selectmen to
wait upon Miss Crandall and persuade her, if possible, to reinsulted
linquish the project.
tician,
afterward a
Andrew T. Judson, a Democratic polimember of Congress and judge of the
District Court of the United States, resided
on Canterbury
and
Green, in a house adjoining the building of the school
;
Democrat was horrified that a school for negro girls was
opened near his mansion. Confessedly a leader in this
mean and cruel crusade against that noble woman and her
benevolent design, he addressed the meeting in a strain of
this
to be
31
�AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
242
RISE
bitter
and relentless
pose to defeat
hostility,
IN AMERICA.
and avowed his determined pur-
it.
When
he closed, Mr. Buffum and Mr. May presented a letter
to the moderator from Miss Crandall, requesting that they
might be heard in her behalf. But Judson and others sprang
to their feet, and with clenched fists admonished them to be siThey were not permitted to speak, and she was thus delent.
nied even the courtesy of a hearing.
went
if
to the
meeting ready
to agree
And
yet these gentlemen
with the people of the town,
they would repay to Miss Crandall what they had advised
her to give for the house and allow her time to remove, that
she would transfer her school to some more retired part of the
town and vicinity. But the meeting would hear nothing, and
adjourned with the purpose to crush the enterprise with or
without law.
Notwithstanding, however, this opposition, the school was
opened with some
fifteen or
twenty pupils.
the most disgraceful persecutions.
Her
Then commenced
pupils were insulted
whenever they appeared in the village, the stores were closed
against her and them, her well was filled with filth, and her
house was repeatedly assailed. An attempt was made under
the Vagrant Act to drive her young pupils from the town but,
on Mr. May and other Brooklyn citizens giving bonds to the
amount of ten thousand dollars, that scheme was abandoned.
Baffled in their attempts, Mr. Judson and the town authorities
repaired to the legislature and secured the passage of a law
providing that no person should establish in that State any
;
school or other literary institution for the education of colored
who were not inhabitants of the State, nor harbor or
board any colored person not an inhabitant of the State for that
purpose, without the consent in writing from the selectmen of
persons
the town in which such school or institution might be insti-
passage and pro-
tuted.
This act, disgraceful alike in
visions,
was received by the inhabitants of Canterbury and
firing of cannon, ringing of bells, and other
its
vicinity with
demonstrations of general rejoicing.
A
few days after
its
passage, Mr.
May and George W. Ben-
son visited Miss Crandall, to advise with her in regard to that
�HOSTILITY TO COLORED SCHOOLS.
243
inhuman and wicked enactment by which a woman might be
fined and imprisoned for giving instruction to colored children.
After consultation, it was determined, should she be prosecuted,
that she should remain in the hands of those with
hideous act originated.
On
whom
the
the 27th of June Miss Crandall
was arrested, brought before two justices of the peace, and
committed to take her trial at the next term of the county
court, in the month of August.
Mr. May and his friends
were informed that she was in the hands of the sheriff, and
would be committed to jail unless bonds were given for her appearance.
According to agreement, however, the bonds were
not given, and the responsibility was thrown upon the framers
of that infamous statute of giving the required sureties themselves, or of committing an unoffending woman to jail. A man
had recently been confined in the jail for the murder of his
wife. The jailer, at the request of Mr. May, had his cell put in
order for her comfortable reception, should she be sent there.
The
sheriff
and
jailer
saw and
felt
that her incarceration would
bring dishonor upon the State and deep disgrace upon her persecutors,
and they lingered,
in the
hope that something might
be done to avert the disagreeable alternative.
But she and her friends remained firm. When night came,
woman was delivered into the hands
of the jailer, and led into the cell from which a murderer had
just passed to execution.
Her friends retired, and she remained in the prison till the morning, when the required
bonds were given.
The intelligence of these proceedings
went over the country, exciting no small amount of feeling
in all, and in the better portion of the community intense indignation at the inhuman law and the scandalous proceedings that preceded and led to its enactment.
Arthur Tappan,
with characteristic promptness and generosity, wrote at once
to Mr. May, indorsing his conduct, authorizing him to spare
no reasonable cost in her defence, employ the ablest counsel, and consider him responsible for the expense.
Accordingly, Hon. William W. Ellsworth, Hon. Calvin Goddard, and
Hon. Henry Strong, eminent members of the Connecticut bar,
These distinguished lawyers expressed the
were retained.
that brave and devoted
�244
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
opinion that the law was clearly unconstitutional, and would
be so pronounced by a competent judicial tribunal.
But the persecution against Miss Crandall went on.
physicians refused to attend the sick of her family.
Even
The
come with any of her
But her friends stood
by her with unfaltering devotion. Arthur Tappan left his
pressing business, visited her, and was deeply affected by her
heroism and the courage and trust with which she inspired
her pupils. To Mr. May he said " The cause of the whole
trustees of the church forbade her to
family into the house of the Lord.
:
oppressed race of our country
decision
of this question.
is
You
to be
much
affected
by the
are almost helpless without
You must
issue a paper, publish it largely, send it
you know in the county and State, and to
all the principal newspapers throughout the country.
Many
will subscribe for it and contribute largely to its support, and
I will pay whatever it may cost."
Thus encouraged and supported by the deep sympathy, large-hearted benevolence, and
sagacious counsel of Mr. Tappan, Mr. May commenced the
the press.
to all persons
whom
publication of a paper called the " Unionist."
Charles C.
Burleigh, then living with his parents in the neighboring town
of Plainfield, assisting
them on
their farm,
and
at the
time pursuing his legal studies, was sought out and
editor.
same
made
its
Mr. Burleigh thus commenced his antislavery career,
which he pursued with earnest fidelity to the end of the system he helped to destroy. By common consent, his talents
and forensic abilities were acknowledged to be of a high order.
None ever doubted his conscientiousness though many regretted certain idiosyncrasies of mind and manner, which
unquestionably impaired somewhat his usefulness, as they
marred the general symmetry of his character.
On the 23d of August, 1833, the trial of Miss Crandall for
the crime of teaching a school for colored girls was commenced in the court of Windham County, Judge Joseph Eaton
presiding.
Mr. Judson, her persecutor and prosecutor, took
;
the lead.
He
denied that colored persons were citizens in the
States where they were not enfranchised,
inquired
why
a
man
should be educated
and he insolently
who
could not be a
�HOSTILITY TO COLORED SCHOOLS.
245
Though
She was defended with signal ability.
the
law as constituJudge Eaton charged that he regarded
freeman.
tional, the jury failed to return a verdict for conviction.
was understood that seven were
for
it,
and
were
five
It
for ac-
quittal.
Foiled in this attempt to procure conviction, and impatient
of delay, the prosecutors of the suit, refusing to wait for the
December term of the same court, commenced a new trial
The judge, a
before Judge Daggett, of the Supreme Court.
native of Massachusetts, had risen rapidly in his profession,
had served in the United States Senate, and was then Chief
He was known
Justice of the Supreme Court of Connecticut.
to have little sympathy with the colored people, and to have
been an advocate of the new law. Of course, no great surIn an elaborate opinion,
prise was felt at his adverse decision.
he maintained the constitutionality of the law, and declared
that he
was not aware that
free blacks
w ere
T
styled citizens in
the laws of Congress, or of any of the States.
The jury
ren-
dered a verdict against Miss Crandall, and her counsel at once
filed a bill of
exceptions and appealed the case.
.
Before the
highest tribunal her cause was argued in July, 1834.
court, however, decided that the case ought to be
legal informality,
tion
by declaring
That
quashed for
and tamely evaded the constitutional quesit
" unnecessary for the court to come to
any decision on the question as to the
constitutionality of the
law."
Soon after this failure an unsuccessful attempt was made to
burn Miss Crandall's house. In spite, however, of persecutions, insults, imprisonments, and the attempt to destroy her
woman
struggled on in her work of disinBut her enemies were determined and
implacable.
On the 9th of September, near the hour of midnight, her house was assaulted with clubs, doors and windows
were broken in, and the building left nearly untenantable.
Her few friends, having been invited to look .upon the scene
of desolation, and deeming further effort unavailing, if not
perilous to life and limb, advised the abandonment of the
enterprise.
Acting upon this advice, the heroic lady, who had
dwelling, this brave
terested benevolence.
�246
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
breasted and braved the violence of the mob and the undisguised intolerance of the community for seventeen months,
disbanded her school, and sent twenty young girls to their
homes, whose only offence, their enemies being judges, was
the color of their skin and their strong desire to learn.
Mr.
May
when he gave that advice the words blistered
and his bosom glowed with indignation. " I felt
ashamed," he said, " of Canterbury, ashamed of Connecticut,
ashamed of my country, ashamed of my color."
states that
his lips
It is in the light of
such facts that the deep degradation and
New England
demoralization reached by even the
of those
days appears, when not only the demands of humanity and
were resisted, but the peculiar claims of womanhood
and childhood were rudely and roughly ignored. A lonely and,
from all that appears, a lovely woman of culture and character, at the head of a seminary of learning, yields to the imporreligion
tunity of a colored girl of seventeen to get a
ing, that she
may
little
more
learn-
teach the children of her race, encounters
the rough hostility of the whole community, with hardly a dis-
senting voice in the church or out of
it,
and
is
compelled to
accept the cruel alternative of turning her back, or of relin-
quishing the patronage of those on the faith in
barked her
all
and ventured on the
whom
enterprise.
she em-
The scene
shifts.
A
new act in the drama, a real tragedy, without its blood,
The same brave woman, true to her convictions and
opens.
deaf to the claims of selfish fear and interest, appears upon
the stage with twenty young girls, coming up from as
lonely
homes
many
To
of a proscribed people, anxious to learn.
aid them, to educate twenty immortal
minds
for their high
mission on earth, she not only sacrifices position and popular
bows beneath the crushing weight of public obloquy,
and hazards, not to say sacrifices, her pecuniary means without
And what had the public of Canterbury and Connecreserve.
favor, but
ticut for
such sublime devotion to principle, for such heroic
self-sacrifice
?
Social
ostracism,
from God's house, a criminal
tion in a murderer's cell
!
trial,
personal insult,
exclusion
conviction and incarcera-
Nor was
this the
work of unprin-
�HOSTILITY TO COLORED SCHOOLS.
247
and fellows of the baser
The
cipled politicians
town and
church, the county and
its
its legislature, all
its
sort alone.
court, the State
and
joined in this dark business and contributed
to this sad result.
Do
pen
questions rush to the lip
How
?
How
?
could such things hap-
could there be philanthropy, or piety, or even
common honesty and humanity,
or anything but barbarism,
in a
community which could enact or
And
yet there
may have been
;
tolerate such scenes
?
for perfect consistency is a
"jewel" rarely found, an exotic which seldom blooms on earth.
And yet these facts are both a puzzle and a mortification,
antagonistic alike to the doctrines of the Decalogue and of the
Declaration of Independence.
So intensely unchristian, bar-
barous, and despotic, they provoke, if they do not entirely
justify, the severe criticisms against
both the Christianity and
republicanism not only of those but of later days.
For these
were but representative of much that was then taking
facts
throughout the country, and which afterward trans-
place
pired.
These scenes of Canterbury were hardly more disgraceful than those which were witnessed twenty years later in
Boston, at the rendition of Anthony Burns.
son,
commanding
Andrew
T. Jud-
the silence of the committee appearing in
behalf of Miss Crandall, in that old meeting-house at Canterbury,
was no more an instrument of the Slave Power
than was Mr. Webster, years afterward, demanding from the
Revere House, in Boston, that the citizens of New
to conquer their prejudices."
The
trustees of that church, excluding Prudence Crandall and her
steps of the
England should " learn
pupils from the house of God, were hardly
more obnoxious
condemnation than were the Fugitive Slave Act discourses and " South Side Views " of subsequent years.
They
to just
all
reveal the sad truth that the virus of slavery
through the veins of the body
politic,
was coursing
destroying
its
healthy
powers of reason and conscience, so that
" The
the language of the prophet seems not too strong
the
whole
sick,
heart is faint."
whole head is
action,
weakening
its
:
�CHAPTER
XVIII.
NATIONAL ANTISLAVERY CONVENTION AT PHILADELPHIA.
— ORGAN-
IZATION OF THE AMERICAN ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY.
National Antislavery Convention called.
— Excited
Condition of the Public
— Assembling the
— Committee on the Declaration of Sentiments.
Eesolutions. — Speeches
Lewis Tappan, Amos A. Phelps. — Female Antislavery
recommended. — The Constitution. — The Object
the
Abolition of Slavery. — Conference on the Declaration
ty the
Senti— Declaration of Sentiments prepared
ments. — Words of Elizur Wright,
by Mr. Garrison. — Reported by Mr. Atlee. — The Declaration adopted. — Signatures to the Declaration. —
the Society, Elizur
Doctrines. —
— Conference
Convention. — Its
Mind.
held at the House of Evan Lewis.
of
Officers.
of
-
of
Societies
entire
Socie-
of
Jr.
Officers of
Its
Wright,
Jr.,
John G. Whittier, Amos A. Phelps, Theodore D. Weld,
Loring, Robert Purvis.
— Increase of Auxiliary
The New England
Gray
Ellis
Societies.,
Antislavery Society, at
sary, adopted a resolution, introduced
its first
anniver-
by Mr. Garrison,
in-
structing its board of managers to call a meeting of the friends
of abolition to form a national antislavery society.
No
defi-
was taken.
In the autumn of 1833 Evan Lewis, a member of the Society of Friends, conductor of " The Friend," an antislavery journal in Philadelphia, and a man of whom it was said " he was
nite action, however,
afraid of nothing but being or doing wrong," visited the city
of
New York
to persuade leading Abolitionists to unite in call-
ing a national convention.
A
small meeting was held, at
which, after considerable discussion,
it
was voted, by a mere
majority, to call such a convention at Philadelphia, on the 4th
of the following December.
Many
Abolitionists, however, en-
tertained serious doubts whether the time
Nor
had come
for hold-
is it
a matter of
surprise that such should have been the fact.
It required
ing a convention for that purpose.
principle, nerve,
moral courage, and a martyr spirit thus
hope of a then most unpopular cause
to lead the forlorn
;
�ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY.
249
more even than when, under the cover of comparative obscurity, the New England society was organized.
It was a
time, too, of feverish excitement, exasperation, and intense
bitterness of feeling, word, and act when the mob violence of
the street was but the counterpart of the similar though more
;
decorous demonstrations of the counting-room, the parlor, and
the church.
The Colonizationistshad always manifested
four years before the organization of the
slavery Society, that "
it
hostil-
Their society had declared in 1828,
ity to the antislavery cause.
in
is
no wise
America or elsewhere
pass a censure upon such
society in
;
and
New England
allied to
is
ready,
Anti-
any abolition
when
there
is
America." The
organization of societies pledged to immediate emancipation,
need, to
the
societies in
Garrison to England, his unac-
successful visit of Mr.
cepted challenge of their champion to public discussion, the
protest of Wilberforce
had
so incensed
its
and
his
compeers against their scheme,
friends that even professedly Christian
men were
prepared to justify a resort to almost any measure
to oppose
and put down what they deemed a pestilent heresy.
such a time and on such an errand
To go
to Philadelphia at
was anything but a holiday
On
affair.
the evening preceding the assembling of the convention,
a meeting of some thirty or forty delegates was held at the
house of Evan Lewis,
who had been
convocation at that time.
chiefly instrumental in its
Lewis Tappan of
New York
pre-
A
committee was appointed to secure the services of
some well-known citizen and philanthropist of Philadelphia to
sided.
preside over the convention.
Thomas
Wister, a
the Society of Friends, declined the invitation.
tee then invited
Robert Yaux, of the same denomination
he declined, though an Abolitionist.
not a
little
member
As
of
The commit;
but
the committee retired,
mortified and irritated at their
ill
success, Mr.
May,
one of their number, reports that Beriah Green sarcastically
remarked " If there is not timber amongst ourselves big
enough to make a president of, let us get along without one, or
go home and stay there till we have grown up to be men."
:
The convention assembled
4th of December.
32
at the Adelphi Buildings, on the
Beriah Green of the Oneida Institute, in
�250
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
the State of
pan of the
IN AMERICA.
New York, was elected president
New York, and John G.
city of
made
sachusetts, were
These
secretaries.
pleasantly characterized by Mr. J. Miller
and Lewis Tap-
;
Whittier of Mas-
officers
were thus
McKim, one
of the
youngest members of the convention, and ever since an active
Abolitionist.
"
A
better
lected.
man
Though
than Mr. Green could not have been
of plain exterior
was a man of learning and superior
above the average of so-called
who
sat at his right,
se-
and unimposing presence, he
men
ability
;
in every
of eminence.
way
Mr. Tappan,
was a jaunty, man-of-the-world looking
person, well dressed and handsome, with a fine voice and tak-
ing appearance.
fine-looking,
Whittier,
who
sat at his left,
though in a different way.
He wore
was quite as
a dark frock-
coat with standing collar, which, with his thin hair, dark and
sometimes flashing eyes, and black whiskers,
— not
noticeable in those unhirsute days,
him, to
unpractised eye, quite as
aspect.
much
— gave
large, but
my
of a military as a
then
Quaker
His broad, square forehead and well-cut features,
aided by his incipient reputation as a poet,
made him
quite a
noticeable feature in the convention."
It
and
was then voted that delegates from antislavery
all
societies,
other persons in favor of emancipation without expa-
triation, be entitled to seats in the convention.
continued during three days.
by the police not
to hold
Its sessions
The members were admonished
evening sessions, as they could not
Committees were appointed to prepare a constitution, nominate a list of officers, and draft a
declaration of principles, to which the signatures of members should be affixed.
That committee consisted of Dr. Edwin P. Atlee of Philadelphia, Elizur Wright, Jr. of New York,
William Lloyd Garrison of Massachusetts, Simeon S. Jocelyn
of Connecticut, David Thurston of Maine, John M. Sterling
of Ohio, William Green, Jr. of New York City, John G. Whittier of Massachusetts, William Goodell of New York, and
Samuel J. May of Connecticut.
On the second day of its session the convention, on motion
be protected after dark.
of the Rev. Charles
W.
Denison, editor of the " Emancipa-
�ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY.
tor," voted to take
measures
to ascertain
251
how many clergymen
and a committee of
three was chosen to carry the resolution into effect.
It was
then moved hy John Rankin of New York that the thanks
of the convention be extended to those editors who have embarked in the cause of emancipation, and that to their support
in the United States were slaveholders
work the members pledge
in the good
influence.
collective
Upon
this
;
their individual
resolution the
resolved itself into a committee of the whole, and Mr.
McCrummell,
and
convention
James
a colored delegate from Philadelphia, was called
President Green spoke warmly for editors who
had stood erect and exposed their bosoms to the shafts which
calumny had thrown. " They have," he said, " stood out
amidst falling missiles and jarring notes of opposition and,
like trumpets, lifted up their voices for the poor and needy,
the suffering and the dumb."
He expressed to them his gratitude, and avowed his willingness to present his own " bare
bosom to the foe, and receive the shafts intended for them."
Lewis Tappan followed in warm and eloquent commendation of the services of Benjamin Lundy and William Lloyd
to the chair.
;
Garrison.
He
action to
show
wished the members of the convention by their
to posterity that the men contemplated in the
" Although they are,"
resolution were held in high esteem.
said, "
he
who
held accursed by those
who know them
not,
aud
seek to impeach their motives and destroy their lives
yet the coming generations shall hallow their memories and
rise
up and
Rev.
call
Amos
them blessed."
A. Phelps of Massachusetts earnestly supported
He referred in words of tender eulogy to the
Rev. Charles B. Storrs, late president of the Western Reserve
the resolution.
College,
He
who had
recently died at Braintree, Massachusetts.
stated that Mr. Storrs, while lying on his death-bed, re-
quested that a pen should be placed in his hands, that he might
affix his
name
be issued.
"
to a declaration of antislavery principles
He commenced,"
about to
said Mr. Phelps, " tracing his
name, and had written the first word, Charles,' when he discovered that two of the letters had been transposed. Letting
the pen fall, and turning to his brother, standing by, he ex'
�252
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
claimed, with an energy peculiar to
Brother, do you finish
my
name.
him
IN AMERICA.
I can write no more.
Those principles are eternal
:
'
They cannot be shaken. I wish to give to them my
dying testimony.' " Mr. Phelps expressed the opinion that the
death of President Storrs had been hastened by over-exertion
truth.
in delivering
an address of great vigor and power of more than
two hours in length, in behalf of the slave. Mr. Storrs was a
gentleman of high promise and scholarship, of Christian principle and earnest philanthropy, in whose untimely death freedom lost one of its earliest and ablest champions. The touching scene at his death-bed
is
one
among
the antislavery struggle in this country
the evidences that
was born
heroic devotion to principle which finds not
of a zeal
many
and
parallels in
the world's history.
The convention having unanimously adopted the resoluMr. Denison introduced a proposition recommending the
tion,
to form auxwhich was unanimously adopted.
resolution, introduced by Robert B. Hall, recommending
youth of the country, without distinction of sex,
iliary antislavery societies,
A
that the Christian church throughout the land should observe
the last
Monday evening
of each
month
in seeking the
Divine
and of the free people of color, was
then unanimously adopted as was also another resolution,
introduced by Samuel J. May, pledging the members of the
convention to an effort to secure from the several denominations to which they belonged solemn and earnest addresses
aid in behalf of the slave
;
in behalf of the oppressed to affiliated churches in the slave-
holdmg
States.
Mr.
Garrison
introduced
a resolution
in
which
it
was
declared that the cause of abolition eminently deserved the
countenance and support of American
women
;
and Horace
P. Wakefield of Massachusetts introduced another, hailing the
establishment of ladies' antislavery societies as the harbinger
These resolutions were also unanimously
adopted, as were others, declaring that the fountains of knowledge, like those of salvation, should be opened to every creature that the laws against teaching colored people were cruel
and impious that the statutes and customs which withhold
of a brighter day.
;
;
�ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY.
the Bible from the slave were inconsistent with the
253
first prin-
and that the teachers of religion
lift
the
warning
voice against oppression did not
failed
to
who
declare the whole counsel of God. Kindred resolutions, breathing the spirit of liberty, justice, humanity, and Christianity,
ciples of religious liberty
;
were adopted with great unanimity.
In the constitution adopted, the object of the society was
declared to be the entire abolition of slavery in the United
While admitting that each State had exclusive right
it avowed as its aim to
convince the people of the slave States, by arguments addressed
to their understandings and consciences, that slaveholding was
a heinous crime against God, and that duty and safety reStates.
to legislate in regard to its abolition,
quired
It
its
immediate abandonment, but without expatriation.
favored the abolition of the domestic slave-trade and of slav-
ery in the District of Columbia
;
and urged the duty of
elevat-
ing the character and condition of the free people of color, and
of giving
them
leges, though
equality with whites in civil
it
and
religious privi-
discountenanced any resort to physical force
for the vindication of these rights.
But the most important action of the convention was its
A committee of ten had been appointed on the first day of the session to prepare such a paper.
That committee, with several other members, assembled at the
rooms of the chairman. Those present were invited to state
their views concerning the document which all deemed so important.
The suggestions made revealed great unanimity of
opinion. The Rev. Samuel J. May states, in his " Recollections
declaration of principles.
of the Antislavery Conflict," that Elizur Wright, Jr., gave utter-
ance to these pregnant words " I wish that the difference between our purpose and that of the Colonization Society should
:
be explicitly stated.
our country, with
ists
its
We
mean
to
exterminate slavery from
accursed influences.
The
Colonization-
only wish to get rid of the slaves so soon as they be-
come
free.
cable withal.
spirit
among
Their plan
is
unrighteous, cruel, and impracti-
Our plan needs but a good
will
and a right
the white people to accomplish it."
After some time spent in this conference, Mr. Garrison, Mr.
�254
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
Whitticr, and Mr.
May were
IN AMERICA.
appointed a sub-committee to pre-
pare a draft of a paper setting forth the principles, sentiments,
and purposes of the new society. The sub-committee immediately repaired to Mr. Garrison's lodgings
and, after a brief
consultation, he was requested to prepare it.
The sub-committee met early next morning, made a few slight alterations, and submitted the draft to the whole committee at
;
nine o'clock.
Alluding to this circumstance, years after, Mr.
" I recall the
Whittier thus happily refers to this meeting
morning when, with Samuel
early gray
on the committee
to prepare
J.
:
May, our colleague
a declaration of sentiments for
the convention, I climbed to the small 'upper chamber' of a
colored friend to hear thee read the
first
draft of a paper
which
long as our national history."
will live as
For hours this document was subjected to a careful and critiexamination yet but few alterations were found necessary.
Mr. Garrison had arraigned the Colonization Society with
cal
;
But his
characteristic severity.
strictures
were omitted, on
motion of Mr. May, for the reason that the Colonization Society could not long survive the deadly blows already aimed
and
at
it
in
this
was
;
it
was not worth while
resisted
to perpetuate its
of the rights
declaration
of man.
memory
This omission
but, finding the committee
by Mr. Garrison
it, he promptly yielded, with the remark,
;
were favorable to
" Brethren,
Edwin
it is
your report, not mine."
P. Atlee, chairman of the committee, reported the
declaration to the convention.
Its
reading produced a pro-
was then moved by a member of the
Society of Friends that it be adopted, and that the members
proceed at once to append to it their signatures. " We have,"
found impression.
he
said,
" already given
responded to
impelled
It
me
it.
to
make
sions are from heaven.
amending
our assent
it
There
is
;
every heart here has
a doctrine of the Friends which
the motion I have done.
I fear, if
this declaration,
we
we go about
First imprescriticising
shall qualify its truthfulness
and
and
But the convention thought otherwise.
It was read paragraph by paragraph, and discussed for several
hours very few changes, however, were made. The veneraimpair
;
its
strength."
�ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY.
255
ble Thomas Shipley, a Quaker, and a long-tried friend of the
black man, objected to the word " manstealer," as applied to
but it was suggested by Lucretia Mott that the
term be retained, with an amendment inserting before it the
words " according to Scripture," and the suggestion was
The document, with this slight modification, was
adopted.
then unanimously adopted.
Thus far the convention had been a success. Its numbers,
its character, its harmony, and its enthusiasm were animating
and auspicious. But its hours of deliberation and conference
were over.
Agreeing among themselves, their great work
was now to convince others. Framing a platform on which
they could stand, they were to go forth, and, in a conservative
and captious community, make proselytes who would occupy it
with them.
Happily blinded to the severity and the length of
the contest on which they were entering, they went forth confident in the power of truth and in the favor of the Almighty.
On the morning of the third .day the declaration, which
had in the mean time been engrossed, was submitted for signatures and upon it sixty-two members, representing ten States,
enrolled their names.
Lucretia Mott, Esther Moore, Lydia
White, Sydney Ann Lewis, and several other Quaker women
the slaveholder
;
;
of Philadelphia, were, after the first day, in constant attend-
ance on the convention, and were deeply interested in
But
appended to
work.
tion,
their
its
names were not enrolled
declaration of principles.
its
members, nor
While that declaraas
however, was under consideration, Mrs. Mott, a
woman
of fine intellectual development, with a rare combination of
firmness, gentleness, and clear moral perceptions, rose and,
remarking that she was there by sufferance, said that, if permitted, she would make a suggestion.
She paused for a mo-
ment, as
if unwilling to offend even the prejudices of any
members, when President Green promptly, and in a
voice at once cordial and encouraging, bade her go on, while
others seconded his words.
She suggested several modifications, and gave the reasons why they should be made with such
clearness and precision that they were readily assented to.
The declaration was a paper of great ability and power,
of
its
—
�256
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
the power of timely truth and of appropriate
expression.
Commencing with
and
forcible
a reference to the time,
fifty-
seven years before, when, in the same
our fathers announced to the world their Declaration of Indecity of Philadelphia,
pendence, based on the self-evident truths of
and
the
is
rights,
new
and appealed
to
arms
human
for its defence,
it
equality
spoke of
enterprise as one " without which that of our fathers
incomplete," and as transcending theirs in magnitude, so-
much
lemnity, and probable results, as
physical force."
It
" as moral truth does
spoke of the difference of the two in the
means and ends proposed, and
of the trifling grievances of
our fathers, compared with the wrongs and sufferings of the
slaves, which it forcibly characterized as unequalled by any
others on the face of the earth.
claimed that the nation
It
was bound to repent at once, to let the oppressed go free, and
beto admit them to all the rights and privileges of others
enslave
or
imbrute
right
to
man
has
a
cause, it asserted, no
;
his brother; because liberty is inalienable; because there
is
no difference, in principle, between slaveholding and manstealand because no length
ing, which the law brands as piracy
of bondage can invalidate man's claim to himself, or render
;
slave laws anything but "
an audacious usurpation."
maintained that no compensation should be given to
planters emancipating slaves, because that would be a surrender of fundamental principles because " slavery is a crime,
It
;
and
is,
therefore, not an article to be sold "
;
because slave-
holders are not just proprietors of what they claim
;
because
emancipation would destroy only nominal, not real property
and because compensation, if given at all, should be given to
;
the slaves.
It declared "
cruel,
any scheme of expatriation "
and dangerous."
to be " delusive,
It fully recognized the right of each
State to legislate exclusively on the subject of slavery within
and conceded that Congress, under the present nahad no right to interfere though still contending that it had the power, and should exercise it, " to
suppress the domestic slave-trade between the several States,"
and " to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia and in
its limits,
tional compact,
;
�ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY.
257
those portions of our territory which the Constitution has
placed under its exclusive jurisdiction."
Having thus clearly
and cogently announced the principles of the enterprise thus
solemnly undertaken and avowed having guarded with scru;
infringement of the personal or constitutional rights of any person or State, it closed with the folpulous care against
all
lowing eloquent portrayal of the obligations
still
admitted, the
agencies to be employed, with a pledge of unswerving fidelity
work undertaken, and an unwavering
to the
—
trust in the guid-
ing hand and final blessing of God
" We also maintain that there are, at the present time, the
:
highest obligations resting upon the people of the free States
remove slavery by moral and political action, as prescribed
United States. They are now living under a pledge of their tremendous physical force to fasten
the galling fetters of tyranny upon the limbs of millions in
the Southern States
they are liable to be called at any moto
in the Constitution of the
;
ment
to suppress a general insurrection of the slaves
;
they
authorize the slave-owner to vote on three-fifths of his slaves
as property,
and thus enable him
to perpetuate his oppression
they support a standing army at the South for
its
;
protection;
and they seize the slave who has escaped into their territories,
and send him back to be tortured by an enraged master or a
This relation to slavery is criminal, and full of
must be broken up.
" These are our views and principles,
these our designs
and measures. With entire confidence in the overruling justice of God, we plant ourselves upon the Declaration of Independence and the truths of Divine revelation as upon the everbrutal driver.
danger
;
it
—
lasting rock.
We shall organize
"
city,
"
antislavery societies, if possible, in every
town, and village in our land.
We
shall
send forth agents
strance, of warning, of entreaty
"
We
to lift
up the voice of remon-
and rebuke.
and extensively
shall circulate unsparingly
antislav-
ery tracts and periodicals.
"
shall enlist the pulpit and the press in the cause of the
We
suffering
and the dumb.
33
�258
"
RISE
We
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
aim
shall
IN AMERICA.
from
at a purification of the churches
all
participation in the guilt of slavery.
"
We
shall
encourage the labor of freemen, rather than that
and
no exertions nor means to bring the whole
of slaves, by giving a preference to their productions
"
We
shall spare
;
nation to speedy repentance.
" Our trust for victory is solely in God.
We may
sonally defeated, but our principles never.
Truth, Justice,
be per-
Reason, Humanity, must and will gloriously triumph. Already a host is coming up to the help of the Lord against the
mighty, and the prospect before us
" Submitting this
is full
DECLARATION
tion of the people of this country,
of encouragement.
to the candid
examina-
and of the friends of Liberty
throughout the world, we hereby
affix
our signatures to
it
pledging ourselves that, under the guidance and by the help
of Almighty God,
we
do
will
all
that in us
lies,
consistently
with this declaration of our principles, to overthrow the most
execrable system of slavery that has ever been witnessed upon
earth, to deliver our land from its deadliest curse, to wipe out
the foulest stain which rests upon our national escutcheon,
and
all
as
to secure to the colored population of the
the rights and privileges which belong to
Americans, come what
our reputation
;
may
whether we
United States
them
as
men and
to our persons, our interests, or
live to
witness the triumph of
Liberty, Justice, and Humanity, or perish untimely as martyrs in this great, benevolent,
and holy cause."
The president of the convention made a
closing address.
Profound silence pervaded the hall as he rapidly glanced
the great
work which had been accomplished.
the constitution of the
new
He
at
referred to
society, to its list of officers, to the
signing and the sending forth to the world of
its
Declaration
of Sentiments, to the union and earnestness which had
marked
the proceedings, and to the meeting of congenial minds, where
heart had beat responsive to heart in the holy work of seeking
and despised colored race. He closed
and thrilling power will
with these words
never be forgotten by those who heard it
self-sacrifice,
faith,
and
trust
heroic
of
to benefit the outraged
his speech
— which
for eloquence
:
—
—
•
�ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY.
" But
now we must
retire
259
from these balmy influences, and
The chill hoar-frost will be
The storm and tempest will rise, and the waves of
breathe another atmosphere.
upon
us.
Let us be prepared
Let us fasten ourselves to the throne of God
persecution will dash against our souls.
for the worst.
as with hooks of steel.
that
document
If
we
" Let us court no applause
boasting.
Him, our names
to
;
indulge in no spirit of vain
Let us be assured that our only hope in grappling
with the bony monster
Let us
ours.
cling not to
will be but as dust.
is
in an
Arm
that
stronger than
is
our gaze on God, and walk in the light of
fix
his countenance.
If
know
our cause be just, and we
his omnipotence is pledged to its
triumph.
Let
be intwined around the very fibres of our hearts.
hearts grow to
it,
it
is,
this cause
Let our
so that nothing but death can sunder the
bond."
Having finished his address, he " immediately," to use the
words of one who heard him, " lifted up his voice to the
Throne of Heavenly Grace in a prayer full of fervor and zeal,
imploring the forgiveness and blessing of God to descend and
sanctify the convention."
Such were the origin and organization of the American AntiIts board of officers embraced many men of
marked ability, as well as of recognized position and influence.
slavery Society.
Arthur Tappan was chosen president, and gave
sociation, not only the benefit of his
warm
to the
new
as-
devotion to the
cause, but his great practical sagacity and prestige as a lead-
ing merchant of
New
York.
Elizur Wright, Jr., then of the
same
city,
was made
secre-
tary of domestic correspondence, and continued in that position
till
1838.
He was
also a
member,
ex
officio,
of the execu-
annual reports, with slight contributions
from others, were from his pen, and constitute an important
tive
committee.
Its
part of the antislavery literature of the five eventful years in
which he
filled
the
office.
Mr. Wright held a bold and incisive
pen, which he ever wielded in the interests of humanity.
If
his words were sometimes curt and caustic, they were always
and if he was sometimes impulsive and
vigorous and effective
;
�260
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
IN AMERICA.
was always an air of refreshing boldness
what he said and did.
Dr. Abraham L. Cox of New York was made recording secretary. He was earnest, industrious, impulsive, energetic
but
not, like his compeers of that day, persistent and unflinching.
Mr. Garrison was selected as secretary of foreign correspondFor this post he was eminently fitted by his knowledge
ence.
of antislavery leaders abroad, as also by their recognition of
impracticable, there
and hortesty
in
;
him
among
as the foremost
the Abolitionists of this country.
There were twenty-five vice-presidents. Among them were
the venerable Moses Brown of Rhode Island, an early Abolitionist and philanthropist, whose well-directed munificence
was largely bestowed upon and most honorably associated with
the University of that State
;
General Samuel Fessenden of
Maine, a distinguished lawyer and a consistent Christian
statesman
;
and Rev. Samuel
earliest to espouse the
cipation,
and who
J.
May, who was among the
then hated cause of immediate eman-
for forty years
was indefatigable
in
his
labors for freedom, devoting without faltering his talents,
and ecclesiastical influence, to its advocacy
and defence.
There was also a large board of managers, embracing several gentlemen who had then and who have since taken an
important part in the great struggle. Perhaps none have been
more distinguished for their persistent and painstaking zeal
than were the brothers Arthur and Lewis Tappan, William
Goodell, and Joshua Leavitt, whose generous and effective
learning, social
labors are
more particularly referred
to in another connection.
There, too, was John G. Whittier, the Quaker bard, who
early consecrated his genius to the cause of humanity, when
to be an Abolitionist
ciety
and
literature.
was
to lose caste in church
How much
and
state, so-
he did, and how nobly and
among the most grateful recollecThat he was the right man in the
right place may be well conjectured from his own testimony,
thirty years later, when, alluding to his signature of the " Declaration of Sentiments," he could say, though wearing the
green chaplet of poetic fame, with which two hemispheres had
beautifully
he did
it,
will be
tions of that stern strife.
�ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY. 261
admiringly crowned him " I love, perhaps too well, the praise
and good- will of my fellow-men but I set a higher value on
my name as appended to the Antislavery Declaration of 1833
than on the title-page of any book. Looking over a life marked
with many errors and shortcomings, I rejoice that I have been
able to maintain the pledge of that signature, and that in the
:
;
long intervening years
"
'
My voice, though not the loudest, has been heard
"
Wherever Freedom raised her cry of pain.'
Unlike most of his coadjutors of that day, he had clear con-
As editor of the
ceptions of the political bearings of slavery.
" Pennsylvania Freeman," associate editor of the " National
Era," and a contributor to other antislavery journals, he did
much
to prepare the
minds of the people
for political action.
In counsel and action always sagacious and practical, he participated in those
movements which
finally
resulted in the
organization of that powerful party which overthrew the system of human bondage and dethroned the Slave Power. In
those early days, " the clarion notes from his muse," in the
words of Henry
of the
Hebrew
battle with the
B. Stanton, "
prophets,
were
like
summoning
powers of darkness."
too, these lyrics of the
the inspired appeals
the elect of
God
to
do
All along the struggle,
meek-visaged but fiery-souled Quaker
rang out their notes of warning and appeal. And even after
rebellion had convulsed the land, and civil war had summoned
its
legions to the field, his strains were heard amid the din of
strife,
and the
loyal soldier often felt their inspiration in the
camp, on the march, and in the hour of battle.
Rev. Amos A. Phelps was another member of the board, who
afterward evinced the sincerity and strength of his devotion
by leaving an
eligible position as pastor of a city congregation,
to labor exclusively for the lowly
and oppressed.
A
logical
speaker and vigorous writer, he rendered invaluable service to
the cause of emancipation in the earlier stages of
A
its
history.
volume of lectures was published by him in the year 1834,
in which questions connected with slavery were elaborately
discussed, and an earnest appeal was made to the clergy of all
denominations. This work continued for a long time a text-
�262
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN
AMERICA
book for antislavery speakers and writers. From this time
onward he labored assiduously and earnestly, till the time of
his premature death, which occurred in 1847.
He, however,
not only died without being permitted to see the harvest of the
seed he had so faithfully sown, but he
fell
at his post in that
dark hour when the nation, under the inspiration and behests
was fighting ingloriously on a foreign soil
extend and perpetuate the very system he had labored so
of the Slave Power,
to
and extirpate.
Weld,
perhaps the youngest member of the
Theodore D.
board, was a descendant of Jonathan Edwards and then a
member of Lane Seminary. He was one of the members who
were involved in the conflict with its Faculty which then and
afterward assumed so much of historic interest in the annals
of the antislavery struggle.
A cogent reasoner and a glowing
rhetorician, he was esteemed one of the most powerful platform speakers of his day. He was the author of several remarkable productions. Among them were " The Bible View
of Slavery," " Slavery as it is," and " The Power of Congress
over Slavery in the District of Columbia," which exerted a
marked influence over the thoughtful, pious, and humane. In
1838 and 1839 he was associated, at the office in New York,
with John G. Whittier and Henry B. Stanton in securing and
faithfully to limit
forwarding to Congress antislavery petitions for the abolition
of slavery and the slave-trade in the District of Columbia,
which so excited the ire of its Southern members.
There, too, was Benjamin Lundy, the early and ever-vigilant
and faithful friend of the slave and Isaac Knapp, a silent but
;
worker, the coadjutor of Mr. Garrison in the publicaThere were also Ellis Gray Loring,
tion of the " Liberator."
E. Sewall, learned and accomSamuel
Child,
and
David Lee
efficient
plished lawyers of Boston, whose early consecration of personal
and professional service to the cause of abolition was followed
by a life-long and consistent devotion to the interests of the
Mr. Loring died too early to see the glorious consumslave.
mation which now gladdens the sight of many of his early
Upon that list, too, was the name of Dr. Jacob
coadjutors.
Ide of Massachusetts, who, then in the prime of his powers
�ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY.
and influence, made
263
commitment, from which he
While too many of his clerical
this public
never afterward swerved.
brethren, at least, remained silent in the presence of this giant
iniquity, his voice
to the cause
and commanding influence were ever true
of the slave.
Rjbert Purvis of Philadelphia,
a young colored gentleman of talents and culture, was also a
own person the wrongs of his brethand earnestly, with fiery zeal and fervid eloquence, to lift the heavy burden from his race.
The executive committee engaged an office in New York City,
and at once entered upon the vigorous prosecution of its work.
Arthur Tappan, president of the society, subscribed three thousand dollars John Rankin, likewise a merchant of New York,
subscribed twelve hundred Lewis Tappan, one thousand and
other members and friends lesser sums, payable annually.
The " Emancipator " was put upon a firmer basis, under the
editorship of William Goodell, and publications in various
forms were circulated with unstinted liberality. The society
rapidly increased in numbers, strength, and influence.
Its
lecturers and agents, newspapers and occasional publications,
instructed and aroused the country.
Auxiliaries, adopting its
principles, were rapidly organized
so that they numbered sixteen hundred and fifty, with a membership of nearly a quarter
member.
Feeling in his
ren, he labored long
;
;
;
;
of a million, at the time of
its
disruption.
�CHAPTER XIX.
LANE SEMINARY.
— ANTISLAVERY
Antislavery Debate at Lane Seminary.
— Action
ACTION.
— Antislavery
— Offer of the Ameri-
of the Trustees.
Students dissolve their Connection with the Institution.
— Conduct Managers of
— Abolitionists mobbed New York. — Address issued by
— Address of Massachusetts Antislavery Society. — Docthe
the Abolitionists. — Abolitionists arraigned in the Annual Message
of President Jackson. — Reply of the American Antislavery Society. — Activity
— Rapid Increase in Numbers.
of the
can Antislavery Society to give the Bible to Slaves.
the Bible Society.
of
in
Abolitionists.
trines of
Abolitionists.
These appeals of the new
antislavery societies at once ar-
rested public attention, though that attention oftener assumed
the form of opposition than of acquiescence.
to give this
public
the
first
recognition were the students of Lane
Seminary, of which Dr.
Lyman Beecher was
Dr. Calvin E. Stowe a professor.
whom
Among
Its
president and
students, several of
were the sons of Southern slaveholders, were of unusual
maturity of age and character.
Soon
after the formation of
the American Antislavery Society, an auxiliary was formed in
its members.
Two of the
number, Henry B. Stanton, and James A. Thome of Kentucky,
attended the anniversary meeting of the parent society at New
York, in the spring of 1834, at which they made speeches exciting great interest and sanguine hopes, which were more
than redeemed by their subsequent career.
the seminary, embracing most of
In the winter of
1834- 35
a debate on the slavery question
took place, lasting more than a dozen evenings, of which Mr.
Stanton occupied two with remarkable eloquence and
effect.
Several other students participated in the debate with signal
ability.
by
all,
But the great orator of that great debate, as conceded
was Theodore D. Weld. Subsequently, nearly all the
students adopted antislavery views.
Dr. Beecher promised to
�LANE SEMINARY.
— ANTISLAVERY
attend the meetings, though he did not do so.
he was
much
affected
when he found
265
ACTION.
It is said that
main body
the
of the
students adopting sentiments which he foresaw, or at least
apprehended, must bring them into collision with the board of
trustees, threatening the material injury if not the destruction
The debate caused much excitement, not
The trustees
of the institution.
only in Cincinnati, but throughout the country.
ordered the disbandment of the Antislavery Society, though
accompanying the order with a similar requirement of the
Their real and avowed purpose was to
Colonization Society.
frown upon and check agitation concerning slavery in the
seminary.
not,
main
The
antislavery students, feeling that they could
consistently with
and convictions,
re-
their connection with
it.
their self-respect
in the institution, dissolved
Before, however, taking this step, they issued an elaborate and'
eloquent protest against the policy adopted
;
and then, as per-
secution sent the apostles abroad to preach the gospel, so
it
young ministers of the gospel to proclaim the new
evangel of liberty. Several of them labored faithfully for longer
or shorter periods
but none rendered services more brilliant
and effective than Theodore D. Weld and Henry B. Stanton.
The first anniversary of the American Antislavery Society
was held in New York on the 6th of May, 1834. It was largely
attended, and its proceedings were spirited and harmonious.
An overture made at this meeting to the American Bible Society subsequently revealed not only the lack of sympathy with
sent these
;
humane object on the part of the latter, but the opposiand the rudeness of its exhibition, even by men standing
high in the church. The Bible Society, having been engaged
their
tion
in carrying out the project of supplying every family in the
United States with a copy of the Scriptures, had on its compleannounced the fact to the British Bible Society though,
of course, no attempt had been made to supply the slaves.
tion
;
The Antislavery Society, being in session in the city of New
York at the time of the annual meeting of the Bible Society,
made an offer of five thousand dollars if that society would
appropriate twenty thousand dollars for the supply of every
slave family in the country.
34
�266
A
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
committee of seven was appointed to present this propoto the board of managers.
Lewis Tappan, chairman
sition
seeing that it
it, and
was about to be summarily disposed of, asked permission to
But he received neither persay a few words in explanation.
mission nor notice from the president. He then remarked
that, both as a member of the committee and as a life-director
of the Bible Society and ex officio one of the board of manBut no notice whatagers, he claimed the right of a hearing.
ever was taken of this appeal.
A motion that it be referred
to the committee of distribution was carried without debate,
and the board proceeded to other business. In the published
account of the proceedings, and in its monthly paper, the
organ of the society, no reference whatever was made either
of the committee, having presented
mode
to the proposition or to the
of
refusal to entertain the generous offer,
its
and
disposition.
The
attending dis-
its
courtesy, revealed the sad demoralization of even the religious
men of those days. But though Mr. Tappan, who had ever
been distinguished for his active and generous co-operation in
every form of Christian and philanthropic
effort,
was
so sadly
repulsed by the managers, yet years afterward, at the World's
Antislavery Convention in London,
when asked
to state the
magnanimously refused to do
so; because, he says, "I felt unwilling before such an audience to relate a circumstance so disgraceful to the managers
of the Bible Society and to my native country."
During that month a circular was issued by a committee of
the society, requesting its auxiliaries to hold meetings on the
4th of July and at the same time an appeal was made to its
particulars of their conduct, he
;
friends to raise for
its
funds twenty thousand dollars.
that day the society held a meeting in
Chatham
On
Street Chapel.
David Paul Brown, a distinguished lawyer of Philadelphia,
had been invited to deliver the oration. A meeting, respectable
in
numbers, assembled
speak, his voice
who had gathered to
were made in vain to the
those
;
when
but
was drowned by the
the
orator
rose to
riotous demonstrations of
disturb and break
it
up.
Appeals
and the attempt to comrioters
memorate the birthday of the nation in the name of liberty
was thus violently defeated by the despotism of the mob.
;
�ANTISLAVERY ACTION.
A
267
few days afterward, another mob, unquestionably incited
by the violent language and appeals of some portions of the
city press, sacked and damaged the house of Lewis Tappan
and destroyed its furniture. Arthur Tappan and several members of the executive committee addressed a letter to the
mayor of the
city
in
relation to the
unfounded accusations
brought against them, disclaiming the charges freely made
and, though they could not recant any principles adopted, they
avowed
their willingness to live
their society
and
its
and
die
by the constitution of
declaration of sentiments.
trial, and danger,
Judge William Jay, inheriting not only the honored name, but
the principles and purity of the illustrious first chief-justice,
at first declined a proffered office in the new society, deeming
In that season of feverish excitement,
its
organization premature, but afterward recalled his declina^
and sought to take his share of its labors and responsiHis name gave prestige his talents, learning, and
while his cautious and ready pen
integrity afforded strength
laid precious gifts upon its altar.
His " Inquiry " is a reposition,
bilities.
;
;
tory of valuable facts concerning the action of the national
government, and the principles and purposes of the Colonization and Antislavery Societies.
It was read by scholars and
statesmen, and exerted a powerful influence by enlightening
an ignorant public sentiment upon the great truth that the nation
was then and long had been the mere serf of the Slave
All his writings were " characterized by the candor
Power.
of a philosopher, the accuracy of a statesman, the courtesy of
a gentleman, and the charity of a Christian."
Having taken
became one of the executive committee, and
1840 contributed largely to the wisdom as well
his position, he
from 1834
to
as vigor of its proceedings.
But the spirit of lawless violence continued not only in New
York, but throughout the North, repealing more and more
clearly the magnitude and inveteracy of the evil to be abated.
The purposes of the Abolitionists were persistently misrepresented.
Even good and fair-minded men, who were generally
just
and considerate
in their opinions,
were led
to believe, not-
withstanding the explicit avowals and disclaimers of the so-
�AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
268
RISE
ciety,
through
its
constitution, Declaration of Sentiments,
organs, that
official
IN AMERICA.
its
and
members " were pursuing measures
at
variance not only with the constitutional rights of the South,
but with the precepts of humanity and religion."
In the year
1835 the executive committee issued an address designed to
remove these false impressions. This address was signed by
Arthur Tappan, John Rankin, William Jay, Elizur Wright, Jr.,
Abraham L. Cox, Lewis Tappan, Samuel E. Cornish, S. S.
It was written by Judge
Jocelyn, and Theodore S. Wright.
Jay, and contained a very lucid exposition of the principles
and policy of the society, and attracted marked attention both
at home and abroad.
It declared that Congress has no more right to abolish slavery in the Southern States than in the French West India Islands that the exercise of any other than moral influence to
induce abolition by the State legislatures would be unconstituthat Congress had the right to abolish slavery in the
tional
District of Columbia, and that it was their duty to efface so
that American citifoul a stain from the national escutcheon
;
;
;
zens have the right to express and publish their opinions of
the constitution, laws, and institutions of any and every State
and nation under heaven, asserting that " we never intend to
surrender the liberty of speech, of the press, or of conscience,
— blessings we have inherited from our
mean,
so far as
children."
we
also
It
are
fathers,
able, to transmit
and which we
unimpaired to our
affirmed that they had uniformly depre-
attempts on the part of the slaves to recover
cated
all forcible
their
freedom that they would deplore any servile insurrecon account of the calamities that would attend it, and
tion,
;
the occasion
it
might give
for increased
severity
;
that the
charge that they had sent publications to the South, designed
was utterly and unequivohad sent any publicathat they had employed no
tions to the slaves was false
agents in the slave States to distribute their publications. But
they reiterated their conviction that slavery was sinful and injurious to the country, and that immediate abolition would be
both safe and wise, and that they had no intention of refrain-
to incite the slaves to insurrection,
cally false
;
that the charge that they
;
�ANTISLAVERY ACTION.
269
ing from the expression of such views in future.
They
also
gave unequivocal expression to their views in regard to the
To
elevation of the colored people.
the accusation that their
acts tended to a dissolution of the Union,
to destroy
it,
and that they wished
" We have never
they replied with emphasis
calculated the value of the Union, because
:
we
believe
it
to be
inestimable, and that the abolition of slavery will remove the
chief cause of
its
dissolution."
The Massachusetts Antislavery
dress to the public.
Among
the address.
Society, too, issued an adcommittee of thirty-one persons signed
the number were Samuel J. May, Samuel
A
Henry C.
Gray Loring, and David Lee Child.
This address was issued because an attempt had been made to fix
upon Abolitionists sentiments and intentions they abhorred.
They categorically denied the charge made against them of a
wish to violate the Constitution of the United States, and
avowed their deep attachment to the Union. " No price,"
E. Sewall, William Lloyd Garrison, Francis Jackson,
Wright,
Ellis
they said, " can be paid too great for
sacrifice of
its
preservation, but the
To intimations that they
incendiary publications among slaves,
honor and principle."
were guilty of circulating
flat and peremptory denial and indignantly
denounced the charge as false. They solemnly pledged themselves that if it could be shown that any person connected
with the antislavery cause had circulated inflammatory tracts
they interposed a
among
slaves, or with a
publicly renounce
him
view to be read by them, " we will
as a foe to the peace of society
the best interests of the oppressed."
They denied
and
to
that they
had ever advocated the right of physical resistance upon the
part of the oppressed.
"
We
assure our assailants," they said,
" that we would not sacrifice the
life
of a single slaveholder to
emancipate any slave in the United States."
The charge of encouraging amalgamation between whites
and blacks they denied, and announced their object to be ''to
prevent the amalgamation now going on, so far as it can be
done, by placing one million of the females of this country
under the protection of law." They denied, too, the accusation of interfering with the domestic concerns of the South-
�270
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
ern States, by any other force than the creation of a public
sentiment that shall " reach the conscience and blend with
the convictions of the slaveholder, and thus ultimately
the complete extinction of slavery."
work
Acknowledging that no
change in the slave laws of the Southern States could be made
unless by Southern legislatures, they distinctly declared that
" neither Congress nor the legislatures of the free States have
authority to change the condition of a single slave in the slave
They
closed their address by avowing their intention
and promulgate their principles under the sacred
privileges guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.
States."
to discuss
We have violated," they
We have acted, we shall
"
said, "
we mean
to violate,
no law.
continue to act, under the sanction
of the Constitution of the United. States.
Nothing that we
propose to do can be prevented by our opponents without violating the charter of our rights.
stitution
To
the law and to the Con-
we appeal."
After referring to the unconstitutional usurpations of the
national government to protect slavery, and to the efforts
made
and the free transmission of the
mails, they uttered these words of prophetic warning " Surely
we need not remind you that if you submit to such an encroachment on your liberties the days of our Republic are numbered
and that, although Abolitionists may be the first, they will not
to prevent free discussion
:
;
be the
last,
victims offered at the shrine of arbitrary power."
Having set forth their principles and purposes, so completely
in harmony with the theory of the government and the precepts
of Christianity, in language so concise, clear, and convincing,
they put the solemn and significant question to their countrymen " Arc they unworthy of Republicans and of Chris:
tians
"
?
But notwithstanding the declarations of those Christian
men, the purity of whose lives was a guaranty of their sincerity and truthfulness, President Jackson, in his annual message
of the 7th of December of that year, invited the attention of
Congress to " the painful excitement produced in the South
by attempts
to circulate
through the mails inflammatory appeals
addressed to the passions of the slaves, in prints and in va-
�ANTISLAVERY ACTION.
271
rious sorts of publications, calculated to stimulate
and produce
rection
all
them
to insur-
the horrors of a servile war."
He
expressed the opinion that no respectable portion of his country-
men
could be so far misled as to feel any other sentiment than
that of indignant regret at conduct " so destructive of the
harmony and peace
of the country,
principles of our national compact
ity
and
and so repugnant to the
to the dictates of human-
and religion."
This language was intended to be applied to the members
American Antislavery Society and its auxDecember the executive committee
addressed to the President an elaborate and dignified protest
In this paper, from the polished and
against his accusations.
pungent pen of Judge Jay, the propriety was suggested to the
and
officers of the
On
iliaries.
the 28th of
President of ascertaining the real designs of the Abolitionists
before his apprehensions should lead
trifling
him
to sanction
any more
with the liberty of the press, or to denounce them as
misguided persons, engaged in unconstitutional and wicked
tempts to
effect the
massacre of their Southern brethren.
at-
He
was reminded that there were then three hundred and fifty
abolition societies, numbering thousands of members
and the
pertinent question was put to him, whether there was anything
in " the character and manner of the free States to warrant
the imputation on their citizens of such enormous wicked;
ness
?
"
" What,
sir,"
have held up
they asked, "
is
the character of those you
world ? Their
enemies being judges, they are religious fanatics. And what
to the execration of a civilized
are the haunts of these plotters of
murder
?
The
pulpit, the
bench, the bar, the professor's chair, the hall of legislation, the
meeting
for prayer, the
temple of the Most High.
But, strange
and monstrous as is this conspiracy, still you believe in its existence, and call on Congress to counteract it.
Be persuaded,
sir, the moral sense of the community is abundantly sufficient
to
render this conspiracy utterly impotent the
moment
its
Only prove the assertions and insinuations in your message, and you dissolve in an instant
every antislavery society in our land.
Think not, sir, that we
machinations are exposed.
�272
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
shall oppose
any obstacles
we
invite, nay, sir,
to
LN AMERICA.
We
an inquiry into our conduct.
entreat, the appointment by Congress of a
committee of investigation to visit the antislavery office in
York." They pledged themselves to put in possession
New
of such committee copies of their publications and their cor-
respondence, and to answer, under oath,
The committee
with these words
all
interrogations.
closed their communication to the President
:
"
We
have addressed you,
can plainness and Christian
sincerity,
sir,
with republi-
but with no desire to
derogate from the respect that is due you, or wantonly to give
you pain. To repel your charges and to disabuse the public
was a duty we owed to ourselves, our children, and, above all,
to the great and holy cause in which we are engaged.
That
and while we recause, we believe, is approved by our Maker
;
tain this belief
it is
our intention, trusting to his direction and
upon the
minds and hearts of our countrymen the sinfulness of claiming property in human beings, and the duty and wisdom of improtection, to persevere in our endeavors to impress
mediately relinquishing
it.
When
convinced that our endeav-
we shall abandon them but such conviction
must be produced by other arguments than vituperation, popuors are wrong,
;
lar violence, or penal
enactments."
The executive committee of the
ings from the time of
its
society held weekly meet-
organization to the spring of 1840.
Important and weighty matters came before
fully
and conscientiously considered.
often standing in peril of
life
it,
and were
care-
Objects of contumely,
or limb, subjected to insult
not unfrequently to actual violence,
its
and
members discharged
high duties with firmness, dignity, and a calm trust in
its
None can
God.
fail to
respect the
men who
thus toiled on for
the emancipation and elevation of a race scarcely one of
will
know
whose
whom
that they ever lived, the honors and rewards of
office
were an ever-present obloquy and constant pecu-
niary sacrifice.
The
mense.
activity of those
men was
prodigious, their labors im-
Thus, during the year 1888 there were circulated
from the New York office more than 646,000 publications and
documents, some thousands of them being bound volumes and
;
�ANTISLAVERY ACTION.
273
during the year 1839 more than 724,000 of the like descripa system of petitioning Congress and
was carried forward on a most extensive
and
During five months of one session of Congress
scale.
that chiefly under the direction of John G. Whittier, Theodore
it was ascertained by actual
D. Weld, and Henry B. Stanton
count that more than four hundred thousand signatures to petiand it was estimated by Mr.
tions were sent to Congress
Stanton that there were sent, under the auspices of the executive committee at New York, during the years 1837-39,
more than two million signatures to Congress and to the State
In that
tion.
office, too,
State legislatures
—
—
;
legislatures.
Another evidence of the earnest purpose and wise forecast
of the executive committee was exhibited in their efforts to find
and fit suitable agents for the great work they had undertaken.
The country was canvassed, chiefly by Mr. Weld, for that purpose, and about seventy persons were brought together in the
city of
new
New York
for
a kind of preparatory training for their
For some two weeks they listened to the older
and more experienced orators and organizers on all the phases
of the great cause, and the varied demands and exigencies of
the rough and perilous service they had undertaken.
It was,
in fact, an Institute of Humanity.
After receiving their instructions and suggestions, and after being subjected to such
drill and discipline as the time and place allowed, they went
forth, like the seventy of old, on their mission of liberty to the
slave and their errand of peace and good-will to the nation.
vocation.
35
�CHAPTER XX.
MOBS.
— OUTRAGES
—
IN CINCINNATI.
— WOMEN MOBBED
IN BOSTON.
—
—
Theodore D. Weld.
James G. Birney.
Establishment of the
" Philanthropist."
Mobs.
Meeting of the Citizens of Cincinnati.
Resolution to suppress the " Philanthropist."
Firmness of the Antislavery Com-
Proscription.
—
—
—
—
— Destruction of the Press. — The " Philanthropist "
— Mobs in Philadelphia. — Continued Violence
against the Abolitionists. — Orange Scott. — George Storrs. — Meeting of
zens of Boston in Faneuil Hall. — Boston Female Antislavery Society. — PubMeeting of the Society. — George Thompson. — Mob Violence. — Mayor
Lyman. — Seizure of Mr. Garrison. — Imprisoned. — Francis Jackson. — Meeting at his House. — Remarks of Miss Martineau.
mittee.
— Riotous
— Dr.
continued.
Mob.
Bailey.
Citi-
lic
All who openly accepted the doctrine of immediate emanany way countenanced and defended the measToo generally
ures of the Abolitionists, were called to suffer.
cipation, or in
some
tie
of personal friendship was weakened,
if
not severed,
the hostility of political organizations incurred, and the ban
of commercial circles was
marked and
inexorable.
Even
in
the associations of religion and benevolence, to be tainted with
the heresy of freedom involved too often loss of caste, reputa-
and influence. To believe in and defend the simple and
fundamental principles of the gospel and of the Declaration of
Independence generally subjected members to the supercilious
sneers of their leaders, if the opposition did not assume a
tion,
Even the sacred name of
active and offensive form.
" liberty " was held in disesteem, became a term of reproach,
more
a badge of disgrace, while fidelity to
its
claims was branded
Antislavery
as the wildest and most mischievous fanaticism.
"
meetings were assailed by gentlemen of property and standing,"
hand
in
hand with the drunken and profane
rabble.
Antislavery lecturers were pelted with eggs, stones, and brickbats.
The lowly homes
of the proscribed race, the private
�OUTRAGES
275
IN CINCINNATI.
dwellings of their heroic friends and defenders, and even the
churches of the living God, were roughly assaulted, and sometimes sacked and burned.
Printing presses and types were
broken and scattered, and antislavery papers and publications
were treated with undisguised neglect or scorn. Even woman
forgot the gentle amenities of her sex, no less than the claims
of humanity, and hesitated not to speak bitter and scornful
words of their cause who were aiming to rescue her sisters in
bondage from a doom more terrible than their fetters and
stripes.
Indeed,
it is difficult,
without a shudder, to think of
those days of domestic estrangement and social ostracism, of
—
those days
and commercial exactions,
when even churches and missionary and benevolent organizations were felt to be, if not " bulwarks of slavery," serious
political intolerance
way
obstacles in the
of
its
removal.
In the year 1832 Theodore D.
Weld
visited Tennessee,
Alabama, and other portions of the South. While at Huntsville, he met at the table of an eminent slaveholding clergyman James G. Birney, w ho afterward occupied so prominent a
place in the antislavery struggle.
Mr. Birney was then engaged in raising cotton, and at the same time practising the
legal profession, in which he had gained considerable distinction.
At the table slavery and the right of the slaveholder to
his slaves were discussed.
Mr. Weld put the question to his
host by what right he held his slaves
one of whom was a
minister of the gospel
in bondage.
He endeavored to answer the question but, although a man of culture, he utterly
failed to meet the logic of Mr. Weld.
Feeling that he had
failed, he asked the opinion of Mr. Birney
but he declined to
give it, and continued to listen to the discussion with the
x
—
—
;
;
deepest interest.
Inviting Mr.
Weld
to call at his office the
next day, he retired to his home, and gave the night, not to
sleep, but to a
deep and anxious examination of this simple
but pregnant inquiry.
When he
called, Mr. Birney informed
had deeply reflected through the night upon his
question, and had come to the conclusion that he could not
show the right of the slaveholder to his slaves.
Becoming deeply interested in and concerned for the rights
him
that he
�276
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
of the bondmen, he relinquished his legal practice, became an
and
active agent of the Colonization Society,
sively
through the Southern States.
He
travelled exten-
soon, however, lost
confidence in that society as an antislavery agency, and became
convinced that what he had fondly hoped would lead to emancipation tended rather to
its
prevention.
home
At the
close of the
Kentucky, dissolved his
connection with the Colonization Society, and emancipated his
For the purpose of disseminating the doctrines of
slaves.
year 1833 he returned to his
in
immediate emancipation, to which he had become a convert,
he purchased a press and types, with, the view of establishing
a paper in his native State.
Learning his purpose, his neigh-
bors resolved at once to baffle his intentions.
On
the 12th
of July, 1835, the slaveholders of Danville assembled in mass
meeting, denounced the movement, and addressed to him a
letter
remonstrating against the establishment of an abolition
and avowing
journal,
their purpose to prevent
it.
Mr. Bir-
ney, aware of his legal rights, firmly refused to yield to their
demands
gage in
in
;
its
but his printer became alarmed and refused to enpublication.
Finding he could not issue his paper
Kentucky, he removed his press to Cincinnati, with a view
to its establishment there.
But he soon found that the same influences which rendered
it impracticable to establish his paper in Kentucky existed in
Removing his press to New Richmond, some
Cincinnati.
twenty miles distant, he commenced the publication of the
" Philanthropist." His paper was highly commended for its
ability and moderation, and was so well received that he re-
moved
it
to Cincinnati in April, 1836.
ness and ability
;
even
its
All admitted
enemies conceded that
conducting discussions was unexceptionable.
on the 12th of July, at midnight, his
office
its
its fair-
mode
of
Nevertheless,
was entered by
a band of conspirators, and the press and types were much
damaged. Threats were thrown out that, unless the publica-
was abandoned, the outrage would be reThe proslavery presses
of the city opened in full chorus upon the " Philanthropist,"
Every means of abuse and annoyance
its editor, and friends.
tion of the paper
peated in a more effective manner.
�OUTRAGES IN CINCINNATI.
277
Even handbills were posted in the streets,
and delivery in Kentucky, as a fugitive from justice.
But he remained firm and
stood undismayed amidst these fearful assaults.
was resorted
to.
offering rewards for Mr. Birney's arrest
On
was
the 21st of July a meeting of the citizens of Cincinnati
Lower Market House, to see if they " will
called at the
permit the publication or distribution of abolition papers in
This meeting, presided over by the postmaster of
this city."
the city, also a minister of the gospel, resolved that nothing
less
than the complete relinquishment of the publication of
the paper could prevent
assemblage
uous
a resort to violence.
This tumult-
proclaimed, too, that they would use
all
means to suppress any publication which advocated the
modern doctrine of abolitionism. A committee of thirteen
was appointed to wait upon Mr. Birney and his associates, and
request them to desist from the publication of their paper
and to warn them, if they did not do so, that the meeting
would not be responsible for the consequences. It was stated
lawful
by the " Cincinnati Gazette," a journal which then honored
itself by maintaining the right of free discussion, that eight
of the thirteen
members
of Christian churches.
social position,
of the committee were
They were
certainly
At
and large influence.
its
communicants
men
of wealth,
head stood Jacob
Burnett, an old citizen of the Northwest, a lawyer of eminence,
who had been
Supreme Court of Ohio and a
a judge of the
senator in the Congress of the Unite d States.
4
On
tive
the evening of the 28th this committee and the execu-
committee of the Ohio Antislavery Society, under whose
auspices the " Philanthropist "
ence.
was published, held a conferThe executive committee proposed to discuss the sub-
but the market-house committee would listen
nothing but the immediate " discontinuance of the Phi-
ject in public
to
;
'
lanthropist
'
and
total silence
on the subject of slavery."
In
case of refusal to comply with their modest request, they predicted " a
pose,
mob unusual
and desolating
the opinion that the
sons,
and
in its
numbers, determined in
in its ravages."
mob would
its
pur-
Judge Burnett expressed
consist of five thousand per-
that two thirds of the property-holders of the city
�278
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
would join in it. He thought it would be utterly vain for any
man, or set of men, to attempt to restrain it and he asserted
that it would destroy any man who should set himself in opthus revealing both the policy and the power
position to it,
The members of this marof those riotous demonstrations.
;
—
ket-house committee were then asked,
if
the
mob
could be
averted, whether they would be willing that the publications
should be continued.
To this pertinent question the chairman and several of its
members promptly replied that they would not. The executive
committee were then graciously allowed
till
the
noon of
the next day to give their final answer whether or not they
would discontinue the paper. When that hour arrived, the
eight men composing the executive committee of the Ohio
Antislavery Society unanimously and firmly declined to comThe
ply with the impertinent, insolent, and lawless demand.
market-house committee were hardly prepared for such a reIts members found themselves in a predicament they
ply.
standing in the face of law and justice,
did not anticipate
;
and
also of
stitutional
men who
and
firmly planted themselves on their con-
legal rights.
They could only turn
whose representatives they were, and hasten
office,
so that its
announcement could appear
to the
mob,
to resign their
in the
morning
papers of the next day.
On the evening of that day the rioters assembled, and
were regularly organized with a chairman and secretary.
They then resolved that the
press
and type of the " Philan-
thropist" should be thrown into the streets, and that
its
editor
should be notified to leave the city within twenty-four hours.
When
tion
darkness had settled upon the city the work of destruc-
commenced.
The
office
of the obnoxious journal was en-
tered and pillaged, the types scattered, and the press broken
and thrown into the Ohio.
The mob then rushed
to the
wreaked its mean
vengeance, with cowardly brutality, upon the humble homes
of the poor colored people.
About midnight, the mayor, who
dishonored his name and position by his pusillanimity and imbecility, addressed the mob as " friends," told them they had
house of Mr. Birney
;
but, not finding him,
it
�.OUTRAGES IN CINCINNATI.
279
" done enough for one night," that the Abolitionists must be
convinced that they " could not set at naught the public senti-
ment of Cincinnati," and advised them
to
go home, as they
could not punish the guilty without endangering the innocent.
And
the mob, thus systematically organized by wealthy and dis-
tinguished leaders, hastened to their homes, glorying in their
deed of infamy, to be to them ever afterward a reproach and
By
shame.
this act of lawless violence,
however, the ranks of
the Abolitionists of Ohio received many accessions and the circulation of the " Philanthropist " was much increased.
Its
publication
was continued, and soon passed under the
editorial
control of Dr. Gamaliel Bailey, a gentlemen of talent, experience,
Although
and character.
its
types and presses were
three times broken and scattered, that journal was continued
for several years, ever
an earnest and
rights of the oppressed
As already
effective defender of the
and the advocate of
narrated, the
New York
their deliverance.
City Antislavery Society,
organized in the autumn of 1833, was interrupted and driven
from
its
place of meeting
;
the celebration of the 4th of July,
1834, by the American Antislavery Society, was broken up
Tappan was sacked and churches and
and the homes of colored men, were assaulted
and damaged by mob violence. In the city of Philadelphia,
the house of Lewis
;
school-houses,
commenced on the 13th of August, 1834,
which continued during three nights.
Forty-four houses, inalso, a terrible riot
habited by colored persons, were assaulted, damaged, and
them destroyed.
Many
seriously injured, one
was
of
drowned
in attempting to
many
blacks were brutally beaten and
killed
outright,
swim the
and another was
Schuylkill to escape his
Other riotous demonstrations, less serious and
in their character, were made in other portions of the
tormentors.
fatal
country.
These outrages on person and property went on increasand the cruel and dastardly assaults upon the AboliDeeds of lawtionists were renewed with redoubled fury.
less violence were countenanced and often excited by men of
wealth, of high social and political position, and sometimes
ing,
by members of Christian churches.
The
public presses were
�280
filled
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
IN AMERICA.
with the most scandalous and libellous accusations against
leading antislavery men.
Their motives, purposes, and acts
were grossly misrepresented.
Churches and public halls were
They were everywhere made to feel that
they held property and liberty, if not life itself, at the mercy
To be an Aboliof excited, exasperated, and lawless men.
tionist then was to be buffeted, scorned, and outraged. It was,
closed against them.
indeed, a reign of terror.
clergyman of the Methodist church, an early,
and persistent opponent of slavery, while addressing the citizens of Worcester, Massachusetts, on the 10th of
August, was assaulted and his notes seized and torn to pieces
by a mob led by a son of Ex-Governor Lincoln. In the same
year Rev. George Storrs, another Methodist clergyman, an
earnest and effective worker in the cause of emancipation,
while delivering a lecture in New Hampshire, was arrested by
a deputy sheriff, on the wicked charge of being " a common
rioter and brawler." A few months afterward he was arrested
at an antislavery meeting, and dragged from his knees while the
Rev. Mr. Curtis was at prayer, on a writ of the same character,
issued by Moses Norris, afterward a Democratic member of
Congress and senator of the United States. This good man,
universally known and recognized as such, was tried, convicted, and sentenced by a justice of the peace to the House of
Correction for three months. From that unmerited and wicked
sentence he appealed to a higher tribunal, and was no more
Orange
Scott, a
consistent,
molested.
One hundred and
twenty-five of the citizens of Boston peti-
tioned the city authorities for the use of Faneuil Hall for an
antislavery meeting.
nied.
But their prayer was peremptorily de-
Shortly afterward fifteen hundred asked for
speak for liberty, but to apologize for slavery
;
it,
not to
not to resist the
wicked demands of the Slave Power, but to censure and condemn those whose only offence was fidelity to liberty and devotion to the claims of the
On
down-trodden and oppressed.
was crowded by the exThat assemblage was addressed by
the aged Harrison Gray Otis, whose presence and .voice were
the 21st of August, Faneuil Hall
cited citizens of Boston.
�WOMEN MOBBED
always welcome there
IN BOSTON.
and by Peleg Sprague and Richard
;
Fletcher, lawyers of great eminence, in
men
281
whom
the conservative
of those times had unquestioning confidence.
These
ac-
complished orators expatiated upon the compromises of the
Constitution and the obligations of citizenship, apologized for
and so presented and perverted the objects and pur-
slavery,
poses of the Abolitionists as to increase the prejudices already
existing,
and
to
deepen and intensify passions already aroused
against them.
The
legitimate effects of the meeting in Faneuil Hall,
New
of similar meetings in
were everywhere
cities,
violence increased.
and
York, Philadelphia, and other
Riotous demonstrations and
visible.
Wherever the
Abolitionists appeared to
proclaim their doctrines they were denounced by the press,
shunned and censured by the churches, and outraged by the
mob.
Several ladies in Boston and its vicinity, of culture and high
social position, were early led to take a deep interest in the
cause.
They formed an antislavery society, and entered upon
With
the work with zeal, resolution, and tireless industry.
different tastes and culture, opinions and beliefs, they found
common ground
here
Of
this society Mrs,
of action,
— a common
W. Chapman,
Maria
bond of union.
a lady of rare exec-
and accomplishments, its secretary and one of
" Our common cause appears in a
different vesture as presented by differing minds.
One is striving to unbind the slave's manacles, another to secure to all
utive abilities
its
leading members, says
human
:
souls their inalienable rights
;
one to secure the tem-
poral well-being, and another the spiritual benefit, of the en-
slaved of our land.
feel
be shared by the
light
may
Some
labor that the benefits which they
own system of theology may
bondman may have
system for himself. Some that he
they have derived from their
and
bondman
liberty to
form
;
a
others that the
be enabled to hallow the Sabbath day by rest and religious
observances
some, that he
may
wages for the other
work of emancipation by
the sight of scourged and insulted manhood
and others by
the spectacle of outraged womanhood and weeping infancy.
six.
Some
;
receive
are forcibly urged to the
;
36
�AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
282
RISE
Some
labor to preserve from torture the slave's body, and some
Here are differences; nevertheand hearts are one." Deeply grateful that they
for the salvation of his soul.
less our hopes
were among the early
work
called, in those unquiet years, to such a
and excellent women went
of self-sacrifice, these gifted
forth cheerfully to their self-allotted task, praying " for the
sake of the oppressed that
God
will aid us to banish
hearts every vestige of selfishness
;
from our
for in proportion to our
disinterestedness will be our moral power for their deliver-
ance."
It
hardly seems credible,
it
is
certainly not creditable
company
most refined
and laboring for
such purposes could not meet in that city in safety, and that
and yet
the city government could not afford them protection
to
Boston and
and cultivated
its
citizens, that a
ladies,
animated by such a
of its
spirit
;
such
is
the historical fact.
was announced that the Boston Female Antislavery Society would hold a public meeting at their hall in Washington
On the morning of
Street, on the 21st of October, 1835.
that day inflammatory handbills were circulated and threats
were freely uttered. Appeals were made to the city authoriInstead of that these women were reminded
ties for protection.
It
by the marshal that they gave the city officials a great deal of
trouble. It had been published and posted through the city that
" the infamous foreign scoundrel, Thompson," would speak at
it would be a fair opportunity for the friends
the meeting, that
Union to " snake him out," and one hundred dollars
were offered to the individual who would first lay hands on
him " so that he could be brought to the tar-kettle." In the
autumn of the preceding year, George Thompson, one of the
of the
and eloquent men of his age, came to the United
States, at the request of Mr. Garrison and other leading AboliHe had so grandly distintionists in England and America.
guished himself by his brilliant and successful advocacy of
West India emancipation, that when that great triumph had
most
gifted
been won, in 1833, Lord Brougham said " I rise to take the
crown of this most glorious victory from every other head,
and place it upon George Thompson. He has done more than
:
any other
man
to achieve it."
�WOMEN MOBBED
IN BOSTON.
283
He was
an ardent admirer of republican institutions and a
and ever continued his
friendship, in spite of the rude bufferings he received, and the
sincere friend of the United States,
unmeasured abuse which had been heaped upon him by proslavery presses, politicians, and people.
His coming was welcomed by the Abolitionists and for more than a year, in New
England, the central States, and Ohio, he addressed public
meetings in speeches of surpassing eloquence and power. The
country was in a heated ferment, and his presence and speeches
intensified the excitement and added to the bitterness which
everywhere manifested itself. The press, with some honorable exceptions, denounced him as a foreign intruder, intermeddler, British emissary, and "paid agent" of the enemies
of republican institutions.
He was repeatedly hooted at, insulted, and mobbed
but he never uttered an unfriendly word
toward the country, and he struggled on for the removal of
an evil which he pronounced " the nation's disgrace," and
what would prove its ruin, if continued. A few days before
this meeting he had been mobbed in Plymouth County
and so great was the excitement against him, he was then
;
;
secreted by his friends in Boston.
mies, he shortly after
native land.
left
Baffling his frenzied ene-
the country, and returned to his
But when slavery, which, more than a quarter of
a century before, he sought so earnestly to destroy, plunged
the nation into civil war, though sorely enfeebled by his hercu-
lean labors for humanity, he at once and boldly espoused the
cause of United America.
voices raised in
When and where
behalf, his
its
the imperilled land.
its fearful conflict, it
there were few
rang out clear and strong for
Welcomed again
was
to the country during
his privilege to see the flag restored
over the dismantled walls of Sumter, to look into the glad
faces of
emancipated thousands, and
own must have been
thrilled
his words of counsel
and of cheer.
The
thrill their souls, as his
by the scenes before him, with
he was to be at that meeting increased and
To " snake out " of a company
intensified the excitement.
of
belief that
Boston
ladies
that
brilliant
and eloquent Englishman
was unquestionably one of the leading motives which in-
�284
RISE
spired that
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
mob
IN AMERICA.
of self-styled " gentlemen of property and
standing."
At
members of the society
Many others, who had striven to
were turned back by the rioters. The president
Miss Mary Parker, read a portion of the Bible,
the hour of meeting, about thirty
assembled in their room.
enter the hall,
of the society,
and then, in tones heard above the yellings of the mob, offered
up a fervent prayer to God for his blessing upon the cause of
the bondman, his forgiveness of his and their enemies, and his
succor and protection in that hour of peril.
While the secretary wa.s reading the annual report,
strations of the
amid the noisy demonmob, Mayor Lyman entered the room. He
requested and entreated the ladies to dissolve their meeting,
as he could not otherwise preserve the peace.
Surrounded by
masses of excited and clamorous men, these ladies demanded
of the mayor protection and the dispersion of the mob.
But,
though confessing
it
to be his
duty to afford them protection,
he admitted that he could not do so. The meeting then adjourned, and the rioters rushed into the room, fiercely demanding Mr. Garrison.
At the earnest solicitation of the mayor, in order that he
might truthfully assure the mob that he was not in the building, Mr. Garrison attempted to retire quietly to his residence
by a back passage. But he was quickly discovered, seized, a
rope put round him, his hat knocked from his head and cut in
Dragged through
pieces, and his clothes torn from his body.
Wilson's Lane into State Street, he was rescued by the mayor,
his posse, and several respectable citizens, and taken into the
mayor's room in the old State House. From this place he
was conveyed to Leverett Street Jail, to save him from the
fury of the mob.
Upon the walls of that prison he inscribed these words
" William Lloyd Garrison was put into this cell on Monday
:
afternoon, October 21st, 1835, to save
of a respectable and influential mob,
him
all
for
men
him from the violence
who sought to destroy
preaching the abominable and dangerous doctrine that
are created equal, and that all oppression
the sight of God."
He was
is odious in
discharged the next day " as a
�WOMEN MOBBED
blameless citizen," and
left
IN BOSTON.
285
the city for a few days, at the
earnest request of the authorities.
Thus a mob of thousands,
in the city of Boston, assaulted
a meeting of Boston ladies, engaged in a
beneficence, tore
down and dashed
work of
self-denying
in pieces their office-sign,
roughly broke into their hall, dispersed their meeting, laid
hands upon an unoffending citizen, dragged him like a
culprit through the streets, and threatened him with further
indignities and injuries, from which he was only saved by the
friendly shelter of a prison.
And this mob came not from the
purlieus of Fort Hill and Ann Street, but from the countingrooms of State Street and the parlors of Beacon Street. And
all these discreditable acts were done, in the language of one
violent
of their leading organs, " to assure our brethren of the South
that
we cherish
rational
and correct notions on the subject
of'
slavery."
On
the evening of that day Francis Jackson, a brother
and
business partner of William Jackson, then in Congress, and a
gentleman of great firmness of purpose, addressed a
the ladies of the Boston
offering to
them the use
Female Antislavery
letter to
Society, cordially
of his dwelling-house in Hollis Street
was gratefully accepted, and on the 19th of November about one hundred and thirty
ladies and four gentlemen assembled at Mr. Jackson's house.
At that meeting Harriet Martineau, the eminent English authoress, then on a visit to this country, was present.
After the
transaction of business, she, at the request of Ellis Gray Loring, and much to the gratification of the meeting, gave them
these words of hearty indorsement " I had supposed that my
presence here would be understood as showing my sympathy
with you. But, as I am requested to speak, I will say what I
have said through the whole South, in every family where I
for their meetings.
This generous
offer
:
have been, that I consider slavery inconsistent with the law
of
God and incompatible with
the course of his providence.
North than at the South
and I now declare that in
your principles I fully agree." This eminent woman, distinguished alike for her philanthropic and literary works, was
I should certainly say
no less
at the
concerning this utter abomination
;
�286
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
soon given to understand that, in associating with the proscribed Abolitionists,
and
in
avowing her assent
to their doc-
had given offence to the fashionable and leading
These facts and incidents concircles of American society.
vey their own moral, and indicate without commentary the
barbarism of slavery and the rigorous rule of the Slave
trines, she
Power.
�CHAPTER XXI.
RIOTOUS DEMONSTRATIONS.
— Mr. Beardsley. — Joshua A. Spencer. — Hall occupied by
— Meeting in the Church. — Society formed. — Mob. — Convention
broken up. — Members insulted. — Gerrit Smith. — Members invited to meet
Peterboro'. —
of the Society chosen. — Resolution and Speech by Mr.
Smith. — Antislavery Cause placed on High Principle. — Samuel
May.
Mob in Vermont. — Mr. Knapp. — Colonel Miller. — Years of Mobs. — Dedication of Pennsylvania Hall. — Speeches by Alvan Stewart. — Mr. Garrison. —
Mrs. Angelina Grimke Weld. — Miss Abby Kelley. — Mob. — Burning of Pennsylvania Hall. — Impotence of City Authorities.
Convention at Utica.
Citizens.
at
Officers
J.
There may have been nothing
striking or peculiar in the fact
that similar demonstrations of this violence were exhibited and
were encountered by the active friends of freedom throughout
the North. Like an epidemic, as perhaps it was,
there being
moral epidemics, — the
—
spirit of riot seemed to rule the hour
more probable, the disease being generally diffused, consequently, when the proper remedy was exhibited, the disturbance became as general as the malady. Hence, on the same
21st of October on which occurred the disgraceful scenes in
Boston, similar demonstrations were made in Central New York
and in the capital of Vermont.
;
or,
On that day there assembled in the city of Utica a large and
imposing convention of six hundred delegates for the purpose
of forming a State antislavery society.
The proposition for it
came from Alvan Stewart, a resident of that city and president
The court-house had been engaged for the purpose. When it became known that the convention was to be holden in the court-house, by the consent of
the city council, certain persons, styled respectable and prominent gentlemen, called a public meeting, and adopted measures
for the occupation of the same room on the day the convention
of a local association there.
�AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
288
RISE
was
to meet.
IN AMERICA.
Samuel Beardsley, a lawyer of that city, a Demoof Congress, declared in the most emphatic manner that " it would he better to have Utica razed to its foundations, to have it destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah, than to
have the convention meet here."
cratic
member
This absurd declaration
—
so like the
bate on the United States Bank,
won
man who,
" Perish credit, perish commerce " Beardsley
indorsement of the meeting
vent,
;
and
it
in the de-
the famous soubriquet of
— received
the
forthwith resolved to pre-
possible, the assembling of the convention.
That most
Joshua A. Spencer, a lawyer of'
commanding ability, though not an Abolitionist, strenuously
opposed the measure, and vindicated the right of free discusif
eminent
citizen of the place,
When the delegates assembled, they found the courtsion.
house occupied by a crowd of excited and. maddened citizens.
Repairing to the Second Presbyterian church, they organized
Judge Brewster of Genesee
County for president, and Rev. Mr. Wetmore of Utica, who
had been a soldier of the Revolution, as secretary. Alvan
the convention by the election of
Stewart
reported
the
draft
of
a
constitution,
which was
adopted, and the State Antislavery Society was formed, while
the crowd without was clamoring for admission.
Lewis Tappan then commenced reading the Declaration of Sentiments.
While thus engaged, the mob broke into the church and endeavored to prevent the reading
ency, he continued until
it
was
;
but with his usual persist-
finished,
when
the paper
was
adopted by a rising vote.
A
committee of twenty-five from the meeting at the court-
house then came forward, headed by Judge Charles Hayden,
and presented a series of condemnatory resolutions. When
the resolutions had been read, the rioters, drunk with passion
and poor liquor, belched forth their maledictions. The chair-
man
of the committee, addressing the rioters as his friends,
expressed the hope that they would permit the convention to
answer the accusations made against it. Mr. Beardsley, too,
would have his friends " exercise patience and long-suffering,
even toward such an assembly as this." He wished to know
what apology the convention could make. " They profess,"
�RIOTOUS DEMONSTRATIONS IN NEW YORK.
he said, " to come here on an errand of religion
;
289
while under
disguise they are hypocritically plotting the dissolution of the
They have been warned beforehand, have been treated
with unexampled patience and, if they now refuse to yield to
our demands, and any unpleasant circumstance should follow,
we shall not be responsible."
His inflammatory and seditious harangue, whether so designed or not, had the effect to further exasperate the rioters.
Curses, imprecations, and blasphemies filled the air, and threats
The convention
of violence were freely made and reiterated.
hurriedly adjourned, and members of the committee demanded
Union.
;
of the venerable secretary the record of
its
Re-
proceedings.
was seized by the collar and
threatened with violence. " A member of the committee of
twenty-five," says Samuel J. May, " a man holding an important public office, raised his cane over the head of that venerafusing to yield the record, he
Give the papers
and cried out
At this, another of the
up, or I will strike you on the head.'
committee, a young man, his son, sprang forward and begged
ble minister of the gospel,
him
them
:
'
'
Do, father, give them up, and save your
to
me, and
again.' "
off
;
With
I will pledge
this
Give
life.
myself to give them to you
Mr. Wetmore complied, and he was
let
without further harm.
The mob triumphed
;
Amid
but the society was formed.
those scenes of lawlessness, brutality, and violence the consti-
and Declaration of Sentiments were adopted, though no
were elected, nor could any more business be transacted. In the public houses, in the streets, wherever they were
It had
seen, the members of the convention were insulted.
been announced in advance that Lewis Tappan would be
mobbed if he attended the convention. To a man like Lewis
tution
officers
Tappan such a menace acted rather as a provocation than a
and, though it had been his purpose not to attend,
dissuasive
this threat made him feel that it was his duty to be there. His
;
presence, naturally enough, and that of a few other well-known
Abolitionists, exasperated the rioters
and excited them
extreme violence.
Gerrit Smith was present, though not a delegate
37
;
to
more
nor did
�290'
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
His largehe intend to take any part in its proceedings.
and
however,
benevolence
antecedents,
prevented
hearted
in-
and lack of interest in such a meeting, called
His father had been a gentleman of
vast wealth, of great landed possessions, and a slaveholder.
Though he saw slavery in its mildest forms, he early realized
that it was unjust, and he had hailed the day when it was
He had welcomed
utterly extinguished in his native State.
difference
for such
a purpose.
the Colonization Society, largely contributed to
its
funds, and,
though his views had been modified by the discussions which had
taken place, had, up to that time, continued to entertain some
degree of confidence in
its
it.
Becoming convinced, however, that
tendency was proslavery rather than antislavery, he paid
amounting to
He came to
The scenes he there
the Utica convention to see for himself.
witnessed aroused and alarmed him. He could hesitate no
longer.
He felt that the time for him to act had come. He
invited the members of the convention to meet in his township
A portion accepted his invitation, and on their
of Peterboro'.
arrival there were cordially received by Mr. Smith and his
About three hundred members of the society were
neighbors.
present, officers were elected, and its organization completed.
At that meeting Mr. Smith introduced a resolution declaring
that the right of free discussion, given by God, and asserted
and guarded by the laws of the country, was one so vital to the
into its treasury the balance of a subscription
three thousand dollars, and abandoned
freedom, dignity, and usefulness of
it
man
forever.
that
it
could not be
surrendered without consenting to exchange liberty for slavery,
and dignity and usefulness
ness.
He
for
debasement and worthlcss-
supported his resolution in a speech of rare and
convincing force.
Placing free discussion on the basis of a
Divine right, he wanted men to defend it on the ground that
God gave it. " It is not to be disguised," he said, " that war
has broken out between the South and the North, not early to
be terminated.
Political
and commercial men,
for their
purposes, are industriously striving to restore peace
;
own
but the
True
and permanent peace can only be restored by removing the
peace they accomplish will be superficial and hollow.
�RIOTOUS DEMONSTRATIONS IN
cause of the war,
— that
NEW YORK AND VERMONT.
slavery.
is,
It
291
cannot ever be estab-
The sword, now drawn, will not
the deep and damning stain is washed out
lished on any other terms.
be sheathed until
from our nation.
It is idle, criminal, to
He
other terms."
their side, in the great battle
who were
between liberty and slavery, those
willing to leave their countrymen to the tender mer-
cies of slavery forever.
so small,
speak of peace on any
declared that he did not wish to muster on
who
But they wanted that
class,
be
ever
Seldom, dur-
This language was discriminating and prophetic.
ing the thirty years' struggle then commencing, was
more
it
" will stand on the rock of Christian principle."
correctly characterized.
It
it
ever
placed the cause of emanci-
pation on the high plane of conscience and religious obligation,
and foreshadowed a peaceful solution of the great problem before them which only the fewness and lukewarmness of its
friends and the madness of its foes prevented.
In October of the same year, Samuel J. May gave several
He
lectures in Vermont, where he was five times mobbed.
was
invited to address the
Vermont Antislavery
Montpelier, during the session of the legislature.
Society at
The
hall of
House of Representatives was obtained for his first meeting, which was held on the evening of the 20th of October.
The hall was filled, many members of the legislature being
present.
Eggs and stones were thrown through the windows,
Mr. May only pausing to say, as they passed by " Ah, we are
contending with greater evils than these " Chauncey L.
Knapp, then a publisher of the " State Journal," afterward a
member of Congress from Massachusetts, here arose and appealed to the sheriff of the county, who was present, to arrest
those outside who were disturbing the meeting.
But that
the
:
!
functionary shrank from the performance of his duty.
At
the close of the meeting Mr.
May was
invited to address
the people in the largest church in the village, and accepted
the invitation.
The next day placards were posted through
the town warning the people against attending the meeting,
as
it
would be broken up by violence.
In the afternoon of
that day, while the gentlemen of Boston were assaulting the
Female Antislavery Society in that
city
and the mob
in
�292
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
Utica was dispersing the convention there, the president of the
bank, the postmaster, and
capital of
five
Vermont addressed a
other leading citizens of the
letter to
Mr. May, requesting
him to leave the town " without any further attempt to hold
forth the absurd doctrines of antislavery,
and save them the
Though
trouble of using any other measures to that effect."
a gentleman of marked gentleness of manner and speech,
he was not the man to be deterred from the performance
of a high duty by such a request, nor by any menace, however
violent.
At the hour appointed, a prayer having been
Mr. Hurlburt, Mr.
May
offered
by Rev.
rose to address the meeting, which
had he uttered a sentence
mob, Mr. Hubbard, president of
the bank, rose in the midst of a gang of rowdies, and perempTo
torily demanded that he should refrain from speaking.
thronged the house.
when
this
Scarcely
the ringleader of the
demand he
replied
liberty of speech
one of your
by the
number
fellow-citizens,
who
" Is this the respect paid to the
:
Vermont ? Let any
and give reasons why his
free people of
step forward
wish, should not be permitted
to
hear
the lecture I have been invited here to deliver.
If I cannot
show these reasons to be fallacious, I will yield
mand. But, for the sake of our essential rights,
to
ceed,
if I
your de-
I shall pro-
can."
was again assailed by
Hubbard and his associates. Mr.
Knapp remonstrated against such proceedings, and implored
But his
the people to desist from a proceeding so disgraceful.
words were unheeded by the mob, which, with noisy threats,
rushed toward the pulpit. At that moment Colonel Miller, a
brave coadjutor of Dr. Samuel G. Howe in the Greek Revolu-
Commencing
his
lecture anew, he
boisterous outcries from
tion, a
man
of well-known courage and great physical power,
stepped forward in front of the advancing rioters, and said to
Mr. Hubbard, their leader, " If you do not stop this outrage
now,
I
'11
knock you down."
The advancing mob was checked
but the people were alarmed and hurried from the house, the
meeting was broken up, and the purposes of the ruffians were
accomplished.
�RIOTOUS DEMONSTRATIONS IN PENNSYLVANIA.
293
An account of these disgraceful proceedings was published
by Mr. Knapp, and contributed not a little to the general
awakening of the people of the State. This exposure of the
rioters and of the disgraceful conduct of their ringleaders,
headed by a bank president, brought down upon him threats
but they ended in nothing more serious than the
of violence
;
removal of his
office-sign,
which was flung into the
river.
These high-handed outrages, perpetrated on the same day
and
in Boston, Montpelier, and Utica, were noised abroad
though deprecated and condemned by the faithful few were
;
generally applauded, alike at the North and South, by those
who considered
Abolitionists out of the pale of legal protec-
tion, to be treated as the
The
enemies of their country and race.
which had marked the year
riotous demonstrations
1834 seemed
to culminate in the year 1835, in
which a reign
Churches and
and limb were endangered,
of terror prevailed throughout the free States.
public halls were assaulted,
life
and roughly handled, and
circumstances of imminent peril.
Rev. Jona-
antislavery speakers were rudely
often placed in
than Blanchard, afterward president of Wheaton College, spent
a portion of that year in delivering lectures in Pennsylvania.
Within the brief space of one month, twenty-five of thirty
many of them broken up.
Henry B. Stanton, on leaving Lane Seminary, was at once
employed as lecturer and agent of the American Antislavery
Being earnest, enthusiastic, and eloquent, he took
Society.
meetings were interrupted, and
his place at once
among
the most prominent and popular of
Between that time and
the antislavery orators of that day.
the year 1840,
when he was
sent to England to attend the
New England, New York,
and Pennsylvania more than one thousand addresses and lectures.
Though he was resolute, adroit, and magnetic, and, of
course, had uncommon power over popular assemblies, more
than one hundred and fifty of those meetings were interrupted
and partially or completely broken up by violence.
Theodore D. Weld, leaving Lane Seminary at the same
time, engaged for two or three years in the same work,
"World's Convention, he delivered in
— mainly
in
the Central
States
and the West.
He.
too,
�294
RISE.
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
possessed in an eminent degree those rare gifts of oratory
whose mission it generally is to soothe and subdue as well as
And yet the demoniac rage of those
to thrill and convince.
proslavery times was too great for even his persuasive powers
and he, too, passed through a continual series of like outrages,
many of which, especially at the West, were of a most brutal
and violent character. And these are but illustrations of those
dark and troublous times in which the early pioneers of immediate emancipation were called to act, and in which they revealed the strength of their principles, the firmness of their
purposes, and the heroism of their characters.
Among
the deeds of lawlessness which characterized those
days, the burning of Pennsylvania Hall stands out in disgraceful
pre-eminence, in which the violence of the
mob was
equalled by the pusillanimity of the city government.
only
Ex-
cluded from churches and halls, the Abolitionists and other
friends of free discussion in Philadelphia erected in that city, at
the cost of about forty thousand dollars, Pennsylvania Hall.
was dedicated on the 14th of May, 1838, and David Paul
It
Brown was selected as the orator of the
Was the theme of his eloquent oration.
occasion.
A
Liberty
poetical address,
from the pen of John G. Whittier, was read by Charles C. Burleigh.
Letters were received and read from the most eminent
lawyers of the State.
Walter Forward, afterward Secretary of the Treasury, in
response to the invitation to be present, wrote that the right
to speak, to write,
and
to petition
governments must not be
" They are to be," he
abridged, questioned, or surrendered.
said, " fearlessly asserted at all times, in all places, and under
all
circumstances."
Thomas
Morris, then senator from Ohio,
sent a long, earnest, and eloquent letter, in which the right of
" free discussion
discussion without fear of the pistol of the
—
duellist, the knife of the assassin, the fagot of the incendiary,
— was
more dangerous fury of the unbridled mob "
declared to be a right the people must and would have.
or the
still
Rev. Dr.
The
Beman of the State of New York, who, twelve
like too many of the early advocates of freedom
S. S.
years later,
that faltered and yielded to the fearful pressure, gave in his ad-
�RIOTOUS DEMONSTRATIONS IN PENNSYLVANIA.
295
hesion to the Fugitive Slave Act, could not be present
;
but
lie
sent an expression of his abhorrence of chains and stripes, and
the joy he
felt
in Philadelphia
that there
which "
was a
will not
spirit in existence
bow
and awake
to the altar of slavery,
nor
tamely submit to the dictation of those who declare in high
places that
it is
a wise and holy institution, and that
it
shall be
perpetual."
During three days meetings were held and speeches were
to crowded assemblies for temperance, for the Indian,
and for the slave. Alvan Stewart spoke of the hall they were
then consecrating to free discussion, and which the mob was
so soon to give to the flames, as " Pity's home," the spot to
which " the pilgrim of humanity " would come, the " resting-
made
place of the fugitive," " the slave's audience-chamber," around
which " the sympathies of noble hearts and the prayers of the
poor would gather." Charles C. Burleigh, Alanson St. Clair,
Arnold Buffum, and others, joined in dedicating that
the rights and interests of humanity.
hall to
At that time a national convention of antislavery women
was sitting in the same city, and it was announced that some
of its members would address the audience on the evening of
The room was thronged, and thousands went
the third day.
away, unable to find entrance. A vast crowd gathered outside
of the building, volleys of stones were hurled against the win-
dows, and the audience was interrupted with yells and other
riotous demonstrations of a determination to break
Many,
meeting.
up the
too, within the hall, joined in this attempt.
Mr. Garrison, referring to the sneers of the slaveholders and
their allies
against the labors of the
women, maintained
that
every good cause ultimately triumphed which received their
support and he averred that West India emancipation was
" mainly owing, under God, to the quenchless devotion, un;
tiring zeal,
land."
and indomitable perseverance of the women of Eng-
In the presence of the disorderly spirits within and
without the building, Avho sought to silence the voice of free
discussion, he proclaimed that there should be no silence until
the howlings of the bereaved slave-mother were turned into
shouts of joy.
�296
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
In the midst of these shoutings and the tumult of the
ers,
Mrs. Maria
W. Chapman
of Boston arose,
riot-
and calmly ex-
pressed her earnest desire that " the spirit of Divine truth
might so
far penetrate the hearts of all present that they
be prepared to listen to the wail
now coming up
would
them from
Miss Angelina Grimke
the burning fields of the South."
to
then addressed the stormy assemblage, pleading with earnest,
tender, and persuasive eloquence the cause of the slave.
She
was brought *up under the wing of slavery, l}ad seen
its horrors and witnessed its demoralizing influences.
She
had never seen " a happy slave," though she had seen him
said she
" dance in his chains."
Declaring that
men who
held the rod
over the slave ruled in the councils of the nation, she, as a
Southern woman, attached' to the land of her birth, appealed
to the
women
of Philadelphia to imitate the zeal and love, faith
and works, of
their English sisters for the deliverance of the
oppressed.
This eloquent Southern woman, self-exiled from her native
State because of her abhorrence of slavery,
Miss
Abby Kelley
lady of superior
ments.
of Massachusetts.
abilities,
was followed by
Miss Kelley was a young
personal attractions, and accomplish-
Early accepting the doctrine of immediate emancipa-
tion, she zealously
espoused
'the
cause of freedom and conse-
advocacy time, talent, property, and health. For
more than a generation she labored with tireless energy in that
self-denying service. If her stern and unsparing denunciations
crated to
its
against slaveholders and their allies were sometimes applied,
with too
little
discrimination, to those
who
did not fully accept
her views and adopt her modes of action in their opposition
to slavery and the Slave Power, none who knew her failed to
recognize the sincerity of her convictions and the integrity of
her purpose.
Rising on that occasion to address, as she said, for the
first
time, a promiscuous assembly, she declared that it was not
" the maddening rush of those voices," nor " the crashing of
those windows " that called her before them but it was " the
still, small voice within " that bade her open her mouth for the
;
dumb, and plead the cause of God's perishing
poor.
�RIOTOUS DEMONSTRATIONS IN PENNSYLVANIA.
297
mob began again to
managers called upon
protection but the day passed
Early on the morning of the 17th the
assemble about the
the police and the
without any
The board
hall.
mayor
for
of
;
measures by these
efficient
officials for
the dis-
But about
sunset the mayor informed the board that he would disperse
The keys
the mob if the building was placed in his hands.
addressed
the
riotous
he
were accordingly given to him and
assemblage, assuring them that there would be no meeting
that evening, as the building had been given up to the authoriHe reminded the excited and lawless thouties for protection.
sands before him that he looked on them as his police for, he
Bidding the
said, " we never call out the military here."
persion of the rioters and the promotion of order.
:
;
crowd good night, he
retired to his office.
The mob, separating
for a short time,
immediately re-assem-
commenced their assaults upon its
Summoning his force of police and fire-
bled before the hall, and
doors and windows.
companies, the mayor found himself utterly powerless for the
protection of the hall
to
freedom and to
It is
;
and that beautiful building, consecrated
was soon enveloped in flames.
free discussion,
estimated that fifteen thousand persons looked on that
work of destruction, unable, if willing, to stay its progress.
Having accomplished their object, the rioters, with characteristic cowardice, meanness, and brutality, assailed, during the
next two days, the negroes of the city. They attacked and set
fire to "the shelter for colored orphans," a charitable institution,
having no connection with the Abolitionists.
Bethel
Church was attacked and damaged and the private dwellings
of colored persons were surrounded, and their inmates threatened with violence. The conduct of the mayor and the city
authorities throughout this affair was utterly inefficient, and
in the highest degree discreditable.
Liberty, justice, and law
were sacrificed by them on the altar of prejudice against race
and color.
The police committee afterward sought to screen themselves
from deserved reproach, in an official report, by apologizing for
the atrocities of the mob and criminating the Abolitionists as
;
the really guilty parties.
38
The excitement, they contended, was
�298
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
*
occasioned by the determination of the owners of the building
it " doctrines repulsive
to persevere in openly promulgating in
moral sense of a large majority of our community."
That impotent report, with its false assumptions, reckless
assertions, and evasive statements, only demonstrated the feebleness and imbecility of the civil authority and police force
of Philadelphia, and was but a poor apology for manifest
to the
neglect of public duty.
The
actors themselves in those scenes
of arson and brutality were generally actuated by low, vulgar,
and malicious hatred of the African race
the thousands
inactive,
who witnessed
;
while too
many
of
those lawless deeds, stood by
and saw the incendiary torch applied
to that magnifi-
cent hall, erected and consecrated to freedom of speech, were
impelled by the unmanly desire to propitiate Southern favor,
the sordid greed of Southern gain, and the ignoble fear of
Southern offence.
�CHAPTER
XXII.
SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
—
— Sectional Claims. — Capital
on Slave
— Inhumanity of the Slave
Laws. —
used by Slave-traders. — Randolph's Resolution. — Speech. —
— Mr. Miner's
Judge Morrell. — Petition of the Citizens against the
Resolutions and Speech. — Resolutions adopted. — Committee. — Communication
the Grand Jury against the Slave-trade. — Slave-traders licensed by
the City
bare backs. —
"Washington. — Men and Women whipped on
Laws against Free Negroes. — Responsibility of the Northern People. — Arrest,
The Seat
of
Government.
fixed
Soil.
Slave Codes of Virginia and Maryland indorsed.
Jails
Traffic.
of
their
of
Imprisonment, and Trial of Dr. Reuben Crandall.
The
Constitution having conferred upon Congress sole ju-
risdiction in all cases whatsoever over a territory not exceeding
ten miles square, to be ceded to the Federal government as
the capital of the nation, the question of location
toward the close of
its
first
session.
came up
It excited the
deepest
and the strongest sectional feelings were manifested.
The Eastern States would have been content to retain the seat
of government in the city of New York.
Pennsylvania sought
Southern members insisted
to win it back to Philadelphia.
upon locating it upon the Potomac. Eastern members, supported by Pennsylvania, strove to conciliate the South by a
proposition to locate it on the banks of the Susquehanna but
that proposition was strenuously resisted.
The House was
told by even the moderate Mr. Madison that, " if that day's
proceedings had been foreseen, Virginia would never have ratified the Constitution."
These conflicting claims and sectional
interest,
;
interests defeated, at that session, all propositions for the lo-
cation of the national capital either on the Susquehanna, the
At the next, however, a " bar"
gain
was consummated, by which the House of RepresentaDelaware, or the Potomac.
tives, after
taking the yeas and nays thirteen times, decided,
�300
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
EISE
IN AMERICA.
by a majority of three, in favor of the Potomac.
capital of the
new
Thus the
republic was placed on soil then and thence-
forward polluted by the system of
human
slavery,
and two
generations of statesmen have thus been surrounded by the
perverting and blinding influences of slaveholding society.
Instead of providing a code of humane, equal, and uniform
laws for the government of the territory ceded by Maryland
and Virginia, Congress enacted, on the 27th of February,
1801, that the laws of the former should be enforced on the
north side and those of the latter on the south side of the
Thus the
Potomac.
own
nation, by accepting
and adopting as
its
these cruel and revolting statutes, became guilty of the
astounding inconsistency of enacting for the capital of a Christian republic, just starting on its national career, the colonial
legislation of a
monarchial government adopted for the con-
its policy had forced
upon them.
In 1827 the House Committee of the District of Columbia
trol of the wild
hordes from Africa which
affirmed, in a report, that " in this District, as in all slavehold-
ing States, the legal presumption
at large,
is
that persons of color going
without any evidences of their freedom, are abscond-
ing slaves, and prima facie liable to
the legal provisions
all
This committee further
stated that in the portion of the District ceded by Virginia " a
applicable to that class of persons."
free negro
may
be arrested and put in
jail for three
months
on suspicion of being a fugitive, then to be hired out to pay
and, if he does not prove his freedom within
his jail fees
;
twelve months, to be sold as a slave."
ceded by Maryland, it reported that "
And
should be apprehended as a runaway, he
payment
of all fines
hension of runaways
is liable to
in
a free
if
is
and, on failure to
be sold as a slave."
of color
subjected to the
and rewards given by law
;
the territory
man
for the appre-
make such payment,
Thus by the
act of the nation,
which the whole people were responsible, a colored citizen
visiting its capital was " by legal presumption an absconding
slave," and " might be apprehended as a runaway," be " subjected to the payment of fines and rewards," or be " sold as
a slave for the payment of jail fees."
for
�SLAVERY AND SLAVE-TRADE
By
IN
THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 301
a statute of Maryland, enacted in 1717, and continued
in force
by act of Congress, the testimony of no free negro or
mulatto could be received as evidence in any matter whatever
wherein any white person was concerned.
This legal pre-
sumption that color was evidence of servitude,
this act invali-
dating the testimony of persons of color, placed the property,
the liberty, and the lives of free persons of color in the capital
of the nation at the
mercy of
avaricious, violent,
and aban-
Every colored man whose feet pressed the
soil of the District was presumed to be a slave, and his tesGreedy and
timony afforded him no protection whatever.
doned white men.
grasping avarice might withhold from him the fruits of his
or clutch from
upon him,
him his little
acquisitions
;
toil,
the brutal might visit
and his children, insults, indignities, blows
the kidnapper might enter his dwelling and seize and drag his
loved ones from his hearthstone every outrage the depravity
of man could invent or suggest might be perpetrated on him,
his family, his race,
but his oath on the Evangelists, though
his name might be written in the Book of Life, could neither
protect him' from wrong nor punish the wrong-doer.
These laws and ordinances, sanctioned by Congress, and
for which the people of the United States were responsible,
bore the legitimate fruits of injustice and inhumanity, dishonor and shame. Crimes against persons of African descent
were often perpetrated in the national capital. They were
his wife,
;
—
seized, imprisoned, fined,
servitude.
selfish,
The laws
and sometimes sold into perpetual
offered tempting bribes to the base, the
and the unprincipled to become manstealers and kidThese bribes converted government officials not
nappers.
only into
slave-catchers, but also into slave manufacturers.
Thousands of persons of African descent were seized and imprisoned, and the jail became a work-shop, where the sordid
and cruel traffickers plied their trade in the bodies and souls
of men.
The augmented value of slave labor gave increasing activity
to the domestic slave-traffic, and the capital early became a
great slave-mart.
There grew up a race of official and unofficial
man-hunters, greedy, active, dexterous
;
ever ready,
�302
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
EISE
by falsehood,
who
trickery,
carried not with
The
and violence,
him
IN AMERICA.
man
to clutch the black
his title to freedom.
atrocities there perpetrated
moved
to indignation
John
Randolph, though ever vigilant in watching the interests of
slave-masters and ever ready to defend the slave system.
He
submitted a resolution in 1816 for the appointment of a committee to consider the expediency of putting an end to the
slave-trade in the District.
He denounced it as a " nefarious "
"
traffic,
in comparison with which the traffic from Africa to
Jamaica
a mercy,
is
put a stop "
—a
He
virtue."
invoked the House to
a practice not surpassed for abomination in any
" Not even upon the rivers upon the Afripart of the world."
can coast," said he, " is there so great and nefarious a slave-
market as
to
in this metropolis, the very seat of
this nation,
which prides
itself
on freedom."
government of
He
declared that
there could be no comparison between taking the negro from
his native wilds and " tearing the civilized negro from his
" I have," he
from a respectable gentleman A poor negro, by hard work and by saving his allowance, laid by money enough to purchase the freedom of his
friends, his wife, his children, his parents."
said, " this
day heard a horrible
fact
:
The poor
and the next day the
was mortified at being told by
a foreigner of high rank
You call this a land of liberty, and
every day things are done in it at which the despotisms of
Europe would be horror-struck.' " The resolution was adopted,
the committee appointed, and Mr. Randolph was made its
wife
and
child.
woman and
child were sold.
:
chairman.
He
fellow died,
I
'
presented a report stating the facts relating
to the slave-trade in the District
;
but he failed to report a
measure for the suppression, or even the regulation, of a
traffic which he had in such unmeasured terms denounced.
Judge Morrell, too, of the Circuit Court of the United States,
bore his testimony to the enormity of the brutal commerce. In
a charge to the grand jury, he said that " the frequency with
Avhich the streets of the city have been crowded with manacled
captives, sometimes on the Sabbath, could not fail to shock
the feelings of
all
humane persons."
So thought many
citi-
zens of the District; for on the 21th of March, 1828, more
�SLAVERY AND SLAVE-TRADE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 303
its inhabitants presented a memorial to
Congress, in which they declared that " it was not alone from
than one thousand of
the rapacity of slave-traders that the colored race in this District
were doomed to
a procedure
among
suffer
that the laws sanction and direct
;
unparalleled in
glaring injustice
the governments of Christendom."
borne in mind, was Southern testimony
standing
its
;
by anything
This,
and
is
it
to be
yet, notwith-
unequivocal and damaging character, the nation
adopted no measures to abate, or even to regulate, the
any way to
rible trade, or in
ter-
relieve it of its fearful hardships
and horrors.
In January, 1829, Mr. Miner of Pennsylvania introduced a
preamble and resolutions concerning slavery and the slavetrade in the District, setting forth the power of Congress, the
and the practices,
and he proposed that the committee on
responsibility of the government, the laws,
that
had grown up
;
the District be instructed to inquire into the slave-trade in the
and report such amendments to existing laws as
might seem just and farther to consider the expediency of
District,
;
providing for the gradual abolition of slavery itself therein.
In support of his proposition, Mr. Miner made an earnest and
effective speech.
He
declared that the slave-trade, as
it
ex-
was" marked by
instances of injustice and
cruelty scarcely exceeded on the coast of Africa "
and that it
was a " mistake to suppose it a mere purchase and sale of
isted in the capital,
;
acknowledged slaves."
He
and cruelty
had drawn from a grand
jury in Alexandria a presentment, in which grievances were
clearly set forth and legislative redress demanded.
He disclosed many appalling acts of unblushing injustice and atrostated that the extent
of the traffic, so long ago as 1802,
city.
"
We
of Ireland
suffer, in
own
our
;
feel
deeply," said Mr. Miner, " for the sufferings
we weep
for the miseries of the
Greeks
;
but
we
a race of a different color, under our
own
eye and
jurisdiction, scenes of greater cruelty
and
injustice
than are acted on the other side of the Atlantic. We move
on the surface of the stream, where the sunbeams play, and
where the glittering waves sparkle with hope, joy, and pleasure
;
and we pass on unconscious of the dark counter-current
�304
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
that flows beneath, imbittered by the tears and impelled by the
sighs of the wretched."
Mr.
Weems
of Maryland opposed the adoption of the resoBut the resolution concerning the slave-trade was
adopted by a vote of more than two to one, and even that
lutions.
concerning gradual
And
emancipation
received
a vote
equally
notwithstanding these decisive votes, Mr.
Stevenson, a slaveholding speaker, so constructed the commitstrong.
yet,
no further action w as taken upon the subject.
In 1829 the grand jury made a communication to Congress
tee that
r
it was said that " the whole community would be
by the interference of Congress for the suppression
of these receptacles and the exclusion of this disgusting traffic
from the District." The " Washington Spectator," in 1830,
in
which
gratified
indignantly denounced those " processions," so often seen in
the streets of that city, of
human
beings handcuffed in pairs
wending their way to the slave-ships
which were to bear them to the distant South and yet this
abominable traffic, denounced by judges and grand juries, citizens and presses, instead of being suppressed by Congress,
was legalized two years afterward by the corporation of the
city of Washington
and slave-traders were licensed, for the
paltry sum of four hundred dollars, to pollute the capital of
the nation with their brutalizing commerce.
Congress in 1820 had empowered the corporation of Washor chained in couples,
;
;
ington to punish slaves
by whipping, not exceeding
forty stripes,
was enacted that for several trifling offences men and
women should be thus whipped on their bare backs. As late
as 1836 the city authorities enacted that any free colored perand
it
son going at large after ten o'clock at night should be locked
up
until
morning.
Under
color of that
burdensome and
op-
pressive enactment, colored persons going to or returning from
their callings were often seized
free colored persons
and imprisoned.
were required
to exhibit to the
factory evidence of their title to freedom,
with
five securities, in
and
By
statute,
mayor
to enter into
satis-
bonds
the penalty of one thousand dollars, the
renewed every year and for failure a fine of twenty
dollars was to be imposed, and they were to be sent to the
bond
to be
;
�SLAVERY AND SLAVE-TRADE
IN
THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 305
was made the duty of police constables to enter
hour of ten
o'clock at night, and disperse Christian men and women, even
in the act of listening to the story of salvation, and of offering
to their Creator the gratitude and prayers of contrite hearts.
From 1827 to 1850 the corporation of Washington and
Georgetown continued to enact cruel, degrading, and indecent
statutes, offending the taste, insulting the reason, and perverting the moral sense of civilized man. As these facts became
workhouse.
It
religious meetings of persons of color after the
known, through the persistent proclamation of the earnest men
and women engaged in this new reform and it was shown
that these inhuman and outrageous statutes were not the laws
of some slaveholding State, the municipal regulations of some
;
Southern
city,
but of the capital of the nation, deriving
all their
—
large numbers of Northfrom congressional legislation,
ern citizens revolted from such voluntary complicity with anything so disgraceful, and readily lent their influence and names
force
to the effort for the abolition of slavery
the District of Columbia.
Hence
and the slave-trade
in
the petitions, and the persist-
ency with which they were pushed, for that purpose.
Still, though there were these Northern exhibitions of interest
and a growing indignation, there were constantly occurring
at the capital, as well as elsewhere, illustrations of a very dif-
ferent character.
The gross infringements by the Slave Power
and
which the nation submitted, and the
of the rights of whites as well as blacks, the degrading
intolerable surveillance to
which the people regarded these flagrant outrages, find many examples in the history of those days.
Of
them is the case of Dr. Reuben Crandall, brother of Miss Crandall of the Canterbury School, who went to Washington in
1835 to lecture on one of the natural sciences. He was a
Christian gentleman of unblemished reputation, of scientific
attainments, and deeply interested in the cause of education.
While engaged in his office, he received some packages wrapped
in newspapers, among which were a few copies of the " Emantorpidity with
cipator "
and " Antislavery Reporter." As he was unpacking
his boxes, at the request of a gentleman present he gave him
a copy of one of those publications.
Having read it, the gen39
�306
RISE
tlcman
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
left it at
IN AMERICA.
Falling into the hands
a neighboring store.
Indeed, so great
of others, it produced no little excitement.
was the agitation created by the unwitting circulation of the
offending document, that Dr. Crandall was arrested, thrown
into jail, and the fear was freely expressed by the officers that
he was in danger of a mob. He was brought to trial before a
United States court, ably defended, and acquitted, but not until
he had lain in a common jail, charged with crime, for nearly
The enormity of this outrage appears greater
eight months.
from the indictment under which he was tried. It contained
five counts, charging him with publishing malicious and wicked
libels, with the intent to excite sedition and insurrection among
the slaves and colored people of the District.
The evidence
relied on was incorporated into the indictment in the form of
extracts from these antislavery publications, found in his pos-
Among them was
session.
Arthur Tappan
to
onization Society
sir,
:
from a
this extract
letter
from
Mr. Gurley, secretary of the American Col"
We
will not insult
your understanding,
with any elaborate attempt to prove to you that the de-
scendants of African parents, born in this country, have as
good a claim to a residence in it as the descendants of Engthat no man's
lish, German, Danish, Scotch, or Irish parents
right to freedom is suspended upon, or taken away by, his desire to remain in his native country." In another count there
were extracts from another article. Among them, this " Our
plan of emancipation is simply this to promulgate the doctrine of human rights in high places and low places, and in all
places where there are human beings to give line upon line."
Such were the charges under color of which a Christian gen;
:
:
;
tleman of culture and refinement was arrested, confined, and
tried in the capital of this Christian nation.
What must have
been the necessities of a system that could not bear the pres-
What must have
?
would perpetrate such
And what must have been the tone and temper of the
ence of a few such papers and pamphlets
been the moral condition of a
an act
nation
?
city that
that could, without remonstrance, permit one of its
citizens to linger for
weary months in a
felon's cell, for
having
in his possession a few papers that expressed sentiments that
he, and every Christian, should cherish
?
�CHAPTER
PETITIONS AGAINST SLAVERY
TRICT OF COLUMBIA.
XXIII.
AND THE SLAVE-TRADE
OF THE RIGHT OF
— DENIAL
IN
THE
DIS-
PETITION.
— Debate thereon. — Petitions laid on
— Meeting of the X XI Vth Congress. — Presentation of Antislavery
Petitions. — Excited Debate. — Mr. Jarvis's Resolution. — Mr. Pinckney's
Resolution. — Report of the Committee. — Petitions ordered to be laid on
the Table. — Presentation of Antislavery Petitions in the Senate. — Mr. Calhoun's Motion. — Debate thereon. — Mr. Calhoun's Motion to reject Petitions
Presentation of Antislavery Petitions.
the Table.
defeated.
— Mr.
Buchanan's Motion to reject the Prayer of Petitioners adopted.
— Long Debate. — Servility of Northern Members. — The
South victorious.
Antislavery agitation was producing its legitimate results.
facts and statements, the reasonings and appeals, of the
advocates of immediate emancipation excited the apprehen-
The
sions, if not the convictions, of a portion of the people,
prompted the desire
to be
purged from
all
and
complicity with such
outrages, such high-handed crimes against the laws of
God
and the claims of humanity. Estopped by the compromises
of the Constitution from interfering with slavery in the States,
men felt all the more anxious to rid themselves of all responexistence in the District of Columbia, over which
was admitted that Congress had " sole jurisdiction," and in
which both slavery and the slave-traffic existed in its most
vigorous and revolting forms.
Memorials were largely circulated, very extensively signed,
and presented to Congress, invoking its action. John Quincy
Adams, having been elected a member of the XXIld Congress,
presented, early in the session, fifteen memorials for the abolition of slavery and the slave-trade in the District.
He
expressed, however, the hope that the subject would not be
discussed in the House, and took occasion to say that he could
sibility for its
it
not give his support
to the
prayer of the petitioners.
" Slav-
�308
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
ery," he said, " in the District,
though he admitted that
its
is
of
little
IN AMERICA.
importance "
al-
;
much
existence there was as
a
and TerriThe petitions presented by Mr. Adams were referred
tories.
to the Committee on the District of Columbia.
Mr. Doddridge
chairman,
Virginia,
its
promptly
reported
of
that it would be
unsafe to abolish slavery under existing circumstances, and
wrong to do so until Virginia and Maryland moved in the
violation of principle as its existence in the States
matter.
At the
son
of
closing session of the
New York
XXIIId Congress John
Dick-
presented a memorial of the American
Antislavery Society, and also the petition, of several hundred
ladies of that State, in favor of the abolition of slavery
the slave-trade in the District of Columbia.
ruary, 1835, he addressed the
House
in
favor of the prayer of the petitioners.
neither the Old nor the
New
and
Early in Feb-
an elaborate speech in
He
contended that
Testament, the heathen philoso-
phy nor the Declaration of Independence, recognized differenMr. Chinn of
ces on account of color in the rights of man.
he
did
wish
disturb
that
not
to
the deep
Virginia, remarking
sympathy nor the tender mercies of the gentleman from New
York, or of the fair memorialists who had made him their
champion, moved to lay the whole subject on the table and
;
was agreed to by a majority of forty.
In February Mr. Phillips of Massachusetts presented a petition from three thousand six hundred ladies of his State.
Mr.
Dickson presented a memorial from the mayor of Rochester
and other citizens, and moved that it be laid on the table and
printed.
This motion brought up Mr. Johnson of Louisiana.
He repudiated the interference of the Northern people with
Whenever the North,
the rights and property of the South.
he declared with deep feeling, should procure legislation by
Congress in regard to this species of property, " that moment
Millard Fillmore, afterward
the Union would be dissolved."
President, disavowed most unequivocally, then and forever,
any desire on his part to interfere with the rights, or what was
termed the property, of the citizens of other States though
he was in favor of printing the memorial. Mr. Clay of Alahis motion
;
�PETITIONS AGAINST SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE.
309
was calculated to excite " the most
"
in that part of the Union from which he
direful calamities
said this memorial
bama
came.
Mr. Wise of Virginia said that the District was common
that, if gentlemen had a right to come upon that
ground
;
ground with " carriages and horses," he had a right to come
upon it with " his slaves," and to remain as long as he pleased.
" I speak," he said, " for all as strongly as one
for
many
— for
millions
— that
man
can speak
the South will fight to the
against the abolition of slavery, unless the inhabitants
hilt
themselves, owning slaves, shall petition for
tians
and philanthropists
will
it.
True Chris-
always find their principles and
the cause of humanity best subserved by being the friends of
The House, on moArcher of Virginia, by more than seventy majorDuring the session,
ity, laid the whole subject on the table.
however, several similar petitions were presented by John
Qnincy Adams.
slaveholders, rather than of the slaves."
tion of Mr.
On
the assembling of the
XXIVth
Congress, Mr. Fairfield
of Maine presented to the House petitions for the abolition of
slavery in the District, remarking, however, that he did not
wish to be considered as favoring the views. of the petitioners.
These petitions, on motion of John Y. Mason of Virginia,
member of the Cabinet, and minister to France,
were laid on the table by a strong vote, only thirty-one voting
for their reception.
A few days afterward an antislavery petition, presented by Mr. Briggs of Massachusetts, was referred
afterward a
to the Committee on the District of Columbia.
same day another was presented by William Jackson
of the same State, for a long time thereafter a most practical
and efficient worker in the cause of emancipation.
Mr.
Hammond of South Carolina moved that it be not received.
" The large majority," he said, "by which similar petitions
had been rejected, a few days ago, has been very gratifying to
me and to the whole South. I had hoped that vote would
without debate
On
the
satisfy
gentlemen charged with such petitions of the impro-
priety of presenting
I ask the
House
them
to put a
;
but as
it
does not have that
more decided
effect,
seal of reprobation
on
�310
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
such petitions by promptly rejecting this." The Speaker stated
was not aware that such a motion had ever been sus-
that he
tained by any former action of the House.
then moved that the House
Mr.
reject the petition.
Hammond
On
this
mo-
tion he said he did not wish to go into a discussion of the
question involved, but he wished to put an end to these peti-
He
tions.
could not
sit
there and submit to their being brought
forward until the House had become callous to the consequenIn the course of the debate which sprang up on this
ces.
motion, Mr. Sutherland of Pennsylvania reminded the House
had already, on that day, that very morning, referred a
memorial on this very question to the Committee on the District
The Speaker admitted the fact, but added that
of Columbia.
that
it
was doubtless through inadvertence that the members of
House did not generally hear it." Mr. Patton of Virginia
then moved to reconsider the vote by which the memorial presented by Mr. Briggs was referred.
"
it
;
the
On
In this disan excited debate arose.
cussion were developed the ideas and purposes of the difA very small minority sympathized with the
ferent parties.
that motion
specific
prayer of the petitioners
;
but there were differences
of opinion in the majority as to the best
that prayer.
Mr. Hunt of
sides merely
all
New York
differ as to the
method of rejecting
" Gentlemen on
said
means of
:
effecting a general
and decisive end, an end they are all seeking,
and composure on this exciting question."
—
to give quiet
Substantially
agreeing with the South, but still regarding the right of petition " a sacred one," he could " never consent to infringe
upon it even by implication." Believing that " the quiet of
community could not be insured by suppressing informaand inquiry," he would " refer this and all similar memorials to the Committee on the District of Columbia, or to some
the
tion
select
committee, with instructions to make a report that
should put this question forever at rest,
— silence
the fanatics
on the one hand, and satisfy our brethren of the South on the
other."
Mr. Thomas of Maryland defended the same course. Dep"I am prepared to
recating the repressive policy, he said
:
�PETITIONS AGAINST SLAVERY
AND THE SLAVE-TRADE.
311
vote for the reception of the petition, and to declare distinctly that the
prayer of these petitioners
is
unreasonable and
Beardsley of New York
would receive the petition, but " reject its prayer " and then,
he added, " they will see no firebrands in this House." Mr.
ought not to be granted."
Mr.
;
Pierce of
New
same action
for
Hampshire, afterward President, favored the
the same end, though he believed the public
sentiment of the North was sound, there being " not one in
five
hundred who would not have these rights of our Southern
The Southern
members were divided, some contending that the above was
the best method of quieting agitation, others that the stamp
brethren protected at any and every hazard."
of reprobation should be branded on all antislavery agitation
by rejecting the petitions on the very threshold of Congress.
At this point of the discussion John Quincy Adams, whose
name
is
so
generally identified
with
this
great
struggle,
Disowning all sympathy with the
purpose of the petitioners, he said he would receive the peaddressed the
tition
House.
because he deemed the right of petition " sacred, to
be vindicated at
tive
way
all
hazards
;
while
it
to get this question out of the
presents the only effec-
view of the nation and
House." Alluding to his former course, he said that in
1832 he presented similar petitions, though he gave notice to
the House and to the country that he should not support them.
" In 1834," he said, " similar petitions were presented, and
this
and from the moment they were
A diswent to the tomb of the Capulets
tinguished member, Mr. Dickson, made an eloquent speech
of two hours in defence.
No reply was made. Not a word
was said
Other petitions were so referred, and then
they slept the sleep of death."
Mr. Adams's course on this
occasion very much astonished and aggrieved the friends of freedom, and was sharply criticised by Mr. Lundy, Mr. Garrison,
and other prominent advocates of the cause. They felt that,
even if he had doubted the value of such efforts, he might
safely have exhibited more sympathy with the ultimate purreferred to a committee
;
referred they
pose of the petitioners.
But there was one member who,
like
Mr. Dickson in the pre-
�312
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
ceding Congress,- distinctly and unequivocally avowed himself
" The petitioners,"
in favor of the prayer of the petitioners.
Vermont, " wish the abolition of slavery in
They wish to abolish the
so do I.
He was in favor of rethe District; so do I."
said Mr. Slade of
the District of Columbia
slave-trade in
;
ferring all antislavery petitions to a committee.
The House,
however, reconsidered the vote to refer the petition presented
by Mr. Briggs to the Committee on the District of Columbia,
and then laid it on the table by a majority of seventy-seven.
Early in January, 1836, Mr. Jarvis of Maine submitted a
resolution declaring that the subject of the abolition of slavery
in the District of
Congress
;
and,
be presented,
it
if
Columbia ought not to be entertained by
any petition praying for it should thereafter
ought
to be laid
on the table without being
re-
Mr. Jarvis was one of the most zealous of
that class of Northern men who, emulous in their subserviency,
ferred or printed.
seemed
to court the distinction of
bowing low and of making
great sacrifices of principle, humanity, and personal honor to
propitiate the slave oligarchy,
and thereby maintain the ascend-
ency of the Democratic party and secure the election of Mr.
Van Buren
to the presidency.
And
thus
it
happened that the
cause of humanity and of liberty was always imperilled as
much by Northern
subserviency as by Southern intolerance
and exactions
Mr. Wise pronounced the resolution " entirely evasive and
!
" Nothing," he said, " can
and
manly vote." He moved
satisfy them
to amend the resolution of Mr. Jarvis so as to declare that
there was no power of legislation granted to Congress to abolish slavery in the District, and that any attempt to do so would
be dangerous to the Union.
The representatives from South Carolina, like the senators
from that State, were foremost in asserting the rights and
unsatisfactory
to
the
South."
but a bold, direct,
powers of slaveholders. They vied with each other in support
Mr. Pickens pronounced their
of slavery by speech and vote.
system of domestic servitude to be " the same patriarchal
tem that existed
in the first ages of society."
said, " is the ancient
sys-
" Ours," he
system of society that existed amongst
�DENIAL OF THE RIGHT OF PETITION.
the Greeks and the
serf
Romans, and
313
to a certain extent in the feudal
With a shameless and audaand affirmed the " robber's right "
system of the Gallic race."
cious effrontery he admitted
to be the
only foundation of their peculiar institution, for he
specifically declared their "
system to be a frank and bold one,
that sustained itself by open and undisguised power."
They
had nothing, he said, to conceal or disguise, and he boldly
avowed to the world that they owned the blacks through both
" intellectual and physical force."
Mr. Hammond, too, expressed extreme views, proclaiming
that the " doom of Ham has been branded on the form and
features of his African descendants," and that " the hand of
fate has united his color and his destiny."
He made, too, the
impudent and preposterous claim that " domestic slavery produces the highest-toned, the purest and best organization of
ciety that has ever existed
on the face of the earth."
so-
Avowing
that their last thought would be to give up the institution un-
der which they were born and bred, and which they would
its defence, he said, " I warn the Abolition-
maintain or die in
ignorant and infatuated barbarians as they are, that, if
chance shall throw any of them into our hands, they may ex-
ists,
pect a felon's death."
Mr. Pinckney, avowing that he was " for the suppression of
abolition " by " procuring a direct vote and a practical result
upon the whole subject of the abolition of slavery, submitted a
resolution to the effect that all antislavery petitions and papers
which had been or might be submitted should be referred to
a select committee, with instructions to report that Congress
had no power
to interfere
with slavery in the States, and that
ought not to interfere with slavery in the District of Columbia, because that would be a violation of the public faith, unit
and dangerous to the Union. This resolution
was adopted, a select committee of nine members was appointed,
and Mr. Pinckney was made chairman. In the formation of
wise, impolitic,
the committee, however, the usual courtesy was withheld, and
not a
member known
tee
to be in favor of the prayer of the peti-
was placed upon it. On the 18th of May, the commitmade a long and elaborate report, occupying an hour and
tioners
40
�314
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
a half in the reading.
It
IN AMERICA.
concluded with resolutions declaring
that Congress possessed no constitutional authority to interfere
with slavery in the States
way
;
that
it
ought not to interfere in any
and that " for
with slavery in the District of Columbia
;
the purpose of arresting agitation and restoring tranquillity to
the public mind " all petitions or papers relating in any way
to slavery should be laid
Upon
referred.
on the table without being printed or
these resolutions an earnest, furious, and pro-
which hardly a word was uttered
tracted debate sprang up, in
for freedom.
The most extreme representatives of slavery objected
to the
resolutions because they did not contain the explicit declaration that Congress possessed no constitutional
slavery in the District of Columbia.
power
nation become, that the resolutions requiring
petitions
and papers
to be laid
to abolish
So demoralized had the
all
antislavery
on the table without being con-
sidered or referred were adopted by a vote of one hundred and
seventeen to sixty-eight.
negative
Adams
Nearly
being Whigs from the
that the resolution
stitution of the
was a
all
free
those
who voted
States
in the
held with Mr.
direct violation of the Con-
United States, the rules of the House, and the
rights of their constituents.
While antislavery petitions were receiving the attention of
House they were also before the Senate. Early in January
Mr. Morris of Ohio presented two petitions to that body praying for the abolition of slavery and the slave-trade in the District of Columbia.
Mr. Calhoun promptly objected to their reception because " one half of the Union was deeply slandered
in them "
because " the subject was not within the power of
Congress "
and because " agitation on the subject must
" This," he said, " is a preliminary abolition movecease."
ment. These Abolitionists move first on the District of Colum-
the
;
;
bia,
which
is
on the States.
the weakest point, in order to operate afterward
I will resist
them
as firmly in this
movement
He exas I would on the direct question of emancipation."
"
nothing can, nothing will stop
pressed the conviction that
these petitioners but a prompt and strong rejection of them."
This debate, commenced by Mr. Calhoun upon his motion
�DENIAL OF THE EIGHT OF PETITION.
antislavery petitions,
reject
to
Nearly
two months.
all
was continued
the Southern and
ern senators participated in
315
for
many
more than
of the North-
Southern senators of extreme
it.
opinions agreed with Mr. Calhoun in sternly refusing to receive
the petitions
others were in favor of receiving them, and in-
;
stantly rejecting their prayer.
stitutional
A
few believed
it
to be the con-
duty of the Senate to receive the petitions, refer
them, and have a committee report upon them.
Mr. Buchanan presented the petition of the Cain Religious SoThis memorial prayed Conciety of Friends of Pennsylvania.
gress to enact such laws as would secure the freedom of every
human being
residing within the constitutional jurisdiction of
Congress, and prohibit every species of
of men.
traffic in
the persons
Mr. Buchanan was in favor of receiving the petition,
and of instantly rejecting its prayer. The test vote was taken
upon this memorial. Ten senators voted for Mr. Calhoun's
motion not to receive
it,
while thirty-five voted against
it.
The question then arose on Mr. Buchanan's motion to reject
the prayer of tile petitioners, and it was agreed to, only six
voting against it. Mr. Calhoun declined to vote in favor of this
" device to receive this petition and immediately reject it, without consideration or reflection."
"To my mind," he said,
" the movement looks like a trick,
a mere piece of artifice to
juggle and deceive. I intend no disrespect to the senator.
I
doubt not his intention is good and believe his feelings are
with us, but I must say the course he has intimated is in my
—
opinion the worst possible for the slaveholding States.
surrenders
all
to the Abolitionists,
and gives nothing
that will be of the least advantage to us."
It
in turn
Failing to secure
the rejection of the petition, his colleague, Mr. Preston, ac-
cepted Mr. Buchanan's " device," and invoked gentlemen of all
parties to unite against the " hot-headed and cold-hearted,"
" ignorant and bloodthirsty fanatics," and to " stamp their nefarious propositions with unqualified reprobation."
During
who had felt it to be their duty to free the national capfrom the sin of slavery and the crime of slave-trading.
those
ital
which a majority of the senators
and violent utterances were made against
this long debate, in
participated, harsh
�316
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
Mr. Buchanan denounced them as fanatics. By granting the
prayer of the petitions he said they would erect a citadel
from which Abolitionists and incendiaries could attack the
peace and safety of the citizens of Maryland and the District
" You create a point," he said, " from which
of Columbia.
trains of
gunpowder may be securely laid, extending into the
may at any moment produce a fear-
surrounding States, which
ful
and destructive explosion.
troduce the
enemy
By
into the very
passing such a law you in-
bosom
of these
two States, and
him every opportunity to produce a servile insurrection."
Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, afterward Secretary -of the
afford
Treasury, declared the Abolitionists to be guided by the blind
" What is this proposition," he inquired,
spirit of fanaticism.
" which we are asked to receive and consider
tion to violate the Constitution
is
proposition
a
It is a proposi-
?
and endanger the Union.
It
and spoliation.
rapine, plunder,
for
It
is
a proposition, no.t merely to attempt to render the slaves of
this
District freemen, but, in its inevitable results
and conse-
quences, to attempt to render the freemen of this District
The mighty revolution proposed by these petitioners
would make this District a den of thieves and assassins, of libslaves.
erated slaves and blacks already free.
make
the District an
asylum
This proposition would
for fugitive slaves
the grand citadel of Abolitionism, whence
from the States,
would light the
it
torch of the incendiary and whet the knife of the assassin.
"
Can we, ought we, will we submit to this ? No, never
Mr. White of Tennessee, then a candidate for the presi!
dency, was in favor of the rejection of antislavery petitions.
He referred to the arrest and whipping of Amos Dresser by
the citizens of Nashville, and to the threat of the citizens of
to demolish the building and destroy the types of
the " Philanthropist," established by James G. Birncy, as evidences of the determined purpose of the people of the South.
Kentucky
Mr. Benton denounced the abolition
speeches,
societies.
publications, petitions, pictures,
understanding of the
He
said their
went not
to
the
slaves, but to their passions, inspired
vain hopes, and stimulated abortive but fatal insurrections. To
the antislavery societies of France, which contained " the best
�DENIAL OF THE RIGHT OF PETITION.
and the basest of human kind,
— Lafayette
317
and the Abbe
Gregoire, those purest of philanthropists, and Murat and Anacharsis Cloots, those imps of hell in
—
human
shape,"
he aswrapped
in
flames
cribed the massacre of San Domingo, which
and drenched in blood that beautiful island. He referred to
the attempted insurrection at Pointe-Coupi'e in Louisiana, inspired by the uprising of the slaves in
the condemnation and execution of
fifty
San Domingo, and
of the insurgents,
to
who
were hung at intervals along the Mississppi for a hundred and
miles, to warn all who were honest in the three hundred
fifty
and fifty affiliated antislavery societies " to at once secede
from those associations that could have no other effect than
to revive
such tragedies in the Southern States."
Mr. Benton warmly commended the action of the people of
the Northern States, with words that carried with them, however, the strongest condemnation.
"
is
above
all
praise,
They have chased
above
all
" Their conduct," he said,
thanks, above
all
gratitude.
off the foreign emissaries, silenced the gab-
bling tongues of female dupes, and dispersed the assemblies,
whether
fanatical, visionary, or incendiary, of all that congre-
gated to preach against evils that afflicted others, not them,
and
to propose remedies to aggravate the disease
which they
They have acted with a noble spirit.
They have exerted a vigor beyond all law. They have obeyed
pretended to cure.
the enactments, not of the statute-book, but of the heart
while that spirit
is in
;
and
the heart I care nothing for laws written
in a book."
Northern senators, instead of words of honest and indignant rebuke which such language should have received from
their lips, joined in this denunciation of their
own
free States,
and of those men and women of large intelligence and stainless
lives, whose offence was their love of freedom and efforts for
its promotion, as reckless fanatics and wicked incendiaries.
Isaac Hill of New Hampshire expressed his abhorrence of
" the doings of weak or wicked men, who were moving this
abolition question at the North."
He referred to the removal
of an academy at Canaan, New Hampshire, which admitted
colored youth, by the citizens of that and the neighboring
�318
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
to the escape of George Thompson, disguised in female
and under the darkness of night, from a mob at the
capital of the State, and the burning of his effigy in the public square amid discharges of artillery, as samples of the deep
He quoted and comfeeling that pervaded New Hampshire.
and
resolutions
utterances
the
of Democratic
mended, too,
meetings, conventions, and speakers, to show that " the South
town
;
attire
ought to be
fully satisfied
with the present disposition of the
North."
But the most
significant, degrading, not to say disgraceful,
made by Silas Wright. Benjamin Watkins Lee of Virginia had made perhaps the ablest
speech of that debate was
speech in opposition to the abolition of slavery in the District of
Columbia, in which, referring to a work on slavery
recently published by Dr. William Ellery Channing of Boston,
he declared that it had filled his mind with deep sorrow, and
that it had impaired his strong hope that " the intelligence
and good sense of the North would be exercised to suppress
cause of mischief and agitation." Mr. Wright followed
with the declaration that he should have been content to have
given a silent vote, but he could not do so after reading the
this
extracts from the publication of that distinguished clergyman.
He
then proceeded to declare that Dr. Channing, in the exwhich had been quoted, had shown himself " as ignorant
tracts
of the opinions and feelings of the great mass of the Northern
citizens
as of the merits
Having taken
South."
and virtues of the people of the
issue with his opinions, he proceeded
Southern senators that the sentiments of the people
York, on the subject of slavery, were as sound as were
to satisfy
of
New
the sentiments of the people of the South.
he
said,
"the general
feeling of
my
"
I
am
satisfied,"
State is the general feel-
ing of the people of the non-slaveholding States."
In proof
of this general declaration he referred in detail to the Utica
mob
of 1835, which broke up the antislavery convention there
assembled, and destroyed the antislavery press of that
He
city.
had
bills
against
and
that
from
any
of
the
rioters,
no
brought in
the committee of twenty-five, chosen by the mob to carry out
referred boastfully to the facts that the grand jury
�DENIAL OF THE RIGHT OF PETITION.
their purposes, one
man had been
319
chosen State senator, and
another had been made attorney-general of the State.
have mentioned these facts," said Mr. Wright, " and
mention many others of a similar character,
determined feeling of resistance to these
" I
might
show that the
dangerous and
I
to
wicked agitators in the North had already reached a point
beyond law and above law."
Mr. Wright was one of the most eminent and trusted leaders of the Democratic party, the personal and political friend
of Mr. Van Buren, then the Democratic candidate for the
presidency, and this substantial indorsement of that violent
outrage on the freedom of speech and the constitutional rights
American
of
citizens
slaveholders and to
was doubtless intended
commend
to
reassure the
that candidate to the confidence
and support of the South.
Amid
these denunciations, these approvals of lawless vio-
lence, these humiliating surrenders of the constitutional rights
of
American
citizens, a
few senators calmly and firmly main-
tained the right of the people to petition,
petitions received, referred,
and
and considered.
to
have their
Mr. Morris of
Ohio vindicated the right of the people to be heard in their
and reminded senators that while the people believed
they possessed that right, " no denial of it by Congress will
petitions,
prevent them from exercising
it."
Mr. Prentiss of Vermont
regretted the harsh expressions which had been applied to the
petitioners,
and reminded senators that they had
fallen into
common
error of supposing that all Avho differed from
from unworthy motives, and not from honest convictions.
"The petitioners," he said, "have been denounced
they have been charged with criminal, with
as incendiaries
the
them did
so
;
—
with intentions to excite a servile war
and subject the whole Southern country to pillage, havoc, and
devastation.
With some of the persons who have signed petitions on this subject I am well acquainted.
I know them to
treasonable intentions,
be intelligent, patriotic, highly respectable.
tions
may
be strongly stated
their illustrations
may
;
their
Their proposi-
argument may be bold
;
not be suited to the taste or the judg-
ment of those whose opinions they oppose
;
but that
all,
the
�320
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
whole combined, proceeds from a consciousness on their part
of doing and saying what is right, I neither have nor can
entertain any doubt."
He closed liis calm, logical, and statesmanlike speech with the expression of the opinion that slavery
would cease to exist in the District.
Mr. Webster, too, was
and referring them
he
in favor of receiving these petitions
to the proper committees.
"
To
reject,"
said, " the prayer of
consideration
is
a petition at once without reference or
not respectful " to those whose right it is to
petition for the redress of grievances.
Mr. Morris, then a
Democratic member from Ohio, who had bravely vindicated
the right of petition, was not present or did not vote.
Web-
and Davis of Massachusetts, Prentiss and Swift of Vermont, Knight of Rhode Island, and Hendricks of Indiana, all
Northern Whigs, boldly and manfully maintained the right
of petition by voting against that discreditable device.
ster
�CHAPTER XXIY.
NORTHERN LEGISLATION DEMANDED.
Spirit of the Abolitionists.
— Mr. Sullivan's Pamphlet. — Dr.
Leonard Woods.
—
— Public Meeting. —
— His Course.
Conduct
the New York Postmaster. — Amos Kendall's
— Report Mr. Calhoun. — Governor McDuffie's Message. — Resolutions of
— Governor
South Carolina Legislature. — Resolutions of Southern
Ritner's Message. — Governor Gayle's Demand
Mr. Williams. — Message
of Governor Marcy. — Governor Dorr. — Report of Mr. Stevens. — Failure to
— Edward Everett. — His Readiness shoulder a Musket put
down Insurrection. — Mr. Cambreling rebukes him. — His Response
Southern Demands. — His Message. — Referred
a Select Committee. — Resolution
Mr.
Hazard's Report.
— Charleston
Post-office
rifled.
of
Letter.
of
States.
for
to
to
legislate.
to
to
— Action of Massachusetts Antislavery Society. — Hearing
before the Committee. — Speeches of Mr. May, Mr. Loring, Mr. Garrison,
Mr. Goodell. — Mr. Liint interrupts Mr. Goodell. — Dr. Follen insulted by
Mr. Lunt. — Dr. Pollen sustained by Mr. May. — Memorial to the Legislature. — Another Hearing. — Speakers interrupted by Mr. Lunt. — Excitement
of the Audience. — Mr. Lunt's Report. — Resolutions laid on the Table.
of Southern States.
Deeds of violence and the reign of
riot did not,
repress agitation or crush out Abolitionists.
The
however,
declaration
of Charles King, son of the illustrious Rufus King,
and editor
fire could not burn the
convictions of these nien out of them," had been clearly
of the "
New York
demonstrated.
American," that "
Their
spirits
rose as the storm
of popular
more fiercely on their heads. In the face of
their maddened countrymen they exhibited the unconquerable
spirit of devotion, courage, and martyrdom.
Other agencies were, therefore, invoked. Legislation was
demanded of the national and State governments. Grand
juries made presentments, and the judicial tribunals were
invoked to suppress and to punish. In the summer of 1835,
when mob violence was manifesting itself in every form, and
the laws were defied even by gentlemen of property and standviolence beat
41
�322
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
by William Sullivan, was published
which the hope was expressed that " Massachusetts will enact laws declaring the printing, publishing, and
circulating pamphlets on slavery, and also the holding meetings to discuss slavery and abolition, to be public, indictable
offences, and to provide for the punishment thereof in such a
ing, a pamphlet, written
in Boston, in
manner
as will
more
effectually prevent such offences."
startling proposition, put forth
This
by a learned lawyer and gen-
tleman of high social position, received the censure of neither
the press, the pulpit, nor the people.
The " Literary and Theological Review," published in the
city of
New
York, and edited by Leonard Woods,
Jr., after-
ward president of Bowdoin College, affirmed that the Aboliwere " justly liable to the highest civil penalties and
Though the " Review" was largely
ecclesiastical censures."
supported by the Congregational and Presbyterian clergymen
of the New England and Middle States, even this extreme
While many,
position met with little opposition or dissent.
this senand
applauded
approved
then
however, of those who
timent changed their views, and adopted and defended more
liberal opinions, this editor continued, even amid the subsequent developments of rebellion and civil war, to exhibit a
spirit which justly subjected him to the suspicion of disloyalty
tionists
to his
government.
At a public meeting
at
Newport, Rhode Island, Mr. Hazard
of that city presented resolutions in favor of legislation against
the Abolitionists.
At the October
session of the legislature a
committee was appointed, of which he was made chairman,
for the purpose of reporting a bill against abolitionism,
and
of subjecting Abolitionists to the infliction of legal penalties.
and public presses, men learned in law and divingave utterance to like sentiments, and manifested their
Politicians
ity,
readiness to repress by laws what violence had failed to crush.
Was
demand what
proffer
On
men should
many Northern men seemed forward to
then a matter of surprise that Southern
it
so
?
the
29th of July, 1835, the post-office at Charleston,
South Carolina, was forced open by a mob, the mails
rifled,
�NORTHERN LEGISLATION DEMANDED.
and antislavcry publications destroyed.
A
323
few days afterward
a public meeting was held to complete the work already be-
gun, by ferreting out and punishing any Abolitionists that
might be found, or any persons in sympathy with them. At
that meeting the clergy, of all denominations, attended in a
body to give their sanction to its proceedings. Their services
were gratefully acknowledged by the damaging compliment of
a resolution adopted by that lawless assemblage.
The
post-
master took the responsibility of arresting the circulation of
antislavery publications until he should receive special instructions
from Washington.
Other postmasters in the South im-
mediately followed his example.
The postmaster
in
proposed to the American Antislavery Society that
New York
it
should
voluntarily desist from attempting to send its publications by
mail.
yield
It,
its
Amos
however, promptly and peremptorily refused to
legal rights.
Kendall was then Postmaster-General.
A
native of
Massachusetts, he had taken up his residence in Kentucky,
became connected with the press, and was distinguished for
and ability in support of General Jackson, who had
placed him at the head of the Post-Office Department.
In his
reply of the 5th of August to the postmaster of Charleston,
he admitted that the Postmaster-General had " no legal authority to exclude newspapers from the mail, nor to prohibit their
his zeal
carriage or delivery on account of their character or tendency,
He expressed himself, however, unprepared to direct the postmaster to deliver antislavery papers.
" By no act or direction of mine, official or private," said this
real or supposed."
high official, sworn to obey the laws, " could I be induced,
knowingly, to aid in giving circulation to papers of this description, directly or indirectly.
We
owe an obligation
laws, but a higher one to the communities in which
and,
if
to the
we
the former be permitted to destroy the latter,
live
it
;
is
patriotism to disregard them.
Entertaining these views, I
cannot sanction and will not condemn the step you have
taken."
To Samuel L. Gouveneur, the postmaster of New
York, who had consulted him in regard to suppressing antislavery papers through the mails, he replied, approving what
�324
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
he had done, but declaring that he was " deterred from giving
an order to exclude the whole series of antislavery publications
from the Southern mails only by a want of legal power." This
position of that high functionary, so indefensible and revolutionary, encouraged his subordinates to set at defiance the
laws of their country, violate the sanctity of the mails, and
subject their contents to the surveillance of every petty post-
master, whatever his motives or character might be.
President Jackson, in his annual message of that year, suggested to Congress " the propriety of passing such a law as
will
prohibit,
under severe penalties, the circulation in the
Southern States, through the mail, of incendiary publications
intended to instigate the slaves to insurrection."
was referred to a
Calhoun was chairman.
sition
select committee, of
On
This propo-
which John C.
the 4th of February, 1886, this
committee made an elaborate report, accompanied by a bill. In
was maintained that it belonged " to the States,
this report it
and not
to Congress, to determine
what
culated to disturb their security "
;
is
that,
and what
if
is
not
cal-
Congress might
decide that year what incendiary publications were, they might
decide next year what they were not, and thus enforce the
culation of abolition documents.
when
cir-
This report maintained that
the States had determined what incendiary publications
were, Congress must enact a law prohibiting their transmission through the mail.
By
the doctrines of that report,
when
"
any State pronounced certain publications to be " incendiary
in their character, Congress and State legislatures were bound
to act in conformity with its decisions.
By
the provisions of
was declared that it should " not be lawful
for any deputy postmaster in any State, Territory, or District,
knowingly to deliver to any person whatsoever any pamphlet,
the act reported
it
newspaper, handbill, or other printed paper or pictorial representation touching the subject of slavery, when by the laws
of such State, Territory, or District such circulation
is
pro-
hibited."
In his message to the legislature of South Carolina, in De-
cember, 18^5, Governor McDume elaborately defended slavery
as " the corner-stone of the republican edifice " ; declared the
�NORTHERN LEGISLATION DEMANDED.
325
laboring population, "bleached or unbleached, a dangerous
element in the body politic " and affirmed of the Abolitionists and their measures that " the laws of any community
;
should punish this species of interference with death without
benefit of clergy."
The
legislature,
accustomed to lead wher-
ever slavery had a service to be performed, immediately adopted
a resolution in accord with his suggestion.
it
Presuming on what
chose to regard the justice and friendship of the non-slavehold-
ing States to carry out such measures, it called upon them to
" effectually suppress," by legislation, all abolition societies
within their respective limits.
During the same month North Carolina called upon
its sister
States to pass penal laws against printing anything that might
have a tendency to make their slaves discontented.
the next
During
upon them to " enact such
put an end to the malignant deeds
month Alabama
dalled
penal laws as will finally
Virginia earnestly requested the nonslaveholding States promptly to " adopt penal enactments, or
of the Abolitionists."
such other measures as
will effectually
suppress
all
associations
within their limits purporting to be or having the character of
Georgia, too, resolved that it was incumbent on the people of the North " to crush the traitorous deabolition societies."
signs of the Abolitionists."
By such
effect,
resolutions these
Southern States demanded, in
that the non-slaveholding States should suppress aboli-
tion societies,
antislavcry
and make
it
penal to print, publish, or distribute
newspapers, pamphlets, or
tracts.
They
•
pro-
claimed, too, that they should consider the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, or any interference with slavery
by any State or the general government,
der every possible circumstance resisted.
to be at
once and un-
Their demands were
communicated to the governors of the several States,
and by them brought to the notice of their respective legislatures.
In communicating these demands Governor Ritner of
officially
Pennsylvania was the only one of the Northern chief-magistrates to resist these arrogant demands, and to defend the
sacred rights of freedom of speech and of the press, thus men-
aced and endangered.
�326
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
EISE
IN AMERICA.
Governor Gayle of Alabama had already gone so far as to
of the governor of New York that Mr. Williams, the
publishing agent of the American Antislavery Society, should
be surrendered to him, to be tried by the laws of Alabama on
an indictment found against him by its grand jury, for publish-
demand
ing in the " Emancipator," in the city of
timent that " God commands and
all
New
The system
should not be held as property.
York, the sen-
nature cries out that
of
man
making men
property has plunged two and a quarter millions of our fellow-
countrymen into the deepest physical and moral degradation,
and they are every moment sinking deeper." Mr. Williams
had never been in the State of Alabama, and of course had
never fled from it and this was distinctly admitted by the
governor when he made the demand for his surrender. But
this audacious demand was not complied with.
There were those who believed that the Abolitionists might
be punished under existing laws while others were ready to
;
;
enact such laws as the slave-masters required.
and
The governor
New York were Democratic. They desired
Mr. Van Buren to the presidency, and hence
legislature of
the election of
make almost any concessions
and friends. The legislature met early
were ready
allies
to
to their
Southern
in January, 1836.
Governor Marcy,
in his message, affirmed that the States
not possess
the necessary
all
means
would
for preserving their ex-
among themselves " without the power
were required by the Southern States.
He relied, however, for the present, on the influence of public
opinion which, he said, had already been manifested with unex-
ternal relations of peace
to pass such laws " as
ampled energy and unanimity in striking exhibitions of popular reprobation, elicited by the just fear of " the fatal issues in
which the uncurbed efforts of the Abolitionists may ultimately
end." The committee to whom the subject was referred made
a report, near the close of the session, in response to this declaration of the governor, in which they pledged the faith of
the State to enact such laws whenever they should be
necessary.
deemed
Early in February Mr. Hazard, chairman of the
committee, appointed at the October session of the legislature
of
Rhode
Island, reported a bill
embodying provisions he had
�NORTHERN LEGISLATION DEMANDED.
327
suggested even before the demands of the Southern legislatures
This bill, however, was defeated, mainly by the
George Curtis and Thomas W. Dorr, then represen-
were made.
efforts of
tatives of the city of Providence.
Governor Ritner standing alone, as already stated, in decommented in language
of deserved severity upon this cowardly timidity and disgracefence of free speech and a free press,
ful subserviency of Northern men, characterizing it as " the
base bowing of the knee to the dark spirit of slavery." " While
we admit and scrupulously respect," he said, " the constitu-
tional rights of other States
on
this
momentous
subject, let us
not, by either fear or interest, be driven from aught of that
spirit of
independence and veneration which has ever character-
Commonwealth. Above all, let us never yield
up the right of free discussion of any evil which may arise in
the land or any part of it."
These noble utterances of the
honest and worthy governor of Pennsylvania were penned by
Thomas K. Burrows, then secretary of State, now president of
an agricultural college in Centre County. In those days of
Northern sycophancy the manly words honored alike the heart
and head of him who penned them, as well as of him who put
upon .them the seal of his official sanction. In a congratulaized our beloved
Thaddeus Stevens compared this brave message to
the " shadow of a great rock in a weary land."
tory letter,
Mr. Stevens was chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the
House of Representatives. To that committee were referred
the resolutions of the Southern legislatures.
Its report,
un-
committee of Massachusetts, was
brave, manly, and independent.
It unequivocally denied the
like that of the
legislative
right of the slaveholding States to claim legislation against
free discussion.
" Could any other State,"
it
affirmed, " main-
we and our
would be reduced to a vassalage but little less degrading than that of the slaves whose condition we assert the right
tain the right to claim
from us such
legislation,
citizens
to discuss."
It
proclaimed as a fundamental truth, never to
be surrendered, that " every citizen of the non-slaveholding
States has a right to think
and
freely to publish his thoughts
on any subject of national and State policy."
�328
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
This report took issue, too, with the Southern legislatures
touching the power of Congress to abolish slavery in the Dis-
Columbia and the Territories. The report closed with
two resolutions, affirming that the slaveholding States alone
had the right to legislate on the subject of slavery within their
own limits while Congress had the constitutional power to
trict of
;
and the slave-trade within the District of Columbia, a power it was expedient for it to employ.
This attempt of Southern legislatures and compliant poliabolish slavery
ticians to
secure hostile legislation against the Abolitionists
signally failed.
Not one Northern State complied with
unreasonable and unconstitutional demands.
tive officials counselled submission, the
their
Though execu-
more popular branches
An-
of the State governments hesitated, and refused to yield.
men, who had been filled with well-grounded appreThey began to
hension, took courage from these defeats.
realize that their endurance, courage, and constancy were im" In the dark and
pressing themselves upon the public mind.
tislavery
troubled night " through which they were passing they saw, or
thought they saw, in these facts, " a star of hope " through the
rifted clouds, as if
a less stormy and sanguinary future was
opening before them.
The
and uncompromising character of the
Abolitionists of Massachusetts had brought upon them in an
especial manner the hostility of the slave-masters and the
condemnation of Northern men with Southern principles.
The bold, outspoken, and unsparing criticisms of the " Liberator " upon slavery in all its forms, and upon all who countenanced that iniquity, incensed its friends and encouraged its
enemies. At that time, perhaps, the most thorough and radizeal, activity,
cal antislavery
setts,
men
in the country were found in Massachu-
and nowhere was
hostility to
them more
distinctly pro-
claimed.
Edward Everett was then governor of Massachusetts.
Trained for the pulpit, he early yielded to the claims of literaand public affairs. He was a ripe and accurate scholar, a
gentleman of large attainments, a brilliant and. polished rhetorician, a graceful and impressive orator.
He entered Con-
ture
�NORTHERN LEGISLATION DEMANDED.
329
gress the earnest supporter of the administration of
John
Quincy Adams. On the 9th of March, 1826, in response to
an imputation upon Northern representatives that they desired
to change the basis of representation, and would refuse to suppress a servile rebellion, he took occasion to make an elaborate
speech, avowing his opposition to any such purpose, and his
" Sir,"
readiness to render any aid the latter might require.
he said, " I am no soldier. My habits and education are very
unmilitary but there is no cause in which I would sooner
buckle a knapsack on my back and put a musket on my shoul;
der than that of putting
South."
He
down
a servile insurrection at the
rendered more sad and significant the tenor of
such a pledge by his defence of slavery in the same speech.
" The great relation of servitude," he said, " in some form or
from the theoretic equalDomestic slavery
down as an immoral and irre-
other, with greater or less departure
ity of
men,
is not, in
is
inseparable from our nature.
my judgment,
ligious relation.
to be justified
to be set
any other
It is a condition of life as well as
by morality, religion, and international law."
These sentiments created no
little
surprise.
Churchill C.
Cambreling, a native of North Carolina, then a leading
ber of the House from
New
mem-
York, sharply and eloquently
rebuked these gratuitous admissions, defences, and pledges.
he had learned, he said, in the University of Gottingen,
If
such sentiments, instead of returning to his native land, he
would have journeyed eastward, would have " followed the
course of the dark-rolling Danube," " crossed the Euxine,"
and " laid his head upon the footstool of the Sultan, and
besought him to place his feet upon the neck of the recreant
citizen of a recreant republic."
Entering the gubernatorial chair with such sentiments and
antecedents,
it is not strange that Mr. Everett's response to
Southern
these
demands should have been humiliating in the
extreme.
Though mortified and indignant, antislavery men
were not, therefore, surprised to read in his annual message
" Whatof that year these admissions and recommendations
:
ever by direct and necessary operation
is
calculated to excite
an insurrection among the slaves has been held by highly
42
�330
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
respectable legal authority an offence against the peace of the
commonwealth, which may be prosecuted as a misdemeanor
common
And
law."
again
:
"
The patriotism
of
all
at
classes
from a discussion which, by exasperating the master, can have no other effect than to render
more oppressive the condition of the slave and which, if not
must be invoked
to abstain
abandoned, there
is
;
great reason to fear, will prove the rock
on which the Union will split."
This portion of the message was referred to a joint committee of five, of which George Limt, then a senator from
the county of Essex and a resident of Newburyport, was chair-
man.
To
the
same committee were
also referred the
com-
munications which had been received from the legislatures of
the several slaveholding States, requesting the enactment of
laws making
it
penal for citizens of non-slaveholding States to
speak or publish sentiments such as had been uttered in anti-
and printed in antislavery tracts and newswas a dark and trying hour for the friends of the
slave.
Everywhere spoken against, bitterly assailed by the
public press, and subjected to mob violence, they had reason
The
to be alarmed at these demands for penal legislation.
board of managers of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society
By their order, Eev. Samuel J.
took immediate action.
slavery meetings
papers.
It
May, the corresponding
secretary, addressed a letter to the
legislative committee, asking permission to appear before
it,
and give reasons why
freedom of speech and of the press, or condemnatory of the
Abolitionists.
The request was granted, and on the 4th of
March a hearing was had in the hall of the House of Reprethere should be no action against the
sentatives.
Mr. Lucas, a member of the committee, thought the gentlemen who had sought a hearing were premature in their action
;
that they had
no reason
to suppose that the
committee would
them and that they should, have
To this objection
waited until the committee had reported.
Mr. May replied that he and his associates belonged to that
class of persons censured by the governor in his message, and
do anything prejudicial
to
;
referred to in the communications from the Southern States.
�NORTHERN LEGISLATION DEMANDED.
To
331
avert any action of the legislature that might infringe upon
the liberty of speech or of the press, or any legislative censures
upon the Abolitionists, they had sought an interview with the
committee. Mr. Lucas then remarked that it was very improper for the gentlemen of the Antislavery Society to proceed
upon the supposition that the legislature would enact any laws
abridging the liberty of speech and of the press, which it could
To
not constitutionally do.
these remarks Mr.
May
replied
that the Abolitionists did not fear the enactment of any penal
but they were apprehensive that condemnatory resolumight be adopted, which they would deprecate even
more than penal laws. Mr. Moseley, member of the committee from Newburyport, expressed the hope that nothing would
preclude the committee from giving a hearing, as he wished
laws
;
tions
—
desired to know what Abolitionism was, to
was
tending,
and how far it went. Mr. Lucas having
what
withdrawn his objection, Mr. May then proceeded to sketch
the origin and history of the abolition movements in the
United States. The antislavery societies, he said, consisted
of a band of men associated together to overthrow the system
of American slavery by intellectual and moral means.
This
position of the Abolitionists was thus presented to the committee with great accuracy and clearness by one who had been
among the very earliest to accept the doctrine of immediate
emancipation, and who, having been thus identified with the
antislavery cause, was familiar with its origin, principles, and
for information,
it
history.
Ellis
cible
Gray Loring followed
argument.
He
in a well-defined, clear,
and
for-
denied the right of the legislature to
enact penal laws, or pass votes of censure upon the doings of
abolition
He
societies.
Abolitionists
strenuously denied, too,
that
the
had done anything inconsistent with the law of
nations or the Constitution of the United States.
He
also
claimed the moral right to labor for the extirpation of slavery,
or any other evil.
"
A
great principle
lature.
I
He
is
closed his speech with these words
:
involved in the decision of the legis-
esteem as nothing, in comparison, our feelings or
Personal interests sink into insignifi-
wishes as individuals.
�332
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
cance here.
you
Sacrifice us, if
will
;
IN AMERICA.
but do not
wound
liberty
men but let the oppressor and
North or the South, beware of the
certain defeat which attends him who is found fighting against
God,"
through us.
Care nothing for
;
his apologist, whether at the
The committee was then
He
briefly addressed
by Mr. Garrison.
maintained that the Abolitionists were laboring to accom-
plish the very object for
which the Union was formed
and
;
that their doctrines, if obeyed, and not too late, would save
He
of
it.
declared that the alternative was presented to the people
New England
either to submit to be
gagged by Southern
taskmasters or to labor unceasingly for the removal of slavery
from the country. " We loudly boast of our free country," he
said, "
and of the union of these States yet I have no counas an Abolitionist, I am excluded by a bloody proscription from one half of the national
territory
and so is every man who is known to regard slavery
try
!
;
As a New-Englander and
;
Where is our Union ? and of what value is
me, or to any one who believes that liberty is the inalienable right of every man, independent of the color of his skin
with abhorrence.
it to
or the texture of his hair
The
of the Union.
?
We
right of free
one part of the land to the other
of our lives
!
They who preach
that immediate
might as
is
emancipation
safely leap into
is
cannot enjoy the privileges
and
safe locomotion
from
denied to us, except on peril
that slaveholding is sin,
and
the duty of every master,
a den of lions, or into a fiery fur-
nace, as to go into the Southern States
"
!
William Goodell reminded the committee that, as the people
were not prepared to receive a law which should infringe the
liberty of speech, the opposers of abolition were driven to the
He
necessity of operating indirectly against them.
protested
would be a usurpation of authority. The legislature was not a judicial body, and
had no right to pronounce condemnation on any one. He was
here interrupted by Mr. Lunt, who sharply said " You must
not indulge in such remarks, sir. We cannot sit here and
against any legislative censure, because
it
:
permit you to instruct us as to the duties of the legislature."
In spite, however, of this interruption, Mr. Goodell jjroceeded,
�NORTHERN LEGISLATION DEMANDED.
333
and maintained with great force that the Constitution secured
do all they had done or in-
to the Abolitionists the right to
tended to da.
Professor Charles Follen had been selected by the board of
managers as one of the committee to appear before the legislaBorn in Germany, he had joined in his youth
tive committee.
the young men of that country in emancipating his native land
from French domination. Devoted to liberty, he was driven
by persecution to seek a home in the United States. Honored for his profound scholarship and beloved for his private
virtues, he was made an instructor in Harvard University. On
the establishment of the " Liberator " he early sought out
editor,
and
position
at great personal sacrifice took
among
He commenced
the despised Abolitionists.
its
and maintained his
his
speech with a series of philosophical remarks upon the rights
man, the
and purposes of republican institutions in
the United States, and maintained that liberty of speech was
essential to the maintenance of the government.
He alluded
to the attempts to excite odium against the Abolitionists, and
of
to the
spirit
demands
their doctrines
of Southern legislatures for the suppression of
by penal laws.
He
referred to the Faneuil
Hall meeting of the citizens of Boston, and to
the Abolitionists, which the
mob regarded
its
censure of
as a warrant for its
proceedings on the 21st of October. " Now, gentlemen," he
asked, " may we not reasonably anticipate that similar conse"quences would follow the expression by the legislature of a
similar condemnation
?
Would not
the
mob
again undertake
to execute the informal sentence of the general court
it
?
Would
"
not let loose again its bloodhounds upon us ?
" Stop,, sir " exclaimed Lunt. " You may not pursue this
!
course of remark.
It is insulting to this
committee, and the
legislature which they represent."
Dr. Follen calmly remarked that he had not intimated, nor
legislature would countenance an
But Mr. Lunt curtly replied " The committee consider the remarks you have made very improper,
and cannot permit you to proceed." Dr. Follen then sat
down, amid evidences of deep emotion and displeasure on
did he believe, that the
act of violence.
:
�334
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
IN AMERICA.
the part of the audience at this conduct of the chairman.
Mr. Moseley earnestly remonstrated with Mr. Lunt
May
and Mr.
;
at the course pur-
explicitly declared his dissatisfaction
sued by the committee. He expressed his regret that the
chairman had stopped Dr. Follen, and concurred entirely with
that gentleman in expressing the opinion that a vote of censure
by the legislature would give encouragement to such scenes
of violence.
To
these remarks Lunt sharply replied
:
" Whatever you,
and your associates, may think of the remarks of Dr.
it is for the committee to decide whether they were
proper or improper. You are not to dictate to us in what manner we shall conduct the proceedings of this examination."
sir,
Follen,
He
told the representatives of the Antislavery Society that they
had no right
special favor that they
Mr.
and that
to claim a hearing,
May reminded
had been admitted
it
was a matter of
to that interview at all.
Chamber was
the committee that the Senate
then occupied by committees listening to individuals touching
the interests of
moneyed
institutions
;
that they had sought an
interview on a subject infinitely greater than
all
the
— the cause of freedom
moneyed
and humanity.
To this Lunt tartly answered " I conceive, sir, that you are
here to exculpate yourselves, if you can, from the charges
and not to instruct us as to what we are to
laid against you
do in reference to the communications we have received from
interests in the land,
:
;
certain other States."
To
sponded
:
"
We
like culprits,
we
I
impertinent and
this
are not here,
May
re-
do not
feel
know
that
gratuitous remark Mr.
sir,
as culprits.
nor do we mean to act as such.
We
We
are aiming to accomplish a great public good, and to avert
great national evils.
We
feel that
we
are standing up before
the world in the defence of high moral and religious principles,
—
principles the continued disregard of
on our country.
We
which must bring ruin
may do
have come in the hope that we
something
to induce the State of
worthy of
herself, to stand
up
Massachusetts to take a stand
as a
bulwark that
shall stay
and
turn back the proud waves of oppression which are rolling over
the land."
After consultation, Mr.
May
notified the
committee
�NORTHERN LEGISLATION DEMANDED.
335
that they would present a remonstrance to the legislature the
next day, and hoped that they might hereafter meet the committee with a better understanding of their rights.
The next day a memorial was presented
to the legislature,
complaining of this treatment by the committee, and asking
the recognition of their right to appear and give their reasons
why
the legislature should not pass resolutions of condemna-
tion against the Abolitionists.
This memorial was referred to
the committee, and another hearing was granted in the hall
of the
House of Representatives, which was thronged by gen-
tlemen and
ladies,
who manifested
the deepest interest in the
proceedings.
Samuel E. Sewall addressed the committee against yielding
the demands of the slaveholding States, which would,
he said, be to subvert the foundation of civil liberties, and
make it criminal to obey the laws of God and follow the example of Jesus Christ. He maintained that, if Massachusetts
were to pass the laws required of her, punishing her citizens
for speaking and writing against slavery, it would not repress
" Who and what," he asked,
the opinions of Abolitionists.
" are the men whose mouths it is proposed to stop by violence
and unconstitutional laws ? Men of integrity, of piety, of zeal,
to
of perseverance, of intelligence,
— men who are conscientiously
devoted to their opinions, and as ready to suffer imprisonment,
fines,
stripes, persecutions,
and death
for the sake
of their
opinions and their consciences, as ever was any persecuted
sect."
Dr. Follen maintained, with mingled mildness and firmness,
the sacred rights of free discussion.
The
legislature,
he con-
tended, could not censure freedom of speech in the Abolitionists
without preparing the
who might
for the
moment
way
to censure
it
in
other citizens
be obnoxious to the majority.
He
expressed the opinion that the mobs which had brought so
much
upon the country had acted under the delusion
wanted to infringe the compacts of the
Constitution and destroy the Union. " As a friend of liberty,"
he said, " I am glad to be able to look upon the popular excitement from which my friends have suffered in this light
discredit
that the Abolitionists
�336
but
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
when Judge Lynch has
other day
—"
the chairman.
"
I call
" This
you
is
IN AMERICA.
must say as I said the
" passionately exclaimed
presided, I
to order
!
not respectful to the committee."
Dr.
Follen expressed his unconsciousness of saying anything disrespectful to the committee,
and
significantly asked if he
must
understand that speaking disrespectfully of mobs was speakreplied that the allusion
To
this inquiry Lunt
was improper, and could not be per-
ing disrespectfully of the committee.
mitted while he occupied the chair.
Mr. Moseley expressed
from the decision of the chairman, saw nothing
disrespectful in Dr. Follen's remarks, and pronounced him
The Doctor then proceeded, and closed
entirely in order.
his dissent
without further interruption.
William Goodell followed in a terse, able, and eloquent
speech, in which he charged upon those who promulgated the
doctrines embodied in the documents from the Southern States
before the committee an attempt " to destroy the free labor of
the North, and reduce our free laboring citizens to the physical and moral condition of their slaves."
He quoted the language of Mr. Leigh of Virginia, then in the Senate of the
United States, and of Mr. McDuffie of South Carolina, in which
they maintained, in substance, that the laboring population of
no nation on earth
it.
He
is
entitled to liberty, or capable of enjoying
then charged the Southern legislatures with a deep and
foul conspiracy against the liberties of the free laboring people
Here he was interrupted by the chairman, and
must not charge Southern States with a foul conspiracy, nor treat their public documents with disrespect."
Mr. Goodell, proceeding, quoted the language of Governor
McDume's message and the action of the South Carolina legislature and, pointing to the Southern documents lying upon the
table of the committee, characterized them as fetters for Northern freemen, and asked this pregnant question " Mr. Chair"
man, are you prepared to attempt putting them on ?
Sit
Here Mr. Lunt cried out with great warmth, " Stop, sir
The committee will hear no more of this." Mr.
down, sir
that
Goodell firmly remarked that his duty was discharged
they
would
there
freemen,
and
go
away
freeas
as
they came
of the North.
told that " he
;
:
!
!
;
�NORTHERN LEGISLATION DEMANDED.
men
337
The audience had watched the proceedings with
and some one exclaimed, as the voice of
the deepest interest
" Let us go quickly, lest we
Mr. Goodell fell upon the ear
"
Mr. May appealed again to the chairman
he made slaves
for a hearing, but the latter intimated that the committee had
should.
;
:
!
heard enough.
As
the excited and indignant audience
was
retiring, Dr.
Gamaliel Bradford of Plymouth County, not a
member
of
came forward and made an earnest
of speech and of the press, and of the right
the Antislavery Society,
appeal for liberty
When
he sat down, George Bond, a
prominent merchant and a gentleman of high character and
influence, asked leave to address a few words to the commitof private judgment.
tee.
Leave having been granted, he expressed his fears that
the action of the committee would produce excitement through-
" I have certainly heard nothing," he
out the commonwealth.
remarked, " from the gentlemen of the Antislavery Society,
that called for the course that has been adopted
seem
to
me
critical."
that the committee are too fastidious,
and
it
does
" Be careful of what you say, sir," ejaculated Mr.
Bond went
In spite of this interruption, Mr.
Lunt.
;
— too hyperon,
and
implored the committee to allow the antislavery gentlemen to
say what they wished to say, although their language might
But the committee
not be such as to suit the committee.
broke up without a formal adjournment
man was
retiring,
and, as the chair-
own townsmen, said
with your course. You have been
Mr. Moseley, one of his
him " I am not satisfied
wrong from the beginning.
to
;
:
I
will not sit again
on such a
committee."
Many
persons
who witnessed
the discreditable conduct of
the chairman of that committee freely expressed their indig-
and from that time committed themselves to the cause
Dr. William Ellery Channing,
who had attended the hearing, much to the gratification of the
Abolitionists, with whom he had not co-operated, approached
Mr. Garrison and offered him his hand, adding expressions
of sympathy and encouragement.
Seth Whitmarsh, a Democratic member of the Senate from the county of Bristol
nation,
of liberty, then so imperilled.
43
�338
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
Robert Rantoul,
House
ton,
;
member
a leading Democratic
Jr.,
and George
— sharply
IN AMERICA.
S. Hillard,
in their places, the
criticised,
of the
a Representative from Bosaction of the
committee.
Mr. Lunt, in his report, spoke of the demands of Southern
enactment of penal laws for the suppres-
legislatures for the
sion of antislavery societies, meetings, and publications, as
" of the most solemn and affecting character as appeals to
our justice as men, to our sympathies as brethren, to our
;
patriotism as citizens
and
to the
;
perils of our ancestors
tions of our nature
memory
and
theirs
;
of the
common
to all the better
trials
emo-
to our respect for the Constitution
;
our regard for the laws
;
;
to
to our hope for the security of all
those blessings which the Union and that only can preserve to
The committee further declared that " the right of the
us."
master to his slave
property "
deprive
;
him
is
as undoubted as the right to
of this property is a violation of the fixed laws of
social policy, as well as of the ordinary rules of
tion "
any other
that " any attempt, whether direct or indirect, to
moral obliga-
and that " his argument that the property is his own
would seem to be unanswerable." The conduct of the Abolitionists was declared to be " not only wrong in policy, but
and the charges brought against the
erroneous in morals "
Abolitionists by the South were declared to be strictly applicable to them.
To the report was appended a series of reso;
;
lutions
expressing " entire
disapprobation
of the doctrines
avowed and the general measures pursued by such as agitate
This report and resolutions
the general question of slavery."
were laid upon the table and never acted upon.
This course of Mr. Lunt excited so much feeling against
him in Essex County that he was not put in nomination for the
Senate the next year but he was elected to the House. Both
in public and private life, however, he has persistently adhered
;
to the position
he then assumed, and
pation and the overthrow of the Slave
his bitter
and
relentless opposition.
all
measures
for
emanci-
Power have encountered
Nor during the slave-
holders' Rebellion did his tongue or pen ever meet the true
demands of
loyalty.
�CHAPTER XXV.
INCENDIARY PUBLICATION BILL.
ADMISSION OF ARKANSAS.
CONVERSION OF FREE SOIL INTO SLAVE
CENSURE MR. ADAMS.
SOIL.
ATTEMPT TO
RIGHT OF PETITION DENIED.
— Referred to a Special Committee. — Mr. Cal— Incendiary Publication
— Debate thereon. — Mr. Van
— Application of Arkansas AdBuren's casting Vote. — Defeat of the
mission into the Union. — Constitution guarantees Perpetual Slavery. — Debate on the Admission. — Mr. Adams's Amendment rejected. — Arkansas
admitted. — The Boundaries of Missouri extended. — Free Soil made Slave
— Success of the Slaveholders. — Second Session of the XXI Vth Con— Presentation of Antislavery Petitions. — Presentation of a Petition
by Mr. Adams purporting
come from Slaves. — Violent Scene in the House.
— Mr. Patton's Motion to return the Petition to Mr. Adams. — Motion of Mr.
Thompson to censure Mr. Adams. — Substitute moved by Mr. Lewis. — Angry
Debate. — Mr. Adams's Defence. — Triumph of Mr. Adams. — Speech of Mr.
Slade. — Violent Scene. — Caucus of Southern Members. — Adoption of Mr.
President Jackson's Message.
houn's Report.
Bill.
for
Bill.
Soil.
gress.
to
Patton's Resolution.
— Subserviency of
When
— Antislavery Papers not to
be debated, printed, or read.
Congress.
Congress assembled in 1835, the country was deeply
The year had been marked by
excited by recent events.
ous demonstrations and lawless violence.
riot-
Bitter animosities
toward the hated and dreaded Abolitionists pervaded the
South.
Her people were vehement in demanding action
against
them by Northern
legislatures
and by Congress
;
and
her representatives came to Washington fully imbued with the
passions of their constituents.
President Jackson in his message invited attention to what
he was pleased to call " the painful excitement in the South,
produced by attempts
to circulate
through the mails inflamma-
tory appeals addressed to the passions of the slaves, calculated
to stimulate
them
to insurrection,
rors of a servile war."
He
and
to
produce
all
the hor-
expressed the opinion that public
sentiment would check such proceedings of misguided per-
�340
EISE
sons
;
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
but, if
it
failed to
do
so,
IN AMERICA.
he thought that the non-slave-
holding States would be prompt to exercise authority in suppressing such attempts.
He suggested to Congress " the
propriety of passing such a law as will prohibit, under severe
penalty, the circulation in the Southern States, through the
mail, of incendiary publications, intended to
instigate
the
slaves to insurrection."
Mr. Calhoun moved the reference of so much of the President's message as related to the transmission of incendiary
publications through the mail to a select committee.
After a
was agreed to, and a committee of
consisting of Calhoun, King of Georgia, Mangum of
five
North Carolina, Linn of Missouri, and Davis of MassachuA bill was reported, accompanied
was appointed.
setts
by an elaborate report from the pen of Mr. Calhoun. The
but Davis, King, and
report was concurred in by Mangum
that
did not concur in all
prompt
declare
they
to
Linn were
Mr. King even went so far as
the positions of that report.
brief debate his motion
—
—
;
characterize it as not only inconsistent with the
with " the existence of the Union itself, and which,
to
lished
and carried
into practice,
must
hastily
end in
bill,
if
but
estab-
its disso-
lution."
report maintained that slavery in the Southern States
could not be abolished without " disasters unexampled in the
that to destroy the existing relations
history of the world "
The
;
would be
must end
to place the
two races "
in a state of conflict,
which
in the expulsion or extirpation of one or the other."
maintained, too, that social and political equality between
them was impossible that no power on earth could overcome
It
;
the difficulty
;
that, without such equality, to
change the pres-
ent condition of the African race would be but to change the
form of slavery,
— would make them the slaves of
stead of the slaves of individuals.
It
society, in-
avowed that the
slave-
holding States would not quietly submit to be sacrificed, that
every consideration would impel them to the most daring and
and that the subversion of the relation
between master and slave would be followed by convulsions,
would " devastate the country, burst asunder the bonds of the
desperate resistance
;
�INCENDIARY PUBLICATION
341
BILL.
Union, and ingulf in a sea of blood the institutions of the
country."
The
bill
was taken up
and
Mr. Davis of Mas-
for consideration early in April,
provisions explained by Mr. Calhoun.
its
sachusetts, a
member
of the committee, opposed
it
in a speech
of great clearness and force, in which he demonstrated
unconstitutionality
He
thought
it
and
its
and dangerous character.
insidious
very impolitic to pass a law that would
make
every citizen feel that he was restrained in his privileges in
consequence of slavery.
an act would rouse up the
and excite the people
keep slavery as
never
call
gentlemen that such
resentment against slavery
oppose it. " But if you would tranhe said, " I would recommend to you
to
quillize public feeling,"
to
He warned
spirit of
far out of sight
on the public to make
and hearing as
possible,
sacrifices of their rights
and
and
privileges to sustain it."
Mr. King, who dissented from the reasoning of the report,
bill
but, in doing so, imputed to Mr.
Calhoun motives of action growing out of his relations with
President Jackson. After vindicating his motives and explaining his actions, Mr. Calhoun avowed that the refusal of Congress
gave his support to the
to pass his bill
litionists,
;
would be virtually
and would make the
to co-operate with the
officers of the Post-Office
Abo-
Depart-
ment their agents in the circulation of incendiary publications.
He warned Congress that by the refusal to pass the bill it would
clearly enlist on the side of the Abolitionists against the South-
ern States, and that the South would have nothing to hope
from them,
let
their decision be
what
it
might.
The South
never would, he said, abandon the principles of the bill, but
would resort to " State interposition as the rightful remedy."
He
maintained that in " this well-tested and
efficient
remedy,
sustained by the principles developed in the report and asserted
in this
Let
it
bill,
the slaveholding States have an ample protection.
be fixed, let
it
be riveted in every Southern mind, that
the laws of the slaveholding States for the protection of their
domestic institutions are paramount to the laws of the general
government in regulations of commerce and the mail, and that
the latter must yield to the former in the event of conflict
�342
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
and that, if the government should refuse to yield, the States
have a right to interpose, and we are safe. With these principles, nothing but concert would be wanting to bid defiance to
movements of the Abolitionists, whether at home or abroad,
and to place our domestic institutions, and, with them, our security and peace, under our own protection and beyond the reach
the
of danger."
Mr. Benton would not make the United States a packhorse
but he could not vote to invest ten thou-
for the Abolitionists
;
sand postmasters with such authority, even to suppress
aboli-
Mr. Webster spoke at length against the
passage of a bill which he deemed contrary to that provision of
the Constitution which prohibits Congress from passing any
law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press. Mr.
tion
publications.
bill, which he declared
most dangerous tendency." He avowed that it
was calculated to destroy all the landmarks of the Constitution,
establish a precedent for dangerous legislation, and lead to
incalculable mischief and he distinctly announced that from
the first to the last he was opposed to the measure.
Mr. Buchanan gave his support to the measure, maintaining that
it was in conformity with the President's recommendation,
and was demanded by the necessities of the country. Other
senators participated in the debate, which ran through several
Clay, too, opposed the passage of the
to be of " a
;
weeks.
On
the engrossment of the
yeas and nays.
bill,
Mr. Calhoun demanded the
Eighteen senators voted for
Vice-President
against
it.
for the
presidency.
When
Van Buren was
it,
and eighteen
then a candidate
the vote was taken on the en-
grossment he was walking in the space in the rear of the chair
of the presiding officer.
Mr. Calhoun called for the VicePresident, and Mr.
Van Buren promptly
gave his casting vote in favor of the
Mr. Tallmadge of
New
York,
took the chair and
bill.
Mr. Wright and
political friends of
Buren, voted for that extraordinary measure.
Mr. Van
After further
was taken on the passage of the bill,
and it was rejected by a vote of nineteen to twenty-five.
Mr. Benton, Mr. Clay, Mr. Crittenden, and four other Southern
debate, the final vote
�ADMISSION OF ARKANSAS.
343
which received the supThese Northern
statesmen were unquestionably actuated by policy rather than
senators, voted against this measure,
port of
Van Buren, Wright, and Buchanan.
by principle.
In so acting they recognized the controlling
influence of slavery
The
and bowed
dominant behest.
and Michigan applied to Con-
to its
Territories of Arkansas
gress for enabling acts, but Congress neglected or refused
their application.
The people
of these Territories, failing to
had framed State consti1836 asked admission into the
Union. A bill for the admission of Michigan was reported by
Mr. Benton, and another for the admission of Arkansas was
reported by Mr. Buchanan.
One was a free State, the other a
slave State.
It was the purpose of the supporters of the administration that they should go through together, so as to
keep up the equilibrium between the free and the slave States.
Mr. Morris of Ohio, believing slavery to be wrong in principle and mischievous in practice, said he would vote against the
obtain authority to hold conventions,
tutions,
and
in the winter of
he thought he had the right to do
admission of Arkansas,
if
But he considered that
his political obligations
so.
and the duties
he owed to the Constitution required him to vote for
its
admis-
Holding such views, he announced that he could not
refuse his vote, though the constitution of that State did recsion.
ognize the existence of slavery.
On
the other hand, Mr. Swift
Vermont declared that as he found by the constitution of
Arkansas that slavery was made perpetual, he could never give
of
his assent to her admission.
The bills for the admission of Arkansas and Michigan were
promptly passed by the Senate, with slight opposition. In the
House, after a brief debate, they were committed to the committee of the whole, and on the 9th of June a struggle com-
menced which continued
twenty-five hours.
participated in the debate.
The
Several
members
constitution of Arkansas pro-
vided that the general assembly should have no power to pass
laws for the emancipation of slaves without the consent of the
owners, or laws to prevent immigrants from bringing slaves
with them.
Mr.
Adams moved
to
amend
the
bill
so as to de-
clare that nothing in the act should be construed as
an assent
�344
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
by Congress to the
IN AMERICA.
articles of the constitution relating to slav-
Mr. Adams held that
Arkansas had a right to come into the Union " with her slaves
and her slave laws." " It is written," he said, " in the bond
and, however I may lament that it ever was so written, I must
ery and the emancipation of slaves.
;
faithfully
perform the obligations.
I
am
as one of the slaveholding States of the
content to receive her
Union
;
but
I
am
un-
willing that Congress, in accepting her constitution, should
even be under the imputation of assenting to an article in the
constitution of a State which withholds from its legislature the
power to give freedom to the slave."
During the debate which followed, Mr. Wise inquired of Mr.
Adams whether, if his amendment should be adopted, Arkansas would be admitted by the bill as a State.
To this inquiry
" Certainly, sir
Mr. Adams replied
there is not in my
amendment the shadow of a restriction proposed upon the
;
:
State.
It leaves
the State, like
all
the rest, to regulate the
own laws."
Declaring that upon the subject he could not go " the breadth
subject of slavery within herself by her
of a hair " beyond the obligations imposed upon
him by
Constitution, Mr. Briggs of Massachusetts emphatically
the
avowed
that he could not give his sanction to the constitution of Ar-
kansas, which
doomed
a large portion of her present and future
population to unconditional and interminable
own
freemen who
slavery
;
nor
could he betray his
sense of propriety, or be treacherous
ous to the
sent
him
there.
During that excited and disorderly debate, Mr. Wise of Virginia announced that, as a Southern man, he felt it his duty to
take a stand in behalf of slavery, which he dignified as an institution of the South.
He announced that, if the members
from the North sought to impose restrictions upon slavery, the
men
of the South might be impelled to introduce slavery in the
heart of the North.
To
this
menace Mr. Cushing of Massachusetts, after expressit was not a deliberate and cherished purpose,
ing the hope that
but a hasty thought struck out in the ardor of debate, thus
" To introduce slavery into the heart of
eloquently replied
:
the North
!
Vain idea
!
Invasion, pestilence, civil war,
may
�CONVERSION OF FREE SOIL INTO SLAVE
345
SOIL.
conspire to exterminate the eight millions of free spirits
now
is
You may
possible to happen.
cities,
raze to the earth the thronged
the industrious villages, the peaceful hamlets of the North.
You may
You may
lay waste
plant
its
fertile
its
very
soil
and verdant hillsides.
and consign it to ever-
valleys
with
salt,
You may transform
lasting desolation.
its
beautiful fields into
a desert as bare as the black face of the sands of Sahara.
may reach
the
who
This, in the long lapse of ages incalculable,
dwell there.
You
the realization of the infernal boast with which Attila
Hun marched
whatever there
is
his barbaric hosts into Italy, demolishing
of civilization or prosperity in the happy
dwellings of the North, and reducing their very substance to
powder, so that a squadron of cavalry shall gallop over the site
of populous cities, unimpeded as the wild steeds on the savannas of the West.
All this you
of physical possibility.
But
my
may do
I
;
it is
within the bounds
solemnly assure every gentle-
man
within the sound of
and
to the world, that until all this be fully
voice, I proclaim to the country
accomplished to
the uttermost extremity of the letter you cannot, you shall
not, introduce slavery into the heart of the North."
The amendment of Mr. Adams received but thirty-two
Fifty members only voted against the admission of
Arkansas and most of their votes were cast not on account
of the cruel provision of her constitution, dooming her slaves
votes.
;
and perpetual servitude, but for other reasons, personal, political, or prudential.
Indeed it is to be feared that
very few were governed in their votes by the fixed and unalto hopeless
terable purpose of opposing a provision so abhorrent to
human
nature, the doctrines of liberty, and the precepts of Christianity.
Nor was this the only victory of the Slave Power at this
To extend the boundaries of slavery, the Missouri
Compromise line was changed, so as to give to Missouri a free
session.
territory, lying
between the
line of that State
River, large enough to form seven counties.
and the Missouri
Under
suasive influences of the delegation from that State,
the per-
John M.
Clayton, from the Committee on the Judiciary, reported a
bill
giving that fertile territory, larger than the States of Delaware
44
�346
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
It passed both
and Rhode Island combined, to Missouri.
Houses with hardly any opposition. This territory was not
only free, but it had been recently assigned by treaty to the
Sac and Fox Indians. A new treaty with these tribes was
negotiated and ratified, the Indians were removed from the
coveted territory, and the slaveholders entered with their
From this territory, given to slavery in 1836,
bondmen.
went forth the hordes of border-ruffians that overran Kansas
twenty years afterward, seeking by fraud and violence to plant
slavery west of the Missouri River.
But violent and repressive measures did not
avail
;
they did
not check, they did but increase, the agitation of that period.
Something more potent than laying abolition petitions on the
table without debate, without being printed or referred, was
necessary to arrest the action of the men and women who
acknowledged the guilt of any responsibility for the existence
and preservation of slavery and the slave-trade in the District
Consequently, at the second session of the
of Columbia.
XXIVth Congress, a large number of petitions were presented
praying for their abolition. But the House, under the lead of
Mr. Hawes of Kentucky, voted again, by a large majority, that
such petitions should be laid upon the table without being
printed or referred.
But Mr. Adams,
in the persistent prosecution of his
avowed
policy of presenting petitions whether he approved of their
purpose or not, stated to the presiding
officer in
February that
he had in his possession a paper upon which he desired his deIt came from persons declaring themselves to be slaves,
cision.
and he wished to know whether it would be considered as com-
The speaker said it was a
novel case, which he would submit to the House for its decisThis became the occasion of a heated and characteristic
ion.
Mr. Lawler of Alabama objected to its going to
discussion.
Mr. Lewis of the same State contended that the
the table.
slaveholding representatives ought to demand of the House
the full exercise of its power to punish any member who
ing under the rule of the House.
should offer such a petition.
If this
was not done, and that
promptly, he contended that the members from the slavehold-
�PRESENTATION OF ANTISLAVERY PETITIONS.
347
ing States should immediately in a body leave the House and
return
their
to
constituents.
Mr.
Grantland of Georgia
avowed his willingness not only to second the motion for the
punishment of the offender, but to go all length in securing its
infliction
and Mr. Alford of the same State was prepared to
;
move
that the paper should be burned.
Mr. Patton of Virginia said that he had examined the petition, which purported to have come from nine women of Fredericksburg, in his State.
a
man, that he could
He
stated,
find the
name
upon his responsibility as
of no woman of decent
town upon the paper. He recognized
only, and that of a mulatto woman of
The rules
notoriously infamous character and reputation.
from the
petition
be
taken
being suspended, he moved that the
respectability of that
among them one name
and returned to the gentleman who presented it.
Mr. Thompson of South Carolina moved an amendment, that
table
Mr.
Adams had been
House
come from slaves, and
the bar of the House to receive
guilty of a gross disrespect to the
in presenting a petition purporting to
that he be instantly brought to
the severe
censure
of the
Speaker.
This motion of Mr.
Thompson
received some significance from the fact that he
Whig, revealing, as it did, the anxiety of the leading
politicians of that party to stand well with the South.
At the
same time it afforded a fair illustration of the mode by which
the leaders of the Slave Power were enabled to control the
two national parties, as, by thus pitting them against each
other, they generally gained their support to their most extreme and aggressive measures. Mr. Thompson also gave
utterance to the most ultra sentiments on the subject of
slavery
saying that he was thankful and proud that he was
born an American, a slaveholder, and a South-Carolinian.
was
a
;
He
also expressed the opinion that African slavery, in all its
bearings, was a blessing.
Mr. Haynes of Georgia expressed his great astonishment
that a
member
of the House could be guilty of so great an
outrage upon the dignity of that body.
Mr. Granger of
York, a prominent and influential Whig, was the
from the
free States to define his position.
He
first
did
New
member
it
by ex-
�348
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE TOWER
LN AMERICA.
pressing his surprise at Mr. Adams's course, and by informing
the
House that he was opposed
to the abolition of slavery in the
Mr. Lewis then
District so long as it remained in Maryland.
Thompson's
resolution,
declaring
presented a substitute for Mr.
that, by his attempt to introduce a petition from slaves " pray-
Adams
ing for the abolition of slavery in the District," Mr.
had committed an outrage on the
rights
and dignity of a por-
tion of the people, a flagrant contempt of the dignity of the
House, and, by proposing to extend to slaves a privilege beto white people only, he had " invited the slave popu-
longing
lation of the South to insurrection."
Mr. Thompson accepted
the substitute.
During these violent proceedings and exhibitions of wrath
Adams remained calm, simply remarking, at that stage of
the proceedings, to Mr. Lewis, that he should be more careful
of his facts, inasmuch as this was a petition against, and not
Mr.
for, abolition in
nettled the
the District.
This quiet rejoinder greatly
Southern members, and Mr. Thompson at once
presented a modification of the resolution, to the effect that
Mr. Adams, by creating the impression that the petition was
for the abolition of slavery, when he knew it was not, had
Deprecating the " levity which was
trifled with the House.
attempted to be thrown upon the subject," he inquired " Is it
a mere trifle to hoax members from the South ? to irritate al"
most to madness the entire delegation from the slave States ?
To these fierce interrogatories Mr. Adams, without rising from
:
hoped he should " not be held responsible for all the follies of Southern members."
Mr. Mann, a Democratic representative from New York,
his seat, replied that he
took the occasion to define his
position.
Deprecating Mr.
Adams's course, he avowed, for himself, constituents, and
friends, that they would abide by the compromises of the
Constitution and " live up to the contract " and Mr. Cambreling, from the same State, pronounced the " petition a hoax,"
" probably better understood by the gentleman from Massa;
chusetts than by his assailants."
During three days of excitement and invective Mr. Adams
had remained quiet in his seat, not even taking notes of what
�ATTEMPT TO CENSURE MR. ADAMS.
had been so
349
and acrimoniously charged against him.
fiercely
After the storm had somewhat subsided, he rose to reply, and
received that profound attention which was due to his age, experience,
and
position.
He
said, if
had been a
it
slaves for the abolition of slavery he
petition of
should have at least
paused before he brought the subject before the House in any
form. However sacred he might hold the right of petition, he
would
still exercise a discretionary power in bringing before
House petitions which, in his opinion, ought not to be presented.
The mere circumstance, however, of a petition being
from a slave would not prevent him from presenting it. If a
horse or a dog had the power of speech, or of writing, and
should send him a petition, he would present it to the House.
A petition was a prayer, a supplication to a superior being,
that which is offered to our God. He declared that the framers
the
—
of the Constitution would have repudiated the idea that they
were giving the people the right of petition. " That right," he
affirmed, "
My
man.
God gave
doctrine
to the
is
whole
human
race
when he made
that the right of petition
the right
is
of prayer, not depending on the condition of the petitioner."
Adams
Mr.
said that Mr. Patton
presented a petition from
he did object when
women
made no
objection
when he
of infamous character
they came from colored people.
;
but
He had
presented petitions from ladies as eminently entitled to be
called such as
any aristocrats
them " women," and
called
in the land
;
but he had usually
that, said he, to
dearer appellation than ladies.
my
heart, is a
Mr. Tbompson had said there
was such an institution in Washington as a grand jury, and
had intimated that Mr. Adams might be indicted for stirring
up insurrection. To this menace Mr. Adams replied " The
only answer I make to such a threat from that gentleman is to
:
invite
a
him, when he returns home to his constituents, to study
little
the
first
principles of liberty.
That gentleman appears
here as the representative of slaveholders, and
to be
informed
this floor
who
how many
I
should like
there are of such representatives on
indorse the sentiment involved in that menace."
These pointed and
swers as the more
telling questions
reflectinc;
brought forth such an-
Southern minds saw
to
be neces-
�350
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
sary to relieve themselves and their section from the false posi-
which Mr. Thompson's incautious remarks had placed
Mr. Underwood of Kentucky promptly replied that he
did not indorse it.
Mr. Wise asked if any man from the
South did indorse it. He was sure he did not. Mr. Thompson, seeing the dilemma in which he had placed himself, said
tion in
them.
he referred
was
to the
liable to
laws of South Carolina, by which a
indictment
who should
member
present such a petition.
Mr. Adams, with deep earnestness and amid great sensation,
exclaimed, that,
if
that
was the law of South Carolina, and
members
of her legislature were amenable to petit and grand
juries for words spoken in debate, " God Almighty receive my
thanks that I am not a citizen of that State " He closed by
!
an appeal to the House and to the nation, affirming that
not he, but those
who
it
objected to the discharge of his duty,
was
who
were answerable for the consumption of time. This heroic
speech of "the old man eloquent" produced a profound impression, and the resolutions of censure were rejected by a
large majority
though a resolution, introduced by Mr. Taylor
;
of
New
York, that slaves do not possess the right of
petition,
secured to the people of the United States, was adopted by an
almost unanimous vote, only eighteen voting against
it.
While Mr. Adams encountered such fierce invective and opposition from Southern men and their Northern sympathizers,
there were those who stood by him and gave him both countenance and support. Mr. Lincoln, from his own State, took
his place by his side, and avowed that he had cheerfully and
willingly presented antislavery memorials, and that he intended
to do so.
Although not an Abolitionist, he vindicated the
purity and philanthropic spirit of petitioners for the abolition
of slavery and the slave-trade at the capital.
Caleb Cushing,
from the same State, maintained with great ability that the
right of petition was not a right derived from the Constitution,
but a pre-existing right of man, secured by a direct prohibition
in the Constitution to pass any law to impair or abridge it.
Mr. Evans of Maine also defended Mr. Adams, and vindicated
the right of petition.
William Slade of Vermont had been a member of the
�RIGHT OF PETITION DENIED.
XXIVth
Adams
351
Congress, and had stood firmly by the side of Mr.
in his devoted advocacy of the right of petition.
Loath-
ing slavery and the slave-trade, he was in favor of their sup-
Detesting the arrogant
pression in the District of Columbia.
assumption of their champions, he was for freedom of speech
The
had passed resolutions
in favor of the suppression of the slave traffic, and of the aboIn presenting them
lition of slavery in the national capital.
and the memorials of many citizens of his State, he moved
and
action.
their reference
legislature of his State
to a
select committee, with instructions to re-
and suppression. Proceeding to
was interrupted by Mr.
Legare of South Carolina, one of the ablest, fairest, and most
port a bill for their abolition
state
the reasons for his motion, he
He
learned of his class.
urged Mr. Slade to ponder well his
course before he proceeded further
when
;
and he warned him that
the question was forced upon the people of the South
they would be ready to take up the gauntlet.
Mr. Slade, unmindful of the interruptions and warnings of
the representative of South Carolina, continued his remarks.
When he was asked by Mr. Dawson, a Whig representative
from Georgia, to yield the floor for an adjournment, he firmly
declined.
Continuing his remarks, he was called to order by
Mr. Wise for reading a judicial decision of one of the Southern
courts defining a slave to be a chattel.
The Speaker, Mr. Polk
of Tennessee, always a willing instrument of the Slave Power,
decided that
it
was not
in order to discuss slavery in the States.
Mr. Slade denied that he was discussing Slavery in the Southern States, as he was simply quoting a judicial decision of a
Southern court, just as he might quote a legal opinion delivered
The Speaker, reminding him of the excitement
in England.
pervading the House, suggested that he should confine himself strictly to the subject of his motion.
Quoting the Declaration of Independence and the
rights of several of the States, he
was again
bill
of
by
Mr. Wise for reading papers without leave of the House. Mr.
Wise declared that he had " wantonly discussed the abstract
question of slavery "
stitutions, to
show
;
was " examining the State conexisted in the States, it was against
that he
that, as
it
called to order
�352
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
them and against
the laws of
God and man.
Mr. Slade, proceeding
order."
IN AMERICA.
This was out of
read the memorial of Dr.
to
Franklin and an opinion of Mr. Madison on slavery, was again
called to order by Mr. Griffin of South Carolina.
The Speaker
decided that they could not he read without the permission of
Mr. Slade then proposed to send the papers to the
Clerk to be read, when the Speaker decided that it would not
be in order for the Clerk to read them.
the House.
Mr. Slade, proceeding, referred to the feeling in Virginia on
when the government was organized.
But he was interrupted by Mr. Rhett of South Carolina, who
impertinently inquired what the opinions in Virginia fifty years
ago had to do with slavery in the District of Columbia. Mr.
Wise rose under great excitement. He said that Mr. Slade
had "discussed the whole abstract question of slavery,
of
slavery in Virginia, of slavery in my own district
and I now
ask all my colleagues to retire with me from this hall."
Mr.
Slade reminded the Speaker that he had not yielded the floor.
Mr. Halsey of Georgia then called on the delegation from Georthe subject of slavery
—
;
gia to withdraw with him.
Amid
this scene of excitement,
noise, and confusion, the voice of Mr. Rhett
was heard calling
upon the entire delegation from all the slaveholding States to
retire from the hall, and to meet in the room of the Committee
on the District of Columbia. Mr. McKay of North Carolina, a
leading member of the Democratic party, objected to Mr.
Slade's proceeding any further, and demanded the enforcement
of the rule requiring a member, when called to order, to take
his seat
;
and,
if
decided to be out of order, requiring leave of
Mr. Slade asked leave to
proceed.
Pending the question of granting leave, the House,
on motion of Mr. Rencher of North Carolina, adjourned sixtythree members, mostly Northern Whigs, voting against the
the House before speaking again.
;
motion.
On the announcement of the adjournment, Mr. Campbell of
South Carolina said he had " been appointed as one of the
Southern delegation to invite gentlemen representing slaveholding States to attend a meeting
now being
held in the room
of the Committee on the District of Columbia."
At
this meet-
�EIGHT OF PETITION DENIED.
ing
members from
353
the slaveholding States agreed to a resolu-
and
was placed
in the hands of Mr.
an
amendment of the rules
Patton of Virginia to be offered as
The resolution was
at the opening of the House the next day.
tion to silence debate
;
it
submitted by Mr. Patton and read
;
and the House, by a
vote of one hundred and thirty-five to sixty, suspended the
rules for its reception.
Mr. Patton, the organ of the seceding
slaveholding members, asserted that the resolution involved
" a concession,
a concession which we make for the sake of
—
peace, harmony,
He
and union."
then moved the previous
question upon the adoption of this resolution
tions,
:
" That
all peti-
memorials, and papers touching the abolition of slavery,
or the buying, selling, or transferring slaves, in any State, or
District, or Territory of the
United States, be laid on the table
without being debated, printed, read, or referred, and that no
action be taken thereon."
The previous question being
was
it.
The
Southern members of both parties and the Northern Democrats recorded their votes for it, though the Whigs of the free
sustained, the resolution
adopted, more than two thirds of the House voting for
States voted against
it.
Thus was a member
of the
House
of Representatives, in
the exercise of an unquestionable right, silenced by trickery
and violence. By this revolutionary act did its slaveholding
members, unmindful of their oath of office, secede from it, go
into a sectional conclave, and there concoct a resolution, to be
offered for the support of the House, as a condition precedent
of their return to the performance of their sworn duties
;
thereby abridging and practically denying the sacred right of
and suppressing the freedom of debate. They were
more than fifty of the
Northern Democrats.
Mr. Adams thus characterized this
action amid deafening cries of "Order": "I consider this
petition,
aided, too, in passing this resolution, by
resolution a violation of the Constitution of the United States,
of the right of
my
constituents and of the people of
United States to petition, and of every right"
speech, as a member of this House."
The
XXVth
Congress was
45
still
to
the
freedom of
more subservient
to the
�354
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
demands of the Slave Power.
voice of the people, but
its
It voted
own.
It
IN AMERICA.
not only to silence the
struck
down
the sacred
right of the people to petition for the redress of their grievances,
by clamor, menace, and resolution, destroyed the freedom
of debate, and hushed the voice of the representatives of the
people.
The Democratic party had
elected Mr. 'Van
Buren
President, and had secured a decisive majority in that Congress.
By
the most abject surrender to the
demands
of the
slaveholding interests did the President justify the appellation
generally applied to him as " a Northern man with Southern
principles "
;
and his administration, thus begun, was among
the most unhesitating in
its
subserviency to the Slave Power.
�CHAPTER XXVI.
— ACTION
ACTIVITY OP THE ABOLITIONISTS.
OP NORTHERN LEGIS-
LATURES.
The
Abolitionists hopeful.
in the Capitol.
— Mr.
— Meeting
of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society
— Public
— Black Laws
Stanton's Resolutions.
Sentiment.
— Forma-
— Condition
Ohio. — Hearing before a Committee of the Massaof the Colored People
chusetts Legislature. — Mr. Stanton's Speech. — Action of the Legislature. —
Decision of Judge Shaw. — James C. Alvord. — Resolutions against Texas. —
tion of the Illinois Antislavery Society.
of Ohio.
in
Legislatures of Connecticut and Vermont.
Two
features of the early stages of the uprising against
and suggestive. There was
the manifest failure of those early pioneers to comprehend the
magnitude and inveteracy of the evil to be removed, or the
tremendous grasp in which it held the nation in its every
department of individual and associated life.
There was,
too, an enthusiastic but unwarranted confidence in a speedy
slavery were peculiarly striking
triumph.
Evidences abound.
They are seen
in the proceed-
ings of antislavery conventions and anniversaries, in the anti-
and journals, of those days. Even
abilities and opportunities of judging
slavery reports, speeches,
Mr. Garrison, whose
were certainly not small, shared largely in these illusions of
hope and in this evident under-estimate of the greatness and
severity of the contest on which they had entered. Though much
be conceded to the charm of novelty, the enthusiasm of youth,
and the pardonable confidence of the neophyte, unhackneyed
as yet and without the lessons gained in the stern school of
experience,
expressions.
it
is
difficult
to account for these over-sanguine
Especially does this appear in view of the deter-
mined opposition they were obliged to encounter, almost always and everywhere, in their attempts to reach the popular
ear and heart.
Not only were they excluded, as they com-
�356
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
plainingly asserted, from churches and halls, but they were
driven by rioters from their
own
quarters,
and hardly permit-
ted to walk the streets without the hootings and sometimes
the more personal and physical violence of the mob.
this the
mere temporary
ebullition of the hour.
It
Nor was
continued
no inconsiderable number of those early and sanguine
men and women felt constrained to come out of both churches
and parties, as hopelessly in bondage to this haughty and dominating power of the land.
Doubtless it was well that such was the fact. Had they
fully comprehended the desperate nature of the struggle,
fathomed the depth of their country's degradation and peril,
gauged the full measure of its apostasy and the slow progress
of truth, had they known the extent of the great and terrible
wilderness on which they had entered, and the length of their
journeyings to the promised land, the hearts of many would
have sunk within them, and they might have relinquished the
until
it was well begun.
During the years of 183-1-35 the operations of the New
England Antislavery Society, which had, owing to the formation of the American Society, taken the name and become the
Massachusetts Antislavery Society, were conducted on a more
extended scale than ever. It employed efficient agents, while
several other gentlemen of capacity, zeal, and eloquence largely
Its fourth ancontributed to the advancement of the cause.
attempt before
nual meeting was held in January, 1836, in the city of Boston.
Its
committee of arrangements had been refused the use of
the churches and halls large enough to accommodate
bers
;
and they were compelled
to hold the
its
all
mem-
meeting in their
little room in "Washington Street, used for ordinary purposes,
for the meetings of the executive committee, and for other
assemblages during the year.
speeches were
made by
Earnest and radical antislavery
Professor Charles Follen, William
Goodell, Rev. Cyrus P. Grosvenor, Rev. Orange Scott,
Henry
C. Wright, and others.
was held in January, 1837, in the loft
Marlborough Hotel. Its report,
read by Mr. Garrison. The
was
which was very elaborate,
Its fifth anniversary
of the stable attached to the
�ACTIVITY OF THE ABOLITIONISTS.
357
meeting was addressed by Amos Dresser, who gave a narratreatment he had received in Tennessee, the
Rev.
recital of which excited deep and tearful emotion.
tive of the cruel
Samuel
May
J.
eloquently referred to the fact that the So-
ciety could not secure a comfortable place of
native
city
that every church and
;
hall
meeting in his
had been closed
The
against them, and that they were driven into a stable.
had been applied
legislature
to for the use of the hall of the
House
of Representatives for an evening meeting of the So-
ciety
and
;
its
application
had been
successful, the
from Boston, however, generally voting against
"
to this fact, Henry B. Stanton wittily said
:
votes
we go
into a stable, but
when
it.
members
Referring
When
the State votes
Boston
we go
into
the State House."
On
the evening of the 25th of January, the pioneer anti-
slavery society, as
its
friends affectionately styled
bled, for the first time, in the hall of the
House
it,
assem-
of Repre-
Rev. Orange Scott was the first speaker. He
sentatives.
maintained that the sum and substance of antislavery doctrines are that " slavery is sin
doned."
and must be immediately aban-
Mr. Stanton spoke in support of resolutions in favor
of the immediate abolition of slavery and of the slave-trade in
the District of Columbia, and of the right of petition.
he was speaking an
effort
was made
While
to create a disturbance
by persons near the entrance of the hall. But Mr. Stanton,
after a moment's pause, proceeded in his speech with great
eloquence and power, completely subduing the mob spirit and
enchaining the attention of the audience. The reporter failed
in his task, because, as he said, " he would not attempt to
report a whirlwind or a thunder-storm."
made
Ellis
Gray Loring
a learned argument in support of a resolution, declar-
ing that allegiance to his country, to liberty, and to
quired that every
man
God
re-
should be an abolitionist and should
openly espouse the antislavery cause.
The debate on granting the use of the hall to the society,
in which several members participated, and in which Mr. Rnggles of Fall River spoke with commanding eloquence and
power for the right of free discussion, and the speeches made
�358
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
during the evening, exerted a potent influence on the members
of the legislature, the effects of which were manifested before
The
the close of the session.
society continued its meeting
during the next day, and speeches breathing the
spirit of self-
It was
Root of Dover,
consecration and devotion to the cause were made.
especially manifested in the speech of Rev. Mr.
New
Hampshire.
The
begun.
"
collision of truth
commotion
diency, will produce
will prevail.
great moral war," he said, "
The
Should
my name
;
I
known
here-
one who stood aloof from the movements now in pro-
after as
gress for laying the last stone of the yet unfinished
But above
Liberty.
me
let
would sooner be
execrated as a Tory of the Revolution than be
let
but
but truth and duty must and
reach the next generation,
be found in connection with abolition.
it
is
with error, of duty with expe-
all,
when
I
am summoned
to
Temple of
judgment,
then be found to have been the unflinching friend of
God's poor."
Mr.
May commenced
with great plainness of speech upon
the fact that in the city of Boston the cause of impartial
erty
was shut out from
control of
its
citizens.
lib-
all
the halls and churches under the
He
referred to the fact that the col-
ored and other citizens of Massachusetts
suffered
serious
abridgment of their privileges, that slaveholders might not be
He
disturbed in their unrighteousness.
maintained, too, that
New England
were implicated in the sin of
slavery, and were forbidden to repent and do works meet for
repentance.
He avowed his readiness to wear the chain him-
the citizens of
self,
rather than remain silent in view of the great wrongs
man was
inflicting on his fellow.
Mr. Garrison, referring to the accusation made against him
of using harsh language, declared that he was not eager to
repel that accusation, for he could not suffer himself to be
turned aside from the warfare against merciless oppressors
to discuss the proprieties of diction with captious critics.
"
Who," he
asked, " are
my
accusers
reeking with pollution and blood,
ers,
slave-drivers,
—
?
The
entire South,
slaveholders, slave-deal-
recreant priests, and lynch committees,
Northern apologists
for crime,
and
terror-stricken recreants
�ACTIVITY OF THE ABOLITIONISTS.
359
—
all charge me with using hard language
Am I
heed to such instructors, or aim to suit their tastes ?
While millions are groaning in bondage, and women are sold
to liberty,
!
to give
by the pound in our country,
down
sitting
it is
solemn
trifling to
think of
coolly to criticise the phraseology of those
who
and toiling for their deliverance."
Resolutions were introduced by Mr. Stanton censuring the
action of members of Congress who had voted to deny the
right of petition
applauding John Quincy Adams
calling
upon the whole people of the Commonwealth to rally to the
rescue of the Constitution and to the cause of God's perishing
are pleading
;
;
poor
;
invoking the legislature to request their representatives
to vote for the
immediate abolition of slavery and the slaveand summoning the people
trade in the District of Columbia
;
no member of the national or State legislature who
favor of the freedom of speech and of the press, and
to vote for
is
not in
of the right
of petition.
He
declared that the resolutions
were not designed to have a partisan bearing
;
spoke of the duties, not of a party, but of
all
but that they
parties
and
creeds.
Rev. Robert B. Hall approved of
all
the resolutions but the
That he opposed because he deprecated political action,
which would, he thought, excite much clamor and do much
harm. Mr. Garrison expressed much surprise at such sentiments from one of flie original signers of the declaration
last.
adopted by the convention at Philadelphia, in which
it
was
expressly proclaimed that Abolitionists were to use " moral
and political action " for the removal of slavery. He avowed
that Abolitionists ought not to vote for any
man who would
not maintain the right of petition and vote for the abolition of
slavery
when Congress had
the power.
Abolitionists, he main-
had nothing to do with politics, as understood among
politicians and political parties of the day
but " they have
tained,
;
something
to
do with
politics so far as relates to this question."
Mr. Stanton proclaimed that the motto of Abolitionists is
is ours,
consequences are God's." Political action,
" Duty
—
:
he contended, was then bad, and would be, though Abolition" Shall the people," lie asked, " so
ists should remain silent.
�360
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
act as to renovate the politics of this country,
our liberties
away
forever
;
?
and thus save
or shall they slumber on until they have passed
" The resolutions were unanimously passed, with
the exception of the last, and that passed with only the dis-
That vote fully and unreservedly
committed the members of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society to political action for the removal of slavery where Congress possessed the power under the Constitution of the United
States, and is very significant, especially as viewed in connection with the opposite non-voting policy so loudly and so
senting vote of Mr. Hall.
by the same individuals.
Nor were there wanting similar demonstrations in the other
New England States, though in none were they so vigorous
and well sustained. Still in all these were societies and active
efforts more or less effective
and this was specially true of
New York. The city was the headquarters not only of its
own, but of the national society. In the central and western
portions of the State, more largely settled from New England,
there was much activity.
In New Jersey there was little
persistently proclaimed afterward
;
attempted and -little accomplished.
In Pennsylvania there
had been a sad reaction after the days when the old Pennsylvania Abolition Society was a power there and did so much to
keep that Commonwealth moored to the principles of its great
founder and to those of the Revolution. But its contiguity to
the slave States, and its large German element, mainly intent
on material good, gave little encouragement or success to antislavery efforts, though there, as elsewhere, they were made.
Indeed, in consequence of antislavery agitation, both within
and without the State, a State convention was called, mainly
by leaders of the Democratic party, professedly to strengthen
the bonds of the Union, though really to discountenance
and put down such agitation. It failed, in the language of
Judge Woodward, who was a member and in sympathy with
its object,
because Thaddeus Stevens, then in the zenith of his
powers and popularity, " ridiculed the convention into nothingness."
He was
not equally successful, however, in the con-
vention for revising the constitution
;
for,
with
all
his powers,
he could not prevent that body from inserting the word
�ACTIVITY OF THE ABOLITIONISTS.
"white"
361
into the suffrage clause of that instrument.
The
ignominy and partisan profligacy of that action were evinced
by the unblushing request, which seems to have been successful, and which was set forth in a memorial from Bucks County,
"
in which it was urged, as a reason why the word " white
should be inserted, that negro votes sometimes controlled elec" and that at the last election one member of the assemtions
bly, the county commissioner, and auditor were returned as
;
elected
by the force of the votes of blacks, when the oppo-
nents would have been elected except for the negro suffrage."
While Eastern Abolitionists were thus actively engaged in
and meeting its peculiar exigencies, their brethren
at the West were not idle.
Nor were they without their share
their work,
of vicissitudes, substantially like those in the
and the Middle
New England
though affected by the composite character of the population, even then, of that section of the coun-
The
try.
States,
fact, too, that the
there, as elsewhere,
defenders and abettors of slavery
made demands
were not Abolitionists revolted,
against which
like
many who
John Quincy Adams,
in
behalf of the right of petition, and Mr. Lovejoy for the free-
dom
Dr.
of the press, exerted
Edward Beecher
its
Concerning
influence.
says that in
it
Illinois,
" there was an original
settlement, and
and the influence of
this, added to that of papers from the East, awakened an extensive interest in the subject over the whole State."
But,
while there might have been this " leaven of antislavery," the
leaven of antislavery principles in
its earliest
preceding the discussions at the East
;
prevailing tone of thought and feeling, as the great body of
early settlers were from slaveholding States,
Accordingly
from
St.
it
was seen
Louis, that,
in the ejection of
when
was the
its
reverse.
Mr. Lovejoy 's press
the lines were drawn, the vast pre-
ponderance of the popular sentiment and influence was on the
,
side of the oppressor.
These
the
facts, more clearly developed by the Alton riots and
murder of Lovejoy than by any previous demonstration,
decided
come
many minds,
before
for concerted action.
tion of
"the friends of the
46
hesitating, that the time
Accordingly,
slave
and of
had
when
the conven-
free
discussion,"
�362
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
meet at Upper Alton, Illinois, on the 26th of October,
1837, was broken up by the intrusion of proslavery men, who
took the organization of the meeting into their own hands,
adopted proslavery resolutions, and then dissolved the meeting,
the supporters of law and order, whatever their views upon
slavery had hitherto been, saw, in the words of Dr. Beecher,
that " some organized, systematic effort was absolutely necessary to save our own liberties from the ruthless hands of unprincipled men."
A new call was issued, and two days later the convention
met and formed the " Illinois State Antislavery Society."
Having perfected their organization, adopted a constitution,
and chosen their officers, Elihu Wolcott being president and E.
P. Lovejoy secretary and chairman of the executive commitcalled to
they discussed and adopted a scries of resolutions, at once
comprehensive and thorough, and based upon the great principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Word of God.
Among the resolutions was one declaring that " the cause of
tee,
human rights,
demand
tively
the liberty of speech and of the press, impera-
Alton Observer' be reand pledging
present editor "
with the aid of Alton friends and " by the help of
that the press of the
established at Alton, with
its
members
its
'
;
Almighty God," to take measures for its re-establishment. A
preamble, couched in language of singular solemnity and force,
prefixed to the constitution, and also a declaration of sentiments, reported by Dr. Beecher, were adopted. Fifty-five signatures were appended to the constitution.
A committee, consisting of Wolcott, Beecher, and Carter,
was appointed
to issue
an " address to the citizens of the State
on the subject of slavery, freedom of speech, of the press," etc.
That also was a paper of singular ability and eloquence, placing
the cause on the high ground of Christian principle, and enun-
and force the primal truths of
human rights and the paramount claims of God's Holy Word.
But the strong Southern element which entered so largely into
the population of Illinois prevented any very general adoption
of such sentiments, however scriptural and republican in spirit
There were, indeed, ever faithful men and
and purpose.
ciating with great clearness
�ACTIVITY OF THE ABOLITIONISTS.
women, churches and communities
363
but the great body joined
;
in the general apostasy, consenting to, if not defending, the
giant wrong.
Ohio was settled, especially
its eastern and northern porby a different class of citizens. There the New England
element was strong and, being removed from the corrupting
tions,
;
influences of cities
and of commercial and manufacturing
terests, society, at least in
as rapidly
and
many
fatally as did that
were many strong and earnest
many
localities,
which was
men
left
behind.
There
and
though the southern porIndiana and Illinois, was strongly tinctured
active antislavery associations
tion of the State, like
in-
did not deteriorate
in the abolition ranks,
;
with proslavery sentiments, that had secured legislation and
laws which they inspired and which were enacted at their
behests.
Its
State Society, of which Leicester King,
some
years afterward nominated as a candidate for the Vice-Presi-
dency by the Liberty party, was president, held a convention
in April, 1835, continuing three days.
At
this convention, in
addition to a consideration of the general subject, particular
attention
was paid
to the
the State, as also to the
disgraced
its
executed by
statute-books,
its
condition of the colored people in
inhuman and barbarous laws which
and which were only too
faithfully
inhabitants, especially by those residing in
and
near Cincinnati and on the borders of the Ohio River.
Indeed, a prominent feature of the meeting was the reading
and discussion of two very aide and exhaustive reports from
committees appointed to consider " the condition of people of
color," and the " laws of Ohio " concerning them.
These
laws forbade the entrance into the State of negroes and mulattoes without giving two freehold sureties to the
amount of five
hundred dollars for their good behavior and for their support
if they should become a public charge.
The penalty for not
giving such sureties was " to be removed in the same manner
By another section it
" any person being a resident of this State
as is required in the case of paupers."
was enacted that
if
shall employ, harbor, or conceal any such negro," he shall
pay a sum not exceeding one hundred dollars, and be liable
for his support if he become a public charge.
By another
�364
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
KISE
statute
it
IN AMERICA.
was enacted that no black or mulatto person should
give evidence in court in a controversy or case in which a
white person was involved.
It
was easy, of course,
for the
committee to point out not
only the inhumanity and wickedness of such legislation, but
unconstitutionality,
its
—
or, at least, its incompatibility
with
the constitution of the State, which declares " that all are
born free and independent, and have certain natural and
Nor was it any less easy to point out the
inalienable rights."
workings of such statutes on the people thus hampered
and held in check and constraint by them. " Few amongst
the w \ites," they say, " would be able to obtain sureties on such
and much less blacks, who are strangers and pencondit: *ns
niless, and against whose race there exists a general prejuevil
;
dice."
As
to
if
make
their condition insupportable, all per-
sons were forbid hiring or employing them.
such cruel and unjust
And
if,
in spite
any should succeed in
life, and amass wealth, the section confronted them, forbidding
their evidence in court on any subject in which a white man
of
is
all
involved.
It
disabilities,
was, then, but a legitimate inference
when
the
committee declared that the " influence of such laws could
not be otherwise than destructive to their moral and intellectual character
and
their pecuniary interests.
Mental debase-
ment, moral degradation, self-disrespect, unyielding prejudice
on the part of the whites, and the most distressing poverty,
are the natural and necessary consequences of their pernicious, unjust,
Nor was
it
and impolitic laws,"
strange that the committee on the condition of
the colored people "
was obliged to report that of the estimatfive hundred in the State, as a class,
we find them ignorant, many of them intemperate and vicious,"
intemperance, ignorance, and lewdness " being their beseted seven thousand and
ting vices
;
that, instead of seeking to
gain freeholds, and
depending upon farming for subsistence, they congregate in
towns, and become day laborers, barbers, and menial servants."
There were, however, redeeming facts, and satisfactory mention was made of " a settlement in Stark County,
where there were three hundred people, mostly farmers," with
�ACTIVITY OF THE ABOLITIONISTS.
365
a meeting-house and school-house, the whole population, with
few exceptions, abstaining from intoxicating drinks.
A
was made in the spring of 1835, by
the Antislavery Society of Lane Seminary, into the condition
of the twenty-five hundred colored people of Cincinnati.
more
From
its
specific inquiry
report
appears that, as far back as 1829, a sys-
it
tematic effort was
made by
movement not only
its citizens to
aid in the removal
of color from the United
of the free people
This
States.
excited the passions and prejudices of the
lower stratum of society, but inspired the action of the com-
manding
and of the
classes
authorities.
The
trustees of the
township issued a proclamation that any colored man who did
fulfil the requirements of the law should leave the city.
not
But, as that was simply impossible, only a small portion could
The mob then attempted
or did leave.
force
;
and
expel them by
to
The
for three days riot ran wild in the city.
col-
ored people, appealing in vain to the city authorities, barri-
caded their houses, and thus alone the fury of the
Thus hampered and oppressed
resisted.
rioters
was
in Ohio they sent a
deputation to Canada, to find a place of refuge under a monarchy.
as
it
The
reply of the governor
was severe and damaging
was as reassuring
" Tell the republicans," he said, " on your side of the
Union.
line, that
we
royalists
you come to us, you
do not know men by their
color.
Should
will be entitled to all the privileges of the
rest of her Majesty's subjects."
In consequence of this -gra-
large numbers emigrated
and, in a few
more than a thousand found a home in what was called
cious permission
years,
them
to
to the recreant citizens of the
;
Wilberforce Settlement.
Those who remained, however, suffered every indignity and
Public schools and mechanical associations were
closed against them, and the most ordinary labor was refused
them,
a clergyman, in one instance, dismissing a member
injustice.
—
employment because it was against the
to employ him.
The poor man, spending many days in
the unavailing search for employment, and returning to the
of his church from his
law
minister for advice, received the disheartening reply: "
not help you
;
you must go to Liberia."
Thus did the
I
can-
spirit
�366
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
of slavery everywhere reveal itself to be the same heartless
and fiendish element, disturbing alike the normal condition of
society and that of the individuals of which that society was
composed. Men under its influence lost much of their manhood, and communities were made willing to exhibit the most
revolting features of barbarism
The high-handed measures
itself.
of Congress, in
its
right of petition and freedom of speech, caused
ment and indignation
The
in the free States.
denial of the
much
of Massachusetts, sharing largely in these feelings, were
the
first
to give expression to this sense of
were firm
and
their purpose to
in
resist
these
to secure, if possible, a reversal of
tion.
excite-
antislavery
men
among
wrong, as they
encroachments,
such hostile
legisla-
Consequently, during the session of the legislature in
a, large number of petitions were presented, calling upon
body "to protest without delay, in the name of the people
of this Commonwealth," against the rule of Congress which
laid upon the table all memorials and other papers concern-
1837,
that
ing slavery, without being printed, read, or referred.
These
memorials were referred to an able committee of one from
each county, of which Artemas Lee of Templeton, Worcester
County, was chairman. The committee granted a full, fair,
and courteous hearing to the friends and representatives of the
memorialists,
a favor made more noticeable and grateful to
them by its striking contrast with the insolent and supercilious course of Mr. Lunt, chairman of a similar committee of
—
the previous legislature.
Henry B. Stanton and George
S. Hillard
appeared in be-
half of the petitioners, and urged their claims with ability
and eloquence.
Mr. Hillard's speech was able and scholarly,
exciting in the friends of freedom hopes of future service
which his subsequent career did not justify. It was eclipsed,
however, by the remarkable effort of his colleague. Mr. Stanton's argument on that occasion was regarded, by those whose
good fortune it was to hear it, as one of those rare exhibitions
of eloquence which now and then burst upon a delighted and
enraptured auditory. It was a kind of epoch in one's life-
�ACTION OF NORTHERN LEGISLATURES.
367
time, to be remembered, but seldom repeated or paralleled.
It
wrought its effects upon the audience, however, perhaps more
by its gorgeous diction, vivid coloring, and magnetic power,
as the speaker described the ideal possibilities of
stage of
human
progress, than by the vigor of
some coming
its
reasoning,
and
upon the audience, as
It was
described by those who heard it, were almost magical.
stereotyped, and two hundred thousand copies were circulated.
or
its
special adaptedness to the state of public feeling
sentiment as then existing.
Its effects
Mr. Garrison thus refers to
in his report
it
:
" The occasion
was one of great moral sublimity. Mr. Stanton, though laboring under physical indisposition, was happily enabled not
'
only to meet, but even to transcend, the high expectation of
the friends of liberty.
his
eloquence bore
all
His words became living coals, and
things onward like an overflowing
stream."
" The effects of antislavery agitation," Mr. Stanton said,
" are not
hemmed
boundaries.
They
but those of the
in
by State
lines,
are moral in their nature
human mind
owe allegiance
;
tion but that of the immortal soul.
truths
we proclaim
nor circumscribed by local
overleap
all
obey no laws
;
to
no constitu-
Impalpable, but real, the
geographical divisions, and lay
upon the conscience.
like the Aurora Borealis
Moral
their strong grasp
light, diffused
onward
The slaveholder may intrench himself behind
bristling bayonets, but the truth, armed with the omnipotence
At Mason
of its Author, breaks through the serried legions.
at the North, is
;
it
will travel
to the South.
and Dixon's
line
he
may
pile his prohibitory statutes to
clouds as his wall of defence
;
but truth, like light,
is
the
elastic
and impressible, and, mounting upward, will overleap the sumYes, sir, if the Union were
rent into ten thousand fragments, yet, if on any fragment there
mit and penetrate his concealment.
was a slaveholder, antislavery agitation would search him out,
and scatter upon his naked heart the living coals of truth.
God has written the verity of our principles on the inside of
every oppressor in the land.
And
He
can destroy the record only
American slaveholder, returning
wearied with the destruction of every antislavery pamphlet
with his nature.
if
the
�368
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
KISE
and press and society and man
IN
AMERICA.
in the nation, should seek
repose in his chamber, these words, written with the finger of
God, would flame out from
intensity
:
'
Woe
its
walls in letters of blinding
unto him that buildeth his house by unright-
wrong that useth his neighand giveth him not for his work!"
eousness, and his chambers by
bor's service without wages,
;
The buoyant hopes thus eloquently portrayed were, however,
hardly fulfilled. The history of the struggle, then commencing and
now
complete, did not realize the bright anticipations
so brilliantly sketched by the fervid orator of that occasion.
These words were spoken in 1837 what did twenty years'
The nation rocked from centre to circumferfighting reveal ?
ence, and on the eve of rebellion and disruption, not upon the
;
question whether slavery should be abolished at the South, but
whether
it
should not be extended to the North.
In the
mean
time Texas had been annexed the Mexican War had been
fought the Missouri Compromise had been abrogated the
the 7th of March
Fugitive Slave Law had been enacted
Speech had been spoken, and Mr. Webster had been thanked
by eight hundred of the prominent citizens of Massachusetts,
including clergymen, president and professors of its leading
college and theological seminary, for " recalling them to their
Four years more revealed
duties under the Constitution."
;
;
;
;
the nation in the agonies of civil war, the South almost a unit
in the strife, at best but a lean minority of its ministers
churches protesting against the treason or condemning
and
its vil-
lanous cause.
Where were then
the truths overleaping " all geographical
and laying their " strong grasp upon the conscience " ?
Where was that moral light, diffused like the
Aurora Borealis through the North, and travelling onward to
the South, penetrating the concealment of the slaveholder,
searching him out, and scattering " on his naked heart the
divisions,"
coals of living truth "
" Alas
?
!
Leviathan
is
not so tamed."
Something more is wanting than moral light or the living
There must be a "living" conscience and a
coals of truth.
�ACTION OF NORTHERN LEGISLATURES.
They were wanting, and
loyal heart.
A
369
so were the hoped-for
shareholding government, instead
and promised
results.
of relaxing
grasp, strengthened itself in the high places of
its
power, to be dislodged only by divisions in
its
own
ranks, and
not by the greater strength of the friends of freedom
of contracting the area of slavery, enlarging
garding
it,
it
;
instead
;
instead of re-
with the fathers, exceptional and sectional, deter-
mining to make it national and supreme. And had there been
It was
only moral agencies, such would have been the result.
material, not moral force, the sword of steel and not the sword
of truth, that broke the power of the master and struck his
It was God who, amid and by the
fetters from the bondman.
fires and convulsions of rebellion and civil war, undid the
heavy burdens and let the oppressed go free. The moral forces
then invoked and employed were, doubtless, a part of the predetermined plan, and had their place among the measures
that were needed for the result to be secured.
finally
But the mode
adopted was so unlike anything planned for or anticipat-
ed that the wisest and most earnest Abolitionist will be modest
and ascribe the victory to God, rather than to
whose prerogative it is to bring good out of
make even the wrath of man praise Him.
in his claims,
man,
evil,
— to Him
and
to
Mr. Stanton thus expressed the unyielding purpose of those
for
whom
he spoke
:
" Undeterred by
official
proscription or
by prosecution at common law or persecutions without law, by legislative enactments or ecclesiastical
anathemas, the friends of the slave, guided by the wisdom,
cheered by the favor, and. protected by the power of God, will
private denunciation,
prosecute their work.
And
that
man
or that party
who
shall
onward progress will be
borne down by the advancing host." It was to this vigorous
protest and promised persistence of the antislavery men of
those days that was due the manly response of the Massachuattempt to arrest this cause in
its
setts legislature to the prayer of the memorialists.
A
favora-
was returned, declaring that " the act of Congress,
in refusing to refer and consider the petitions of the people on
the subject of slavery, was a virtual denial of the right of petition itself," and " at variance with the spirit and intent of the
ble report
'
47
�370
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
Constitution,
and injurious
to the
IN AMERICA.
cause of freedom and free
The action of the senators and representatives
from Massachusetts was applauded, and the declaration made
that " Congress, having exclusive legislation in the District of
institutions."
Columbia, possesses the right to abolish slavery in said District,
and that
its
exercise should only be restrained by a re-
gard for the public good."
After an earnest and animated
debate, these resolutions were sustained in the
House by an
almost unanimous vote, only sixteen members voting in the
negative.
The Senate, under the lead of Charles Allen, voted unanimously to amend the resolution asserting the power of Congress to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, so as to
affirm " that the early exercise of such right is demanded by
the united sentiment of the civilized world, by the principles
An additional resolution
of the Revolution and humanity."
was adopted, with only one dissenting voice, in favor of circumscribing slavery within the limits of the States where
it
had already been established, and opposing the admission of
any new State with a constitution establishing or admitting it.
The Senate finally receded from its action not from any disposition to retreat from the principles it had avowed, but for
the purpose of preserving more unity of action with the House
;
of Representatives.
The
legislature of
Vermont,
too, resolved,
and sent
reso-
its
lutions to each of the States, that neither Congress nor the
State governments have any constitutional power to abridge
the free expression of opinions, or their transmission through
the
medium
of the public mails
;
and that Congress possesses
the power to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia.
action of the legislatures of
cated an advance in antislavery sentiment, cheering
exasperating
its foes,
This
Vermont and Massachusetts
and stimulating both
indi-
its friends,
alike to further en-
deavors to promote their conflicting purposes and plans.
Other facts cheered and encouraged the friends of the
slave.
In the month of August, 1836, the Supreme Judicial Court of
Massachusetts unanimously decided, in the case of the slavechild
Med, brought from
New Orleans
by Mrs. Slater, who came
�ACTION OF NORTHERN LEGISLATURES.
371
to reside with her father, Thomas Aves of Boston, that " an
owner of a slave in another State, where slavery is warranted
by law, voluntarily bringing such slave into this State, has no
authority to retain him against his will, or to carry him out of
the State against his consent, for the purpose of being held in
slavery."
This important opinion was delivered by Chief Jus-
The
had been prosecuted with unfaltering
Samuel E.
Sewall and Ellis Gray Loring, assisted by Rufus Choate, conducted the case for the Commonwealth. The argument of
Mr. Loring was pronounced a masterly and exhaustive effort,
worthy of the cause he advocated and the great tribunal before
which it was delivered.
This decision was followed by another, hardly less important.
Shaw.
tice
zeal by the
On
suit
Boston Female Antislavery Society.
the 20th of January, 1837, the judiciary committee of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives was directed to
in-
quire into the expediency of providing some process by which
may try his
.one under personal restraint
right to liberty before
The chairman of the committee, James C, Alvord of
Greenfield, a young and able lawyer and rising statesman, of
whom high hopes were entertained, made an elaborate report,
a jury.
was vindicated. An
any person is imprisoned,
in which the sacred right of trial by jury
act
was reported providing that "
if
restrained of his liberty, or held in duress, unless
custody of some public
it
be in the
by force of a lawful
or criminal, issued by a court
officer of the law,
warrant or other process,
civil
of competent jurisdiction, he shall be entitled, as of right, to
a writ of personal replevin, and to be thereby in the
specified in the act."
gave
its
The
The
manner
legislature, with entire unanimity,
sanction to this important
bill.
sixth anniversary meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-
slavery Society
was held
application, the hall of
granted for
its
use,
and
at
Boston in January, 1838.
On
its
House of Representatives was
was thronged with members and
the
it
others anxious to listen to the eloquent advocates of immediate
At the meeting Edmund Quincy submitted a
signal manner in
which the antislavery cause had been prospered during the
emancipation.
resolution, gratefully acknowledging the
�372
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
and " the bright ray of promise which assures us
beams of the Sun of Righteousness will not forever
be obscured by the mists which rise from a sensual and merpast year,
that the
cenary world."
Mr. Quincy and
and over-confident
his associates were, doubtless, too sanguine
;
and yet there were cheering signs of pro-
Shortly afterward, the legislature of Massachusetts
gress.
adopted, with
little
opposition, a series of resolutions against
the admission of Texas
slave States
;
;
against the admission of any more
in favor of the abolition of slavery
and the
slave-
trade in the District of Columbia and the prohibition of slav-
These resolutions were reported by
ery in the Territories.
James
C. Alvord, then a senator from Franklin County.
They
were accompanied by two reports, in which the questions involved were discussed with great clearness and force. In the
autumn
of that year Mr. Alvord
was elected
to Congress,
to the gratification not only of the antislavery
He
chusetts but of the whole country.
men
much
of Massa-
did not live, however,
and in his early
and premature grave were buried the high hopes which had
been excited by his brief and brilliant career.
While the questions involved in these resolutions were pending before the legislative committee, Wendell Phillips adto take his seat in the councils of the nation,
dressed
it
against the annexation of Texas, unveiling and
properly characterizing the plottings of the Slave
Power
in
Angelina E. Grimke, the first lady ever permitted to address a legislative committee in the Commonthat matter.
wealth, was allowed to appear before the same.
Her appeals
were earnest, eloquent, and full of pathos and tenderness.
She referred to her self-exile from South Carolina, her native
endure the sufferings to which the
and she invoked the action of the
State, because she could not
bondmen were doomed
;
and the people of the North. Her self-possession
and appeals, deeply impressed the committee, the legislature, and the people of the
Commonwealth.
legislature
and
dignity, her facts, arguments,
The
legislature .of Connecticut,
Gillette,
under the lead of Francis
then a young representative from Hartford, afterward
�ACTION OF NORTHERN LEGISLATURES.
373
member of the United States Senate, and always an earnest
and consistent advocate of freedom, repealed the black law
enacted in 1833 for the purpose of suppressing the colored
school of Miss Prudence Crandall.
The same legislature
a
passed resolutions against the annexation of Texas, the slavetrade in the District of Columbia, and in favor of the right of
petition, thus placing Connecticut
by the side of Massachusetts
in the cause of freedom.
About the same time the
legislature of
Vermont,
after
lis-
tening to a long and brilliant speech from Alvan Stewart
.
of
New
York, reported resolutions similar in character
those adopted in Massachusetts.
They were
to
passed, too, in
the Senate, by a unanimous vote, and in the House without
division.
Henry B. Stanton and other eloquent champions of
the cause addressed the legislatures and legislative committees
of other States
;
and, where such hearings were refused, at-
tended and pleaded the cause of freedom in other capitals
while their legislatures were in session.
In
all
the other legis-
latures of the Northern States, too, there were active
and grow-
ing minorities interested and engaged in the same great
work.
�CHAPTER XXVII.
THE ALTON TRAGEDY,
— MURDER
OF ELIJAH
P.
LOVEJOY.
—
Maintains the Eight of the Press
Mr. Lovejoy discusses the Slavery Question.
Charge of Judge Lawless.
Destrucand Speech.
Murder of a Negro.
—
—
—
— The Press destroyed Alton.
destroyed. — Mr. Lovejoy
Suppression. —
The Slaveholders demand
— ExciteHome. — Speech to the
Missouri. — Insulted
mobbed
Upper
ment
Alton. — Mr. Linder leads a Mob. — State Society formed
protect the
the Store
Edward Beecher. — Meeting
Alton. — Speech
— Assault upon the Warehouse. — The Fire returned. — Mr. Lovejoy
— Press thrown into the River. — The Murder applauded or exshot
Slavery. — Resolutions
the Boston Abolitioncused by the Supporters
— Dr. Channing's
— Mr.
Reso— Faneuil Hall
— The Hall granted. — Address of Dr. Channing. — Resolutions of
— ExciteMr. Hallett. — Mr. Austin's Speech. — Reply of Wendell
—
ment. — Action of the National and Massachusetts Antislavery
Edmund Quincy. — Non-Resistants.
tion of the
Office
"Observer."
of the
at
It is
its
Citizens.
at
in
at
in
to
at
of
Press.
;
died.
of
of
refused.
ists.
Letter.
Hallett's
lutions.
Phillips.
Societies.
On
the 7th of November, 1837, the cause of freedom re-
ceived
its first
baptism of blood.
Lovejoy was murdered by a
mob
On
that day Rev. Elijah P.
at Alton, Illinois.
No
pre-
vious event had so startled, alarmed, and fixed the attention
more conscientious and thoughtful portion of the country.
Nothing had so clearly indicated to antislavery men the
nature of the conflict in which they were engaged, the desperof the
ate character of the foe with
which they were grappling.
Mr. Lovejoy was a native of Maine, and a graduate of
Waterville College in 1826. At the age of twenty-four he
went
to the "West,
and became a teacher in
St. Louis.
Two
years afterward he became the editor of a political journal of
the National Republican party, and an active supporter of
Clay.
Henry
In 1832 he united with the Presbyterian Church, en-
tered for a brief period the Theological Seminary at Princeton,
New
Jersey,
was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Philaautumn of that year, returned to Mis-
delphia, and, in the
�THE ALTON TRAGEDY,
— MUKDER OF ELIJAH
P.
LOVEJOY.
375
and established the St. Louis " Observer," a weekly
During the ensuing year, while avowing his
hostility to immediate emancipation, he expressed the opinion
that, if slavery could be removed from Missouri, that great
State would start forward in a race of energy and improvement
which would place her in the front rank of her sister States.
While absent from the city, at a meeting of the synod, an
excitement commenced in regard to his strictures on slavery
souri,
religious journal.
;
and the alarmed proprietors of the paper issued a card, declaring their opposition to the wild scheme of the Abolitionists.
Before leaving home, he had received a communication from
nine leading citizens of St. Louis, friends and supporters of
the " Observer," begging
him
to " pass over in silence every-
thing connected with the subject of slavery."
Upon
that
communication he made the indorsement that he did not
yield to the wishes expressed,
had been persecuted
for not
but had kept a good conscience, which had more
than repaid him for all he had suffered. " I have sworn eter-
doing
so,
nal hostility to slavery,
and by the blessing of God
I will
never go back."
Returning to
St.
Louis, Mr. Lovejoy issued an address to
his excited fellow-citizens, in
which he maintained with signal
boldness the right to discuss questions pertaining to slavery,
or any other evil which concerned the interests of humanity.
" I deem it," he said, " my duty to take my stand upon the
Constitution.
I
Here
is
firm ground
;
I feel it to
be such
do most respectfully but decidedly declare to you
determination to maintain this ground.
We
and
;
fixed
have slaves,
it is
While avowing his purpose never
surrender the freedom of speech and of the press, he ex-
true
to
am
my
;
but I
not one."
pressed the hope that he should maintain these rights with the
meekness and humility that became a Christian, but especially
He reminded the inflamed people of St.
a Cbristian minister.
Louis that blood kindred to that which- flowed in his veins had
flowed freely on the plains of Lexington and on the heights of
Bunker
and he assured them that his blood should flow
it were water, " ere," he said, " I surrender my
plead the cause of truth and righteousness before my
Hill,
as freely as if
right to
�376
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
fellow-citizens
against
all
and in the face of
all
IN AMERICA.
Protesting
opposers."
attempts, by whomsoever made, to interfere with
the liberty of the press, he declared his fixed purpose to sub" I am," he said, " prepared to
mit to no such dictation.
abide the consequences.
and the laws of
my
surrendered
its
have appealed to the Constitution
country
appeal to God, and with
At the request
I
him
;
if
they
fail
to
I cheerfully rest
protect me, I
my
cause."
of the proprietors of the " Observer," he
editorship,
and removed
to Alton.
The paper
its new
soon passing into other hands as payment of a debt,
owner presented it to him, and he at once returned and entered
upon its publication. In the spring of 1836 an excited mob
took Francis J. Mcintosh, a mulatto, from the jail, where he
had been lodged for fatally stabbing one officer and wounding
another who had arrested him, carried him out of the city,
chained him to a tree, and burned him to death. As the matter came before the grand jury, Judge Lawless in his charge
expressed the astounding sentiment that
on to
its
if
a
mob
be hurried
deeds of violence and blood by some " mysterious,
metaphysical, and almost electric frenzy," participators in
it
are
absolved from guilt, and are not proper subjects of punishment.
the
If such be the fact, he said, " act not at all in the matter
;
case then transcends your jurisdiction,
of
human
it is
beyond the reach
law."
For commenting on
this revolting deed,
and the still more
was entered and
revolting judicial opinion, Mr. Lovejoy's office
destroyed by a mob.
He removed
the press to Alton
;
only,
upon the bank of the river and broken
into fragments.
A meeting of citizens was held at once, and
Mr. Lovejoy
a pledge given to reimburse him for his loss.
however, to see
it
assured them that
tion,
seized
it
was not
but a religious press.
his purpose to establish, an aboli-
Indeed, he was not an Abolition-
and die an uncompromising
and should hold himself at liberty to speak
and write as he pleased on any subject. In July, 1837, a public meeting assembled, bitterly denounced the " Observer " for
its publication of articles favorable to abolitionism, and censured its editor. To a committee appointed by this meeting
ist,
though he expected to
enemy
to slavery,
live
�THE ALTON TRAGEDY,
— MURDER OF ELIJAH
P.
LOVE JOY.
377
Mr. Lovejoy declared, with great firmness, that liberty of
speech is something not to be called in question,
that it was
right
which
a
came from his Maker, belonging to man as man,
—
and inalienable.
Although the " Observer " was no longer printed in St.
Louis, its citizens and presses demanded that Illinois should
abate what they regarded as a nuisance, under the penalty of
losing the trade of slaveholding States,
— the
same
rod, in-
deed, so long and successfully held in terrorem by the domi-
neering South over the abject North.
month
Consequently, in the
and press were again
destroyed, during his absence
and he was most grossly insulted on his return.
Another press was purchased, and stored
The mob again assemin the warehouse of Gerry and Miller.
bled, broke open the building, destroyed the press, and threw
the fragments into the Mississippi.
A few days afterward he
was mobbed again at the house of his mother-in-law, in St.
Charles, Missouri, on his return from church, where he had
officiated
and he was compelled to leave clandestinely to save
of August, Mr. Lovejoy's office
;
;
his
life.
Meetings were held in Alton by the excited inhabitants to
consider the question of the longer publication of the paper.
At one held on the 3d of November,
permitted to speak in his
own
at his request
behalf.
he was
With manly
firm-
ness and Christian boldness he reminded his fellow-citizens
that he respected their feelings, and acted in opposition to
them With great regret. He valued their good opinion but
he must be, he said, " governed by higher considerations than
either the favor or the fear of man.
I am impelled to the
course I have taken because I fear God.
As I shall answer to
my God, in the great day, I dare not abandon my sentiments,
or cease in all proper ways to propagate them."
Reminding
the meeting that if he had committed any crime they could
convict him, as they had the public sentiment and juries
;
on their
side,
tion of law,
he asked
why am
I
:
" If I have been guilty of no viola-
hunted up and down continually
a partridge upon the mountain
the tar-barrel
?
Why am
48
I
?
Why am
I
like
threatened with
waylaid every day, and from
�373
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
night to night
?
Why
is
my
IN AMERICA.
in jeopardy every
life
hour
?
"
Planting himself on his unquestionable rights, he declared the
question to be, " Whether my property shall be protected
;
whether
I shall be suffered to
go
home
to
my
family at night
without being assailed and threatened with tar and feathers
and assassination whether my afflicted wife, whose life has
;
been in jeopardy from continued alarm and excitement, shall
night after night be driven from her sick-bed into the garret,
to save her life
from brickbats and the violence of the mob."
This allusion to his family overcame his feelings, and he
The sympathy of the meeting was deeply
burst into tears.
Many sobbed
excited.
wept.
aloud, and even some of his enemies
Recovering himself, he begged forgiveness for having
been betrayed into weakness by the thought of his family and
he assured the meeting that he had no personal fears. Admit;
was powerless, he said " I know you can tar
and feather me, hang me up, or put me in the Mississippi.
But what then ? Where shall I go ? I have been made to
feel if I am not safe in Alton I shall not be safe anywhere."
There were some who, while insisting on the suppression of
ting that he
:
and driving him from Alton, expressed the wish that
no unnecessary disgrace should be affixed to him. To such
suggestions he replied " I reject all such compassion. You
Scandal, falsehood, and calumny have
cannot disgrace me.
his press
:
done their worst. My shoulders have borne the burden till it
I, and I alone, can disgrace myself;
sits easy upon them.
would be at a time like this
disgraces
the
of
all
and
deepest
deny my Master by forsaking his cause. He died for me
and I were most unworthy to bear his name should I refuse, if
need be, to die for Him." Reminding the meeting that he
to
;
visit to St. Charles, been torn from the franembrace of his family, he closed with this declaration
" I have concluded, after consultation with my friends, and
earnestly seeking counsel of God, to remain at Alton, and here
had, on a recent
tic
to insist
:
on protection in the exercise of
civil authorities refuse to protect
if I die, I
dare not
am
flee
me,
determined to make
away from Alton.
I
my
my
If the
rights.
must look
to
God
grave in Alton.
Should
I
attempt
it,
—
I
;
and,
Sir, I
should
�THE ALTON TRAGEDY,
— MURDER OF ELIJAH
P.
LOVEJOY.
379
feel that
the angel of the Lord, with his flaming sword, was
pursuing
me
am
wherever
not afraid of
all
I went.
It is
who oppose me
because I fear
God
that I
in this city."
His earnestness and manifest sincerity made a deep impresDr. Edward Beecher, who was pression upon the audience.
"I have been affected oftenent, thus describes the scene
times with the power of intellect and eloquence but never
:
—
;
was I so overcome as at this hour. He made no display, there
was no rhetorical decoration, no violence of action. All was
native truth, and deep, pure, and tender feeling. Many a hard
face did I see wet with tears as he struck the chords of feeling
Even his bitter eneto which God made the soul to respond.
Paul
before
Festus, and of
mies wept. It reminded me of
at Worms."
The crowd, however, then
Luther
present, represented too faithfully
the popular sentiment of that section of the country to be
much
man.
controlled by the faith or eloquence of such a
They were far better prepared to respond to the counter appeals of John Hogan, then a Methodist minister and afterward
a Democratic
member
of Congress from St. Louis, who, launch-
ing his vile epithets and fierce invectives upon Mr. Lovejoy
and the
Abolitionists, inflamed the
deeper frenzy that class of
men
minds and
of which
mobs
stirred
up
to
are made.
The city was in a state of intense excitement. Violence
was anticipated, as it had been foreshadowed by the disgraceful and disorganizing proceedings which had broken up a convention at Upper Alton, during the previous week, and had
The call was
defeated the purposes of its original promoters.
"
free
the friends of the slave and of
discussion in Illinois "
to
and yet, by packing the convention with men of an opposite
;
faith,
under the lead of
W.
F. Linder, attorney-general. of
the State, a series of resolutions was adopted indorsing slavery and proclaiming that
" discountenanced."
these resolutions
A
interference with
it
should be
same vote that sustained
was the convention adjourned sine die. The
men, however, who
baffled.
all
And by
the
called the convention,
were not
to be thus
subsequent meeting was called at the house of
Rev. Mr. Hurlburt of the same place
;
and, although the
�380
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
formation of an antislavery society had not been one of the
it was now seen to
was accordingly effected. Officers were
chosen, and a most able address and declaration of senti-
fixed objects of the original convention,
be demanded, and
it
ments, from the pen of Dr. Beecher, were sent forth.
add to the flame already burning so
To
fiercely, a colonization
meeting was held about that time, at which fiery harangues
were made, more hostile to antislavery and its friends than to
Of course, a conflict so acrimonious
slavery and its abettors.
and determined between principles so radical and antagonistic
must culminate in something more sanguinary than words.
The arrival of another press was the occasion of a demonstration which ended in arson and blood.
The enemies of Mr. Lovejoy had determined to seize and
destroy
it
on
its
arrival
had determined
nest,
ing for
its
;
while a few friends, equally in ear-
to defend
coming, about
stone warehouse where
it
of the latter assembled at the
was
to be stored
organized an armed force for
tion
had been
As the former were watch-
it.
fifty
its
defence.
effected, about thirty
on
its arrival,
and
After that organiza-
remained, under the com-
The looked-for 'press arrived at
morning
of the 7th of November, and
three o'clock on the
the intelligence of its arrival was made known by the blowing
The mayor, John McKrum, went to the warehouse
of horns.
and aided in storing it. The utmost excitement, however, prevailed during the day, though the mayor came to the conclusion, after making inquiries, that no further violence was in-
mand
of a city constable.
tended.
There being no sign of an assault on the building,
nine o'clock in the evening most of
its
at
defenders retired,
leaving about a dozen, willing to risk their lives,
if
needful, in
defence of Mr. Lovejoy and his property.
An
hour or two afterward there came from the grog-shops
who knocked at the door and demanded
Mr. Gilman, one of the owners of the warehouse,
the press.
informed them that it would not be given up that they had
been authorized by the mayor to defend the property, and they
thirty or forty persons,
;
should do
it
at the
hazard of their
lives.
Presenting a
the leader announced that they were resolved to have
it
pistol,
at
any
�THE ALTON TRAGEDY,
— MURDER OF ELIJAH
P.
LOVE JOY.
381
Stones were thrown, windows broken, and shots
sacrifice.
These shots were returned, and
Ladders
several of the rioters were wounded, one mortally.
were obtained and preparations were made for firing the build" Burn them out."
The mayor,
ing, and the cry was raised
were
fired at the building.
:
accompanied by a justice of the peace, was sent by the mob to.
propose the surrender of the press on condition that no one
To the demand of Mr. Gilman that the
should be injured.
upon the citizens to save his building, the
mob was too strong, that he had failed
persuade and was powerless to command. Admitting the
mayor should
call
latter replied that the
to
lawful right of persons within the building to defend the property,
he retired and reported the result to the rioters, who
" Fire the building and shoot every d d Abo-
raised the cry
litionist as
—
:
he leaves
!
"
With the
aid of ladders, the
mob
mounted the building and fired the roof. Five of the defenders sallied forth from the building, fired upon and dispersed
Mr. Lovejoy and two others then
the mob, and returned.
stepped outside of the building, were fired upon by rioters concealed by a pile of lumber, and Mr. Lovejoy received five balls,
three of them in his breast.
Returning at once to the counting-room, he expired almost instantly, exclaiming, "
I
am
shot
!
"
One of
I
am
was wounded, but not
his friends
shot
fatally.
After his death, those in the building offered to surrender
but their offer was declined.
One
;
of the number, going out
making terms with the rioters, was severely
Most of them left the building, but were fired upon
for the purpose of
wounded.
in
their attempts to escape.
The mob then rushed
into the
and threw the fragments
into the river.
The next day Mr. Lovejoy's body was borne to
his home, amid the heartless rejoicings and scoffings of those
who had destroyed his property and taken his life. Thus
bravely fell one of the most heroic of that number of noble and
earnest men who early consecrated themselves to the great and
building, seized the press, broke
it,
glorious purpose of maintaining, at fearful odds, that essenlial
palladium of a republic,
press.
The conduct
inefficient,
and open
— freedom of thought, speech, and the
of the
mayor was glaringly
vacillating,
He
himself ad-
to criticism
and censure.
�382
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
mitted that his directions, on an occasion
of law should have asserted its supremacy,
LN AMERICA.
when
the majesty
had been the advice
command of an officer.
There were no demonstrations friendly or hostile at Mr. Love-
of a citizen, rather than the
joy's burial, save a simple prayer at his grave.
on a
bluff,
overlooking, in
its
He was
buried
peaceful repose, the rolling river
and busy town beneath. For many years no stone marked the
spot.
Not long since, however, an admirer and friend of the
martyr procured a simple monument, with this inscription
:
Hie
—
jacet
LOVEJOY.
Jam
" Here
What a change
lies
parce sepulto.
Lovejoy
;
now
spare his grave."
Then the
own touching
has a third of a century wrought.
youthful minister of the gospel, hunted, in his
words, like a partridge on the mountains, and appealing in vain
mob, found the officers of
government and the leaders of public opinion awed by the
for protection against the infuriated
demon of slavery, rather than inspired by the genius of liberty.
Now, that mob dispersed, many of its members and leaders
known to have come to a violent and ignominious end, and
that terrible system, the guilty source of all that violence,
longer existing.
in the nation's
the pages of
its
The murder
country.
The
no
The victim himself is admiringly cherished
memory, and is sure of a grateful mention on
history.
of Lovejoy
made
friends of slavery
a deep impression upon the
and the enemies of
free dis-
cussion applauded, or at best excused, the bloody deed, while
the friends of liberty and of the freedom of speech and press
news with profound sorrow and alarm. They saw
magnitude and serious character,
of the contest on which they had entered.
They saw, too, that
the conflict was not to be the bloodless encounter of ideas
alone, but one in which might be involved scenes of bloody
violence and personal hazard and harm. Had they understood
the full significance of that sanguinary act, and the desperate
character of their foe, as revealed in the events of subsequent
years, their alarm might well have been greater.
received the
in
it
a
new
revelation of the
�— MURDER OF ELIJAH
THE ALTON TRAGEDY,
The Board
of
P.
LOVEJOY. 383
Managers of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery
Society was at otice convened in Boston, and a series of res-
was adopted declaring that the guilt of that bloody
tragedy was not confined to the immediate actors therein that
it was one of the natural and inevitable consequences of tolerating the system of slavery and that in the murder of this
Christian martyr the church, the press, and the people, who
olutions
;
;
justified the
enslavement of their countrymen, instigated
and connived
at the prostration of lawful authority,
riots,
had par-
ticipated to a greater or less extent.
When the intelligence of the Alton tragedy, as it was commonly characterized, reached Boston, Dr. William Ellery Channing and a hundred of its citizens applied for the use of Faneuil
Hall, to give expression to their horror at this murder of a
Christian clergyman. But their application was rejected. This
refusal, and especially the reasons assigned therefor, greatly
increased the popular indignation and apprehension affording,
as it did, but another illustration of the national vassalage and
;
subserviency to the Slave Power,
when even
the doors of the
Cradle of Liberty were rudely closed against those
mourn over
the
heroic defenders.
martyrdom of one of
Men
of
all
parties
its
and
who would
bravest and most
sects
were greatly
With the fearless promptitude demanded by the crisis,
Dr. Channing addressed an appeal to the citizens of Boston to
reverse this arbitrary action of the city government. Avowing
that the purpose of the proposed meeting was to maintain the
excited.
sacrcdness and freedom of the press against
all assaults,
he
declared that to intimate that such action did not express the
public opinion of Boston,
was
to "
come
not
to this
its
and that
it would provoke a mob,
upon that city." " Has it
" Has Boston fallen so low ? May
pronounce the severest
?
" he asked.
citizens be trusted to
libel
come together
to express the great
which their fathers died ? Are our
fellow-citizens to be murdered in the act of defending their
property and of assuming the right of free discussion ? and is
principles of liberty for
it
unsafe in this metropolis to express abhorrence of the deed
If such be our degradation,
we ought
to
know
the awful truth
and those among us who retain a portion of the
spirit of
?
;
our
�384
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
ancestors should set themselves to
He
generate posterity."
of her city authorities,
press and put
down
work
IN AMERICA.
to recover their de-
asserted that Boston, by this action
had bade Alton go on
to destroy the
the liberty of speech.
This thrilling appeal from one occupying Dr. Channing's
position
A public meeting was
made a deep impression.
Supreme Court room to " take into considerareasons assigned by the mayor and aldermen for with-
called at the old
tion the
holding Faneuil Hall, and to act in the premises as
may
be
The room was filled to overflowing.
deemed expedient."
George Bond was made chairman, and Benjamin F. Hallett
was chosen secretary. After the reading of Dr. Channing's
letter, a series of pertinent resolutions, offered by Mr. Hallett,
was discussed and unanimously adopted. A committee of two
from each ward was appointed to renew the application, which
happily was successful.
On the 8th of December the meeting was holden. The hall
was filled to repletion by the citizens of Boston and vicinity.
Phillips, a much respected citizen, was called to the
and opened the meeting with a brief and pertinent
Dr. Channing then made an eloquent and impressive
speech.
A series of resolutions, also from his pen, was read
address.
by Mr. Hallett, and seconded and eloquently supported by
Jonathan
chair,
George
Thus
S. Hillard.
far
everything had been decorous, dignified, and in
keeping with the occasion.
The addresses had been
listened
to with respectful attention, if not with unquestioning appro-
At this point James T. Austin, attorney-general of
the Commonwealth, a prominent lawyer, well known in Faneuil
Hall, a trained party-leader and most adroit caucus-speaker,
made an inflammatory and exciting speech. It was vociferbation.
ously applauded by the riotous element of the meeting, which,
it
was
estimated,
Standing in that
constituted
one third of the assembly.
hall, consecrated to liberty
the memories of
its
and redolent with
martyrs, the attorney-general of Massa-
was not only presumptuous and imprudent while he lived, but that " he died
He compared, with equal violence to truth
as the fool dieth."
chusetts unblushingly declared that Lovejoy
�— MURDER OF ELIJAH
THE ALTON TRAGEDY,
and
taste, the
murderers of Lovejoy with the
He
stroyed the tea in Boston harbor.
Alluding
said
"
—
:
We
bondmen
the
most
in the
have a menagerie here, with
elephant, a jackass or two,
LOVEJOY.
385
men who
de-
declared that wher-
ever the abolition fever raged there were
to
P.
mobs and murders.
offensive terms, he
lions, tigers, a
and monkeys
in plenty.
hyena and
Suppose,
now, some new cosmopolite, some man of philanthropic feelings, not only toward man, but animals, who believes that all
are entitled to freedom as an inalienable right, should engage
in the
humane
task
some of
the forest,
of giving freedom
whom
to these wild beasts of
are nobler than their keepers
;
or,
having discovered some new mode of reaching their understanding, should try to induce them to break their cages and
The people of Missouri had as much reason to be
be free.
afraid
we should have to be afraid of the
They had the same dread of
we should have of the supposed instigator, if we
of their slaves as
wild beasts of the menagerie.
Lovejoy that
really believed the bars
would be broken and the caravan
let
loose to prowl about our streets."
Having pronounced
and seditious harangue,
Wendell Phillips ascended the
this disgraceful
the attorney-general retired.
was met with the hostile demonstrations of the
had just applauded so vociferously
his unfeeling and inhuman appeal to their vile passions and
Mr. Phillips was then a young lawyer,
still viler prejudices.
unknown to most present, who had gone to the meeting with
no intention of taking any part in its proceedings. Though
his first words were met with boisterous outcries, he expressed
the hope that he would be permitted to avow his surprise at the
sentiments just uttered by such a man, and at the applause they
had received in that hall. He characterized and condemned
platform, and
partisans of Austin, who.
that gentleman's language in the strongest terms of reprobation,
though
quence.
principles
"
it
was done
When
I
in terms
and tones of
thrilling elo-
heard," he said, " the gentleman lay down
which placed the murderers of Alton side by side
with Otis and Hancock, with Quincy and Adams, I thought
those pictured lips," pointing to their portraits in the hall,
49
�386
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
" would have broken into voice to rebuke the recreant American, the slanderer of the dead."
These words were received with mingled demonstrations of
" Sir," continued Mr. Phillips, "• for
censure and applause.
the sentiments he has uttered, on soil consecrated
by the
prayers of the Puritans and the blood of patriots, the earth
should have yawned and swallowed him up."
became
great,
and he could not be heard.
Here the uproar
William Sturgis,
an eminent Boston merchant, ascended the platform and placed
himself by the side of Mr. Phillips but he, too, was met by
;
" Phillips or nobody,"
the loud cries of the excited rioters.
" Make him take it back
their fiendish cry.
He sha' n't
go on until he takes it back " Obtaining a hearing, Mr.
" I did not come here to take any part in this
Sturgis said
discussion, nor do I intend to
but I do entreat you, fellow-
was
!
!
:
;
by everything you hold sacred,
citizens,
I
conjure you by every
association connected with this hall, consecrated by our fathers
to
freedom of discussion, that you
listen
to
any
man who
addresses you in a decorous manner."
Resuming, Mr. Phillips firmly and peremptorily declared
that he could not take back his words, and reminded the
throng that the attorney-general needed not their
excited
hisses against one so young,
whose voice had never before
been heard in that hall. He closed his speech with the declaration that " when liberty was in danger Faneuil Hall had
the right, and
Union
;
it
was her
duty, to strike the key-note for the
that the passage of the resolutions, in spite of the oppo-
sition, led
by the attorney-general,
will
show more decidedly
the deep indignation with which Boston regards this outrage."
By
this brave
and
brilliant speech
gle bound, placed himself
lar of
American
among
human
rights
sin-
by the
Then began that advocacy
orators, a position he has maintained
increasing suffrages of the nation.
of
Mr. Phillips, by one
the foremost and most popu-
which
for
more than a generation he continued
zeal.
To it he consecrated culture,
with tireless and persistent
learning,
and that marvellous eloquence on which the multi-
tudes of a generation hung with never-waning delight.
less
and
fierce in his
Fear-
denunciation of the wrongs of the op-
�THE ALTON TRAGEDY,
pressed, he
— MURDER OF ELIJAH
was always merciless
oppressor and his abettors.
P.
LOVEJOY. 387
in his castigation of
Confident, too, in his
own
the
plans
and modes of action, he was, perhaps, too apt to be critical,
censorious, and sometimes intolerant toward those who were
equally honest, earnest, and unselfish in their devotion to the
same cause to which his and their labors were alike consecrated.
But if some others were more judicious and practical
in action, none equalled him on the platform and few surpassed
him with
the pen.
Hundreds, however, went from that meeting unchanged in
thought and purpose, even by the terrible event that occasioned
it, by the imposing presence and fervid eloquence which characterized
The
it,
or by the humiliating utterances that disgraced
virus of slavery
it.
had so poisoned the public mind and
heart that the sentiments and feelings of the large body of the
citizens of Boston were more nearly expressed by the brutal
harangue of Austin than by the classic words of Channing or
the fervid and indignant eloquence of Phillips.
They still
believed, with
Hubbard Winslow, a Congregational clergyman
of that city, who, within a month, in his Thanksgiving discourse, asserted that " the unchristian principles and meas-
ures " of the Abolitionists tended to fill the land " with violence and blood "
and that the mournful disaster at Alton
;
was but their legitimate result. They accepted, too, his strange
and subversive doctrine that republican liberty is not the liberty to say and do what one pleases
but liberty to say and do
what the prevailing voice and will of the brotherhood will
allow and protect."
The executive committee of the American Antislavery So(l
;
ciety set apart the anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims
for simultaneous
memorate
meetings throughout the free States, to com-
the tragical death of Mr. Lovejoy.
To
this call the
Many meetings were
Abolitionists very generally responded.
held in various portions of the country, and the essential bar-
barism and cruelty of slavery were made to be more distinctly
seen and apprehended in the light of that bloody deed.
legitimate result large accessions were
the pronounced
and avowed
made
Abolitionists.
As a
to the ranks of
�388
A
RISE
special
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
meeting of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society
was held in Boston. Amos A. Phelps gave a detailed statement of the tragic affair at Alton. William Lloyd Garrison
spoke briefly, but with his usual strong and severe denunciation, not only of the mob, but of the cause which inspired it.
Orestes A. Brownson defended, with great vigor and force,
freedom of thought, of speech, and of the press. Of the martyred dead Mr. Phillips spoke eloquently.
He referred mournAlton were heard
encouraging each other with references to " old Boston." He
fully to the alleged fact that the rioters at
becoming indignation, her humiliation
the motto and war-cry of the
with
characterized,
when her name was made "
mob."
Edmund Quincy, like Mr. Phillips, was then a young Boston
He had become somewhat interested in the discus-
lawyer.
upon slavery, but as yet had not fully committed himself
But this event solved all doubts,
to the antislavery cause.
He
removed all hesitations, and fixed his determination.
sions
came
meeting
to that
to lay, as
an offering, his talents and
an unpopular cause, dripping
social position
upon the
with the
fresh blood of martyrdom.
first
altar of
In this his
first
antislavery speech he eloquently enunciated and vindicated the
fundamental principles of the
beauty and pathos,
conflict,
and
referred, with
much
to " the sublime idea that throughout the
vast extent of the free portions of this continent the sons and
daughters of
New England
are gathered together, on this the
common mother, to pay due honor
brother who has willingly laid down his
birthday of their
to the
memory
life
of a
in
defence of those principles of liberty to which she owed her
birth."
His labors, then commenced, continued with unabated
by the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment,
when, with Mr. Garrison, he retired from
an organization which that great consummation seemed to them
Mr. Quincy had not the mellifluto render no longer necessary.
activity until,
slavery disappeared
;
ous, brilliant, and impressive eloquence of Mr. Phillips
;
but he
brought to the conflict unrivalled wit, a polished and trenchant
pen that had few equals.
By
voice
and pen he rendered effecthough often more caus-
tive service to the antislavery cause,
�THE ALTON TRAGEDY,
tic
— MURDER OF ELIJAH
P.
LOVEJOY. 389
than charitable toward an opponent, and sometimes appar-
ently
more anxious
even to a co-laborer.
to
make
He
a point than to do strict justice,
presented, too, with great clearness,
whom he acted, and
was among the ablest exponents of that type of abolitionism
of which Mr. Garrison was the recognized leader.
His reports, while secretary of the Antislavery Society, were models
of patient and exhaustive research, of keen and brilliant rhetoric.
Nor can they now be read without vivid impressions of
the desperate nature of the disease which was then afflicting,
the views of that class of reformers with
and clear conceptions
and those he represented were endeavoring
disgracing, and endangering the nation,
of the remedies he
to apply to its cure.
While the great body of the Abolitionists and friends of
free
discussion thus honored the self-sacrificing and martyr spirit
and justified his heroic defence of sacred
armed ruffianism, there were a few among
them who did not applaud, but rather condemned, his course.
Especially was this true of a section of that small, active, but
rather pugnacious portion of the New England Abolitionists
who had adopted the extreme doctrine of non-resistance.
They, deeming Mr. Lovejoy's position inconsistent with their
own, not only questioned its wisdom, but even characterized
it as indefensible.
Such manifestations, however, clearly reof Mr. Lovejoy,
rights assailed by
vealed the impracticable tendencies of their views, and fore-
shadowed not only the manifest harm and hindrance they
unquestionably occasioned to the
antislavery labors
most of those who entertained them, but
den they laid upon the cause itself.
of the
also the heavy bur-
�CHAPTER XXVIII.
calhoun's resolutions.
— atherton's
resolutions.
— ashbur-
ton treaty.
— Smith's Amendment. — Allen's Motion. — Debate.
— Southern Whigs. — Mr. Slade. — Speech of Mr.
Clay. — Speech of Mr. Morris. — Resolutions of Vermont. — Meeting of the
XXVIth Congress. — Mr. Wise's Resolutions. — Mr. Thompson's Resolutions.
Menace of Cooper. — Mr. Botts. — Motion of Mr. Adams. — Amendment of
William Cost Johnson. — Feeling of the South. — Letter of the World's Convention to Southern Governors. — Quintuple Treaty. — Protest of General
Cass. — Ashburtou Treaty. — Debate in the Senate. — The Treaty sustained.
Calhoun's Resolutions.
Atherton's Resolutions.
The
zeal
and
activity of the early Abolitionists, the evident
impression they at
first
made upon
the public conscience and
reason, the rapidly increasing indications manifested by the
press, State legislatures,
and even by Congress, that antislavery
ideas were spreading and gaining a stronger hold upon the
popular mind and heart, gave no
pions of the Slave Power.
little
concern to the cham-
Their unsuccessful attempts to
secure penal enactments from Northern legislatures for the re-
pression of free discussion, and organized efforts in behalf of
emancipation, and the failure of riots and mobs to awe or subdue
the rising spirit of liberty, impelled them to renewed activity
Washington to secure, if possible, the enunciation of prinand the adoption of measures by the gerferal government which they had failed to extort from the State legislaat
ciples
tures.
Animated by
this purpose,
Mr. Calhoun, the ever-watchful
advocate and guardian of slavery, was quick to detect the apparent drift of things and scent the danger from afar.
With
a mind of extraordinary acuteness, he drew conclusions from
premises however furnished, whether by the principles of his
own
false
philosophy, the concessions of the Constitution, or
�CALHOUN'S RESOLUTIONS.
391
these popular demonstrations of the Northern States
;
and, at
the same time, exhibited the spectacle of a strong and downright
man, profoundly
in the
wrong, seeking boldly and with-
out equivocation, on the arena of debate and legislation, ends
others were pursuing by menace, violence, or indirection.
In December, 1887, he introduced a series of resolutions
defining the relative powers of the general and State gov-
ernments upon slavery.
The
the States, and the
referred to
fifth
The
the District of Columbia.
four referred to slavery in
first
it
in the Territories
and
latter emphatically declared
that the intermeddling of any State or any of
abolish slavery in the District, or in
any of the
its
citizens to
Territories,
on
the ground or under the pretext that it was " immoral or sinful," would be a " direct and dangerous attack on the institutions of all the slaveholding States."
deny the power of Congress
or any of the Territories
;
Even Mr. Calhoun himself
the
dogma
The
resolutions did not
to abolish slavery in the District,
but simply denounced
at that time did not
its
exercise.
defend or hold
that Congress had no power to abolish slavery in
the District of Columbia or in the Territories.
Early in January, 1838, the Senate proceeded to the consideration of these resolutions.
As
North furnished
ever, the
its
quota of recreants who, not content with withholding their support from
its interests,
fought actively and openly against them.
Mr. Norvell of Michigan desired to amend the
and proceeded to denounce
serted that, under the pretext of
first resolu-
the Abolitionists.
tion,
its
He
as-
being a religious duty to
extirpate slavery, " the incendiary leaders of abolitionism, in
their fanatical exertions, will
of slavery
To
still
throw back
for fifty years every
Their humanity only rivets the chains
hope of emancipation.
tighter."
the proposed modifications of the resolutions Mr. Cal-
houn assented, as he was willing
to
make any concession to the
Mr. Hubbard of
opponents of the doctrines of abolitionism.
New Hampshire
hastened to declare that the adoption of Mr.
Calhoun's resolution would tend to allay the spirit of abolitionism in the North.
On
the other hand,
it
was moved by Mr. Smith of Indiana
�392
to
EISE
amend
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
them
the resolutions so that nothing contained in
should be construed as expressing an opinion adverse to the
sentiment that
men
all
are created equal, to the freedom of
speech and the press, and to the preservation of the Union.
Referring to the remarks
made
relative to the
punishment of
Abolitionists, Mr. Morris of Ohio said he considered such avowals
as subversive of all freedom
the country.
All
and inimical
men had an
to the institutions of
imprescriptible right, above
all
government, to freedom of speech and the right of petition.
" I feel bound," he said, " to defend the rights of freedom of
opinion, freedom of thought, freedom of speech, and freedom
of the press, to the latest breath I
Mr. Wall of
to sit
New
may draw."
Jersey questioned the right of the Senate
making creeds and drawing up
codes for the people
;
but Mr.
Young
abstract constitutional
of Illinois advocated the
and comforted Mr. Calhoun with the
assertion that in his State they set down as an Abolitionist all
who signed an abolition memorial. It was then proclaimed
by Mr. Lumpkin of Georgia, that, if the wisdom of their friends
in the non-slaveholding States could not devise ways to stay
the fury of the Abolitionists, the slaveholding States must
execute their laws, and punish the Abolitionists in the most
exemplary manner.
The Senate, on motion of Mr. Allen of Ohio, modified Mr.
resolutions as they were,
Smith's
lutions
amendment
was intended
so as to declare that nothing in the resoto recognize the right of
pair the freedom of speech within the States.
Congress
to im-
Mr. Smith
fur-
ther opposed the resolutions, saying he would extend to the
South the
full
force of their constitutional guaranties in the
protection of their domestic institutions as they were.
He
wished the senators representing that interest to understand
would "
cavil on the ninth part of a hair on
any question going to extend the principles or boundary of
slavery one inch."
Mr. Benton thought the resolutions should
distinctly that he
be referred to a select committee, to report at a future day.
Mr. Calhoun objected to that suggestion, saying that they were
reposing on a volcano
;
and that
his resolutions presented the
only ground on which the country could stand.
" The assaults
�CALHOUN'S RESOLUTIONS.
393
" on the institutions of nearly one half
of the States of the Union by the other Avill and must, if continued, make two people of one by destroying every sympathy
made," he
daily
said,
between the two great sections."
It was proposed by Mr. Preston of South Carolina to discard
but Mr. Calhoun would not
the words " immoral and sinful "
;
consent to do so, declaring abolitionism to be " nothing else
than religious fanaticism."
sail
slavery because
them
distinctly
it is
"
The
Abolitionists," he said, " as-
wicked and
on that point."
sinful,
and
wish to meet
I
Mr. Buchanan was in favor of
He, too, dehad postponed the cause of eman-
referring the resolutions to a select committee.
clared that the Abolitionists
He
cipation in three or four of the States for half a century.
opposed emancipation in the District, and said
if it
were free
—
would become a city of refuge to the Abolitionists
a secure
asylum, where they could scatter " arrows, firebrands, and
it
death."
Mr. Davis of Massachusetts remarked that the worst that
could be said of the Abolitionists by their bitterest enemies
what
is
is
actually said: that they are deluded, misguided philan-
an unbecoming zeal. Opprohad been applied to them but no one affirmed
that they aimed at disunion, or imputed to them corrupt purthropists, fanatics, heated with
brious epithets
poses.
He
if
said the slave interest held the destinies of the
hands
ruled, guided, and adapted pubMr. Niles of Connecticut affirmed,
the abolition party should prevail, and abolition principles
Republic in
lic
;
its
policy to its
own
;
that
it
views.
should triumph, there would follow reproaches, criminations
and recriminations,
agitation, alarm,
or supposed aggressions
would be
and confusion, and real
and repelled but
offered
;
the Union would stand.
Mr. Bayard of Delaware thought he saw disunion in the
and he moved to strike out " the several States,"
resolutions,
and insert " the people of the United States."
Mr. Pierce
New Hampshire said there were indications in New England of a change of public sentiment, and he feared the
elements of still greater changes were in active operation.
The Abolitionists proper were not gaining ground but politics
of
;
50
�394
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
KISE
IN AMERICA.
were beginning to mingle with that question. The Abolitionwere making it a test ; and he saw with profound regret,
ists
that individuals of both parties were submitting to their cate-
chism.
Mr. Crittenden pronounced the resolutions " vague
and general abstractions, more calculated to produce agitation
than to do good."
Mr. Clay had
little
confidence in the healing virtues of the
They had been
resolutions.
States Rights party
;
offered to revive
and
rally the
but he thought the slaveholding States
ought not to place their interests in the exclusive keeping
He submitted a series of resolutions as
of any one party.
So much of Mr. Clay's resolutions as
an amendment.
re-
ferred to the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia
was adopted,
in lieu of
They did not deny
Mr. Calhoun's.
the constitutional power of Congress to abolish
slavery in
District, or prohibit it in the Territories, but based all
the
opposition thereto on the expediency of such legislation at
that time.
time
little
It
was during
this debate,
which excited at that
which was afterward
attention, but the importance of
seen, that Mr. Calhoun admitted that he
had been,
in 1820, in
favor of the Missouri Compromise, and had censured Mr. Ran-
But he had been taught his error,
and he took pleasure in acknowledging it.
Although the domestic slave-trade was actively prosecuted
in the District of Columbia, and scenes continued to be enacted
there dishonoring a Christian people and outraging alike their
dolph for his opposition.
he
said,
sense of justice and their national pride,
Slave
Power
persistently
demanded
still
the inexorable
that their prayers should
remain unheeded, and that the voices of their representatives
should not be heard.
The second
session of the
December, 1838.
A
XXVth
Congress commenced in
caucus of the Democratic party was im-
mediately held to decide the course to be pursued upon the
vexed and threatening question. Resolutions were drawn up,
and Mr. Atherton of New Hampshire was selected to present
them
Being presented, the previous question
A separate vote on each resolution being ordered, the first, declaring that Congress had no
to the
House.
on their adoption was ordered.
�ATHERTON'S RESOLUTIONS.
395
power over slavery in the States, was adopted by a vote of one
hundred and ninety-four to six. In this small minority was
Mr. Adams, who held that in case of war the government
would have power to abolish slavery, in order that the nation
might be saved a doctrine abundantly verified and illustrated
;
by recent events.
The second
tion
resolution, declaring that petitions for the aboli-
of slavery in
destroy
it
the District were intended indirectly to
was agreed
in the States,
to.
The
last resolution,
requiring that " every petition, memorial, resolution, proposition,
or paper touching or relating, in any way, or to any
extent whatever, to slavery or the abolition thereof, shall, on
presentation, without any further action thereon, be laid
the table, without being debated, printed, or referred,"
upon
was
adopted by a vote of one hundred and thirty-six to seventyThis resolution was known as the " Atherton gag "
three.
;
was suspected that the New Hampshire senator was
but the hand, while Mr. Calhoun was the brain.
The member^ who had voted against this suppression of the
freedom of debate and the right of petition being nearly all
of them Northern Whigs, their action enabled the Southern
Democrats to question the fidelity of the Southern Whigs to
though
it
have
many Southern Whigs were
Consequently,
slavery.
to
it
anxious
appear that they were more devoted to that interest
than their Democratic
fellowship with the
rivals.
Whig
party,
Henry A. Wise, then in full
made most earnest efforts to
Southern wing of the
reassure
its
Among
other extreme propositions
fidelity of the national party.
made by him were
those
declaring that petitions for the abolition of slavery in the Disor in the Territories " were in violation of the Federal
Constitution "
and that slaveholding citizens had the right to
trict
;
take their slaves voluntarily to and through non-slaveholding
States, and to " sojourn and remain with them temporarily in
any of the States."
Slade of
Vermont
An
unsuccessful effort was
made by Mr.
to introduce a series of resolutions rescind-
ing a portion of those introduced by Mr. Atherton.
During
this session, a
Maryland slaveholder, mounted on
horseback, armed with pistols, and bearing the plantation
�396
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
whip, marched by the Capitol about thirty men, in double
files, each fastened by the wrist to a long chain passing between them from front to rear. Several women followed in
This sad and mournthe same order, but without the chain.
ful procession, illustrating the revolting barbarism of the slave
traffic in
the nation's capital, was shielded by the Democratic
party and the Southern Whigs, not only from unfriendly legis-
from the criticisms of the humane and the
lation, but also
Mr. Slade submitted a resolution, reciting the facts of
the disgraceful spectacle, and proposing a committee to report
just.
what
might be necessary to prevent the recurrence
But the Speaker promptly decided that the
legislation
of such scenes.
resolution
came within the
While a scene of
restrictions of the " Atherton gag."
this character could not be discussed or
inquired into, a petition of the
even
mayor of Washington and
other individuals against the reception of antislavery petitions
was presented by Mr. Moore of New York, a representative of
what was then called the " subterranean Democracy," and he
was permitted to speak at length in denunciation of the Whigs
as Abolitionists.
Federal party
;
He
characterized the
saying that
it
Whig
had joined the
party as
the
Abolitionists for
the purpose of conferring on the black laborer nominal free-
dom, and on the white laborer virtual bondage.
Early in 1889 Mr. Clay presented petitions from
citizens of
the District of Columbia, praying Congress to suppress all
body touching slavery and the slave-trade in
Appealing to the Searcher of all hearts that
agitation in that
the District.
every pulsation of his heart beat high in the cause of
civil
Mr. Clay denied that Congress had the authority to
prohibit the removal of slaves from one slave State to an-
liberty,
He emphatically declared that " that is property which
the law declares to be property," that " two hundred years
other.
of legislation
have sanctioned and sanctified negro slaves
as property."
Mr. Clay was the acknowledged leader of
an aspirant for the presidency, with hosts
the
Whig
party,
of devoted friends anxious for his elevation to that exalted
During the first years of his political life he had
position.
been in favor of making Kentucky a free State and though
;
�RESOLUTIONS OF THE VERMONT LEGISLATURE.
he had rendered great service to the slaveholding
397
was
class, it
thought by ardent friends that these early views and his broad
and national
spirit
excited state of
would be a source of weakness
in the then
Southern sentiment and feeling.
Whether
Mr. Clay acted from his own impulses or by the advice of
friends in throwing the weight of his acknowledged influence
and the Slave Power, he not
only did wrong, but he clearly committed a great political
blunder.
His speech, highly complimented by Mr. Calhoun,
gave great offence to antislavery men, and was deeply regretinto the scale in favor of slavery
ted by the Quakers and thousands of the
bosoms
Whig
party, in
lingered the hope, even in those days of
whose
its
su-
premacy, that the Slave Power would yet be broken and
its
still
paralyzing and perilous influence pass away.
Two
days afterward, Mr. Morris, a Democratic senator from
Ohio, on presenting memorials against slavery and the slavetrade, defended the Abolitionists from the criticisms of Mr.
Clay, and denounced the treatment their petitions for the exer-
a clear constitutional power had received in the Senate.
cise of
He made an
elaborate speech, closing with the declaration that
" the negro will yet be set free."
He reminded the Senate
that he
had been condemned
at
home
for his opposition to
slavery; but he hoped, on returning to that home, to join his
friends in rekindling the beacon-fires of liberty on every
hill.
In the same body Mr. Prentiss of Vermont presented the
resolutions of the legislature of that State in favor of abolish-
ing slavery and the slave-trade in the District of Columbia and
in the Territories
of Texas.
;
and also in opposition to the annexation
the usual motion to print them, Mr.
On making
Calhoun declared his astonishment that the people of Vermont
did not see that their action struck at the very foundation of
the Union.
Other senators assailing the action of the State,
the Senate, on the motion of Mr.
Lumpkin
of Georgia, laid
the motion to print the resolutions on the table
insult
was designedly
offered to
Vermont
and
this
for her early
and
;
unequivocal declarations for freedom.
The XXVIth Congress met in December, 1839. The organHouse was delayed for several days, but was at
ization of the
�398
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
length effected by the election of Robert
He
Whig party.
M. T. Hunter
of Vir-
was a follower of Mr. Calhoun, though
ginia for Speaker.
elected by the
IN AMERICA.
Wise introduced a
On
December Mr.
any petition for
the 30th of
resolution declaring that
the abolition of slavery should be considered as objected to,
and the question of
without debate.
its
reception should be laid
The motion
the resolution failing,
upon the
table
suspend the rules to receive
notice was given by Mr. Wise that he
to
should object to the reception of petitions, and move to lay
Mr. Rice Garland of
the question of reception on the table.
Louisiana moved to suspend the rules, to allow
him
to present
resolutions declaring that the abolition of slavery in the Dis-
would be a violation of the plighted faith of the nation,
and that abolition petitions should not be considered but his
motion was not sustained by the House. Mr. Wise the next
day made another unavailing effort to introduce his resolutions,
and like efforts were made by other members, but without
trict
;
success.
In January, 1840, Mr. Thompson of South Carolina introduced a resolution that all papers touching slavery should be
laid
on the table without being. read or debated. He closed his
Francis
its behalf by moving the previous question.
speech in
Granger of New York expressed his admiration of the chivalry
The moof the gentleman who would thus cut off all reply.
Granger
Mr.
withdrawn,
being
tion for the previous question
vindicated the right of petition, and warned Southern members that, if they continued to deny that right, they would find
enlisted under the banner of abolitionism gallant spirits of
who would never yield. Mr. Gentry of Tennessee
would vote against Mr. Thompson's resolution, and for
the resolution of Mr. Chinn of Louisiana for a select committee.
The next day, Mr. Cooper of Georgia said that his State
would act for herself, and resort to measures within her own
power to put an end to abolition petitions. Mr. "Botts of Virginia, a new member and a Whig of enlarged and national
views, advocated the reception and reference of abolition petiMr. Slade defined and vindicated the principles of the
tions.
opponents of slavery and Mr. Butler of South Carolina ex-
the North,
said he
;
�LETTER OF THE WORLD'S CONVENTION.
399
pressed the belief that slavery was defensible from Scripture,
and that it was a blessing.
It was then moved by Mr. Adams, as an amendment of the
twenty-first rule of the House, that every petition presented be
received, unless objection to
it
be
made
for a special reason
;
whenever objection should be made, the name of the
member making it and the reasons therefor be entered on the
" Shall the petijournal, so that the question would then be
and
that,
:
tion be rejected
?
"
Mr.
Adams
spoke earnestly in favor of
the reception of the antislavery petitions, although he did not
he said, that there were ten members who would vote
believe,
for the abolition of slavery in the District.
he was not himself prepared to vote
at a previous session.
for
it,
He
declared that
and had
The debate was continued
so stated
several days r
when William Cost Johnson, a Whig member from Maryland,
moved to amend Mr. Adams's amendment, so that no paper
praying for the abolition of slavery in the District, or in the
Territories, or for the inhibition of the slave-trade, should be
House in any way whatever. This was
and the amendment as then amended was adopted.
The general unrest and excitement of the Southern mind at
this time were increased by other causes than the proceedings
entertained by the
agreed
to,
The course of England had largely
Her West India emancipation, her
refusal to pay for slaves who had found refuge in some of her
ports, the activity of her abolition societies and presses, and
of Northern agitators.
contributed to this result.
their outspoken
sympathy with those of
this country, the un-
reserved admission by some of her leading statesmen of their
desire for universal abolition, excited Southern fears
and
in-
dignation.
These feelings were intensified by the reception in 1840
of a circular letter to the governors of the slaveholding States
from the World's Convention, assembled in London for the
avowed purpose of promoting the universal abolition of slavery and the slave-trade.
It was signed by the venerable
and illustrious Thomas Clarkson. Setting forth the evils of
slavery and the slave-trade,
the only
way
it
to extinguish the
expressed the conviction that
former was to abolish the
latter.
�400
It
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
IN AMERICA.
appealed to the governors of the slaveholding States " to
employ all that influence and power with which Divine Providence had intrusted them to secure immediate liberty to the
Recognizing the brotherhood of man, and the bindslave."
ing obligations of Christianity,
it
addressed
By
its
appeals to the
M. Gates,
then a member of the House of Representatives at Washington, forwarded these circulars, under his own frank, to the
Governor Pennington of New
governors thus addressed.
Jersey, Speaker of the House at the opening of the Rebellion,
to whom the circular had been sent, slavery not being then quite
reason, heart, and conscience.
request, Seth
extinct in his State, acknowledged, in a letter to Mr. Gates,
the importance of the principles therein enunciated, and ex-
pressed his earnest desire that the country, at the earliest day,
should join hand in hand with the humane on the other side
of the water " in washing out the stain upon her national
character."
But the governors of the Southern States professed to be
Some of them made communications to
their legislatures, denouncing the circular as incendiary and
greatly exasperated.
calculated to excite slaves to insurrection.
Among
those
who
especially the action of Mr. Gates,
denounced the circular, and
was James K. Polk, Governor of Tennessee, and four years
He was acafterward elected President of the United States.
customed to carry the envelope with him at the hustings, and
to exhibit the frank of the " treasonable "
who was endeavoring, he
tion.
He
member
of Congress,
averred, to excite slaves to insurrec-
declared, too, that the contents of the circular were
For franking this circular
Mr. Gates was roundly denounced, and a reward of five hundred dollars was offered by a wealthy Georgia slaveholder
for his delivery at Savannah.
Such were the feelings which
then swayed the Southern people, colored all their opinions, and
too wicked to be read in public.
gave direction to
From
all their
conduct.
This was specially mani-
debates on the Quintuple and Ashburton treaties.
fest in the
the year 1806 England had sought the active co-opera-
tion of the United States for the suppression of the slave-trade
but these
efforts
were unavailing.
;
The American government
�THE ASHBUETON TREATY.
401
kept in the African waters only the inadequate force of two or
consent to any
mutual visitation and search
and the American flag, even by the acknowledgment of Mr.
Stevenson, minister to the Court of St. James, was prostituted
three small vessels.
arrangement
It also steadily refused to
for the right of
by the slave pirates of
;
all nationalities to
cover their nefarious
trade.
The leading European powers seeking the
of the infamous traffic, a treaty
entire extirpation
was formed on the 20th of
December, 1841, between Great Britain, Austria, France, Prussia, and Russia, for the complete suppression of the African
slave-trade.
It
was called the Quintuple Treaty.
It
provided
that certain cruisers belonging to those countries should be instructed to visit and detain within certain specified limits merr
chant vessels of the other contracting parties, suspected of
being engaged in the unlawful commerce, and
with each other for
its
complete suppression.
to
co-operate
This treaty ex-
much interest in the United States, on whose government,
was believed, the high contracting parties would exert their
moral power in an attempt to persuade it to join the effort.
But there was existing in this country a traditional distrust
of England and dislike of her policy in regard to the right of
search, which had been intensified by the war of 1812, and
in which the whole country largely shared. The slaveholders,
irritated, if not alarmed, by the position of England on the
question of slavery, shrewdly seized upon this American jealousy as a potent agency in their attempts to defeat the treaty.
General Cass, then minister to France, protested, and prepared
Nor is there much doubt
a pamphlet against its ratification.
that his influence and efforts aided the Anti-British party, which
was then large and active, in securing its defeat.
On the 9th of August, 1842, what is known as the Ashburton Treaty was signed at Washington.
Among its provisions
was one that the United States should keep a force of eighty
guns, requiring about a thousand men, on the coast of Africa,
for the suppression of the slave-trade.
This provision was
bitterly assailed in Congress, and strenuous efforts were made to
Mr. Benton took the lead in this attempt, mingling
defeat it.
cited
it
51
�402
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
argument, denunciation, and sarcasm in his opposition. He
"a roaming philanthropy "
spoke of it as madness and folly,
—
that
had taken the negroes of Africa
for objects of protection.
characterized the President's message accompanying the
treaty as " a mass of ambiguities and obscurities." The meas-
He
he said, appeared to be an American proposition, but he
denounced it as certainly a British proposition " it is certainly
a British proposition " that yokes America with England on
He afterward avowed his purpose to dethe coast of Africa.
for it was, he
feat all appropriations for the African squadron
and
ships
England
for five
to
said, a tribute in men, money,
years' exemption from British search. The speech was a bitter
and malignant assault upon England, and little creditable to
its author either on the score of statesmanship or good feeling,
its insinuations having been proved to be unfounded, and its
ure,
;
;
prophecies remaining unfulfilled.
Mr. Buchanan also joined in the opposition, and
nunciations were
less
if
his de-
extravagant, they were equally decided
and unequivocal. Concerning the article providing for a naval
force on the African coast, he complained that they were compelled to grope their way, and that " all was obscurity, all was
darkness." " Did the British government," he inquired, " demand this sacrifice at our hands ? Was it necessary to appease
the wounded pride of England at the disappointment she experienced when France, our ancient and faithful ally, refused
to ratify the Quintuple Treaty and identified herself with us
He said the
in resisting the right of visitation and search ? "
would be to ratify the unjust claim
government to be " the supreme protector of
the rights of humanity."
The treaty was also bitterly assailed by Mr. Conrad of
Louisiana, afterward a member of Mr. Fillmore's cabinet, and
an actor in the slaveholders' rebellion. The executive committee of the American AntMavery Society, fearing that one
of the provisions of the treaty would endanger the safety of
the colored people of Canada, many of whom were fugitives
from slavery, appointed a committee to wait upon Lord Ashburton to confer with him upon the subject. He assured them
ratification of the treaty
of the British
�THE ASHBURTON TREATY.
403
had taken every precaution in behalf of the people of
and
that, if he had been willing to introduce an articolor
cle providing for the payment of escaping slaves, it would not
have been ratified at home, as his government was especially
that he
;
solicitous to
guard
all
such rights against infringement.
Mr.
Conrad referred to this conference as evidence of a connection
between the Abolitionists of Great Britain and of this country.
Nor did he think that peace could be permanent so long as these
He thought, indeed,
agitating questions remained unsettled.
government
would increase the inthat the forbearance of this
" She will," he said, " unfurl the
tolerance of Great Britain.
banner of abolition
your slaves
;
more conspicuously before the eyes of
still
she will accustom them to consider her as their
benefactor, the champion of their rights, the avenger of their
And when war
wrongs.
does come, as come
it
will, she
may
then hope to realize her threat of being welcomed by them as
their deliverer,
and her
flag,
when
and a portion of the press joined
appears, becoming the
it
Other members of Congress
signal of a servile insurrection."
in
denouncing this provision
American rights, an annual
tribute, " a prostration of the interests and rights of American
citizens, and a dishonor to the American name."
The treaty,
however, notwithstanding this violent opposition, was ratified,
of the treaty as a surrender of
receiving the strong vote of thirty-nine to nine.
Nor was
so
failure all.
The men and
presses
who
prominent and so violent in opposition gained
stood forth
little
credit
by their factious course. Many saw their true character, but
none more fitly described them than Rufus Choate, who spoke
of
them
as " restless, selfish, reckless,
'
the cankers of a calm
world and a long peace,' pining with thirst of notoriety, slaves
to their hatred of
to
whom any
the vain
England, to
whom
the treaty
is distasteful
and clamor,
and agony
but those would be distaste-
treaty and all things but the glare
pomp and hollow
circumstance, the
and inadequate results of war,
ful and dreary."
—
all
toil
�CHAPTER XXIX.
AMONG THE
DISSENSION
— DISRUPTION
ABOLITIONISTS.
OF THE
AMERICAN ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY.
— Dissensions. — New York Abolitionists vote
— New Party proposed by Mr. Smith.
— Action of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society. — Young Men's Antislavery State Convention at Worcester. — Resolution. — Political Action. — The
Woman Question. — Pastoral Letter. — New England Convention. — Protest
Increase of the Abolitionists.
Seward.
— Opposition
for
of Mr. Goodell.
— Memorial to
— Churches and
of Mr. Torrey.
the Churches.
—Action
of the
Rhode Island
— Controversy
— Opinion of
between the Massachusetts and National Antislavery
Mr. Birney. — Sixth Anniversary. — The Woman Question. — New England
Antislavery Convention. — Massachusetts Abolition Society. — Address of the
dissolve
Society. — Bitter Controversy. — Financial Action. — Proposition
the American Antislavery Society. — Sale of the "Emancipator." — Seventh
Anniversary of the American Antislavery Society. — Rights of Woman conceded. — Disruption. — American and Foreign Antislavery Society organized.
— Both Societies appeal the Public.
Consociation.
Ministers.
— The
Abolitionists.
Societies.
to
to
The
imperious demands of the South, summoning the peo-
ple of the
North
to surrender the
moral right of discussing
slavery and the issues growing out of
its
existence
;
the threats
imbrue their hands in the blood of all Abolitionists who
should set their feet on Southern soil the violent denuncia-
to
;
Northern meetings, bringing upon antislavery men not
only words of sternest condemnation but acts of personal violence the denial of the right of petition and of freedom of
tions of
;
debate in Congress,
voice of the
— did not quench the
men who had
zeal nor silence the
consecrated themselves to the work
of emancipation.
There was no faltering in their ranks.
These devoted men calmly and firmly met the issues imposed
upon them. They realized, as the storms of denunciation beat
upon their heads, that slavery was a crime never to be toler-
ated in silence.
�DISSENSION
AMONG THE
405
ABOLITIONISTS.
In the third annual report of the American Antislavery So-
May, 1836, they proclaimed to the country that the
them was one of certain conquest. Admitting
that every inch of the way was to be fought through odium
and proscription, that they might suffer far more reproach
and violence than they had yet experienced, that even death
itself might come to them, they proclaimed the strength of
ciety, in
field before
their cause to be in the blessing of that
God who hath chosen
weak things of this world to confound the mighty.
Nor were they less hopeful and confident at the fourth and
the
fifth
Their
anniversary meetings of the national society.
fifth
annual report, of May, 1838, closes with the declaration that
prosecution of the cause of
•in the
human
liberty
by truth and
brotherly love they could never tire nor doubt of success.
" Our victory," they say, "
seed-time and harvest
seed which
is
now
;
is
no
less sure
and, though tears
than the laws of
may mingle
scattered amidst the frosts
retiring winter, the sheaves shall yet be brought
shouts
with the
and snows of
home with
unmingled joy and the sunshine of unclouded
of
peace."
At
this
anniversary meeting
Edmund Quincy
proclaimed
their warfare to be no wild crusade, but a holy war, a sacred
strife
waged not with arms forged by human hands or temfire, " but with weapons fresh from the armory
;
pered in earthly
God.
In this contest the green hills of our land are
crowned with no mimic volcanoes, sending up from their summits smoke and flame toward heaven, and pouring down their
of
slopes lava-streams of hideous death.
we
struggle and where
we
strive is
The kingdom
for
foundations are laid in the hearts and souls of men.
which
—
its
It is
an
an invisible kingdom,
empire whose limits reach beyond the flaming walls of the
universe,
its
heights reach up to heaven,
hell, its origin
is
derived from God,
And what
its
its
depths descend to
destiny
is
infinite, its
weapons which we wield
this heavenly conflict ?
Prayer, which takes heaven by
storm faith, which grasps the palm of victory ere the battle
is begun
the Word of God, which makes straight the way to
triumph,
which fills up the valleys and brings low the mounduration eternal.
in
;
;
—
are the
�406
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
which obstruct our march.
tains
IN AMERICA.
Clothed in this panoply,
let
us press onward to the rescue of our captive brethren, cheerful in the certainty of success, invincible in the justice of
cause, strong in the presence of the Lord.
And
at last
our
may
our voices help to swell the triumphant shout, bursting from
millions of hearts on earth,
ments of heaven, which
that the slave
and answered from the
battle-
shall proclaim that the victory is
won,
"
is free
!
In these glowing expressions of trust in God, faith in moral
power, and confidence in a peaceful triumph, Mr. Quincy but
men and women assembled
and of the leaders of the antislavery cause
echoed the sentiments of the noble
at that anniversary,
throughout the land. Little did he or they foresee, when he
gave utterance to these hopes of a peaceful triumph for their
sacred cause, that the heart of the nation would be so hard-
ened and
its
passions so inflamed by slavery, in
its
struggle for
dominion, that, a quarter of a century afterward, the green
hills
her
of the land would be crowned by flaming batteries and
fields
drenched in the blood of embattled hosts, and that
the liberty of the slave would be proclaimed amid the darken-
ing storms of
But
civil
war.
in spite of the stern
tered by the Abolitionists,
fluence,
and power.
and relentless opposition encounthey increased in numbers, in-
In consequence, however, of that in-
crease, diversities of opinion
more and more marked
began
to appear.
These became
and defined, dissensions arose, and
divisions speedily followed.
Nor were these dissensions and divisions a matter of surWhen the New England Antislavery Society was organized, its members united in declaring themselves in favor of
using all means sanctioned by law, humanity, and religion, to
The National Antislavery Soeffect the abolition of slavery.
prise.
ciety
began
its
existence by proclaiming that the highest obli-
gation rested upon Abolitionists to remove slavery by moral
Few
numbers, with their eyes intently
fixed on the crime and wrongs of slavery, and the pressing
necessity of immediate abolition, they were for a time united in
and
political action.
in
sentiment, feeling, and purpose.
As
their
numbers increased
�DISSENSION
and they began
a practical
These
AMONG THE
to consider the
measure, more
difficulties,
407
problem of emancipation as
revealed
difficulties
themselves.
while they intensified feeling and inspired
and courage, were
zeal
ABOLITIONISTS.
calculated
little
secure unity of
to
Men who, under
thought or harmony of action.
these un-
toward circumstances, accepted the unpopular doctrine of
immediate abolition, and entered upon the
it
imposed, were not generally the
men
self-sacrificing
work
to yield to the dictates
of committees or the decrees of conventions.
The very
ele-
ments of character which made them reformers rendered them
positive, sometimes dogmatic and impracticable.
Generally
with strong conscientious convictions, marked individuality,
and not infrequent idiosyncrasies of character, they did not
always wisely discriminate between the essentials and nonof the
essentials
conflict.
others to political action
governmental agencies.
Some looked
some
;
and strove
and others
to
some
churches and parand more legitimate
left
to found those of a purer
while others disowned them altogether, adopting
and disorganizing opinions concerning all governments
character
loose
to ecclesiastical,
moral,
Meeting opposition where they had
too confidently anticipated aid,
ties,
chiefly to
;
— a few, indeed
Others
and ecclesiastical
— entertained the wildest vagaries and the most fantastic noinstitutions.
tions,
still
and burdened the cause by giving occasion to those who
to find it an opportunity to associate their extrava-
were glad
gances with the true issue.
Many
things conspired to develop these dissensions and
dif-
which began to manifest themselves in 1838 with
Chief among these was the question of
painful distinctness.
exercising the right of suffrage.
In the annual report of the
American Antislavery Society for that year, signed by James
G. Birney, Elizur Wright, Jr., and Henry B. Stanton, corresponding secretaries, the declaration was made that Abolitionferences,
ists
should inquire into the sentiments of candidates for
office,
and that he was unworthy the name of an Abolitionist who
did not put the antislavery qualification above
phatically declared to be vital
all
others in
This duty was em^
to the cause.
In the autumn of
selecting candidates to receive his vote.
�408
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
same year, many
the
New York
Abolitionists in
IN AMERICA.
Central
and Western
gave their votes for William H. Seward for gover-
These antislavery men had been trained in the Whig
They were not ignorant of Mr. Seward's real feelings
and sentiments, although his answers to their questionings had
not been on all points satisfactory. Entertaining the idea that
his election over Governor Marcy, whose adverse opinions had
nor.
party.
been clearly pronounced and unequivocal, and whose action
had been exceedingly offensive, would contribute largely, as it
certainly did, to the development of opposition to the Slave
Power, they cast their suffrages
deeply regretted by
many
for him.
Abolitionists,
But
this action
was
and stoutly opposed
by some of the leading antislavery men in that section, especially by William Goodell, editor of the " Friend of Man," at
Utica, and by Gerrit Smith.
Not a little discouraged by this demonstration, Mr. Smith
proposed a new antislavery organization, whose constitution
and laws should require antislavery men not to vote for those
men who refuse to avow their belief in the duty of immediate
He thought that, if
deliverance from the yoke of slavery.
such an organization was formed, the old antislavery societies,
like the
wine-tolerating temperance societies, would speedily
and that it would be understood that a member of an
antislavery society would, under no circumstances, " vote for a
fall,
slaveholder, or a slaveholder's apologist."
that
members
of the
new
act in concert with each other.
cepted by
political
He
thought, too,
would
These suggestions were ac-
society, unlike the old ones,
many who saw that the antislavery cause demanded
and who were dissatisfied with the existing
action,
society.
But the great body of Abolitionists regretted and resisted
The Massachusetts Antislavery Society denied the competency of any antislavery organization, either by
that movement.
its
votes or through
its
organs, to arraign the political or re-
members. It denied their right to insist
that it was the duty of any Abolitionist to go to the ballot-box
or unite with any church.
It admitted that there were con-
ligious views of its
flicting opinions entertained
by Abolitionists on these
points,
�AMONG THE
DISSENSION
but strenuously maintained that "
may
all
rightfully do is to entreat its
whether
principles,
elsewhere
;
ate emancipation
slavery."
in the
to vote for
;
no
that a society or
members
church or out of
man who
to listen to
409
ABOLITIONISTS..
is
its
to abide
it,
organs
by their
at the polls or
not in favor of immedi-
no preacher who apologizes
for
Believing that such an organization would present
no new motive
and advance no new principles that
than a moral aspect and that
existing antislavery societies were slowly but surely effecting
great and salutary changes both in Church and State, it
announced its opposition to the adoption " of a doubtful and
it
would wear a
for action,
;
political, rather
;
untried experiment."
Early in October of that year, while this division of senti-
ment and
action
was
in progress in Central
and Western
New
York, a Young Men's Antislavery Convention, consisting of
more than four hundred delegates, met in the city of WorcesMassachusetts.
The convention was called to order by
Oliver Johnson, and was presided over by George T. Davis,
then a young lawyer and rising politician of Franklin County,
who early accepted antislavery sentiments, but whose adherter,
ence did not long withstand the claims of his political associations.
This body, of which nearly
all
the leading Abolitionists
were members, adopted a series of resolutions drawn by William Goodell.
It unanimously declared by a rising vote that
by the grace of God no motive of
political
tisan interest, of personal friendship or
tion, should
member
to the
tempt them to vote
slavery by voting for a
of the national or State legislatures
who would
utmost verge of constitutional power for
This body pledged
cise
for
expediency or par-
any other considera-
all
who held
it
its
not go
abolition.
proper in any case to exer-
the right of suffrage never to neglect any opportunity to
record their vote against slavery.
This decided action of the
Worcester convention, the action in Western New York, the
proposition of Gerrit Smith for the reorganization of antislavery societies, and the address of the Massachusetts Antislavery
Society revealed the unquestionable fact that the largest portion of the Abolitionists believed in political action in
form.
52
some
�410
KISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN
AMERICA.
Nevertheless, a small but active portion of the Abolitionists,
New
mostly in
England, more or less tinctured with the non-
resistant theories,
were opposed
Abjuring
suffrage.
all
to the exercise of the right of
resort to force, on
which governments
necessarily rest, they, by logical sequence, declined the use of
Though undoubtedly
the ballot.
conscientious in their course,
they not only yielded up an element of power, potent in a gov-
ernment resting on the will and votes of the people, which
they had no right to relinquish, but by so doing they weakened
their own effective influence upon the people, however truthful,
earnest, and vivid were their delineations of slavery and their
arraignments of the Slave Power.
Another question on which the Abolitionists divided was
what
familiarly called
is
the "
either officers or
members
work with
zeal
and
Women
at first
of the national or State societies
but, organizing associations of their
their
question."
They were not
woman
early espoused the antislavery cause.
;
own, they entered upon
effectiveness.
Several ladies
who had
spoken at meetings of their own sex with much acceptance,
afterward addressed promiscuous assemblies.
Some
earnest
men, however, doubted its propriety while proThis voice of
slavery individuals and presses condemned it.
antislavery
;
remonstrance found expressive utterance in the Pastoral Letter of the Massachusetts Association of Congregational Ministers, in the
made
lina,
In this letter very special mention was
year 1837.
of the Misses Grimke,
who had been
Quaker ladies from South Carohad emancipated their slaves,
slaveholders,
and, having warmly espoused the cause of emancipation, were
addressing delighted auditories in the Northern States.
At the annual meeting of the New England Antislavery Convention in 1838, which was attended by delegates from eleven
States,
it
was voted that
all
persons present, whether
men
or
women, who agreed with the convention on the subject of slavery should be invited to become members, and participate in its
A motion to rescind this vote, after a long and
animated discussion, failed by a large majority. Eight clergy-
proceedings.
men immediately
arose
and desired that
stricken from the roll of the convention.
their
names should be
drawn
A protest was
�DISSENSION
AMONG THE
ABOLITIONISTS.
411
up and signed by Charles T. Torrey, Amos A. Phelps, and five
others, against this action of the convention. They pronounced
it injurious to the cause of the slave, by connecting with it a
subject foreign to it by establishing the precedent of connecting with it other and irrelevant topics and by being an inno;
;
vation on former usages.
sponsibility for
much
it.
They
therefore disclaimed all re-
This decision of the convention excited
and caused no little ill feeling.
Three persons were appointed by the convention
one of
them Miss Abby Kelley, a member of the Society of Friends
as a committee to prepare a memorial to the ecclesiastical
associations of New England, beseeching them to testify against
the slave system.
This memorial was drawn with great care,
was respectful in form, and in no way infringed upon the rights
and privileges of any ecclesiastical association. It earnestly
called upon the ecclesiastical bodies of New England in the
name of God to remember them in bonds as bound with them,
and entreated them to act as the great interests of humanity
and Christ's kingdom demanded.
When this memorial was presented to the Rhode Island
Congregational Consociation, and it became known that a
woman was a member of the committee that drafted it, a scene
interest
—
—
of intense
excitement arose.
Scripture against this action of
Members hastened to quote
women others, who were will;
memorial and act upon it, on learning that a woman was upon the committee that drafted it,
"united," said the editor of the " Christian Mirror," who was
present, " at once in turning the illegitimate product from the
house, and in obliterating from the record all traces of its
ing at
first to
receive the
entrance."
This action of an association of
New England
seems, in the light of subsequent events
clergymen
and change of public
But there
sentiment, narrow and bigoted, trivial and weak.
can be no question that this controversy in the antislavery
ranks influenced to a considerable extent a large number of
The " Emancipator," the organ of the American
clergymen.
Antislavery Society, referring to the fact that a few months
previous
it
seemed as
if
the mass of the clergy were ready to
�412
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
drop their hostility to the antislavery cause and come in to
support, expressed the fear that
gospel were " settling
down
many
its
of the ministers of the
into a fixed hatred of the princi-
and fixed determination, at any hazard, to
maintain the lawfulness of slavery, and the criminality of
ples of liberty,
for
efforts
its
abandon any
They are evincing a readiness to
impugn any doctrine, to violate any
removal.
principle, to
obligation, to outrage
any
feeling, to sacrifice
tofore held dear or sacred,
if it
any
interest, here-
be found to afford countenance
or strength to antislavery."
The " Liberator " had been established by Mr. Garrison, was
under his exclusive control, and, of course, expressed his views.
In the exercise of his prerogative he uttered and admitted sentiments to which a large number of Abolitionists did not sub-
While he did not claim that these views were any part
of the antislavery creed, and did not insist that antislavery
men should accept them as such, still the public mind did,
more or less, associate the sentiments enunciated in his journal
with the cause of abolition. Many antislavery men, too, deemscribe.
ing them injurious not only to interests they regarded important and sacred, but also to the cause itself, desired the estabThe " Abolitionist," under the
lishment of a new journal.
editorial charge of Elizur
Wright, Jr., was therefore established,
in the spring of 1839, in the city of Boston.
A controversy had arisen between the managers of the
American and Massachusetts antislavery societies. Owing to
the financial distress of the country, the failure
pans,
who had been
of the Tap-
large contributors themselves, and
who
had been greatly instrumental in securing contributions from
others, and the growing distrust, dissensions, and divisions
among Abolitionists, the receipts of the national and associate
Objection
societies did not
keep pace with their necessities.
was made by the
State associations to the sending of collecting
An
agents into their respective limits by the national society.
arrangement had been entered into between the national and
Massachusetts societies by which ten thousand dollars were to
be paid into the treasury of the former by the latter. The
Massachusetts Society, however, failed to redeem its pledge.
�DISRUPTION OF THE AMERICAN ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY.
413
This failure intensified somewhat the feeling of distrust which
had already unfortunately begun to manifest itself. The executive committee at New York notified the Massachusetts
Society that
it
should send collecting agents into that State.
This decision excited
much
and Mr. Chapman, the
was sent to protest against that
some amicable arrangement.
feeling,
treasurer of the State society,
and secure, if possible,
At the quarterly meeting, held in March, 1837, the action
of the board of managers was triumphantly sustained.
Mr.
Birney, Lewis Tappan, and Mr. Stanton were present and vindicated the action of the national committee.
An excited and
somewhat angry debate arose. Mr. Birney declared with emphasis, that, " if one whose conscientious scruples led him to
repudiate the elective franchise were to consult him about joining the American Antislavery Society, he should be bound to
tell him he had not the qualifications prescribed by the constiaction,
tution, and, therefore,
ought not to subscribe."
This declara-
which would exclude the come-outers and non-resistants
from membership in the American Antislavery Society, created
tion,
the deepest feeling in the bosoms of those
those theories, and
existing.
A
it
who had adopted
sensibly increased the alienation already
division of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society
was recommended by Lewis Tappan, who did not
express the opinion that the separation of
little
hesitate to
men who had
so
unity of opinion would not only be promotive of peace,
but of greater efficiency.
At the
close of the meeting an apby the board of managers of the
Massachusetts Society, and by extraordinary exertions their
pledge was redeemed within a few weeks.
The sixth annual meeting of the American Antislavery So-
peal
w as made
r
to the public
ciety took place early in
May, in the
city of
New
York.
A
number were in attendance. At the opening of the
meeting a motion was made for the appointment of a committee to make out a roll of delegates.
James C. Fuller, a delelarge
gate from
New
York, an Englishman by birth, and a member
of the Society of Friends, remarked that there were
some
loved sisters present, and he wr ished to
there was
know whether
strength enough in the meeting to admit them.
be-
Nathaniel
�414
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
moved
Colver, a Baptist clergyman, then
usual manner, of such
out in the
IN AMERICA.
that the roll be
men
as were
made
delegates
It was then moved by Oliver Johnson to
word " men " and insert that of persons. This
amendment led to a very long, animated, and excited debate,
in which a large number of the leading members of the convention participated. Intimations were thrown out that, if the
amendment was sustained, a division of the society might be
the consequence.
Mr. Johnson's amendment was then declared adopted
but, the ayes and noes having been demanded
by Lewis Tappan, it was adopted, as modified by an amendment of Ellis Gray Loring, by a large majority. A protest,
signed by one hundred and twenty-three delegates, was then
presented and ordered to be printed with the records.
The Sixth New England Antislavery Convention met a few
days afterward, in Boston.
At the opening of the convention
it was moved that all persons present favorable to the cause
or
members.
strike out the
;
of immediate emancipation be invited to take part in the pro-
ceedings.
all
An amendment was moved
gentlemen present to take
by Mr. Phelps, inviting
But
seats.
this
amendment was
Many delegates
rejected by a very large majority.
then retired
from the convention, and then united in forming the MassaThus was consummated a separachusetts Abolition Society.
tion which had long been foreshadowed by growing divisions
of sentiment and increasing alienation of feeling.
It
course inevitable, but nevertheless to be deprecated.
the giant evil they would overthrow,
than the stripling youth of Israel
;
if
was of
Before
united, they were less
in the presence of the hos-
But the
tile multitude they were at best but a lean minority.
bond of union was broken, and much of the power and prowTess which should have borne only on the common foe was
wasted on each other.
The executive committee of the new
society issued an ad-
dress to the people in explanation and vindication of their
They expressed their unspeakable grief at " the peraction.
and obbond of union, foreign to our
version, in this State, of our association to purposes
jects not contemplated in our
original objects, not necessary to their attainment, and, in the
�DISRUPTION OF THE AMERICAN ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY.
view of the reflecting,
415
our prospects of ultimate suc-
fatal to
had
cess."
They charged
become
identified with the sectarian views of a few of its lead-
ing members
that the old Antislavcry Society
and that the theories of Mr. Garrison about
and government, which had been sanctioned by it,
They charged
took from it " the staff of accomplishment."
that the society " had thrown away its principles, and with
them the staff of its power." They declared the difference
;
religion
between the old and new antislavcry organizations to be that
" the new organization proposes to overthrow slavery by the
use of means, the old by simple truth."
Leading advocates of the new organization arraigned the
Amos
old society with great plainness of speech.
A. Phelps,
one of the earliest and ablest of the writers, orators, and
mem-
organizers of the antislavery movement, in resigning his
bership of
its
board of managers, said
:
" The society
is
no
its principles and
become a woman's-rights, non-government, antislavery society." He avowed his readiness whenever it should return to its original principles and policy, to
co-operate with it again.
Rev. Orange Scott, an early Abolitionist, said that Mr. Garrison and the members of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society had, during the past two years,
longer an antislavery society simply, but in
modes
done
of action has
little
but press their notions of perfectionism, their
all human governments and institutions, and
crowd forward the women into all public stations. He affirmed that the principles and measures of himself and those
with whom he acted were the same as they were when they
opposition to
joined that society,
— " We have not
left
our brethren
;
they
left us."
Rev. Alanson St. Clair referred to the members of the old organization as " our women's-rights, no-govern-
have
ment, antislavery opponents "
and Rev. Charles T. Torrey
averred that they had toiled with the members of that society
;
honor and conscience would permit, and they had
them that they might " continue to assert all
our original principles and urge all our original measures with
as long as
separated from
new zeal and greater energy."
To these accusations and others
of like import the Massa-
�416
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
IN AMERICA.
and members, by resoand presses, interposed a
To the charge that it had
cliusetts Antislaveiy Society, its officers
lutions, reports, addresses, speecbes,
peremptory and emphatic denial.
become subservient to the principles of non-resistance it declared that it was not competent for the society to determine
whether they were right or wrong. It denied the right of any
member to commit it to his peculiar political or religious views
but he, by consenting to become a member, did not surrender
his right to proselytize to the extent of his ability, apart from
abolitionism, as a man or a Christian, either as a member of any
;
sect or party, or as one
ties.
Tbey denied
who
had ever departed from
that
it
its
its
members
in whatever sphere they
or out of
it,
all sects
or par-
and they avowed
God and humanity
original platform,
continued to maintain that duty to
required of
fidelity to their antislaveiy principles
might be called
at the ballot-box or
tained, too, that the society
all
stands aloof from
that the Massachusetts Antislaveiy Society
to act,
—"
away from
had been
in the
church
They main-
it."
careful to abstain
interference with the disputed question of
from
woman's sphere
and capacity that they did not seek the question, but that it
had forced itself upon them, and they had only sought to deal
;
with the question of the rights of
practical,
inoffensive,
its
female members " in a
and common-sense way."
In a word,
human
beings were
allowed to meet on equal terms, and were required to " agree
they maintained that on their platform
all
in nothing but the inherent sinfulness of slaveholding and the
immediate duty of letting the oppressed go free."
The action of the American Antislaveiy Society at its annual meeting in 1839 had greatly impaired its unity and
influence.
Women
had been permitted
to take
proceedings, though more than one third of
entered their protest against
it.
A
its
resolution
part in
its
members had
had been
re-
ported by the business committee, affirming that the society
held, as
it
had done from the beginning, that the employment
of the political franchise so as to promote the abolition of
was a duty Abolitionists owed to their enslaved fellowcountrymen groaning under legal oppression. An amendment
was offered by Charles C. Burleigh, to the effect that the
slavery
�DISRUPTION OF THE AMERICAN ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY.
who regards it his duty to use the
and who used it against or neglected to
Abolitionist
chise,
417
elective fran-
use
it
for the
promotion of the cause of emancipation, was false to his own
The original
principles and clearly failed to do his duty.
resolution
was sustained by only a majority of seven. This
woman's rights and the
action of the society, in regard to
use of the ballot, clearly revealed the fact that radical
ences of opinion were entertained by
unity was,
if
its
differ-
members, and that
not impossible, in the highest degree improbable.
But the heaviest blow struck against the efficiency of the sowas its action on the financial question. Its finance committee reported in favor of raising thirty-two thousand dollars
ciety
but no action whatever
was adopted, earnestly
for the current
expenses of the year
was taken.
A
resolution, however,
inviting the
executive committee not to send agents into a
;
State where a State society existed, without its consent.
the State societies had opposed the
As
employment of such agents,
means
the national executive committee was left with limited
to carry
much
The
forward the work
it
had hitherto prosecuted with so
vigor and success.
effect
of this action
was soon made manifest. The
In November
executive committee was greatly embarrassed.
it
was compelled
to notify its agents that the society could
A
longer be responsible for their compensation.
ing was held in
New
York, in January, 1840
;
no
special meet-
but the attend-
ance was small. The object of the meeting was to obtain the
removal of the restrictions upon the executive committee and
to supply it with funds.
The convention sat for three days
without any marked results.
Under circumstances
so discouraging
some members of the
executive committee avowed themselves in favor of reoro-aniz-
ing or dissolving the society.
Lewis Tappan wrote to several
leading Abolitionists that, as the executive committee was
tually excluded
from
all
vir-
parts of the country for the collection
of funds, he despaired of accomplishing anything for the ad-
vancement of the cause, and was in favor of abandoning the
organization, and of the appointment of a central board or
committee, to work with such means as might be placed in
53
�418
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
Similar views were entertained by others.
A
communication was published in the "Emancipator" maintaining that the American Antislavery Society was no longer
their hands.
necessary for the advancement of the antislavery cause, that
was a hindrance, and that therefore it was a question for
consideration whether it ought not to be formally
withdrawn. It was proposed by the Rev. David Root that
the national society and all its auxiliaries should be dissolved, and that a board of commissioners, with powers similar to those of the " American Board of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions," should take its place. But this was pronounced essentially defective and inadequate to the object
they had in view.
John G. Whittier, then editor of the " Pennsylvania Freeman," suggested that the society should be dissolved, and a
central committee, representing no society or association, but
simply acting on its own responsibility, with such means as the
confidence of the public might intrust to it, should be substituted for it. The reason assigned for this proposition was that
the great object for which the machinery of the society was
created had been measurably lost because it had failed to
it
serious
secure " concert of action."
Dr. Bailey, editor of the " Phi-
and proposed that
at
the next anniversary the national society quietly dissolve
it-
lanthropist," concurred in these views,
self,
so that the executive committee
when and where
could be
left to
labor
and with such means as might
be placed in its hands by uncompromising Abolitionism.
A
special report, signed by Mr. Birney and Lewis Tappan, James
S. Gibbons dissenting, recommended to the executive comit
pleased,
mittee that the society, at
either
resume
solved.
its
next annual meeting, should
its
whole power as to funds or be formally
The executive committee, declaring
continue the publication of the
publishing agent to
sell it to
c
'
its
dis-
inability to
Emancipator," authorized the
the executive committee of the
New York
City Antislavery Society, on condition that it
should supply papers to its " advanced " subscribers and con-
tinue
its
publication one year, under the charge of Mr. Leavitt.
The deepest
interest
was
felt
and expressed by Abolitionists
�DISRUPTION OF THE AMERICAN ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY.
in all parts of the country, especially in
results
of
New
England, in the
the seventh annual meeting, to be held in
The board
419
New
managers of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society issued an address appealing to the Abolitionists
York.
of
everywhere, in whatever part of the country they resided, to
rally at that
meeting as one man.
They were
called
upon
to
" frown indignantly on each and every attempt to dissolve our
noble organization into
its
original elements, for the purpose
of obstructing spiritual freedom and
human
progress, of grati-
fying personal envy or ambition, of fostering the great and relentless enemy of humanity, sectarianism." " If you would not
see," they said, " our broad platform in
any degree narrowed,
which is seeking to dash
it in fragments, if you would still rally under an antisectarian
banner, and unite with the wise and good of every name for
the salvation of your country and the deliverance of the oppressed, then you will throng to the anniversary of the parent
society on the 12th of May next."
On that day the delegates assembled in great numbers in the
city of New York.
Arthur Tappan, president of the society,
not being present, Francis Jackson of Boston, one of the viceif
you would preserve
presidents, took
the
it
from the
chair.
spirit
Mrs. Lydia Maria Child was
placed upon the business committee.
Not being present, Lewis
Tappan suggested that her place be supplied by her husband,
David Lee Child. But Miss Abby Kelley being appointed in
place of Mrs. Child, Mr. Tappan, Charles
Amos
W.
Denison, and
A. Phelps asked to be excused from serving on the com-
mittee.
After a brief debate the sense of the meeting was
taken, and the appointment of Miss Kelley was sustained by
more than a hundred majority
in favor of the rights of
women
to take part in the proceedings of the society.
In the evening a meeting was held at the house of Lewis
Tappan, and it was unanimously agreed that a division was
and that a new society should be immediately orcommittee was appointed of one from each State,
of which Rev. David Thurston of Maine was chairman, to
draft a constitution.
During the forenoon of the next day, by
inevitable,
ganized.
A
the permission of the presiding officer of the society, then in
�420
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
session, notice
its
IN AMERICA.
was given that a meeting of those opposed
to
proceedings would be held in the afternoon in the basement
of the church to consider the expediency of forming a
When
ciety.
this
new
so-
meeting assembled, Mr. Tappan was made
The proceedings of the preliminary meeting were
and a resolution was adopted declaring it expedient to
chairman.
stated,
form such a society. During the next two days a constitution
was adopted, and a society of nearly three hundred members,
from eleven States, was organized. It adopted as its name,
The American and Foreign Antislavery Society. Arthur Tappan was chosen president, James G. Birney and Henry B.
Stanton secretaries, and Lewis Tappan treasurer. A large executive committee was .appointed, of which the Tappans, Mr.
Birney, Mr. Stanton, William Jackson, Whittier, Gerrit Smith,
Leavitt, Thomas Morris, William H. BrisEdward Beecher, and many other prominent Abolition-
Judge Jay, Joshua
bane,
ists,
were members.
An
new
address was soon afterward issued by the president of the
which the disturbing elements in the old organization were referred to, and the causes of separation were dissociety, in
tinctly stated.
Among
the reasons assigned for the separation
were the action of the society concerning the admission of
women to take part in its proceedings, and the non-resistant
and no-government views of a portion of
former
it
its
members.
The
declared to be an innovation that seemed " repugnant
" a firebrand in antislavery
"
meetings," which was
contrary to the usages of the civilized
"
world," and which
tended to destroy the efficiency of female
to the constitution of the society,"
antislavery action."
though at
its
Concerning the
latter, it
formation " the lawfulness of
maintained that,
human government
was recognized, and it was a fundamental principle that political action was both expedient and proper," the same persons
who were contending for the civil and political equality of
women
with
men
" deny the obligation of forming, supporting,
or yielding obedience to civil government,
the duty of political action."
the
new
and refuse
to affirm
Avowing that the members of
society recognized the " rightfulness of government,"
and " urge
political action as a duty," it affirmed that
it
would
�DISRUPTION OF THE AMERICAN ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY.
421
not denounce those " as recreants " who might differ from them
and that, so far as
in regard to the " best modes of action "
;
their conduct could influence the future, the
antislavery
men would
two divisions of
henceforth plead the cause of the slave
without criminating or recriminating each other.
that the purpose of the convention
declared
It
which originated the Ameri-
can and Foreign Antislavery Society was not to enforce uniformity of action, subject the widespread antislavery host to
the decrees of one central power, follow the footsteps of any
man
earthly leader, or glorify any
selves, but to labor for the
erty,
and
God
to give
these avowals of
ranks
its
the glory.
its spirit
many men
several years,
all
of like passions with them-
speedy and peaceful triumph of
Commencing
its
lib-
career with
and purposes, and embracing within
of large capacity and experience,
and rendered service
it
labored
to the cause.
Lindley Coates of Pennsylvania was chosen president of the
The vacancies made by the retiring members
in harmony with the views of the major-
old society.
by men
were
filled
ity.
The " Antislavery Standard," with
its
concealment, without compromise," was
motto, " Without
established
as
its
New
York, under the editorial charge of
Nathaniel P. Rogers of New Hampshire, one of their most
brilliant and vigorous writers.
The executive committee soon
issued an address in reply to the address of the new society,
in which the course of the old organization was vigorously deorgan in the city of
fended, and the action of those
criticised.
immediate emancipation, and
trines of
who had seceded was sharply
This society continued to advocate the cause of
that section of
to enunciate the distinctive doc-
Abolitionists which sustained the
views of Mr. Garrison until
adoption of an
amendment
slavery
was abolished by the
to the Constitution of the
United
States.
The disruption of
the
American Antislavery Society, and the
formation of the American and Foreign Antislavery Society,
excited
much
feeling
among
Abolitionists in certain localities,
New England
States.
Mr. Goodell says of it
" While these divisions produced a strong sensation in New
especially in the
England and
in the seaboard cities, the
sound of them going
�422
AMD FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
IN AMERICA.
across the Atlantic and awakening kindred responses pro and
con among the Abolitionists of Great Britain, the blast died
away
like a
Massachusetts northeaster as
it
travelled westward,
had reached the Valley of the
Mohawk, and was scarcely felt beyond the waters of Lake
spending
its
strength before
it
Erie."
At the time of
the separation there were probably two thou-
sand societies in the country, containing, it was estimated,
some two hundred thousand members. They had, however,
already attained their maximum of numbers and influence, and
had accomplished the largest share of their peculiar work.
Afterward their numbers and distinctive labors were diminished, rather than increased.
produce that result.
novelty which at
Many,
too,
of the evil
first
Various causes contributed to
Such societies had
had attracted some
lost the
charm of
to join their ranks.
had become disheartened by the growing magnitude
and the increasing difficulties which revealed them-
selves in the
way
of
its
overthrow.
Besides, antislavery ideas
and principles were finding for themselves other modes of exWhile, therefore, these distinctive sociepression and action.
ties were declining in numbers and efficiency, the cause for
which they were originally organized was making progress.
Nevertheless these organizations, with
all their divisions, dis-
They were
They were
the pioneers in the great work of emancipation.
They
the forerunners of this modern evangel of Liberty.
sensions, and
mistakes, rendered essential service.
sounded the alarm which awoke the slumbering nation
to its
They kindled and kept alive those
fires of freedom that revealed more distinctly the darkening
During
shadows which slavery was casting over the land.
dangers and
the
first
its
duties.
few years of their active and arduous labors they
much
wrongs of the slave, the
crimes of the slave system, and the dangers those wrongs and
crimes involved. Though other and subsequent agencies were
employed to render more available and practicable the principles of the great conflict, the honor of their first and brave
did
to direct attention to the
proclamation will ever belong to them.
�CHAPTER XXX.
ABOLITION PETITIONS.
— ARRAIGNMENT OF MR. ADAMS. — RIGHT OP
PETITION WON.
MR. ADAMS'S POSITION.
—
—
—
President Tyler.
The Election of 1840.
Mr.
Death of President Harrison.
Adams's Motion to repeal the 21st Rule adopted.
The South warned against
Thomas F. Marshall, Henry
the Abolitionists.
President Tyler's Letter.
Vote on 21st Rule reconsidered.
DisA. Wise, and Joshua R. Giddings.
Resolution of Censure.
cussion.
Petition presented by Mr. Adams.
—
—
—
—
—
—
— Marshall's Resolutions. — Speech.
— Mr. Adams's Defence. — Remarks of Wise. — Adams's Reply. — Liberal
on the Table. —
Action of Underwood, Arnold, and Botts. — Resolution
Debate in XXVIIIth Congress. — Remarks of Hale and Hamlin. — Rule
abrogated and Right of Petition secured. — Position of Mr. Adams. —
—
Caucus.
— Mr.
Weld and Mr.
—
Leavitt.
laid
Criti-
cisms of Garrison, Birney, and Goodell.
The great political struggle of 1840 resulted in
Whig party4 It secured the Executive and
of the
both houses of Congress.
But freedom gained
the triumph
majorities in
little
by the
The Slave Power still controlled the general government. The new administration soon became quite as obsechange.
it had displaced.
Within thirty days after entering on the duties of his office,
President Harrison died.
Vice-President Tyler
a Whig in
name rather than in sentiment and opinion
succeeded him.
General Harrison had been reared in Virginia, and educated
quious as the one
—
under the malign influences of slavery.
—
As governor
Territory of Indiana he had striven to secure for
rary suspension of the ordinance of 1787.
it
of the
a tempo-
In Congress he had
generally complied with the requirements of the slave-masters.
In his Inaugural Address he had prepared a paragraph which
would have been highly offensive to the members of his party
who had advocated the right of petition and the freedom of
debate
;
but, at the suggestion of
Mr. Clay,
it
was
so modified
�424
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
While antislavery men had little
to hope from President Harrison, they had everything to fear
from President Tyler. He was an ultra slaveholder, and in
feeling, sentiment, and opinion he was narrow, bigoted, and
as to
mean
little
or nothing.
sectional.
On
the 31st of
May an
extra session of Congress was conday Mr. Wise moved that the rules of
vened.
On
the last
House be adopted
the
first
for ten days,
of nine be appointed for their revision.
amend
which
and that a committee
Adams moved
Mr.
to
the motion by inserting, " except the twenty-first rule,
is
hereby rescinded."
This rule excluded antislavery
In support of his motion Mr. Adams gave the history of that rule, adopted when " a majority of the House
petitions.
were anxious above all things not to be thought Abolitionists."
"It was," he said, "a Democratic measure, a measure of
Northern
men
with Southern principles, a sectional measure."
Mr. Adams's amendment was agreed to by a vote of one hundred and twelve to one hundred and four.
Mr. Charles
vania,
J. Ingersoll, a
Democratic politician of Pennsyl-
moved a reconsideration
Alluding to the
of that vote.
remark of Mr. Adams that he was a Northern man, he announced himself to be a middle man. He proceeded to warn
the slaveholders that the signs of the times behooved them to
be more on the alert than they had ever yet been in guarding
and that they had never yet
their rights against abolition
taken ground as high as he would take. He said there were
more than two thousand abolition societies and he advised
the South to combine and move in solid phalanx in defence of
its endangered interests.
In the course of the debate Mr.
Adams had expressed the opinion that, if the free people of
the North had nothing to do with the people of the South,
they should not be called upon to aid in suppressing servile
insurrections.
He had also stated that, in the event of such
insurrections, Congress would have the constitutional power
to interfere with slavery, and would dispose of it according to
Mr. Ingersoll expressed
the dictates of justice and humanity.
horror at the position of Mr. Adams, and proclaimed his readiness to inarch at any moment to suppress an insurrection of
;
;
�ABOLITION PETITIONS.
425
"
Mr. Johnson of Maryland said he had seen a letfrom President Tyler recommending the members of the
the slaves.
ter
House
ter
that
it
The
to support the twenty-first rule.
was called
by Mr.
for
was not an
Adams
official letter,
;
to
reading- of the let-
which Mr. Johnson replied
but the President's individual
opinion.
Mr. Thomas F. Marshall, a new
tucky,
made a
brilliant
and
Whig member from Ken-
characteristic speech.
vote," said he, " against reconsideration.
"
I
shall
In other words,
shall vote in favor of receiving all the petitions
I
stowed away
Why ? Because I do not want this
coming up year after year and, it may be, century after
I shall move that
century.
I want the question settled now.
they be committed to a committee of Northern gentlemen, and
I want
the gentleman of Massachusetts placed at its head.
There is something poetito try it as a question of history.
cal in the idea that the son of the man whose stalwart arms
and brawny shoulders had aided in laying the corner-stone of
in his abolition drawer.
subject
this
temple of our liberties
should light the flame for
its
should
be the
incendiary
who
destruction."
Mr. Wise, in the course of this debate, sharply censured the
Speaker, John White of Kentucky, for appointing Mr. Gid-
Adams
He denounced
dings chairman of the Committee on Claims, and Mr.
chairman of Committee on Foreign
the Abolitionists as " a few dangeio
Affairs.
is
fanatics, unsupported,
unbacked, and discountenanced by the virtue, intelligence, and
patriotism of the North."
He insisted that the House could
not be organized until the " hydra of abolition "
This he declared
to be a
vital question, far
is
crushed.
surpassing
all
the
and currency questions of the day. Mr. King of
Georgia announced that if abolition petitions should be received, and discussion be tolerated, the Southern members
would be obliged to leave their seats.
Kenneth Rayner, a Whig member from North Carolina, asked
Mr. Adams if he would present a petition from Fanny Wright
and her followers, praying Congress to abolish the institution of
marriage. Mr. Adams replied " Why, the most damning sin
financial
:
of slavery
is
that
it
54
does abolish the institution of marriage.
�426
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
How.
then, could I have any
more objection
IN AMERICA.
to receiving such
petitions than I should have to the perpetuation of slavery,
which destroys the sacred institution of marriage ? " Cries of
order were raised, and Mr. Adams took his seat, remarking, " If
the gentleman is afraid to receive answers, he should take care
to ask no questions."
Mr. Giddings, who afterward so signalized himself for his advocacy of the cause of equal rights, participated in the
Alluding to his silence, which he
debate.
explained to be the result of no want of interest in the subject,
but because he came there for the purpose of attending
which the session was called, he declared
and ready to proceed to business wdien the motion for reconsideration was made, and they
were called upon to reject all the rules they had adopted because they had rejected one. He rejoiced that Northern memto the business for
that they were fully organized
bers had remained silent, thus giving evidence of their desire
to attend to the public business,
though many things had been
said to which they desired to reply.
Mr. Ingersoll's motion to
Mr. Wise moved to reconsider the vote
reconsider was lost.
by which the House adopted the rules, with the exception of
the twenty-first, and his motion prevailed by a majority of two.
Mr. Rayner then moved that the rules of the
last
House
be adopted, but his motion was lost by nine majority.
spoke
He
In his speech he complimented very
for three hours.
highly Northern Democrats
who had voted
against the right
admitted that slavery was " a misfortune
and yet he violently
to any people among whom it exists "
denounced those who would subvert it. " Before you accomplish your purpose," he said, " you must march over hecaof petition.
He
;
you must convert every one of our smilyou must beat every one of your
Long, long before you reach the
ploughshares into swords.
banks of the Roanoke, every stream will run red with your blood,
Attempt this wild
every hill will whiten with your bones.
project when you will, and if there be any truth in heathen
tombs of bodies
ing fields into a
story, the
;
camp
;
banks of the Styx
will be lined with
ghosts for a hundred years to come.
under our
feet,
and
trail
We
your shivering
will
trample you
your crown and sceptre in the dust."
�PETITION FOR THE DISSOLUTION OF THE UNION.
Whig member from
Mr. Stuart, a
resolution that the rules of the last
any rule or resolution adopted
the rules of the House.
question, but withdrew
Virginia, presented a
House not suspended by
at that session be
adopted as
motion he moved the previous
at the request of Mr. Nisbet of
On
it
427
this
Referring in unGeorgia, who wished to address the House.
" I have
equivocal and bitter words to Mr. Adams, he said
:
listened with strong
and burning indignation
to the
that has been indulged in by the hoary-headed
Massachusetts.
tuan bard
:
—
I
'
As
I
language
member from
have been compelled to think of the ManTantcene in animis caelestibus
irae
?
looked at him, throwing forth such sentiments and lan-
guage, I was forcibly reminded of Vesuvius, which, while
its
summit was clothed in white, vomited a fiery stream, which
spread desolation and ruin whence it came."
Mr. Nisbet
renewed the motion for the previous question, which was
agreed to, and Mr. Stuart's motion was adopted.
At the regular session of the XXVIIth Congress the contest
for the right of petition and freedom of debate was renewed,
Mr.
Adams
standing forth as their inflexible champion.
action of Mr.
Adams
excited the bitterest animosity of
This
mem-
bers from the
slaveholding States of both parties, and of
Northern members sympathizing with them. The represen-
and put under the ban of
But the commanding ability, the historic position, and reputation of Mr.
Adams, while they shielded him from their contempt, real or
tatives of slavery affected to despise
social ostracism Slade,
Giddings, and Gates.
affected, aroused their bitterest hostility
On
the 14th of January, 1842, Mr.
and hate.
Adams, having the
for the presentation of petitions, said
:
" I hold in
floor
my hand
the petition of Benjamin
Emerson and forty-five other citizens
of Haverhill, Massachusetts, praying Congress to adopt immediate measures for the peaceful dissolution of the union of
these States."
Hardly had these words
fallen
from his
lips
when several slaveholding members, many of them then
known and since proved to be disunionists, clamorously demanded leave to speak. But Mr. Adams, having the floor,
�428
moved
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
IN AMERICA.
the reference of this petition to a select committee of
nine members, with instructions to report an answer to the
petitioners
granted.
showing the reason why their prayer could not be
From all parts of the House came vehement and
which was given to Mr. HopHe inquired of the Speaker if it would be
kins of Virginia.
in order to burn the petition in the presence of the House.
Mr. Wise inquired if it would be in order to present a resolupassionate
demands
for the floor,
Adams and such a resolution was introduced by Mr. Gilmer of the same State. Mr. Adams expressed
the hope that the resolution would be received and debated, and
that he might have an opportunity of defending his action.
The House adjourned, and notice was given that the memtion censuring Mr.
;
bers from the slave States would hold a meeting that even-
ing for consultation.
F. Marshall, a
The meeting was held
Whig from Kentucky,
;
and Thomas
a brilliant speaker, of
whose future career high expectations were entertained, was
While this
selected as the leader in the work of censure.
conclave was preparing for the trial, a few members of the
Joshua
House assembled at the room of Mr. Giddings.
Leavitt and Theodore D. Weld, among the ablest and most
effective advocates of emancipation, were present, and were
commissioned to call on Mr. Adams and tender him any assistance in the power of the persons then assembled to render.
The venerable statesman expressed his most profound gratitude for this offer of friendly aid, and requested them to
examine certain points in the authorities, a list of which he
These gentlemen performed their task with alacrity and success, so that, on the assembling of the House next
day, the desk of Mr. Adams was covered with volumes ready
for immediate use.
Immediately after the reading of the journal, Mr. Marshall
gave them.
submitted three resolutions, as an
amendment
to that offered
by Mr. Gilmer, in which it was set forth that the act of Mr.
Adams might be held to merit expulsion that the House
deemed it an act of mercy and grace when they only inflicted
upon him the severest censure for conduct so unworthy of his
;
past relations to the State and his present position, and that
�ARRAIGNMENT OF MR. ADAMS.
429
this they did for the maintenance of their purity and dignity
and for the rest they turned him over to his own conscience
and the indignation of all American citizens. Mr. Marshall
He
evidently entered upon his work with heart and hope.
rare
ambitious,
egotistical,
power,
though
and
was an orator of
Like too many men of rare gifts
of unbalanced judgment.
and high promise, he became the victim of intemperance
and though, through the persuasive influence of the late Governor Briggs of Massachusetts, then a member, he reformed
for a few months, he soon relapsed, and became an utter
;
wreck.
When
he rose
to
speak on this occasion the galleries
were thronged and the House
He
of
filled
with privileged persons.
much eloquence and force that the enemies
Mr. Adams were very much elated and his friends not a
spoke with so
little
depressed.
When
Mr. Marshall closed, the venerable statesman, rising,
first
paragraph of the Declaration
of Independence, which declares
when any form of government
asked the Clerk to read the
becomes destructive of the ends of establishment
or the duty of the people to alter or abolish
its
powers in such form as
them
to
it,
it is
the right
and reorganize
shall appear best to secure
and happiness. He then proceeded to maintain
that the people had a right to reform abuses of the government, and bring it back to the performance of duties for which
that they had a right to ask Congress to do
it was instituted
what they thought they ought to do, and it was the duty of
Congress to state the reason why their prayer should not be
granted.
He charged that the people were oppressed by the
their interest
;
and of the freedom of debate,
and that the South was endeavoring to destroy the right of
habeas corpus and trial by jury, and to force slavery on the
denial of the right of petition,
free States.
He
said emphatically, that,
people were to be taken
away by a
if
the rights of the
between Southern
was time for the people to arise and assert their rights. He asked for more time in
which to prepare his defence and Mr. Horace Everett of Vermont moved a postponement of two weeks for that purpose.
Henry A. Wise then took the floor and spoke at great length,
coalition
slaveholders and Northern Democrats,
;
it
�430
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
charging Mr.
Adams
IN AMERICA.
with conspiring with British Abolitionists
to destroy the Union.
He
bitterly
denounced Mr. Adams
saying that, in case of insurrection, the President might,
for
if
Having
supported Mr. Tyler against the great body of Whigs in and
out of Congress, he called upon the Democratic party to put
down Abolitionism for, if slavery were destroyed, he said,
the great democratic principle of equality among men would
become obsolete.
Mr. Adams replied to the hitter and violent assault of Mr.
Wise with terrible severity. Alluding to his connection, as a
necessary to restore peace, emancipate the slaves.
;
second to Mr. Graves, with the duel in which Mr. Cilley was
killed, he said that Mr. Wise had come into that hall a few
years since " with his hands dripping with human gore, a blotch
human blood upon his face." Turning from Mr. Wise, Mr.
Adams replied to the speech of Mr. Marshall, who had charged
him with high treason. He thanked God that the Constitution
of
had defined treason, and that it was not
puny mind " of the gentleman of Kentucky to
of the United States
left
for the "
define that crime. He said that, were he Mr. Marshall's father,
he would " advise him to return to Kentucky, and take his
place in
some law
school, and
fession he has disgraced."
commence
Mr.
the study of that pro-
Adams proceeded
the slaveholders, and to open an aggressive
to arraign
war upon the cham-
pions of slavery.
The
resolution of censure
was opposed by Mr. Underwood, a
Whig member from Kentucky, who announced
his opposition
denominated " gag laws." Mr. Arnold, a Whig
member from Tennessee, sustained Mr. Adams and denounced
Mr.
the twenty-first rule as a violation of the Constitution.
to all rules
Botts bravely lent his support, and referred to the fact that,
a few years before, Mr. Rhett of South Carolina had drawn up
resolutions for the dissolution of the Union, and had sought
an opportunity to present them.
Mr. Gilmer offered to
withdraw his resolution of censure if Mr. Adams would withdraw the petition. But this he sternly refused to do, declaring
that he Avould not violate his sense of duty to obtain the favor
or forbearance of the House.
for
�DEBATE
IN
THE TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS
431
Mr. Marshall again addressed the House, and then called for
But Mr. Adams demanded the floor,
the previous question.
obtained
it,
and proceeded
Taking the aggres-
in his defence.
he assailed with great effect slavery and the Slave Power.
Mr. Saunders of North Carolina called him to order, but the
sive,
Speaker allowed him to proceed.
From
Mr.
this decision
Saunders appealed, but the House sustained the Speaker.
The next day Mr. Merriwether of Georgia
twelve days had been taken up in the
trial,
stated that ten or
and he wished
know how much more time Mr. Adams expected
to
occupy in
to
Mr. Adams' replied that he was not responsible
his defence.
for the time occupied
;
that
when Warren Hastings was
Burke occupied some months in
thought he could " close in ninety days."
tried
and he
of Mr.
Botts the resolutions of censure were laid upon the table by a
majority of thirteen.
The friends of Mr. Adams were proud
of the gallant fight their champion had made, and greatly
elated at the signal victory which crowned it.
On the other
hand, his enemies, baffled, defeated, and humiliated, felt that
for once, at least, slavery had lost and freedom had won.
The Whigs had a majority of nearly forty in that Congress.
Though the Northern Whigs and a few of their Southern
a single speech
;
On motion
associates were against the twenty-first rule, that arbitrary
and
obnoxious measure remained during that Congress without
modification.
In the
XXVIIIth Congress
the Democrats had a large
Early in the session Mr.
jority.
ment of a committee
House.
Adams moved
to report rules for the
government of the
This committee, of which he was chairman, made a
report omitting the twenty-first rule.
This report was
cussed for several weeks, in the morning hour.
bate Mr.
ma-
the appoint-
Adams was
dis-
In this de-
severely, if not wantonly, assailed by the
representatives of the Slave Power.
During this long discusMr. Adams, quoted
these words from a speech delivered by him to the colored peo" We know that the day of your redempple of Pittsburg
tion must come.
The time and manner of its coming we
sion Mr. Dillett of
Alabama,
in assailing
:
know
not.
It
may come
in peace, or
it
may come
in blood
�432
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
but whether in peace or in blood, let
" I say now, let
said with emphasis
:
IN AMERICA.
it
come."
Mr.
Adams
it
come."
To
this re-
mark of Mr. Adams Mr. Dillett replied " Yes, the gentleman
now says let it come, though it costs the blood of thousands
Mr. Adams quickly responded " Though it
of white men."
costs the blood of millions of white men, let it come "
Of
:
:
!
course the slaveholders were terribly shocked at these words
of the venerable statesman.
During the debate several Northern Democrats avowed their
opposition to this continued suppression of the right of petition.
John
P. Hale of
New
Hampshire, and Hannibal Hamlin of
Maine, members of the Democratic party, then
came
first
into
Congress, and both of them were in favor of abrogating that
arbitrary, unconstitutional,
and indefensible
rule.
Mr. Hamlin
took an early occasion to express his opposition to
it,
and
to
advocate the right of the people to petition for the redress
When
of grievances.
he closed, Mr. Adams, who had
tened to him with marked
offered him his hand, with
attention, crossed
the remark
:
lis-
the hall and
" Light breaketh in
the East."
But
efforts
all
the table
were unavailing.
report
was
laid
Early, however, in the second session, Mr.
tained.
upon
pects of success.
had struggled
it,
to secure for the people the simple right of peti-
but always against an unyielding majority.
come when
re-
Adams
and now with more cheering prosFor ten years, amid calumny and abuse, he
again moved to rescind
tion,
The
by a small majority, and the obnoxious rule was
that majority
was broken, and the
eight majority, was stricken out.
The time had
rule,,
by twenty-
Fourteen members only from
the free States, a small remnant of the host Mr. Adams was
wont to characterize as " the Swiss guards of slavery fighting
for pay," rallied in the last struggle to keep the " gag " alike
upon the
lips of the people
was, however, for
many
and of
their representatives.
not only did the petitioners
fail in
securing a favorable response
to their prayers, but with slaveholding
of the
House
It
years, practically a barren victory, for
cunning the Speakers
which such peti-
so constituted the committee to
tions were referred that they were never reported upon,
and
�433
MR. ADAMS'S POSITION.
were sent
at the close of the session " to the
tomb
of the Cap-
ulets."
That Mr. Adams never identified himself with the antislavery men and associations of his day, and that he distrusted
both the immediate objects of their effort and their modes of
procedure to obtain those objects, are well known. As late as
1840 he not only declared that he had never given the slightest encouragement to petitions for the immediate and uncompensated abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia or
elsewhere, but indulged in the somewhat caustic remark, that,
if
the total abolition of slavery
was the purpose of Divine
Providence, other agents and other means would be employed
than either the American Colonization or Abolition Societies
" or if these societies, or either of them, are to be made instru;
mental in the accomplishment of the great work, they must enchange their modes of operation, and come down from
tirely
the
empyrean of
their fancy to the
vapory atmosphere of this
nether world."
acceptance of the nomination for Congress,
" The abolition of slavery in
in the autumn of 1838, he said
In his
letter of
:
the District of Columbia, or in the Territory of Florida
prohibition of the internal piracy between the States
fusal to
;
;
the
the re-
admit another contaminated State into the Union,
—
are all partial, ineffective plasters for the great elemental evil.
" They will but skin and film the ulcerous part,
While rank corruption mining all within
'
Infects unseen.'
"
In the April following, in letters addressed to the citizens of
the United States whose petitions he
had been presenting
to
Congress, after informing the petitioners that their petitions
" had received very
tate to inform
little
them
notice from the House," he did not hesi-
that he could not vote for the immediate
abolition of slavery in the District of
ritory of Florida,
Columbia or
in the Ter-
nor for a refusal to admit that Territory as a
His main reasons were that
That it was imit was impracticable and would be improper.
practicable he argued, " because public opinion throughout the
slaveholding State into the Union.
Union
is
against it."
55
It
would be improper mainly " because
�434
it
RISE AND. FALL OF THE SLAVE
POWER
IN AMERICA.
would operate exclusively upon the people of the District
in
compliance with the petitions of those not affected themselves
by the law " and this would be " contrary to the first princi;
ples of our institutions," especially that principle of the Dec-
laration " that derives all the just
power of government from
the consent of the governed."
But while Mr. Adams failed to accept and approve the distinctive measures of the Abolitionists, there were none who
seemed to comprehend more fully than he the magnitude,
guilt, inveteracy, and danger to the land of American slavery,
and its pervasive and perilous ascendency in every department
of the nation's social and civil life.
In his letter to his constituents, he had said that " the Union will fall before slavery,
or
will fall before the
it
Union.'*
In a letter to the Rhode
Island Antislavery Society, written in December, 1838, he used
" No one attentive to the progress
this unequivocal language
:
of our history as an independent nation can
fail to
the silent lapse of time slavery has been winding
thread around
all
our free institutions.
nant to which we pledged our
The
pendence."
fathers
see that in
its
cobweb-
This was not the cove-
faith in the Declaration of Inde-
believed and
meant slavery
to be
emancipation was the end in view, only the " time
and mode " were uncertain. " George Washington was an
temporary
;
Abolitionist
;
so
and should dare
was Thomas Jefferson. But were they alive,
to show their faces and to utter the self-evi-
dent truth of the Declaration within the State of South Carolina,
"
they would be hanged."
he said, " an occasional ebullition of popular
It is not,"
passion and feeling which marks the contrast between the sentiments of the fathers and the slaveholding doctrines " of their
posterity.
" It
is
the perversion of intellect, the depravation
of moral feeling, the degradation of
man
to the standard of the
which marks the American school of servile philosophy."
But he had faith in the power of truth and of well-directed
nor was he hopeless of good results therefrom. In this
effort
Rhode Island letter he says " The fire of liberty burns yet,
though with a flickering flame, in New England. It will yet
kindle and consume to ashes the dastardly sophisms with which
brute,
;
:
�MR. ADAMS'S POSITION.
slavery would pollute our souls.
I
may not
435
live to see the day,
only to say with Simeon, Lord, now lettest
thou thy servant depart in peace.' " In a letter to Edmund
but
I
wait for
'
it
Quincy, written a few months before, declining an invitation to
attend an antislavery meeting on account of age and infirmi" I rejoice that the cause of human freedom is
ties, he wrote
:
falling into
younger and more vigorous hands.
That
in three-
score years from the day of the Declaration of Independence
its
self-evident truths should be yet struggling for existence
against the degeneracy of an age pampered with prosperity and
languishing into servitude,
is
a melancholy truth from which I
should in vain attempt to shut
gone forth
;
my eyes.
But the summons has
the youthful champions of the rights of
human
na-
and are buckling on their armor, and the
scourging overseer, the lynching lawyer, and the servile sophist,
and the faithless scribe, and the priestly parasite will vanish
before them like Satan touched by the spear of Ithuriel. I live
in the faith and hope of the progressive advancement of Christian liberty, and expect to abide by the same in death."
Mr. Adams's public disavowal of all sympathy with the
immediate purposes and policy of the Abolitionists, and the
somewhat cavalier manner in which he characterized their
associations and modes of effort, evoked earnest responses.
ture have buckled
In February, 1839, Mr. Garrison addressed to him a
letter, in
which he gave utterance to the feelings and sentiments which
his general course and some recent speeches in Congress had
produced in many minds. He first quoted some striking expressions from these speeches, setting forth his strong abhorrence of slavery.
Mr. Adams had said " The moral principle
:
which had interdicted the African slave-trade pronounced at
once the sentence of condemnation upon slavery." He had
also said
:
" Unyielding opposition against slavery
is
inter-
woven with every pulsation of my heart. Resistance against
it, feeble and inefficient as the last accents of a failing voice
may be, shall still be heard while the power of utterance shall
remain, and shall never cease till the pitcher shall be broken
at the fountain, the dust return to the earth as it was, and
the spirit unto
God who gave
it."
�436
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
In view of these and similar utterances Mr. Garrison wrote
" There are two parties in this country who are equally puzzled
:
to reconcile your abhorrence of slavery with your determina-
tion not to vote for its abolition in the District of Columbia,
the slaveholders of the South and the Abolitionists of the
In your theory of
North.
human
rights the latter understand
that you agree in principle with those
are resolved upon subverting a foul
who by the help of God
and bloody system. In
your unwillingness to carry that theory into practice, the
former perceive that you are acting in concert with
all
that
inhuman in the land. You are claimed and
rejected by both at the same moment."
On one occasion Mr.
Adams had used this expression " I say it here openly, that
is
despotic and
:
the Abolitionists and Antislavery Societies
to
may
take in regard
me what
plied
:
course they please."
To this Mr. Garrison re" If you had been as explicit in your declarations at
the time your election
was pending as you now
are, a majority
of your constituents would have cast their votes for some other
candidate."
Mr. Birney, as late as 1843, expressed himself concerning
Mr. Adams's course in language equally unequivocal. " His
course," he said, " in my judgment has been eccentric, whimsical, inconsistent,
and, taken as a whole, thus far
is
unworthy
of a statesman of large views and a right temper in a great
national conjuncture." " He has given the Abolitionists words,
words, words, and to their adversaries everything that
is
sub-
stantial."
A
most elaborate and able reply to Mr. Adams's letters was
Goodell. His long connection with the antislavery reform, his large acquaintance with the subject, and
made by William
his unquestioned ability, enabled
him
to present with clearness
the views of the school he represented.
Adams
ing upon the services of Mr.
of petition the
not
fail to
most unstinted
be written
down
letter
said
breathed too
that
if
bestow-
praise, declaring that he " could
as the people's
people's right of petition."
Adams's
He had
He began by
in the cause of the right
His
first
much
champion of the
was that Mr.
criticism
the air of despondency.
the South continued to maintain
its
�MR. ADAMS'S POSITION.
437
it was impossible for the Union long to continue, and
hung his " head in despondency at the prospect for the
of man," as " if the grand crisis had arrived and lib-
position
that he
rights
erty appeared to be breathing
its last
gasp."
now seems
Goodell, with a confidence that
But,- added
Mr.
surprising, con-
sidering the rough usage and the kind and extent of opposition the few antislavery
men
of that day were compelled to
encounter, " I cannot, I dare not, I will not permit myself to
No
yield to such feelings.
;
I
am
an Abolitionist, and there-
As an
fore I will not yet despair of the republic
tionist I
cannot despair so long as there
is
a press
country unfettered, or while a tongue moves
teen millions ungagged
;
Aboli-
left in
among our
the
thir-
or so long as there remains a scrip of
unsoiled paper, or quill of an uncaged eagle by which an un-
bought and unmanacled hand can write Abolition and Free-
dom."
In defence of the doctrine that in immediate abolition lay
the only hope of the nation, Mr. Goodell urged that there was
no hope
self
had
in the colonization
scheme, of which Mr.
Adams him-
said, " the search of the philosopher's stone
and the
casting of nativities by the course of the stars were rational
and sensible amusements in the comparison." He urged also
Mr. Adams's unavailing attempt to introduce a scheme of gradual emancipation into the House, and his admission that he
" had no expectation that it would be received."
As to the
impracticability of abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia he said that
it
could only be said to be " unpractised,
To Mr. Adams's expressed
not impracticable."
tion to
make
disinclina-
these opinions " articles of a religious creed," or
to " exercise force or constraint for the liberation of a slave,'*
"
The thunders of Sinai you would have hushed.
The weapons of the ballot-box in this warfare you would take
he replied
:
Why
from the hands of freemen
be at peace with you
not
make peace on
Now
?
What
the same terms
that slavery
is
should not the South
Abolitionists in our ranks could
?
"
destroyed and the conflicting views of
the different schools are
among
the dead issues of the past,
comparatively small importance inheres in the detailed argu-
�438
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
ments that were then urged in their support. But the main
points of those differences and their discussions must ever be
matters of special interest to those who would clearly comprehend the nature and progress of that struggle. These discrepancies of thought and feeling, often expressed with some
degree of acerbity, were entertained by men of unquestioned
by men
ability, profound convictions, and inflexible integrity
;
who were
alike hostile to slavery, impatient at its domination,
and anxious
among
for its overthrow.
those whose
the conflict itself?
names
Why
then did they exist
are so honorably associated with
Among
the elements of any satisfactory
answer stands pre-eminently the character of the question
which confronted them. Its magnitude and immense difficulties they could not, as events have shown, fully comprehend. Therefore they could not clearly discern just what
duty and true policy required. In the darkness of the hour
and amid the perplexing
difficulties of the situation
not but grope their way, and
it is little
they could
cause of wonder that
they did not always strike the same path.
With strong
indi-
and positiveness of character, their very earnestness,
honesty, and anxiety to adopt the best methods of action very
likely increased the danger of disagreement, and sometimes,
no doubt, made them uncharitable toward each other. The
question had so many bearings and involved so many issues
that little short of Divine wisdom was sufficient to point out
These difficulties were greatly
the path of a safe deliverance.
increased, too, by the general demoralization of the people and
viduality
any action. The " perversion of intellect
and depravation of moral feeling " of which Mr. Adams complained always exerted their paralyzing influences on all modes
their indifference to
of action, however wisely devised or discreetly pursued.
�CHAPTER XXXI.
— DEMANDS UPON THE BRITISH
—
ERNMENT.
CENSURE OF MR. GIDDINGS.
COASTWISE SLAVE-TRADE.
GOV-
— American Vessels wrecked. — Slaves liberated by
— Representations of the Case by the American Minister to
England. — The Action of the British Government denounced. — Resolutions
of Mr. Calhoun. — Debate on the Resolutions. — Remarks of Mr. Porter. —
Passage of the Resolutions. — Exasperation of the Slaveholders. — The "Creseized by the Slaves and carried into Nassau. — Refusal to surrender the
Slaves. — Excitement in the South. — Excited Debate in the Senate. — Mr.
the "Creole." — Mr. Webster's Despatch to
Calhoun's Resolutions relating
Everett. — Approved by Mr. Calhoun. — Action of England. — Resolution
of Mr. Giddings. — Exciting Scene. — Resolution of Censure by Mr. Botts. —
Resolution adopted by Mr. Weller. — Resolution of Censure passed. — Mr.
Coastwise Slave-trade.
Brit-
ish Authorities.
ole "
to
Mr.'
Giddings sustained by his Constituents.
The
coastwise slave-trade, legalized by the same act that
prohibited the African slave-trade, increased with the increas-
In the year 1830 the schooner
ing domestic slave-traffic.
" Comet " sailed from Alexandria with a cargo of slaves
destined for the
the False
slaves
New
Orleans market.
Keys of the Bahama
included, were
carried
Islands,
She was wrecked on
and her passengers,
by the wreckers
to
Nassau,
where the freedom of the slaves was fully recognized. Four
years afterward the " Encomium " sailed from Charleston,
with a number of slaves on board, destined for Louisiana.
She was stranded near the same place, and carried in the
same manner into Nassau, where her slaves became free. In
1835 the " Enterprise " sailed from the District of Columbia,
with a cargo of slaves for Charleston, and was forced to put
into Port Hamilton, Bermuda, through stress of weather
and
her slaves too became free under the protection of British
;
power.
�440
Of
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
KISE
IN AMERICA.
course, the owners of these chattels, thus by accident
transformed into men, protested against the loss and de-
manded redress of their government.
commenced by President Jackson, and
Negotiations were
American minupon
the British
ister was
government. Andrew Stevenson of Virginia was at that time
the minister of the United States at the Court of St. James.
Bred and educated among those who deemed the support of
the
instructed to press their claims
slavery to be one of the highest duties of the government, he
entered upon this duty with zeal and alacrity.
Claiming that
under the Constitution of the United States slaves were property, that there was no distinction between property in persons
and property in things, he asserted that the government of the
United States had " in the most solemn manner determined
that slaves killed in the service of the United States, even in
time of war, were to be regarded as property, and paid for as
This statement was untrue in
such."
known
could not but have
House
of the
it
to be so.
fact,
and Mr. Stevenson
been Speaker
He had
of Representatives in 1828,
when
the case of D'
Autrieve was debated at great length, and with learning and
In that case the doctrine that slaves were property
ability.
was denied
in the
Van Buren
Mr.
most emphatic manner.
continued to press these claims upon the
government
British
for the slaves of the
prior to
and
;
it
paid, during his administration,
"Comet" and
the
West Indian emancipation.
to pay for the slaves
into Port Hamilton
"Encomium," stranded
Bat England refused
on board the " Enterprise," which put
in 1835, after the abolition of slavery in
This action was based upon the ideas that by
the law of nations the ship on entering Port Hamilton became
that there was no law of slavery
subject to British laws
her colonies.
;
there
;
and that the authorities could not recognize the right
of the slave-dealers to hold their slaves as property
demanded their liberty.
Of course this decision, involving a question
when they
of such practi-
cal importance to the slaveholders of the United States, was
wholly unsatisfactory to their representatives. Mr. Calhoun
brought the matter before the Senate in resolutions which
�THE COASTWISE SLAVE-TRADE.
441
asserted that a ship on the high seas in time of peace, en-
gaged in a lawful voyage, is, according to the law of nations,
under the exclusive jurisdiction of the State to which her flag
belongs
;
that,
if
such ship should be forced by stress of
weather or other unavoidable cause into the port of a friendly
power, she and her cargo, and the persons on board, with their
property, and all the rights belonging to their personal relations as established by the laws of the State to
which they
belong, would be placed under the protection which the laws
of the nation extend to the unfortunate under such circumstances ; that the brig " Enterprise " came within those pro-
and that the detention of the negroes on board
by the local authorities of the island was an act in violation
of the laws of nations and highly unjust to the citizens to
whom they belonged. In his argument in support of these
resolutions he admitted that if the slaves had been taken voluntarily into the British port the action of that government
.would have been correct but he maintained that the law of
nations interposed in case of this enforced entrance into England's jurisdiction. He said it was not a mere abstract question
visions,
;
as to the possession of the slaves
;
that the island of
Bermuda
was but a short distance from the United States that the
channel between the coast of Florida and the Bahamas is two
hundred miles long and not more than fifty wide that through
that long, narrow, and difficult channel the immense trade,
which at no distant period would constitute more than half of
" The principle set up by
the trade of the Union, w ould pass.
"
carried out to its fullest
government,"
he
said,
if
British
the
extent, would do much to close this all-important channel, by
She has only to give an
rendering it too hazardous for use.
;
;
r
indefinite
'
extent to the principle applied to the case of the
Enterprise
'
and the work would be done
;
and why has she
not as good a right to apply this principle to a cargo of sugar
and cotton as to the slaves that produce it ? "
Mr. Calhoun was sustained in this point by Mr. King of
Alabama and by Mr. Grundy of Tennessee. The resolutions
were then referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations,
and promptly reported back by Mr. Buchanan, with slight
56
�442
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
They were advocated by Mr. Clay and Mr.
Benton, and opposed only by Mr. Porter, a new senator from
Michigan.
Seeing that eminent senators around him inter-
modifications.
posed no objection to the passage of the resolutions, he, obeying the dictates of his own judgment and conscience, says
Mr. Giddings, " heroically met the overwhelming influence
arrayed against him, and showed the most cogent reasons for
rejecting the resolutions, by exhibiting the absurdity of the
attempt to change the law of nations by senatorial resolution,
and the yet greater absurdity of the attempt to induce the
British government to acknowledge the laws of slavery and
the slave-trade to exist and be enforced within her ports."
He closed by moving to lay the resolutions on the table, and
demanded the yeas and nays on his motion and, on the roll
being called, thirty-three senators voted for them, and he alone
Several senators
among them Webvoted against them.
ster and Davis of Massachusetts, Wright of New York, Southdeclined to vote.
ard of New Jersey, and Smith of Indiana
The resolutions were then passed, thirty-three senators voting
By the passage of these
for them and none against them.
resolutions the Senate of the United States, under the lead of
Southern senators, sought to compel the British government to
acknowledge the laws and forcibly protect the interest of the
;
—
—
slaveholding States.
her
own
And
England, who had just emancipated
bondmen, was required at this bidding to ignore the
claims of justice and humanity in the persons of these slaves,
and perform the ignoble service of recapturing those
whom
more merciful elements had set free.
The " Hermosa," another slave-ship that sailed from Richmond in 1840 for New Orleans, was wrecked on a British island
and taken into Nassau, where the slaves claimed their right to
liberty and obtained it.
A New Orleans insurance company
that had taken risks on the cargo was called on for indemnification for the slaves. A petition was presented to Congress by
Mr. Barrow of Louisiana, praying that measures might be
taken to obtain from the British government compensation for
the
the slaves thus escaping.
On
the presentation of this petition
he declared that the case might present a question of peace or
�THE COASTWISE SLAVE-TRADE.
443
war with England, and that the people of the Southern
were the
last to
States
submit to the principles of international law
as construed by the authorities of that country.
In four instances the slaves on board American ships, engaged
had found freedom in the BritThe slaveholders were much exasperated and,
ish islands.
although they demanded redress with great vehemence and
Anpertinacity, their feelings were not soothed by success.
other case arose in the autumn of 1841, under circumstances
calculated to intensify excitement and imbitter still more their
feelings.
The brig " Creole," of Richmond, with one hundred and thirty-five slaves on board, sailed for New Orleans
in the coastwise slave-trade,
;
in the latter part of October.
On
the evening of the 7th of
November, near the Bahama Islands, nineteen of the slaves,
who is said to have
under the lead of Madison Washington,
escaped to Canada, and to have returned South with the resolution to obtain his wife or perish in the attempt,
rose and
obtained possession of the brig, and directed her to be taken
In the
into Nassau, where she arrived two days afterward.
struggle John R. Howell, a slave-vender, was killed, and Captain Gifford, the first mate, and ten of the crew, were wounded.
These self-emancipated freemen had it in their power to take
the lives of one and all the white persons on board.
But they
rose superior to revenge and retaliation.
Even the wounded
captain and crew testified that " the mutineers said that all
they had done was for their own freedom." They proved their
object was not to take life, but to secure liberty. The British authorities placed a guard on board the vessel and investigated the
—
—
circumstances of the case.
The nineteen "
"
of the slaves were
held for the purpose of obtaining instructions from the
government, and the others were allowed to go
free.
home
The offi-
cers of the brig demanded that the mutineers should be left on
board, to be taken into some port of the United States and
tried for
mutiny and murder
but the authorities positively re" This was tantamount," says Colonel
Benton, in his " Thirty Years' View," " to an acquittal, and
;
fused to give them up.
even to a justification of
all
they had done
;
as,
according to
British decisions, a slave has a right to kill his master to
obtain his freedom."
�444
RISE
This
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
affair
IN AMERICA.
greatly inflamed the Southern mind.
leaders stormed and Southern presses blustered.
Southern
They
de-
would not listen to the voice of reason,
resort must be had to some other mode of bringing her to her
that the
senses and to a just perception of the law of nations
government of the .United States would not tamely acquiesce
in such gross and oft-repeated invasions of its national rights,
and that no man of any party in the South would have patience
clared, if Great Britain
;
with " executive, secretary, or minister
who shouM
trifle
with
compromise their rights."
On the 23d of December Mr. Barrow of Louisiana presented
a memorial from an insurance company in New Orleans which
had taken the risk on these slaves. Mr. Barrow said that Congress should act, and set forth to the country and the world
the principles of international law which were recognized by
her and which would be maintained at all hazards. He wished
to trust this matter to other agents than the President and the
Secretary of State and the Secretary of the British Queen.
" The property of the South," he said, " is unsafe and, if it is
their impatience or
;
to be subjected to the plundering propensities of British
cials,
they might be compelled to
stroy Nassau
fit
offi-
out armaments and de-
and other nests of incendiaries and plunderers
adjacent to our coast."
Mr. Calhoun regarded the case of the " Creole " as one of
the most " atrocious and insulting outrages " ever perpetrated
by one civilized government upon another. He proceeded to
denounce it as " a case of naked piracy," and called upon the
government to demand " the pirates " for punishment*; and he
looked to every man who had " an American heart to raise his
voice and his arm against such tyrannical insolence and oppression."
His colleague, Mr. Preston, said that the law of
nations was " clear and imperative " on the question in dispute
between the two governments, and he thought Great Britain,
whose government was in the hands of an enlightened and
liberal-minded statesman, would hardly
come
in conflict with
" this government on such an untenable position."
Mr. King of Alabama was exceedingly belligerent.
He
thought these lawless attempts of Great Britain, that grasping
�THE COASTWISE SLAVE-TRADE.
at universal
dominion, would " render war inevitable," un-
less she retraced
to the
445
Committee
her steps.
The memorial was then
On
on Foreign Relations.
referred
the 11th of Feb-
ruary another debate arose on a resolution, introduced by
Mr. Calhoun, requesting the President to communicate to the
Senate any authenticated accounts he had received of murder on the brig " Creole," and the wounding of the captain
and mate, by slaves on board, and the occurrences which took
place at Nassau after the arrival of the vessel at that port
what steps had been taken by the Executive for the punishment of the guilty, the redress of the wrong done to Southern
citizens, and the insult offered to the American flag.
Mr. Clay
;
avowed that he had read the narration of the transaction with
" the most thrilling and appalling feelings " that the " Creole "
had been thrown on 'the Bahama Islands by " an act of mutiny
and murder " and, if the British authorities sanctioned " the
enormity," Americans would be virtually denied the benefits
of the coastwise trade around their own country, for their vessels could not proceed in safety from one port to another with
;
;
slaves on board.
Mr. King seized the occasion to denounce Northern Abolitionists as a set of miserable fanatics
and contemptible wretches,
who were attempting by every means in their power to disturb
the harmony of the government and violate the rights of the
South.
He
said
ernment that the
them "
it
was
settled at an early period of the gov-
citizens of the
South were to have secured to
the right to hold slaves against the world," and he
thought " the days of this government were numbered
if
any
respectable part of the United States were disposed to side with
Great Britain on the question at issue
rights,
and they would maintain them
;
for the
South had
at all hazard,
whether
invaded at home or violated abroad."
The resolution was adopted, and the President promptly responded through Mr. Webster, Secretary of State, showing that
had been received by the government, and
that the Secretary had received instructions to prepare a despatch to Mr. Everett, the minister at the Court of St. James,
and that it would be done without delay. On moving the referthe facts in the case
�446
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
KISE
IN AMERICA.
ence of the message to the Committee on Foreign Relations, Mr.
Calhoun expressed his regret that it was not satisfactory. He
had supposed that prompt measures would have been adopted,
and that a vessel would have been despatched to demand,
through our minister at London, that the criminals should be
given up for trial. But he had been mistaken. He said that the
outrage of the British government could not have been greater,
nor more clearly contrary to the law of nations, if, instead of
taking the persons engaged in " mutiny and murder " from the
" Creole," they had entered the territory of the United States
and taken them " from our jails."
Mr. Webster's despatch to Mr. Everett was speedily prepared,
communicated to the Senate, and published.
at once called for,
gave great satisfaction to the slaveholders.
It
As soon as it
" The let-
was read in the Senate, Mr. Calhoun rose and said
ter
which has been read was drawn up with great
covered the ground which has been assumed by
the Senate.
I
quarter
it
;
does, this
ability,
and
all parties
in
upon
but upon Great Britain, coming from the
document will do more good than in com-
hope that
the United States
:
it
will
have a beneficial
effect
ing from any other quarter."
The
British
government was assured by Mr. Webster that
the case was one " calling loudly for redress " ; that the
" Creole " was passing from one port to another of the United
States, on a voyage " perfectly lawful," with persons bound to
and recognized as propand in those States
that the slaves rose, murdered one
in which slavery existed
man, and that the " mutineers and murderers " took the vessel
into a British port.
He declared that it was the plain and ob-
service belonging to
American
citizens,
erty by the Constitution of the United States
;
vious duty of the authorities of Nassau to assist in restoring to
the master and crew their vessel, and in enabling
them
to
re-
voyage and to take with them the mutineers and
own country to answer for their crimes.
This extraordinary position and claim were laid before the Britbut all efforts to secure compensation for the
ish government
sume
their
murderers
to their
;
slaves, or the surrender of the
tained their
own
liberty,
men who had
were unavailing.
asserted and main-
England declined
�CENSURE OF MR. GIDDINGS.
447
to act the ignoble part of a slave-catcher for the slave-traffickers
of the United States.
member of the House of Representawas so impressed with the positions of the President and
Senate, that he deemed it to be a duty he owed to his country
He drew up a series of resolutions, setting
to combat them.
Mr. Giddings, then a
tives,
forth that prior to the adoption of the Constitution each State
exercised
territory
and perfect jurisdiction over slaves
full
in its
own
no part of
the Federal government
that by the adoption of the Constitution
;
that jurisdiction
was delegated
to
that by the Constitution each State surrendered to the Federal
government complete jurisdiction over commerce and navigation
that slavery, being an abridgment of the natural rights
of men, could exist only by positive municipal law
that,
when a ship belonging to a citizen of any State left the waters
of the United States and entered upon the high seas, the
persons on board became amenable to the laws of the United
;
;
States
;
that
brig " Creole " left Virginia the slavery
when the
laws of that State ceased to have jurisdiction over the persons
on board that in resuming their natural rights they violated
no law of the United States, nor incurred any legal penalties
;
that all attempts to gain possession of or to re-enslave these
persons were unauthorized by the Constitution and laws of the
United States
nation
in
;
that all attempts to exert the influence of the
favor of the coastwise
slave-trade
was subversive
of the rights of the people of the free States, unauthorized
by the Constitution, and prejudicial to the national character.
These resolutions were submitted to the consideration of
He avowed his readiness to support them, excepting the one denying the right of the Federal government
Mr. Adams.
to
abolish slavery in the States.
He
held that the national
government, in case of insurrection or war, might, under the
war-power, abolish slavery, and, with statesmanlike sagacity
and a wise forecast of
possible contingencies, which subsequent events proved to be near at hand, he did not wish to
give a vote that would be quoted by the friends of slavery as a
denial of that power
;
" but," he added, "
I
will cheerfully
�448
RISE
sustain
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
but that which denies this right to the Federal
all
government."
When, on
the 21st of March, the State of Ohio was called.
Mr. Giddings introduced these resolutions, and gave notice
that he would call
The reading
them up
for consideration the
next day.
of the resolutions attracted profound attention,
Mr. Ward, a Democratic
and created much excitement.
member from New York, proposed to bring the House to an
immediate vote by demanding the previous question. Remarking that the resolutions were too important to be adopted
or rejected without consideration, Mr. Everett of Vermont
moved to lay them on the table but his motion was defeated
;
by a large majority.
Mr. Holmes of South Carolina, rising
under great excitement, remarked
like certain places,
of which
it
:
"There
are certain topics,
might be said, Fools rush in
The House, by the large vote
'
where angels fear to tread.' "
of one hundred and twenty-two to sixty-one, sustained the preMr. Everett asked to be excused from voting.
vious question.
As the subject was very important, and would probably come
before the Committee on Foreign Relations, of which he was a
member, he did not desire to express an opinion until he had
examined
He was
it.
a gentleman of high character, ripe age,
the House.
he seemed to
much
and in
on
this
occasion
and
cautious,
Usually moderate
be influenced by the excitement around him, and
large experience, and of
influence with his party
expressed his " utter abhorrence of the firebrand course of the
Mr. Fessenden, then a young and
House from Maine, thought the resoluimportant to be voted upon without greater de-
gentleman from Ohio."
rising
tions
member
were too
liberation.
of the
Mr. Cushing, then understood to be a special friend
of the President and an exponent of his views, after reading the resolutions at the clerk's table, said " They appear to
:
be a British argument on a great question between the British
and American governments, and constitute an approximation
"
to treason on which I intend to vote No.'
At the request of Mr. Fessenden, Mr. Giddings withdrew
the resolutions, remarking that they would be published, and
gentlemen would have time to examine them with care, and he
'
�449
CENSURE OF MR. GIDDINGS.
would present them the next day, when the resolutions would
be in order. Mr. Butts then rose and, remarking that the withdrawal of the resolutions did not excuse their presentation, submitted a preamble and resolution
the
;
first
setting forth that
Mr. Giddings had presented a series of resolutions touching
the most important interest connected with a large portion of
the Union, then a subject of negotiation with the government
of Great Britain of the most delicate nature, the result of
which " might involve those nations and perhaps the civilized world in war," in
which mutiny and murder were
justi-
and approved in terms shocking all sense of law, order,
and humanity and the latter declaring that this House holds
fied
;
that " the conduct of the said
sistent
and unwarranted, and
member
is
altogether incon-
deserving the severest condem-
nation of the people of this country, and of this body in par-
Objection being
ticular."
made
to the consideration of the
Mr. Botts moved a suspension of the rules, but
was not sustained by a vote of the House.
As Ohio was still under the call for resolutions, under the
resolution,
rule,
Mr.
Weller,
a
Democratic member from that State,
Mr. Botts's resolution as his own, offered it, and
Several members questioned
called for the previous question.
but Mr.
the propriety of ordering the previous question
adopted
;
Weller,
who was
Democrat of the most intense proslavery
demanding it. The Speaker, Mr. White of
a
type, persisted in
Kentucky, decided that on a question of privilege the previous
Mr.
question could not cut off a member from his defence.
Fillmore appealed from the decision
;
and the House overruled
the Speaker by a large majority, and adjourned.
Thus arraigned
for a conscientious discharge of public duty,
Mr. Giddings spent the entire night and the forenoon of the
next day in preparing for his defence.
Calling at the resi-
dence of Mr. Adams, for the purpose of consultation, he found,
he says, " the aged patriot laboring under great distress." He
expressed to Mr. Giddings the fear that no defence would be
permitted
;
that the question would be taken without debate,
and the vote of censure passed.
vote of censure
;
Mr. Giddings anticipated the
but he suggested that the reflections of the
57
�450
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
night would convince
demning a man
made
IN AMERICA.
of " the impropriety of con-
members
To
unheard."
suggestion Mr. Adams
" You are not
this
the discriminating and suggestive reply
:
as familiar with the slaveholding character as I
holders act from impulse,
not from reflection.
am. SlaveThey act
together from interest, and have no dread of the displeasure
of their constituents
On
the
first
act for slavery."
business was on seconding the
demand
for the previous question if
Mr. Giddings would proceed
with his defence, with the understanding that
called
when he
it
should be
But, Mr. Giddings refusing to
closed.
make
what he deemed to be his constitutional
the previous question was ordered by seven majority.
any terms
right,
for the pre-
Mr. "Welle r said he would withdraw his de-
vious question.
mand
when they
the assembling of the House, the Speaker remarked that
to secure
Mr. Weller then moved the suspension of the rules, to allow
but the Speaker proMr. Giddings to make his defence
;
nounced the motion out of order.
Adams
it
To
the suggestion of Mr.
that while the previous question cut off other
members
ought not to apply to the member accused, the Speaker
re-
House had decided that the previous question
cases of privilege, and the privilege of one was the
plied that the
applied to
privilege of
all.
The motion was made to hear Mr. Giddings by unanimous consent, and it was announced that such consent had
been given.
before the
Mr. Giddings then said
House
in
:
" Mr. Speaker, I stand
a peculiar position."
Mr. Cooper of
Georgia then objected to his proceeding, and he took his
seat.
Members gathered around Mr. Cooper, and persuaded
but it was renewed by Mr.
to withdraw his objection
Calhoun of Massachusetts, who declared that he would not
see a member of the House speak under such circumstances.
Mr. Giddings states that when he rose to speak he had
him
;
intended to say
:
" It
is
proposed to pass a vote of censure
upon me, substantially for the reason that I differ in opinion
from a majority of the members. The vote is about to be
me an opportunity to be heard.
am ignorant of the disposition of
taken without giving
idle for
me
to say I
It
were
a major-
�CENSURE OF MR. GIDDINGS.
members
ity of the
violently
assailed
451
to pass a vote of censure.
in
I
have been
a personal manner, but have had no
opportunity of being heard in reply.
favor at the hands of gentlemen
;
Nor do
I ask for
but, in the
name
of
any
an
insulted constituency, in behalf of one of the States of this
Union, in behalf of the people of these States and of our FedConstitution, I demand a hearing in the ordinary mode
eral
of proceeding.
I accept
no other
privilege.
I will receive
no
other courtesy."
The House, by a vote of one hundred and
twenty-five to
sixty-nine, adopted the vote of censure.
Mr. Giddings then
rose and, taking formal leave of the Speaker and officers of
the House, retired from the hall.
As he reached the front
door he met Mr. Clay and Mr. Crittenden. Mr. Giddings
states that " as Mr. Clay extended to me his hand he
thanked
me
for the firmness with
which
I
had met the outrage
man would ever
perpetrated upon me, and declared that no
doubt
my
perfect right to state
my own
views, particularly
while the Executive and the Senate were expressing theirs."
Mr. Giddings immediately resigned, returned to Ohio, issued an
address to the people of his district, was re-elected by a largely
increased majority, and in five weeks took his seat in the
House, " clothed with instructions from the people of his
district
to
re-present his resolutions,
and maintain
to
extent of his power the doctrine which they asserted."
received a
warm
the
He
greeting from the friends of the freedom of
who had bravely stood by him in his time of trial.
House of Representatives, thus signally
rebuked by Mr. Giddings's constituents, was also condemned
by public meetings, whose proceedings were presented to ConEven some Democratic papers, among them the New
gress.
"
York Evening Post," asserted the right of Mr. Giddings to
debate,
The
action of the
present his resolutions.
And William
C. Bryant, its accomhe was a resident of Mr. Giddings's district he would use every honorable means to secure
plished editor, declared that
if
This action of the people produced most
upon Congress. The majority who censured
Mr. Giddings, fearing if the resolutions were again intro-
his
re-election.
marked
effects
�452
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
dnced they would be compelled to vote upon the principles embodied in them, voted, during the remainder of the session,
when by the rules resolutions might be presented, to proceed to
other business.
Finding he could not present the resolutions,
he reasserted and vindicated the principles embodied in them
in an able and effective speech, which was listened to without
interruption.
Indeed, notwithstanding
their bluster
all
and
arrogant pretension, there seemed from that time a marked
falling-off in their zeal,
and a manifest disposition
to desist
from claims they had just declared their purpose to press even
to
and beyond the very verge of war.
And
this,
notwithstand-
ing the significant fact that the British ministry had not only
refused the indemnity so clamorously demanded, but declined
up Madison Washington and his compeers of the
" Creole's " brave " nineteen," stigmatized by members of
to deliver
Congress as " murderers and mutineers."
When
burton was charged with the mission of settling
Lord Ashquestions
all
of difference between the two nations, the British government
especially instructed
him
to hold
no correspondence on points
pertaining to this controversy.
This sudden change of tactics of Southern members not
only appears in marked contrast with their previous violent
demonstrations, but provokes no very flattering estimate of
the course of those Northern senators
who had not
vote to cast against the resolutions of Mr.
defiantly
demanded what even
venient to forget.
the South itself found
it
it
con-
Indeed, that absence of a single negative,
that unbroken silence, spoke louder than words.
tongued
a single
Calhoun, which
Trumpet-
proclaimed the vassalage of the nation to the Slave
Power, and the ignoble and cruel bondage under which the
parties
and public men of those days were held.
It revealed
the humiliating fact that they were obliged to smother their
convictions and ignore the claims of truth, and were compelled to take the weightiest questions of
government and
those of national importance from the high court of reason
and conscience into the secret conclave of party cabals, inspired by the spirit of slavery and under the discipline of the
plantation.
If the time ever comes when " things " shall be
�CENSURE OF MR. GIDDINGS.
453
" what they seem," and conscience and candor shall take the
place of mere policy and pretension,
among
the marvels of history that
will be regarded
it
men
as
acting from such mo-
tives in their public capacity should ever exhibit anything hon-
orable and hearty in their personal and social relations, or that
a representation acquiescing and participating in such an ad-
ministration of public affairs could be anything but demoralit was composed.
Mr. Giddings had been appointed, by the Speaker, chairman
of the Committee on Claims, a position he held at the time of
his resignation, when another was appointed for the remainder
ized and debauched in the personnel of which
of the session.
availing effort
At the beginning of the next
was made by Southern members
session, an unto induce
Speaker not to reappoint Mr. Giddings to this important
Mr. White, a personal friend of Mr. Clay, and
liberal of
among
the
post.
the most
Southern statesmen, had pronounced the vote of cen-
sure an outrage, and without hesitation
made Mr. Giddings
chairman again of the committee. Consisting of nine members, it was composed of four Northern and two Southern
Whigs, one Southern and two Northern Democrats.
The
three Democrats and two Southern Whigs had given their
votes for the censure,
and they deemed
with him as chairman.
vive
it
a humiliation to
They accordingly determined
to re-
an old rule of the House, which had practically become
obsolete, authorizing the committees to choose their
men.
sit
A member
this purpose,
own
chair-
of the committee apprised Mr. Giddings of
and advised him
to resign.
Having, however,
acted according to the dictates of his conscience, he chose to
Whig of Tennesscheme which he styled an outrage on
a member because he was opposed to slavery, the project fell
through and Mr. Giddings was permitted to retain his position.
But Mr. Giddings's earnest and outspoken fidelity to principle and to the cause of human rights often involved him in
conflicts and exposed him to personal dangers, which well
abide the result.
Mr. Arnold, a slaveholding
see, refusing to support a
illustrated
at once the coarse brutality
and domineering
vio-
lence of the slave-masters and the rough road they were called
to
travel
who dared
to question their
supremacy and oppose
�454
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN
AMERICA.
A
somewhat marked example occurred near the
For the purpose of exhibiting
close of the session in 1845.
the rascality of slaveholding demands, and the guilty subserviency and complicity of the government in yielding to
those demands, he referred to the treaty of Indian Spring, by
their policy.
sum
which, after paying the slaveholders of Georgia the
of
$ 109,000 for slaves who had escaped to Florida, it added the
sum of $ 141,000 as compensation demanded for " the offspring which the females would have borne to their masters had
And,
they remained in bondage."
gress actually paid that
born, but
sum
said Mr. Giddings,
" for children
who might have been
if their
Con-
who were never
parents had remained
faithful slaves."
Mr. Giddings's characterization of these outrageous and indecent
demands and
of this utterly indefensible policy greatly
nettled the Southern
members.
Mr. Black of Georgia,
in a
towering passion, poured forth a torrent of coarse invectives
He
and insinuations.
charged that Mr. Giddings had been
interested in the horses
and wagon
attempt to aid escaping fugitives
tentiary
;
that the
member
;
lost
by Mr. Torrey in his
that Torrey died in the peni-
of Ohio ought to be there
;
and,
if
Congress could decide the question, that would be his doom.
With low-minded impertinence, he advised him
his constituents to " inquire
that he
had none
in that hall.
if
to return to
he had a character," asserting
To
this gross assault
dings replied with becoming dignity and force.
the policy which would throw around
all
Mr. Gid-
Alluding to
executive and con-
gressional action in behalf of slavery the shield " of perpetual
silence," he said he did not hold the member from Georgia so
much responsible as he did " the more respectable members "
who stood around him, for the display of that " brutal coarse-
ness which nothing but the moral putridity of slavery could
encourage."
What he had
said,
facts that could not be disproved.
should
make no
he contended, were historic
To the personal assault he
other reply than that he stood there clothed
with the confidence of an intelligent constituency, while his
antagonist, alluding to Mr. Black's failure to secure a re-election,
had been discarded.
�CENSURE OF ME. GIDDINGS.
Of
455
and severe did but fan to a
was already raging, and a collision
course, language so direct
fiercer flame the fire that
seemed
inevitable.
Mr. Black, approaching Mr. Giddings with
" If you repeat those words I will knock
an uplifted cane, said
:
you down." The latter repeating them, the former was seized
by his friends and borne from the hall. Mr. Dawson of Louisiana, who on a previous occasion had attempted to assault him,
approaching him and, cocking his pistol, profanely exclaimed
" I '11 shoot him by G d I '11 shoot him "
At the same mo:
;
—
!
ment, Mr. Causin of Maryland placed himself in front of Mr.
Dawson, with his right hand upon his weapon concealed in his
At this juncture four members from the Democratic
side took their position by the side of the member from Louisiana, each man putting his hand in his pocket and apparently
grasping his weapon. At the same moment Mr. Rayner of
North Carolina, Mr. Hudson of Massachusetts, and Mr. Foot
of Vermont, came to Mr. Giddings's rescue, who, thus confronted and thus supported, continued his speech.
Dawson
stood fronting him till its close, and Causin remained facing
the latter until he returned to the Democratic side.
Thus demoralized and imbruted seemed the men, even those high in
station, who assumed to be the champions of slavery and its
policy.
Upon such men moral considerations were lost. The
only forces they ever respected were those of physical power.
bosom.
�CHAPTER XXXII.
THE " AMISTAD " CAPTIVES.
— The "Amistad" captured by the Africans. — Taken to
— Africans claimed as Slaves. — Demands of the Spanish Min— Africans before the District Court. — Conduct of District Attorney. —
Demands
New
ister.
of Slavery.
London.
Instructions of the Secretary of State.
Africans.
Trial.
— The
Circuit
the
of
— Mr.
— Africans
held for
of
Court.
Efforts
to
Secretary of State.
President and
appointed to aid the
— President. — Declaration the
— Appeal the Supreme Court. —
of the Comthe
Adams employed. — His Argument. — Arraignment
Lewis
the Prisoners. — Labors
his Cabinet. — Discharge
— Decision
mittee.
— A Committee
Attorney-General of the United States.
of
of
of
Tappan.
The
year 1839 was signalized by an event which, with
its
antecedent and attending circumstances and consequent results, produced a deep and wide-spread feeling throughout the
Involving other nations and people,
country.
marked
it
afforded a
what had been made manifest by other
that slavery, though a local system and con-
illustration of
developments,
—
fined to a particular section of the country, extended
fluence
and urged
its
its
demands
Not content with dominant
the land, but in other lands.
trol over that particular section cursed with its
ence,
it
would subsidize and subvert every
every interest subservient to
ing farther than
its
in-
not only in other portions of
own
its
con-
immediate pres-
section,
exacting behests.
and make
Nor, reach-
territorial limits, did it hesitate to
embroil friendly nations with
its
inhuman demands and un-
righteous claims.
By
the laws of Spain the slave-trade
was prohibited
;
and
Africans introduced by slavers, in contravention of such laws,
free.
In violation of those laws, however,
were declared to be
in June, 1839, a slaver,
under Portuguese
of kidnapped Africans near Havana.
A
colors,
landed a cargo
few days
after,
Ruiz
�THE "AMISTAD" CAPTIVES.
457
and Monies, Spanish slave-dealers, purchasing a number of
them, obtained license from the government to transport fiftytwo of them as " legal slaves " from Havana to Principe, about
Of course, being confined in bara hundred leagues distant.
racoons, they had no one to represent their case to the government or captain-general, and to vindicate their rightful claim
But failing to secure their liberty by legal process
to freedom.
they took the matter into their own hands. Embarked on
board the " Amistad," five days out, they rose upon the captain and crew, under the lead of Cinque, one of their number,
and made an attempt to regain their liberty. In the struggle
which ensued they killed the captain and cook, but spared the
lives of the crew and passengers, including the slave-dealers
themselves.
They then ordered
their native
land
;
the vessel to be steered for
but, unacquainted with
navigation, they
were deceived by those who profited by their ignorance, and
the " Amistad " was taken into American waters.
Nor did
they discover their mistake until they reached
Sound, and their vessel was taken into
Long Island
New London,
Conby Lieutenant Gedney, of the United States brig
" Washington."
Here they were seized and committed to
prison on the charge of murder, by a warrant issued by the
district judge of the United States Court.
Ruiz and Montes
necticut,
claimed the ship, cargo, and Africans, though the latter repre-
men. Lieutenant Gedney and
some of the inhabitants of Long Island, who had arrested a
number of the negroes going on shore for water, claimed salvage, as if they had been so many bales of merchandise,
showing that even Northern men, when they could profit by
ignoring the claims of humanity and the rights of man, were
sented that they were free
only too ready to do
it.
The Spanish minister
at
Washington, seemingly oblivious of
the infraction of the laws of his government involved in this
transaction,
demanded
the vessel
and cargo under the treaty
of 1795, and also claimed that the negroes should be conveyed
Havana under
the pretence of their being tried by the Spanwhich they had violated. He pressed his claim on
the ground of the preservation of order and peace in Cuba.
to
ish laws
58
�458
He
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
even went so far as to maintain that,
if they were to be
and executed as pirates and assassins in Connecticut, the effect would not be so salutary as if they were
tried, convicted, and executed in Cuba.
Mr. Holabird was at that time district attorney of ConnecThe latter had
ticut, and Mr. Judson was district judge.
made himself notorious, a few years before, by his opposition to
Miss Prudence Crandall's colored school, and his zeal on that
tried, convicted,
occasion had, unquestionably, secured his appointment.
district attorney
that these Africans could not be tried for
of the United States.
tion,
The
hastened to write to the Secretary of State
murder
in the courts
In his anxiety to procure their convic-
he inquired whether there were not treaty stipulations
with Spain that would authorize " our government " to deliver
them up to Spanish authorities and, if so, " whether it would
;
Of course, the Secretary of
was no such treaty, and that the Constitution gave the President no power to supersede the criminal
warrants of the United States. But he instructed the district
attorney " to take care that no proceedings of your Circuit
be done before our court
State
knew
sits."
there
Court, or any other judicial tribunal, place the vessel, cargo,
or slaves beyond the control of the Federal Executive."
This
assumption by the Secretary of State that these Africans were
slaves afforded but another illustration of the influence of slavery over the government, as
it
indicated the stern control of
the Slave Power.
The demands of Mr. Calderon,the Spanish minister, for the
who were held in slavery without
surrender of these Africans,
even the forms of law, and
their
who had
so heroically asserted
freedom and struck brave blows to
effect their return to
were strenuously advocated by the Southern
and by the proslavery journals of the North. These
homeless strangers found, however, humane, generous, and
their native land,
press
discreet friends.
A
committee, consisting of
S. S. Jocelyn,
Joshua Leavitt, and Lewis Tappan, was appointed in New
York to solicit funds, employ counsel, and see that their interSeth P. Staples and
ests and rights were faithfully cared for.
Theodore Sedgwick, Jr., who had been employed by this com-
�459
THE "AMISTAD" CAPTIVES.
mittee to act as their counsel, addressed a letter to President
Van Buren, denying that these Africans were slaves contending that in rising they only obeyed the dictates of self-defence
and praying that their case should not be decided " in the
;
;
recesses of the Cabinet, where these unfriended
men can have
no counsel and can produce no proof but in the halls of Justice, with the safeguards she throws around the unfriended and
This letter was submitted to Mr. Grundy, the
oppressed."
;
Attorney-General of the United States.
He was
a devotee of
slavery and a violent and bitter opponent of emancipation.
As a senator he had manifested his hatred of antislavery
men, and had shamelessly avowed his approval of lynching
Of course, he looked with horror upon the
Abolitionists.
heroic conduct of these black men, and was in favor of surrenHe avowed that he
dering them to the Spanish authorities.
could not see any " legal principle upon which the government
would be
justified in
going into an investigation for the pur-
pose of ascertaining the facts set forth in the papers clearing
the vessel from one Spanish port to another " as evidence
whether or not these negroes were
The
slaves.
and liberties of these Africans were in peril but
the first law officer of the United States government saw no
legal principle involved, on which the courts of the country
lives
;
could inquire into the genuineness of papers believed to be
spurious by
He
persons not influenced by interest or passion.
all
even went so far as to say that, as these negroes were
charged with violating Spanish laws,
it
was proper that they
should be surrendered to that government, so that, if they had
violated any of its laws, " they might not escape punishment."
Mr. Grundy had the reputation in Tennessee of being a skilful
criminal lawyer.
But he went so
opinion that the proper
mode
far as even to
for the President to issue his order directing the
liver the vessel
and cargo
to
avow
it
as his
of executing the treaty would be
marshal
to de-
such persons as might be desig-
nated b}r the Spanish minister.
Thus, in his opinion, the
President was to constitute himself " court and jury."
Was
it
not strange indeed that he should have forgotten that the
President of the United States had no authority to surrender
�460
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
EISE
from justice
fugitives
to foreign
IN AMERICA.
governments unless authorized
do so by treaty stipulations?
Circuit Court assembled at Hartford on the 17th of SepThe Africans were held in custody on the charge of
tember.
to
The
An attachment was also issued from the District
Court against the " Amistad " and her cargo in behalf of Ruiz
and Montes, and of Lieutenant Gedney for salvage on vessel
murder.
The district attorney, in behalf of the governand cargo.
ment, claimed possession of the vessel so that the negroes if
they were slaves could be returned to their Spanish owners,
and if they were free could be returned to Africa, according
Justice Thompson,
to the provisions of the treaty of 1819.
;
of the Circuit Court, decided that the Africans could not be
held for
trial for
Spanish vessel
;
murder committed on the
seas,
on board of a
but he refused to discharge them, on the
ground that they were held in custody by the District Court in
consequence of libels and attachments against them.
The new Spanish minister, De Argaiz, on the 26th of November, in a communication to the Secretary of State, denied
the right of the courts of the United States to take cognizance
of the case,
lic
and complained
vengeance had not been
that, in
satisfied
consequence of delay, pub" for, be it recollected,"
;
he added, " that the legation of Spain does not demand the
In another communicadelivery of slaves, but of assassins."
tion he states that the
the District Court,
when
Secretary of State informed
it
him
that
should meet on the 7th of January,
might order the restitution of the vessel, cargo, and negroes,
and that it would be necessary for the Spanish government to
take charge of them as soon as the court should pronounce its
sentence.
the action
Thus the Secretary of State not only anticipated
of the District Court, but warned the Spanish minis-
ter to take charge of these negroes as
soon as the decision of
the court should be known.
This minister also preferred the bold request that the President should order the transportation of the negroes in a gov-
ernment vessel
did
to Cuba,
the President
immediately on their release.
refuse even
this
Nor
extraordinary demand,
but gave immediate orders that such a vessel should be in
�THE "AMISTAD" CAPTIVES.
readiness to receive and convey
tions to deliver
And
them
to the
them
4G1
Cuba, with instruc-
to
captain-general of that island.
that vessel was actually anchored off the harbor of
New
Haven
three days after the court assembled, to be in readiness,
as falsely alleged, to give these negroes an " opportunity to
prove their freedom,"
ter himself that they
when it had been asserted by the miniswere " claimed as assassins, and not as
slaves."
Before the court assembled Lieutenants Gedney and
Meade were ordered to hold themselves in readiness to go to
Cuba with the negroes. They had captured the " Amistad "
;
and they were ordered to go to Cuba, at the expense of the
United States, " for the purpose," as alleged, " of affording
their testimony in any proceedings that may be ordered by the
authorities of Cuba in the matter."
They were not sent to
Cuba to prove the freedom of the negroes but to establish the
fact that the vessel was in their possession,
a fact that would
;
aid,
—
not in giving them their freedom, but in sending them to
death.
The
court, however, decided that the papers of Ruiz
Montes were fraudulent
imported
illegally
;
;
and
that the negroes were native Africans
that they were not slaves
;
and that they
should be sent back to Africa, according to the treaty of 1819.
No
sooner Avas the decision
made
than, by order of the Secre-
tary of State, the district attorney took an appeal to the Circuit
Indeed, every facility was afforded by the
Court.
officials
of
the government to the Spanish minister and to the pretended
owners of the negroes to carry out their inhuman and
illegal
The district attorney had requested assistant counsel, and the sum of two hundred dollars was allowed for that
purpose and for that paltry amount Ralph I. Ingersoll, a
Democratic politician and lawyer, who afterward represented
purpose.
;
the government at the Court of St. Petersburg, undertook the
task.
The
district attorney,
who seemed
equally intent with the
Spanish minister and the administration to secure the return
to
Cuba and
to death of these victims of
piratical zeal, sent
clerical
slaveholding and
a messenger to Washington to correct a
mistake in the President's warrant; so that they
�462
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
might be held,
it
was
IN AMERICA.
said, " should the pretended
friends
Mr. Forsyth
of the negroes obtain a writ of habeas corpus."
hastened to have the error corrected, and in returning
it
be-
trayed the spirit and purpose of the President and his Cabinet
by this unmistakable declaration " I have to state, by direc:
tion of the President, that, if the decision of the court is such
as
anticipated, the order of the President is to be carried
is
into execution, unless
You
posed.
terposed."
an appeal shall actually have been
are not to take
The meaning
it
for granted that
of this instruction
it
was
inter-
will be in-
that, if the
counsel for the Africans did not instantly make an appeal, they
were to be hurried on board the " Grampus," a national vessel,
sent for the purpose, and carried to
much
in earnest
Cuba
for trial.
Indeed, so
were the friends of the measure that on the
very day the court assembled the order had been sent by the
President to the marshal for that very purpose.
and barefaced was deemed
And
so
fla-
some of Mr.
Van Buren's friends afterward represented that it was issued
without his knowledge by his sanguine and not over-scrupulous
secretary, who seemed to have acted on the assumption of the
Spanish minister that their trial and conviction in Cuba would
exert a more salutary influence than their trial and conviction
gitious
this order, that
here.
An
appeal had been taken to the Circuit Court which, through
Justice
An
Thompson, affirmed the decision of the
District Court.
appeal was then taken to the Supreme Court.
quently,
when an
effort
Conse-
was made by Mr. Baldwin, one of the
counsel for the Africans, at the September term, to have the
appeal dismissed, the judge decided that, as an appeal had been
taken, by the consent of both parties, to the Supreme Court,
made there. At the same time unmade by Mr. Tappan and others, through
Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Kimberly, to secure from him their re-
that motion could only be
successful efforts were
lease
from prison
in order that they
might be more comfort-
ably cared for by their friends, and that proper attention might
be given to their education.
For
Supreme Court the most ample prepThe committee, without stint of care
this trial before the
arations were made.
�THE "AMISTAD" CAPTIVES.
or money,
463
had determined that no means within
make
their reach
it
worthy of the august tribunal,
and the more august cause.
In addition to the four able
should be spared to
lawyers already engaged, they sought the aid of John Quincy
Adams,
the
man
the venerable ex-president, the old
promptly responded to the
consciousness of
ing and forensic
call
;
eloquent.
He
and, without other fee than
doing good, brought his great learn-
ability, his
commanding
and
position
well-
earned reputation, to the advocacy of the cause of these helpless
men.
In his plea, of great ability, learning, and eloquence, of
some three hours' length, he presented the case not only with
a cogent argument in behalf of his pagan clients, but with stern
condemnation of the government and
its
obsequious
officials,
from the President downward, who were exhibiting such unseemly alacrity to do the bidding of the fleshmongers, and
who
were, he showed, carrying out, in law and fact, the slave-
pirate's
voyage that began on the coast of Africa.
tained that these Africans had been torn from their
try,
He
main-
own
coun-
shipped against the laws of Spain, against the laws of the
United States, against the laws of nations
on the " Amistad" was,
original voyage
;
in
law and in
fact,
;
that their passage
a continuance of the
that sixteen had perished through the cruel
treatment they had received from Ruiz and Montes, and that
their ghosts
hours of
life.
must
He
sit
heavy on their souls through the closing
referred to the extraordinary order of the
Secretary of State to the district attorney of Connecticut to
take care lest the decisions of that court or any other court
should place these Africans beyond the control of the President.
He said it was in consequence of that order the case
had reached the Supreme Court. Instead of the course he
had pursued, it was the duty of the Secretary of State to have
instantly answered the Spanish minister, and to have told him
that his demands were utterly inadmissible, and that the President of the United States had no power to do the things he
required.
He should have said that he could not deliver up
the ship to the owner, because that owner was dead
that
the question depended upon the courts
that a declaration to
;
;
�464
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
the President that the courts of the United States had no
authority to try the case involved an offensive
demand
;
and
that delivering up the negroes by the President, as required,
and sending them beyond the seas for trial, thus making the
President a mere " constable, a catchpole," was also inadmissible, as
the President had no power to arrest and deliver up
any person whatever. He said the Secretary of State should
have set the President right in this matter but that he had
never answered one of these demands, had never corrected one
of these representations, nor asserted the rights of the nation
against these extraordinary and unauthorized demands.
;
"
He
has degraded the country," said Mr. Adams, " in the
face of the whole civilized world, not only
by allowing these
demands to remain unanswered, but by proceeding, I am
obliged to say, throughout the whole transaction, as if the
Executive were earnestly desirous to comply with every one
of these demands."
sisted
in his
saying that
it
Inquiring
why
the Spanish minister per-
pretensions, he answered his own question by
was because " he was not told instantly, without
the delay of an hour, that this government could never admit
such a claim, and would be offended if they were repeated,
" Yet all these claims," he said,
or any portion of them."
" monstrous, absurd, and inadmissible as they are, have been
for eighteen months on our government,
and an American Secretary of State evades answering them,
urged and repeated
— evades
it
to
such an extent that the Spanish minister
reproaches him for not answering his arguments." He also
referred to the singular conclusion to which Mr. Grundy, the
Attorney-General, arrived in advising that the President should
give an order for the delivery of the slaves, as he assumed
them to be, to the Spanish authorities. He said that the
American Secretary of State had told the Spanish minister
and he asked why
that the Cabinet had adopted that opinion
why
the President and his Cabinet had not acted upon it,
they had not delivered these men, being at that time in the
;
—
judicial custody of the courts of the
Spanish government.
"
Why," he
United States, to the
asked, " did not the Presi-
dent send an order at once to the marshal to seize these men,
�THE "AMISTAD" CAPTIVES.
465
and ship them beyond the seas, or deliver them to the Spanish
?
I am ashamed
I am ashamed of my country
that such an opinion should have been delivered by any public
—
—
minister
officer, especially
am ashamed
by the legal counsellor of the Executive. I
up before the nations of the earth with
to stand
such an opinion recorded before us as
official
;
and,
still
more,
adopted by the Cabinet, which did not dare to do the deed."
This terrible arraignment by Mr.
and
tion
its official
Adams
of the administra-
advisers will seem to be richly merited by
who have read the correspondence. Mr. Forsyth was an
man, both in the Senate and in the Cabinet, ready in
Deeply imbued with
debate, and a leading man in his party.
its spirit, like the extreme men of his section, he was blindly
devoted to the slave system. This clouded his judgment, perverted his conscience, and led him to indorse conduct and
defend positions which otherwise his training and experience
in public affairs must have shown him to be wholly untenable
and wrong. And yet, with all this explanation, none can
read the correspondence evoked by this case
not merely of
Southern men like Forsyth and Grundy, but of a Northern
President and his officials in Connecticut
without sharing
largely in the feeling of shame which Mr. Adams confessed in
his plea before the Supreme Court.
those
able
—
—
Mr.
Adams
closed with a tender allusion to the change in
the personnel and surroundings of the court since his admission
to
practise before
it,
thirty-seven
delivered by Justice Story.
years before, which
The opinion of the court was
greatly affected all present.
It
held that the Africans were
kidnapped and unlawfully transported to Cuba
that they
Ruiz
purchased
and
were
by
Montes with a knowledge of the
that they were free
fact
that they did not become pirates
and robbers in taking possession of the " Amistad," and in
;
;
;
attempting to regain their native country
;
that there was
nothing in the treaty with Spain that justified the claim for
their surrender
;
and that the United States was bound
respect their rights, as
The
decision
much
was pronounced
to
as those of Spanish subjects.
in these
words
:
" Our opinion
is,
that the decree of the Circuit Court affirming that of the Dis59
�466
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
Court, ought to be affirmed except so far as
trict
it
directs the
negroes to be delivered to the President, to be transported to
Act of the 3d of March, 1819
ought to be reversed, and that the said
Africa, in pursuance of the
and as
to this
it
;
negroes be declared to be free, and be dismissed from the cus-
tody of the court and go without day."
As soon
as the decision of the court
was pronounced. Mr.
" The
The part of the decree of the District
Court which placed them at the disposal of the President
They
of the United States, to be sent to Africa, is removed.
Adams addressed
to
Lewis Tappan
this exultant note
are to be discharged from the custody of the marshal
The
:
are free.
captives
rest of the decision of the court
below
is
— free.
affirmed."
This result was very gratifying to the better portion of the
but it must have been specially gratifying to Mr.
Tappan, to whom by common consent, more than to any other
man in America, were the Africans indebted for their deliver-
country
;
Mr. Leavitt, a member with Mr. Tappan
ance and freedom.
of the committee, well expressed the general sentiment of
" His determined benevolence, his untiring
those who knew.
vigilance, his never-failing resources in times of difficulty, his
immovable decision of character, and
his facility in the de-
spatch of business, have often stood, humanly speaking, be-
There is not another man who
tween them and defeat.
both could and would have done what he has done." Nor did
he cease his labors when they were rescued from the very jaws
Leaving his large and exacting
of impending destruction.
.
.
.•
.
business, he spent days, and weeks even, in visiting
New Eng-
land and other portions of the North in their behalf, counselling with
friends,
soliciting subscriptions,
and perfecting
arrangements, which were afterward carried into
making
their return to Africa the
effect, for
beginning of the Mendi Mis-
which has been sustained to the present time.
of Ruiz and Montes, the demands of the
Spanish minister, and the machinations of the administration
sion,
Though the claims
had been
baffled,
and the captives restored
land, additional efforts were
made
to their native
in behalf of the claimants.
In 1844, Charles J. Ingersoll of Pennsylvania, chairman of
�THE "AMISTAD" CAPTIVES.
467
Committee on Foreign Affairs in the House of Represento pay the sum of seventy thousand
dollars to the pretended owners of the " Amistad " captives.
The report was long and elaborate, and its author moved the
Mr. Giddings at once asprinting of ten thousand copies.
sailed and demolished its baseless assumptions and fallacious
reasonings.
A motion was made to lay it on the table but
its author recoiling from the well-directed blows of Mr. Giddings, learning that Mr. Adams was intending to follow, and
seeking to avert the still further damage he justly apprehended
from his learning, logic, and fervid eloquence, voted himself
the
tatives, reported a bill
;
for the motion.
Though Mr. IngersolFs cowardly action prevented Mr. Adams
from making his speech in the House, it did not prevent its publication in the papers as a speech intended to be
made.
ter of the subject, his feelings deeply interested
by his former
Mas-
connection with the case, and exasperated by the dastardly
and dishonorable proposition to pay these base and bloody men,
his speech was a merciless exposure of the falsehoods of the report, and a deserved excoriation of him who was willing to prostitute the power and property of the government for ends so mercenary and mean. He fitly characterized the zeal manifested
by the committee in behalf of these infamous slave-traders
;
the unfair dealing of their report with the laws of the land,
treaties,
and the judges of
its
courts
ery and the slave-trade, betrayed in
;
its
its
sympathy with
its
slav-
assertion that the act
of Congress declaring the slave-trade piracy to be a " preposterous enactment "
and that the article in the treaty of Ghent
;
was put in by Great
from sinister motives and for selfish purposes.
Referring to Mr. Giddings's speech, he said that it " had exposed to the scorn and contempt of the House some of the
for the
entire abolition of the traffic
Britain,
and spurious principles of international law thick sown
throughout the report " but " the putrid mass of personal
slander" poured upon the district attorney and judge, and
upon the judges of the Supreme Court of the United States,
has not been exposed as it deserves. Mr. Ingersoll had stated
that Lieutenant Gedney had taken possession of the " Amisfalse
;
�468
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
tad " on the 26th of August, 1840, instead of the 26th of
August, 1839
;
and on
this
reared his argument and
mistake or misstatement he had
made
With
his arraignment.
scath-
ing denunciation and withering sarcasm Mr. Adams thus char" The masterpiece," he said,
acterized this change of date
:
" of the whole report
is
the falsification, on
the date of their seizure of the
Amistad
'
its first
page, of
and the negroes
'
by Lieutenant Gedney. Upon that falsehood hinges all the
subsequent semblance of an argument to discredit the decision of the courts that the negroes were persons just landed,
and not persons longer in the country and familiar with the
freemen, and not slaves. Restore the true date,
August 26, 1839, and the long train of subsequent argumentation to vilify the judges and shatter their righteous judg-
language,
ment
—
loses even the brightness of ingenious sophistry.
It is
Re-
coarse, glaring, stupid, shameless, unmitigated falsehood.
store the true date,
'
And
all
the
demon
starts
up from the
toad.
"
'
Nor did Mr. Adams spare President Van Buren, or
his Sec-
or his Attorney-General, Mr.
retary of
State, Mr. Forsyth,
Grundy.
Referring to the order of Mr.
Van
Buren, which he
characterized as the most extraordinary act of despotism ever
performed by a President of the United States, to the marshal
"
of Connecticut to deliver on board the schooner " Grampus
the negroes of the " Amistad," he asked
:
"
Was
this order
given in a country where the rights of person are words without meaning ? in the Kingdom of Dahomey ? in the region
where the bowstring is the warrant of execution ? It was
given in the land of the Declaration of Independence, in the
was given by the President
and
It was, of course, null and void
if before the decision of the court it had been delivered to the
marshal, and he had executed it, he would have staked not
only the lives of the negroes, but his own head, and that of
land of the self-evident truths.
of the United States.
Martin
The
Van
It
;
Buren, the signer of the order, upon the event."
bill were never acted upon, and the country
report and
was spared the disgrace of paying a claim so preposterous and
wicked but not the disgrace of an administration and mar.y
;
�THE "AMISTAD" CAPTIVES.
of the leading
gave
In
it
members
their personal
all
of the government
and
469
who
favored
it
and
official sanction.
the acts of slavery's grim tragedy there have been few
scenes which presented more elements of interest than that of
With two continents and the wide
the " Amistad " captives.
Atlantic for
its
theatre
;
with the robber chiefs of Africa, the
representatives of a European
monarchy, and an American republic for actors, seemingly engaged in a common cause and inspired by a common spirit it
slave-pirates of the ocean, the
;
presented through the whole, with dramatic variety and force,
the strangest contrasts and the most unlooked-for and contradictory combinations. It presented barbarism in its rudest and
most repulsive aspects, and Christianity in its most attractive
and lovely attitude. It began with the midnight hunt for captives in the wilds of Africa
it closed by Christian men and
women sending and accompanying these captives back to Africa,
to plant churches and schools among their benighted countrymen. Through the whole, however, the one dark and hideous
;
fact stands out that slavery is essentially the
all
same,
its
adher-
A
system of violence, impatient of
restraints, whether of reason or of conscience, humanity
ents substantially alike.
or religion, the laws of the heart or the laws of the State,
seems mainly intent on compassing
means and at whatever hazards.
its
own
it
ends, by whatever
It was the same in Africa
and in America in the barracoon and in the middle passage
under a monarchy or in a republic in a Pagan, Catholic, or
;
;
;
Protestant country.
�CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE PRIGG CASE.
Various
— THE
USE OF
Interpretations
of the
— Supreme Court of
States. — Decision. — State
Case.
repealed.
FORBIDDEN BY MASSA-
— Margarette Morgan. — Prigg
— Supreme Court of the United
not required. — Taney. — Daniel. —
Constitution.
Pennsylvania.
Legislation
Jurisdiction of the Government.
Laws
ITS JAILS
AN AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION PROPOSED.
CHUSETTS.
— Supreme
Court of Massachusetts.
— Laws against the Use of Jails. — Latimer's Arrest.
—
— State
—
Trial.
— Excitement. — Public Meetings. — Meeting Faneuil Hall.
City
—
— Edmund Quincy. — Joshua Leavitt. — Disturbance. — Speech of
Eemonstrances. — Latimer Journal. — Popular Demonstrations. — Grey paid by
Mr Colver. — Convention. — Petition the Legislature. — Meeting Faneuil
Hall. — Petition presented to Congress by John Quincy Adams. — Projtosed
Amendment of the Constitution. — Petition. — Resolutions of Massachusetts.
— Singular Avowal of Mr. Wise. — Mr. Holmes. — Speech of Mr. Adams. —
Pieport of Committee. — Massachusetts Senators. — Action of the Legislature.
in
Officers.
Phillips.
to
A marked
is
in
feature of the Constitution of the United States
the equivocal language in "which the provisions concerning
slavery are couched.
believing that
it
At the North, one
class of Abolitionists,
contained the fruits of a compromise with the
Slave Power, stigmatized it as a " covenant with death and an
agreement with hell " ; while another, pointing to the omission of all reference to the
" an antislavery document."
name
of slavery, pronounced
it
At the South, where there was
no doubt that the Constitution recognized and protected slavery, there were differences, too, of opinion and of interpretation concerning the clause referring to the rendition of fugitives from labor.
Even the members of the Supreme Court
were not agreed among themselves. Some held that it invested the States with the power and responsibility of return-
ing the fugitive, while others held that the duty rested with
the general government to carry into effect that unfortunate
provision.
�THE PRIGG CASE.
471
In the year 1826 the legislature of Pennsylvania, through
the zeal and activity of the Abolition Society of that State,
enacted a law punishing with severe penalties any person
who
should take or carry away from the State any negro with the
intention of selling him as a slave, or of detaining or causing
to be detained such
this
negro as a slave for
life.
The
object of
law was intended primarily to prevent kidnapping or
sell-
ing into slavery persons of color, a practice which had bee:i
carried on to a large extent.
Its provisions,
however, extended
not only to colored persons resident within the State, but tj
fugitive slaves that had sought refuge within its borders.
In 1832 Margarette Morgan, held as a slave for
laws of Maryland, fled from that State
Edward
life
by the
into Pennsylvania.
Prigg, being legally constituted the attorney for her
owner, caused her to be arrested in 1837, and, with her
dren, one of
made her
whom was
chil-
born more than a year after she had
and delivered to her
tried, and convicted
in the court of York County.
The case was then appealed
to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and the judgment of
the court below affirmed.
From the Supreme Court of that
State an appeal was taken to the Supreme Court of the United
mistress.
escape, taken out of the State
For
this act
he was arrested,
States.
The case excited the deepest interest throughout the counThe question to be determined was whether the act of
try.
Pennsylvania, under which Prigg had been convicted, was in
contravention of the provision of the Constitution of the
United States relating to persons held to service in one State
The decision of the court was pronounced by Judge Story. That decision was in substance
that Congress had exclusive power to legislate concerning
escaping into another.
fugitive slaves
;
that the States
had no power
to legislate
upon
the subject, either in aid of or against the rendition of fugitives
that the right of the owner to recapture his slave,
;
wherever he might be found, Avas given him by the Constitution, without restriction or qualification
that he might recapture him wherever lie could find him, if he could do so without
illegal violence or breach of the peace
that, if he could not
;
;
�472
do
RISE
so,
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
he might resort
to the
means
IN AMERICA.
specified in the act of
Congress for the rendition of fugitives
;
and that the United
States could not oblige the States to enforce its laws by their
must depend upon its own courts and officers.
Of course, the act of Pennsylvania, in view of these opinions,
was pronounced unconstitutional and void. All the judges,
with the exception of Justice McLean and Justice Thompson,
held that the master might seize his slave and remove him out
Those two judges
of the State in utter disregard of its laws.
held that after a seizure was made the master was bound to
prosecute his claim, according to the provisions of the Act of
1793, before he could remove such fugitive from the State into
which he had escaped.
magistrates, but
By
this decision the personal liberty of the inhabitants of
the free States was brought into constant peril, the right of
by jury was practically denied, and the writ of habeas
One portion of the deciscorpus was practically suspended.
It was
ion, however, proved to be in the interests of freedom.
trial
decided that States could not legislate in aid of or against the
rights of the slaveholder
that Congress had no power to
;
and that any
was purely voluntary.
By this decision of the Court the States might prohibit their magistrates and other officers from any interference
in cases arising under the Act of 1793 for the rendition of
fugitives.
Chief Justice Taney and Justice Daniel differed
from the judgment of the Court on this point. The chief juscompel State
officers
to act
under
its
laws
;
action of State officers under the Act of 1793
thought the States were not prohibited, but, on the con-
tice
trary, that
owner
it
to aid
and protect the
in his attempts to recover his slave found within their
He
territories.
solved
was enjoined upon them
from
all
thought,
if
obligation
the
to
State
authorities
were ab-
protect the owners in
their
attempts to regain their slaves, that the Act of 1793 scarcely
deserved the name of a remedy. " It is only necessary," he
said, " to state the provision of this law in order to show how
ineffectual
if
and delusive
State authority
tice
Daniel said,
if
is
is
the remedy provided by Congress
forbidden to come to
its
aid."
Jus-
the right of arrest and detention, with a
�THE PRIGG CASE.
473
view of restoration to the owner, belonged solely to the Federal government, the master would be deprived of protection
and
security,
By
and would be defeated
judges out of nine the rendition of
this decision of five
fugitive
slaves
was declared
to be exclusively within the juris-
diction of the Federal government.
land.
By
it
in his right of property.
made
slavery was
This was the law of the
a municipal institution, not
recognized beyond the State tolerating
it,
excepting the clause
The doctrine of the
Supreme Court of Massachusetts, that the authority of a master over his slaves did not extend to those taken by him into
a State where slavery is prohibited, but was strictly limited to
the case of fugitives who had escaped against his will, was incidentally affirmed.
To his family and intimate personal
friends Judge Story pronounced this decision of the court as
in the Constitution relating to fugitives.
" a triumph of
freedom."
Though
this decision of the
Su-
preme Court seemed and was evidently designed to be strongly
favorable to the slaveholders, it became, by legitimate inference and by its practical workings, often a real means of protection and defence.
Several of the States had enacted laws
in aid of the rendition of fugitive slaves, which had afforded
effective assistance for that purpose.
But after this decision of
the Supreme Court, these laws in several of the States were
repealed, and in some States statutes were enacted forbidding either such co-operation by State
jails
;
so that,
from the time of
officials or
this decision
the use of
to the
enact-
ment of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, it had been found
much more difficult to secure the recapture and return of
the increasing number of fugitives fleeing from their masters.
In May, 1837, a slave was found secreted on board the ship
" Boston," of Maine, homeward bound from Georgia
who,
;
The captain was charged
with slave-stealing, and the governor of Georgia demanded him
after landing, escaped to
as a fugitive from justice.
to
comply with the
Canada.
But the governor of Maine refused
requisition, as the laws of that State con-
sidered slaves persons rather than property.
In consequence
of this refusal to surrender the captain of the vessel, the legis60
�474
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
IN AMERICA.
lature of Georgia adopted resolutions calling
amend
upon Congress
to
the laws concerning fugitives from justice, so as to com-
up persons charged with
These resolutions were presented to the Senate of the United States, warmly advocated by the Georgia
senators, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary but
no action was taken.
Soon afterward a similar case occurred between Virginia and
New York, which excited still deeper interest, as it became the
subject of a protracted controversy between the two States. A
negro named Isaac, claimed to be the slave of John G. Colby
pel governors of States to deliver
slave-stealing.
;
of Norfolk, was found in July, 1839, secreted on board the
schooner " Robert Carter " of New York. On her arrival at
New York
the port of
and taken
she was boarded, and Isaac
to Virginia without
was
in
A
de-
defiance of the laws of the State against kidnapping.
mand was made by
ernor of New York
seized
any legal examination, and
the executive of Virginia upon the govfor the surrender of Peter
Johnson, Ed-
ward Smith, and Isaac Gansey, colored men, accused of aiding
and abetting Isaac's escape, or of slave-stealing. Governor
Seward refused to surrender these men, because no State could
demand the surrender of a fugitive from justice for an act
which was made criminal only by its own legislation,
an act,
too, which was not only innocent in itself, but humane and
—
praiseworthy.
In 1840 the legislature of
the right of trial by jury.
claimed as fugitive slaves.
New York
passed an act to extend
It
applied especially to persons
The
refusal of the governor to sur-
render these persons, and this legislation, provoked
tory legislation on the
part of Virginia.
The
retalia-
legislature of
that State passed an act to prevent the citizens of
New York
from carrying slaves out of that Commonwealth, requiring that
all vessels of that State should be inspected before leaving any
of
its ports.
pend the
act,
It also
authorized the governor of Virginia to sus-
whenever the governor of
New York should
comply
with the requisition of Virginia for the surrender of the alleged
fugitives
from
justice,
and should repeal the act
right of trial by jury should be repealed.
to
extend the
�THE VIRGINIA AND NEW YORK CONTROVERSY.
much
This Virginia controversy caused
475
feeling in the coun-
long correspondence, and challenged the attention
try, led to a
of jurists and statesmen on account of the important questions
it
Governor Seward was sharply criticised and
many but he firmly maintained his
involved.
severely censured by
;
position,
and vindicated with signal
vanced.
The Democrats, securing
ability the opinions
he ad-
majorities in both houses of
condemn the governor
They passed a resolution
the legislature, in 1842, were prompt to
and espouse the cause of Virginia.
setting
governor's
the
forth
refusal
surrender persons
to
charged with stealing a slave in Virginia with the reasons
assigned
;
but affirming that, in their opinion, " the stealing
was a crime withmeaning of the Constitution."
These Democratic legislators requested the governor to transmit these resolutions to the executive of Virginia. Governor
Seward declined to comply with the request. He assigned as
of a slave within the jurisdiction of Virginia
in the
his reason that he could not do so without either silently ac-
quiescing in
its
doctrine or accompanying
with his protest
it
that the former would be a palpable dereliction of constitutional duty,
and the
of the State.
He
latter
would not tend
to
enhance the credit
assured the legislature that he remained of
" the opinion that beings possessed of the physical, moral, and
intellectual
faculties
common
to the
human
race, cannot,
by
the force of any constitution or laws, be goods or chattels, or a
thing
;
and that nothing but goods,
chattels,
the subject of larceny, stealing, or theft."
and things can be
He
also affirmed
that the cherished principles of civil liberty forbade
recognize such a " natural inequality
lution of the legislature
tributing in any
way
seems
to
me
among men
to
him
to
as the reso-
assume, and from con-
to perpetuate the inequalities of political
condition, from which results a large portion of the evils of
human
life."
In 1842 a case occurred in Ohio which gained extensive notoriety, not only
from the rulings and decisions
was
it
called forth,
and the eminent legal and forensic ability enlisted in its prosecution. Mr.
Van Zandt, a worthy Christian farmer of Hamilton County,
but from the length of time
it
in the courts,
�476
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
returning from the Cincinnati market, took into his wagon nine
escaping Kentucky slaves.
About sixteen miles from the
city
he was stopped, in broad daylight, by persons in pursuit of the
Seven of the nine were taken
two escaping
fugitives.
—
—
without legal process back to Kentucky and lodged in the
The kidnappers were indicted by
county, defended by John B. TVeller,
jail
at Covington.
the grand
jury of that
late
mem-
ber of Congress, and Governor Corwin, and acquitted.
Mr.
Van Zandt
He was
did not so escape.
indicted, tried
McLean
Thomas Morris and Salmon P.
before the Circuit Court of the United States, Justice
presiding, and defended by
Mr. Morris in his opening plea boldly advanced and
Chase.
the fundamental principles of human rights
and the paramount claims of justice, equity, and humanMr. Chase closed with an argument of three hours'
ity.
length.
Of it Dr. Bailey, editor of the " Philanthropist,"
said " Whether viewed as a legal argument or a specimen of
lie closed
forensic eloquence, it has seldom been equalled.
ably defended
:
one of the finest
witli
efforts of oratory
we
when we say
The
ever heard.
blind Samson of Longfellow was brought upon the stage
,
and
that so far from impairing this noble allusion, as
used by the poet, he really added to
its
magnificence and power,
Not a foot-fall was heard, not a movewe say but the truth.
every eye
ment made. Every form was a breathing statue,
—
was
fixed
pillars,
his
upon the blind Samson, standing between the massive
while the jeering multitude scoffed at his rights, mocked
apparent helplessness, sported themselves with his bonds,
bowing himself in the greatness of his strength, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the temple was in ruins and
the multitude buried beneath them."
Mr. Southgate of Kentucky closed in behalf of the prosecutill,
tion.
the
Justice
McLean charged
the jury in accordance with
and the jury
and the good man, whose crime
principles enunciated in the Prigg case,
brought in a verdict of guilty
;
was that of giving a few weary, foot-sore strangers a ride of a
few miles, was mulcted in a fine of twelve hundred dollars,
while the desperadoes who seized them without forms of law
and against every claim of right and humanity received for
�THE LATIMER CASE.
their base
477
and brutal conduct a large reward.
How
could a
nation, not only permitting but clothing with the sanction of
laws such cruel perversions of justice, hope to escape the
its
The case was taken on ap?
Supreme Court of the United States, and argued,
1846, by Mr. Seward and Mr. Chase. Justice Woodbury
retribution due to such crimes
peal to the
in
delivered the opinion of the court, in which the constitutionality of the
law of 1793 was maintained, and the exceptions
Van Zandt were
taken by the counsel of
The
decision in the Prigg case
was
overruled.
also brought to a practi-
George Latimer,
cal test in Massachusetts in October, 1842.
a native of Virginia, was seized in the city of Boston, without
warrant, at the request of James B. Grey of Norfolk, of that
State,
was
who claimed him
at
as his slave.
A
writ of habeas corpus
once sued out in his favor by his counsel, Samuel E.
Sewell and
Amos
Shaw decided
B. Merrill.
After argument Chief Justice
that the statute of the United States authorized
the owner of the fugitive to arrest
he might have
fled,
him
in
any State
to
which
and, upon proving his claim before a court
established by the United States, to carry
him beyond
the juris-
The court decided,
too, that the
claimant
diction of the State.
should have a reasonable time to obtain his proof, and the writ
was denied.
Elbridge Gerry Austin, attorney for the city of Boston, then
applied in behalf of the claimant, Grey, to Justice Story for a
certificate that
Latimer was his slave
procure evidence from Norfolk.
;
and
also for time to
This motion was strenuously
but the judge ruled that it had always been the custom to grant the time, and a written order was given that Latimer should remain in the custody of Grey until the time of
trial.
The city attorney readily acted for the claimant, and
resisted
;
Nathaniel Coolidge, city
jailer,
consented to be Grey's agent
and slave-keeper. A writ of personal replevin, provided for
in the Act of 1837, securing trial by jury to persons charged
with being slaves, was sued out before Chief Justice Shaw.
The
case was ably argued by Charles M. Ellis and Samuel E.
Sewell
;
but the chief justice declared that by the decision of
the Supreme Court in the case of Prigg the
remedy sought
for
�478
ELSE
was
illegal,
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
and Latimer was
ant in Boston
left in
IN AMERICA.
the custody of the claim-
jail.
Great excitement pervaded the city and State.
ings were held in several cities and towns.
A
Public meet-
meeting was
held on Sabbath evening, 30th of October, in Faneuil Hall.
was thronged by an immense multitude.
It was estimated that there were four thousand persons
present, most of whom came for the purpose of expressing
their condemnation of the arrest of Latimer, and of the proThe speakers were conceedings growing out of that arrest.
tinually interrupted by an organized band of ruffians, who
strove by hideous noises to break up the meeting, in which they
were partially successful. Samuel E. Sewell presided, and a
series of resolutions were presented by Joshua Leavitt, protesting " by all the glorious memories of the Revolutionary
struggle, in the names of justice, liberty, and right, in the
awful name of God, against the deliverance of George Latimer
into the hands of his pursuers."
These resolutions were seconded by Edmund Quincy. Latimer, he said, had not sought his deliverance from a system, the
vilest beneath the sun, by an appeal to arms, as did the men
At an
early hour the hall
who thronged
that hall in early times to create the Revolution
;
but he had resorted to the simplest natural right, the right to
" He turns," he said, " his face to the North Star,
escape.
which he had been
He
falsely told
hung over a land
of liberty.
threads the forest, he hurries by night across the green
swamps, he
lies
concealed by day in the tangled cane-brake, he
dares the treacherous morass, he fords rivers, he scales mountains
foe
!
;
but he shuns the face of Christian
At
last
he reaches the Free States
man
;
as his deadliest
but he rests not from
his pilgrimage until he has taken sanctuary in the very birth-
Here he places his feet on our hearthstone,
and demands hospitality and protection. And with what reception met this demand upon the humanity, the Christianity,
the love of liberty of Boston ? The signal for the chase is given
place of liberty.
;
the immortal
shape
is
game
is
on foot
put upon the scent
;
;
a pack of bloodhounds in
human
they pursue, seize, and hold him
down, with the oppressor himself
for the
master of the hunt,
�THE LATIMER CASE.
judicial magistrate in the nation for the whip-
and the second
per in
!
Your
479
police officers
and
jailers,
under the compulsion
of no law, are the voluntary partakers of this hideous case
;
and your streets and your prisons form the hunting-ground on
which the quarry is run down and secured."
Joshua Leavitt read letters from John Quincy Adams,
George Bancroft, Samuel Hoar, William B. Calhoun, and
other distinguished persons, amid continued interruptions.
Charles Lenox Remond and Frederick Douglass sought to
but the uproar was so great that they
address the meeting
;
could not be heard.
Appeals were made by George
Phillips then,
S. Hillard
Wendell
amid hisses and shouts and continued uproar,
in behalf of free speech, but they
addressed the noisy assemblage.
were unheeded.
He
characterized, with his
terrible severity and point, their domineering conduct toward
the slave and his friends, and their craven subserviency to the
master and his minions.
He branded them
as cowards, that
shook the chains that bound them to the car of slavery, but
dared not break them. " When I look," he said, " upon these
crowded thousands, and see them trample on their consciences and the rights of their fellow-men at the bidding of a piece
of parchment, I say, My curse be upon the Constitution of
"
these United States
This conduct of the mob excited general indignation, and
strengthened the remonstrances of the city and State against
'
'
!
A newspaper, conducted by
proceedings.
Bowditch and William F. Channing, called the
" Latimer Journal and North Star," scattered facts and arguments among the people, and intensified the excitement of the
the
disgraceful
Dr Henry
I.
public mind.
The
alacrity evinced in this case
police officers, the jailer,
and
by the
city attorney, the
sheriff excited the deepest indig-
A petition signed by citizens of character and inwas presented to the sheriff, demanding the dismission
Another petition was prepared, requesting
of the jailer.
Governor Davis to dismiss the sheriff unless he removed the
nation.
fluence
jailer.
officials
This unexpected popular demonstration brought the
and claimant to terms. Grey and his advisers evinced
�480
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
their readiness to release Latimer for a consideration
persons
who had taken an
;
but the
active part in the case, believing,
as matters then stood, that his release would be effected, re-
fused to pay anything at
But the Rev. Nathaniel Colver,
all.
apprehensive that Latimer might be smuggled out of the State,
agreed to pay the
sum
hundred
of four
on the delivery
dollars,
of free papers and the surrender of the power of attorney to
The
reclaim his wife.
offer
was accepted, and Latimer stepped
amid the general rejoicings, a
forth from Leverett Street jail,
freeman.
While these events were transpiring
in Massachusetts the
press of Virginia teemed with denunciations.
appeals were
made
Inflammatory
to the people of the South.
Public meet-
demand for redress or retaliation was
legislature.
The governor made a requisition
ings were held, and a
made upon
for
the
Latimer as a fugitive from justice
refused to comply with
;
but Governor Davis
it.
The matter, however, did not end
here.
A
convention was
held, and a form of petition to the legislature of Massachusetts
was adopted, praying that body
to forbid all persons holding
under the laws of the State from aiding in the arrest or detention of persons claimed as fugitives from slavery to forbid
office
;
the use of jails or other public property for their detention
and
to propose
amendments
should forever separate the people of that State from
Another
;
to the Federal Constitution that
all
connec-
was prepared for Congress,
praying for such laws and such proposed amendments to the
Constitution as would relieve the Commonwealth from all fur-
tion with slavery.
petition
ther participation in this crime of oppression.
and well-directed
labors,
By
the faithful
through conventions, meetings, and
other agencies, of Henry I. Bowditch, William F. Channing,
and Frederick S. Cabot, the committee chosen for that purpose, more than sixty-five thousand signatures were obtained
to a petition to the legislature,
to Congress.
At
and
fifty
thousand
to a petition
a meeting held in Faneuil Hall, over which
John Pierpont presided, John Quincy Adams was unanimously selected to take charge of the petition to Congress, and
Charles Francis
Adams
to present the petition to the legisla-
�THE LATIMER CASE.
The
ture.
Adams
;
latter petition
481
was presented
House by Mr.
was presented and
to the
then taken to the Senate, where
it
referred to the appropriate committee.
whom the Latimer
was referred, made a learned and elaborate report, in
which he showed how " the spirit of slavery, flying from one
Mr. Adams, from the joint committee to
petition
paragraph of the Constitution to another, seeks to wrest out
of each in turn the necessary strength to maintain itself."
He
contended that the great object with Massachusetts was
from
to free herself
all
responsibility, direct or indirect, for
the continuance and spread of slavery in the United States
and that while there were several passages
;
in the Constitution
connecting the free States with slavery, the slave representation was »effecting "by slow but sure degrees the overthrow
of all the old but noble principles that were embodied in the
To that," he said, " let the public
Federal Constitution.
attention be exclusively directed.
of government,
it
in the process neces-
If,
sary to the procuring the removal of
it
from the instrument
should beconge advisable to consider the
points of minor consequence, this
as now, and with more
may
be done then as easily
The withdrawal from
effect.
the Con-
stitution of the slave representation would alone, in the opin-
ion of your committee, be of force enough to carry with
remaining obstacles
from
all
to that
stitution of the
ture requiring
They
The
bill
all
their confinement.
fifty
and
also forbidding the use
The
resolution
was adopted
headed by George Latimer and
thousand of the citizens of Massachusetts, was
placed upon the desk of Mr. Adams.
sensation.
from rendering aid
was passed.
petition to Congress,
signed by
Con-
also reported a bill to the legisla-
State officials to refrain
in the recapture of fugitive slaves,
its jails for
to the
United States, restricting representation to
" free persons" alone.
and the
the
connection with slavery which the petitioners desire."
The committee reported a proposed amendment
of
it
complete and effective separation
It
produced a great
Several Southern representatives manifested deep
indignation.
declared that
Even Mr.
it
Botts,
who had opposed
was " a hornet's nest,
61
full
of
the gag rule,
fifty
thousand
�482
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
young hornets." He was willing to receive the petition of the
but he asserted that George
poorest and humblest citizen
Latimer was " not a citizen of the United States."
It is stated, on the authority of David Lee Child, that to a
Virginian, who came to Mr. Adams's seat and asked who
;
George Latimer was, he replied
"
:
He
is
the son of a very re-
spectable gentleman of Norfolk, in Virginia, a
member
of one
of the most distinguished and respectable families in that State,
and a
citizen of the
Adams moved
to
Commonwealth
Mr.
of Massachusetts."
suspend the rules relating to petitions, and
end of the third day he obtained a vote upon his mowhich there were eighty to one hundred and six, every
Northern Whig voting for a suspension of the rules, and thirtyfive Northern Democrats voting against it.
Failing to obtain
a suspension of the rules, Mr. Adams placed the petition in the
hands of the Clerk of the House under the standing rule.
at the
tion, for
The
resolution of Massachusetts, proposing an
sentation
upon "
amendment
United States, so as to base repre-
to the Constitution of the
free persons,"
was presented
House by
to the
He moved
Mr. Adams, on the 21st of December, 1843.
reference to a select committee of nine members.
its
Mr. Wise
immediately arose, and, with great warmth of manner, said
he would now strike his
flag.
oppose nothing, and leave
it
From
to the
that day forth he would
gentleman from Massa-
chusetts and others to take the responsibility.
hands, amid great sensation
around him, he exclaimed
among
the members,
" I say solemnly before God, as a
:
Southern man, that we are worsted in this
no hope
for
destroyed."
country, that he
to infringe the
From
this
I
your rights.
He
fight.
withdraw from the fight. I say to my
the way this battle has been fought, there is
day forth and forever
constituents that,
Lifting his
who crowded
Your
declared, in the
left
doomed
God and
interests are
name
of
to be
of his
the awful responsibility upon the North
Constitution.
however, to renew the
He
solemnly pledged himself,
— not
on that floor, but before
and the people of the country.
Mr. Holmes of South Carolina said the gentleman from Virbut he would renew the
ginia might retire from the contest
battle,
his constituents
;
�PROPOSED AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION.
483
day after day, so long as the waves were rolling from the
North and threatening to overwhelm them. But, instead of
battle,
relinquishing the struggle on that floor, he would sound the
and give battle at once with the gentleman from Masand those who were with him engaged in fierce
hostility against their countrymen, and who were then striving
to take from them their rights of representation.
tocsin,
sachusetts,
Amid
the excitement Mr.
Adams remained
calm.
He
re-
minded members that these were the resolutions of the Democratic legislature of Massachusetts, for in both branches the
Democrats were in the majority. He expressed his regret that
the gentlemen from Virginia and South Carolina, one of whom
renounced the " war " and the other renewed it, should indulge in such martial and belligerent figures of speech. That
hall, he said, was no fit place for battle of any kind.
It was a
it was a place for the deliberation
met to consult upon themes of common interest.
He said that Wise had never done a " wiser " thing than to
abandon a position no longer tenable and he advised Holmes
to strip off the glittering armor in which he had clad himself,
take off his epaulets and throw away his sword, and follow the
example of Wise, and retire from a position which, " thank
God Almighty," was no longer tenable. He said he was not,
and never had been, an Abolitionist in the sense of any abolition society he was acquainted with
but he believed, with Jef-
place
for deliberation
;
of friends
;
;
ferson, that the
God
of nature had decreed the freedom of the
and the sooner it came the better. In the sense that
Thomas Jefferson was an Abolitionist he was one. He hoped
the day would come when slavery would be a word without a
meaning in the English language, when there should not be
found a slave on all the earth. That, he thought, would be the
consummation of the Christian religion the fulfilment of the
glorious promises and prophecies of the Old Testament, confirmed by the gospel of the New. He said he had little comslaves,
;
panionship with antislavery associations.
ions from
which was
tion of
it
He
held his opin-
God and from
the Declaration of Independence,
permitted to hang in that hall, " however any por-
may in
practice have been turned out of doors."
He
�484
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
EISE
IN AMERICA.
Union and to the Conand with the emphatic denial of the power of the House
refuse to receive a petition for the amendment of any of its
closed by expressing his devotion to the
stitution,
to
parts.
The resolutions were then referred to a select committee of
which Mr. Adams was made chairman. There were six reports.
The report signed by Mr. Adams and Mr. Giddings, and written by Mr. Adams, was a terrible arraignment of the supporters of slavery, especially for their denial of the right of petiIt asserted that slavery
tion.
the gospel
;
was opposed
to the teachings of
that the Declaration of Independence embodied the
essential doctrines of Christianity
sacred pledge, in the
name
and that
;
it
constituted a
of God, to abolish slavery as soon
as practicable, and to substitute freedom in
its
stead.
It vin-
dicated the action of Massachusetts, in proposing the amend-
ment
for the purification of the
common
Constitution from that
unnatural and inconsistent element of a slave representation in
the government of a free people.
The
report proposed to refer
the question to the next session of Congress.
ity of the
While a major-
committee could not concur in signing either of the
several reports prepared, they did agree in the opinion that the
amendment proposed by Massachusetts should not be recommended and the House adopted a resolution to that effect,
;
with only thirteen dissenting votes.
When
the resolutions were presented to the Senate by Mr.
Bates, they were denounced in vituperative and violent lan-
guage.
Mr. King of Alabama characterized them as seditious,
incendiary, and revolutionary, deserving the condemnation and
execration of every well-wisher of the government.
To
this
upon Massachusetts and her people, and to these misrepresentations of the proposed amendment, no reply was
made. Mr. Bates, avowing that he had no desire to excite
discussion, asked that the resolutions be laid on the table and
printed.
But this modest request was denied by the chivalric defenders of State sovereignty
and the Senate refused
to print them by a vote of more than two to one.
To add to
assault
;
this indignity, the resolutions of
Georgia replying to those of
Massachusetts had been received and ordered to be printed.
�PROPOSED AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION.
485
Mr. Bates, though reminding the Senate that Georgia had
received a courtesy which had been denied to Massachusetts,
did not renew the motion to print, nor was there any South-
ern senator sufficiently magnanimous to do
Instead of
it.
any humiliation at such discourtesy, the slaveholding
members rather gloried in the deed as an evidence of their
feeling
power, and of the helplessness of those they held in a vassal-
As Force
age hardly less degrading than that of their slaves.
was the only
whose claims they
magnanimity fell
and
courtesy,
divinity they worshipped, or
heeded, the voices of justice,
but lightly upon their ears.
This indignity put upon Massachusetts was, however, keenly
felt
Nor were they satisfied with the action of
They thought that Mr. Bates and Mr. Choate
by her people.
their senators.
should have repelled the aspersions cast upon their State, denounced the discourtesy of the Senate, and vindicated the
action of the legislature.
That feeling soon found utterance
in the legislature itself.
When
pending
the resolutions against the annexation of Texas were
in
the Senate,
Henry Wilson
of Middlesex
moved
an amendment requesting
Massachusetts senators in
Con-
gress to prevent,
the
consummation of that
slave-
holding scheme.
if possible,
The
resolution implied a rebuke for their
timid action, and Mr. Wilson
commented
characterized as their want of spirit.
He
freely
on what he
wished to
call their
upon the question of slavery the
sober earnest that it wished " them to feel,
act as Massachusetts men, who have been
attention to the fact that
legislature
to
was in
think, and to
;
reared under the institutions of the Pilgrim Fathers, should
think, feel,
and
act."
Mr. Wilson's amendment was unanimously adopted.
The
resolution, however, was amended in the House by the inser-
words " Representatives in Congress," which, of
course, destroyed its significance and thwarted its purpose.
But t\m Senate refused to concur in the amendment, and firmly
adhered to the original resolution.
Charles Francis Adams
tion of the
spoke strongly against receding.
dissatisfied with the
The
people, he said, were
action of their senators, and
it
was due
�486
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
them that they should know what the people expected of
them. The resolution said to them that Massachusetts would
to
would make great exertions for the
There was a sharp debate in the House upon the
question of receding from its amendment. Mr. Boutwell, then
the leader of the Democratic party, spoke in favor of receding and Mr. Richardson, a young Democratic member from
forgive the past if they
future.
;
Woburn, advocated
the
same
"
policy.
Our Representatives in
They
Congress," he said, "have behaved themselves like men.
have stood
like rocks, like
beacons in the wide waste
Senators did not dare to rise
when
;
but our
the fame, honor, and integ-
The House, however,
hundred and fifteen to one hundred
and twenty-eight, to recede from its amendment. A committee of conference was appointed, and it was agreed to strike
out of the resolutions that which referred to the senators.
Mr. Saltonstall, chairman of the committee of conference, on
the part of the House, and who, perhaps, had done more than
any one to prevent the passage of the resolution in that body,
assured the senatorial members of the committee that the
object for which the resolution had been introduced had been
already attained, and that both of the senators felt very keenly
the criticisms which had been made in the legislature upon
rity of
Massachusetts were attacked."
refused, by a vote of one
their course.
Virginia went farther than any of her sister States in the
condemnation of the proposition of Massachusetts to amend
the Constitution.
Her legislature not only denounced the
proposition, but requested the governor to return to the executive of Massachusetts the resolutions that had been transmitted to him. This act of discourtesy not only showed how
deeply the proposed amendment incensed the Slave Power, but
also a lack of good breeding and comity of manners, to which
qualities the slave-masters ever laid large claim, but of which
this
and similar acts revealed them
to be sadly destitute.
governor complied with the request.
The
was transmitted by Governor Briggs
to the legislature,
referred to a special committee.
The
action of Virginia
Linus Child,
its
and
chairman,
reported that the action of Virginia was without precedent
�PROPOSED AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION.
in derogation of the rights of the States
;
and
487
in violation of
the courtesies which should characterize the proceedings of
The doctrines embodied in the original resoluwere restated and reaffirmed, and this report was unani-
sister States.
tions
mously adopted-
shown
in both houses.
to Massachusetts, while
To aggravate
it
reveals
and
the discourtesy
illustrates
the
constant humiliations imposed upon the free States by the insolent power that ruled, the resolutions of Virginia, in which
a deliberate insult had been offered to a sister State, were pre-
sented in the Senate of the United States, and were courteously received by that body, which had, with studied disrespect,
refused to print the original resolution to which these were
the response.
�CHAPTER XXXIV.
INTERMARRIAGE LAW OF MASSACHUSETTS.
— CASTE.
— Petitions. — Report of Mr. Lincoln. — Debate. —
— Mr. Bradburn's
— General Howe's
— Sharp
Debate. — Repeal of the Law. — Colored Persons excluded from the Cars. —
Scene on the Eastern Railroad. — Action of the Legislature. — Colored Schools.
— Controversy in Nantucket. — Petitions to the Legislature. — Mr. Barrett's
— Defeated. — Mr. Wilson's Motion to reconsider. — Earnest Debate. —
The Law
of Massachusetts.
Mr. Davis's Report.
Bill.
Reconsidered.
The
shall
—
Bill.
Bill passed.
— Action
of Boston School Committee.
Divine declaration that what a
he reap
is
Nowhere has the
Bill.
man
soweth that also
quite as true of nations as of individuals.
nature
retributive
of sin
appeared more
manifest than in the history of American slavery.
For long
years after the guilty cause has disappeared have the wretched
effects
remained.
Even
in Massachusetts, first
among
the old
thirteen States to discard slavery, did the consequences linger
in
some of her laws,
dices which in
pertinacity, set at
ity, to
in the
customs of society, and
many minds,
in preju-
with unreasoning and unfeeling
naught the principles of justice and human-
say nothing of the sublime principles of Christianity.
Like the vicious indulgences of youth, though discarded in
riper years,
it left its
Though
many bitter legacies behind to
and make work for after genera-
enfeebling effects in the system.
early in form removed,
it left
temper of the people
The law against the intermarriage of blacks with
whites, the rules in many cities and towns against colored
test the
tions.
children attending the same schools with whites, and the regulations
on some railroads excluding blacks from the cars of
whites, were examples.
These invidious discriminations and obnoxious regulations
were among the early objects of assault by the Abolitionists.
�THE INTERMARRIAGE LAW OF MASSACHUSETTS.
489
In the session of 1839 several petitions were presented, praying for the repeal of the act against intermarriage.
these petitions
were from women, — a
fact
Some
of
which subjected them
special reproach not only in the public press, but in the
to
The petitions were referred to the Commiton the Judiciary, which reported that the petitioners have
leave to withdraw.
This report was made by William Lincoln
legislature itself.
tee
of Worcester, brother of the ex-governor, Levi Lincoln.
Its
and purport may be gathered from a single paragraph
" Lest future historians should form an erroneous estimate of
spirit
:
the manners and morals of the age,
it
is
desirable to afford
these persons, styling themselves ladies, an opportunity to
reconsider their opinions on matrimonial and constitutional
and
rights,
to
remove their names from the
rolls
on which
they are written."
The
repeal of the law
was vigorously
member
of the House, opposed any legislation in a
Referring to a petition signed by a large
vituperative speech.
number
of ladies in Dorchester, he
the opinion
press
by Franklin
Minot Thayer, too, a
Dexter, an eminent lawyer of Boston.
veteran
resisted
that
had the bad
taste to ex-
there were not ten virtuous
women
among them.
George Bradburn, then a representative from Nantucket,
defended the petitioners, and advocated the principle embodied in their petition.
He
replied with merciless severity to
the arguments of Dexter and Thayer
and in response to
would encourage amalgamation,
on the contrary, it would most effectually
;
their assertion that the repeal
he asserted that,
discourage
At
tive
it.
the session of 1840, George T. Davis, then a representa-
from Greenfield, reported in favor of repealing the law.
The report maintained that the act sprung from social prejudices
was based on the idea of social inequality was unequal
and invidious in its operations facilitated injustice and promoted licentiousness. " This law," it said, " is the last relic
of the old slave code of Massachusetts, and is the only legisla;
;
;
tive
recognition to be found in our statute-book of inequality
among
the different races of our citizens.
62
It
stands in direct
�490
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
and odious contrast with
other particulars.
IN AMERICA.
our principles and our practice in
all
lie to the sentiments which we
have heretofore expressed to Congress and the world on the
subject of slavery
for, by denying to our colored fellow-citi-
It gives
the
;
zens the privileges and immunities of freemen,
assert their inequality,
ery which represents
and
it
we
virtually
justify that theory of negro slav-
as a necessary state of tutelage
and
guardianship."
In the debate that followed, Mr. Bradburn maintained that
had not the word " white " in it originally, but pro-
the law
vided that no person of a Christian nation should marry a
negro or mulatto and that in 1786 Indians were included,
and the word " white " then inserted. He asserted that the
;
law was
unconstitutional, authorized robbery, encouraged
amalgamation, and abrogated the law of God. Mr. Theophilus Parsons, then a member from the city of Boston, admitted that he had been opposed to the passage of the bill but
;
had been overcome, and he should then vote for
Thayer, Dexter, and Lincoln, who had so strenuously
his objections
it.
opposed the repeal
If they
opposition.
preceding session, continued their
at the
were
less vituperative, they
The
hostility.
majority of one.
then passed the Senate
It
bill
were no
less
passed the House by a
determined in their
;
but was defeated
House on its engrossment.
But the Abolitionists and the other friends of equal rights
were persistent. Petitions were presented in 1841 and Mr.
Bradburn, from a committee to which they were referred,
brought in a bill to repeal the obnoxious law, accompanied by
an elaborate report. It failed, however, in the House. A
in the
;
similar bill
was reported
Howe.
passed that body by the casting vote of
It
to the Senate
by General Appleton
its presi-
dent, Daniel P. King, afterward a representative in Congress.
It
was, however, defeated in the House by a majority of thirty-
six.
Not discouraged by
this defeat, the antislavery
men
of
Massachusetts again appealed to the people and to the legislature.
At the next session a
bill
was reported in the Senate by
Seth Sprague, Jr., and passed that body by a vote of twentyfour to nine.
�THE INTERMARRIAGE LAW OF MASSACHUSETTS.
In the House an earnest debate arose.
cratic
491
Mr. Marcy, a Demo-
member from Greenwich, denounced
vation,
the bill as an innowhich would be speedily followed by another, allowing
Mr. Gibbens,
declared
that
he
rather
merchant
Boston,
would
follow
a
of
his daughter to the tomb than that she should be married to a
He denounced the measure as an experiment
black man.
the blacks to ride in the cars with the whites.
fraught with the most disastrous consequences to the manners
and morals of the people.
John
mently opposed the passage of the
stitutionality
lature,
C.
bill,
Park of Boston veheand maintained the con-
and expediency of the existing law.
The
legis-
he said, could pass laws for the preservation of hens
improvement of the breeds of cattle,
the question came of preserving
their own race from the deterioration which must inevitably
follow amalgamation, their constitutional scruples were interand
fishes,
and
for the
sheep, and pigs
;
but
when
posed.
Seth J. Thomas, a representative from Charlestown, one
of the leaders of the Democratic party, declared that conservatism was the " party of yesterday " ; but he belonged to
the party of to-day,
and was in favor of turning the world
" The
topsy turvy, providing things were made better by it.
black man," he said, " will have his day, and I want
have
it
him
peaceably, else he will be obliged to use force, which
the last resort of kings.
although
I
should regret
And
it,
if
that necessity
is
to
is
resorted to,
human
yet in the great cause of
rights I should rush into the battle as gladly as I
bridal-feast."
would to a
His subsequent course hardly warranted quite
so confident a boast.
it,
He
that in a few years he
did not anticipate,
when he
uttered
would be found, not rushing
to the
rescue of the fearful and fainting fugitive, but as the paid
attorney in the ignoble work of remanding
him back to the
bondage from which he was vainly striving to escape.
Charles Francis Adams, complimenting Mr. Park on his
eloquent speech, proceeded to reply to it in a clear and unanswerable argument. Henry Wilson, a representative from
Natick, avowed himself in favor of the repeal of the act,
as it was founded on inequality and caste.
No act of that
�492
kind, he
He
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
asserted,
dishonored other
IN AMERICA.
New England
.
States.
was not inspired by political, but by
it might be defeated then, it
would ultimately be enacted. It was only a question of time.
It was shown by John P. Robinson of Lowell that the law had
been passed as a protection against heathenism and paganism,
that the question of its constitutionality had been evaded by
the Supreme Court, that it had become a dead letter, and that
Prejudice and passion, however, again
it ought to be repealed.
triumphed, and the bill was defeated by a majority of four.
At the next session the Democrats had a majority in
both houses of the legislature.
A bill repealing the law was
reported in the Senate by George Hood of Essex County,
which passed without a division. In the House it was opposed
by Gibbens and Park of Boston, and supported by Whitmarsh
of Seekonk, Prince of Essex, Wheatland of Salem, and Adams
declared that the
humane motives
of Boston
It
;
but
;
it
bill
and, though
passed by a decided majority.
was the same unchristian prejudice, with
far less apparent
reason, which induced the regulations adopted by railroads to
exclude persons of color from the ordinary passenger cars,
and compelled them
to ride in cars
by themselves, or some-
times, without regard to tastes, character, or means, in " second-class " cars, bare and comfortless, the enforced receptacle
who from any cause would not or could not take their
The two railroad corporations in Masseats in the first class.
sachusetts, which were prominent in making and enforcing
of
all
these odious regulations, were the Eastern and
On
the
New
New
Bedford.
Bedford road, outrages were often perpetrated on
persons of color, and sometimes on those friends
strated against their treatment.
gles, a colored
man
who remon-
In the year 1841 David Rug-
New
York, who had aided six hundred
servitude, was ejected
earnest
protest
of Rev. John M.
against the
of
of his countrymen in escaping from
from the
cars,
Spear, for the simple offence of taking a seat with white pas-
He brought an action in the Police Court of New
Bedford against the employees of the company for an aggravated assault but Justice Crapo promptly discharged the
sengers.
;
defendants.
�493
CASTE.
Scenes of violence were of frequent occurrence on the
Colored persons of intelligence and char-
Eastern Railroad.
acter were, in several instances, violently dragged from the
cars occupied by white passengers
;
and
some cases
in
their
friends,
who remonstrated
against such brutality, were treated
in like
manner.
Among
the persons forcibly ejected from
these cars was Frederick Douglass,
among
the most gifted
The general agent of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society was repeatedly insulted, while travelling upon
that road, for remonstrating against its unjust and inhuman
of his race.
usages
;
and
in
one instance he received blows and kicks,
On one
the effects of which were felt for weeks.
man
well-known colored
occasion a
being ejected, and Dr. Daniel
Mann
and several white passengers remonstrating against such conduct, the latter were dragged from the cars, and prohibited
from continuing their journey " unless they behaved themselves."
Dr.
Mann
brought an action in the police court of
Boston against the conductor of the train
;
but he failed to
obtain any redress for such high-handed outrages.
This conduct excited the deepest indignation.
Public meet-
ings were held, the managers of the road censured, and the
interference of the legislature invoked.
The " Lynn Record,"
edited by Daniel
Henshaw, a gentleman of
integrity, charac-
and moral courage, denounced the ruffianism of such proceedings in the most direct and fearless manner.
ter,
In spite, however, of
all
remonstrances, the managers of
that corporation persisted in the enforcement of their harsh
and unjust regulations. A striking instance of this was manifested on the return from his foreign tour of Charles Lenox
Remond. He was a native of Salem, a gentleman of intelligence, of personal worth, and prepossessing manners.
In
England, Avhere he had spent nearly two years, he had vindicated the cause of the oppressed, and had won the confidence
and applause of the British Abolitionists. He was everywhere
hailed as the champion of his race, and treated with the most
friendly and respectful consideration.
He bore from England the warmest sympathies and best wishes of the friends
of emancipation.
He was commissioned
to bear the address
�494
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
of sixty thousand Irishmen to their countrymen in America,
headed by the names of Daniel CTConnell and Father Mathew.
Arriving in Boston, he went to the Eastern Railroad Station
He was not allowed,
to take passage for his home in Salem.
however, to take his seat with the other passengers, but com-
what was
pelled to occupy
eral
Jim Crow " car. Sevwelcome him on his
and took seats with him. They
called the "
of his white friends, wishing to
met him
return,
at the station,
were ordered, however, by the conductor, to leave voluntarily,
Thus was this gentleman of charor to be removed by force.
acter
and
culture, fresh
from his travels and the
hospitalities
of the best families of England, rudely
and roughly treated
And
not only that, but so
on his arrival in his native State.
and implacable was the prejudice that it visited
upon his admiring friends a kind of vicarious punishment for
the crime of cherishing and exhibiting anything like feelings
of regard and sympathy in his behalf.
Petitions and memorials were sent to the legislature demanding legislation against such arbitrary proceedings, and that protection which could not be obtained from the managers of the
roads or from the judicial tribunals. These were referred to a
committee before whom there was a public hearing. The committee was addressed by Wendell Phillips, Mr. Remond, and
Ellis Gray Loring.
A bill was reported by Seth Sprague, Jr.
but interest and prejudice bore sway, and it failed to pass the
Senate.
The outrages continuing, similar petitions were presented at the next session, and a bill was reported to the
House but it failed of enactment, being indefinitely postponed by a majority of more than one hundred. Mr. Adams,
inveterate
;
;
a
member
of the committee that reported the
bill,
admitted
There
were but two railroads that made the obnoxious regulations
which he thought should be at once abandoned. He doubted
whether the time had come for a general law, and advised
the legality, but doubted the expediency, of such a law.
waiting to see
if
the point could not be gained without legis-
lation.
The managers
of these corporations, seeing the determined
purpose of the friends
of freedom and
the temper of
the
�CASTE.
legislature, adopted
495
Mr. Adams's advice, and gave up their
and tyrannical regulations.
arbitrary discriminations
So an-
other victory was won, and another of the hateful relics of the
slave system, that once disgraced the land of the Pilgrims,
was
removed.
Many
of the large towns and cities in Massachusetts de-
manded
separation
schools
and
between black and white pupils in the
seminaries
schools, sustained
of
by law,
to
learning.
whose
Even the
common
benefits all were -entitled
without distinction of color, did not escape the hateful
Though
crimination.
yet
all
To put
all
were equally taxed
dis-
for their support,
could not alike partake of the privileges they afforded.
the brand of inferiority
childhood, to lay upon
burdens as
it
upon innocent and unoffending
unnecessary as well as unrighteous
started on the journey of
it
life,
found by
oppressors, with all the advantages of birth, position,
superior culture, at best, hard and harsh enough,
disgraceful as
Many saw
it
was as
its
and
really
was unchristian.
the gross injustice and undeserved opprobrium
involved in such discrimination, and
its
manifest tendency to
perpetuate the existence and evils of caste in communities
where such a policy was adopted. Protests in various forms
were entered against it. In the city of Salem there sprang
up a sharp controversy. Stephen C. Phillips, its mayor, maintained the right of the colored children to the full and complete benefit of the common schools.
And it was chiefly
through his influence that a legal opinion was obtained from
Richard Fletcher, one of the most eminent and conscientious
lawyers of the State, in which he maintained that these schools
were contrary to the constitution of the Commonwealth.
In Nantucket, too, the same matter became the subject of an
excited controversy.
It
was brought before the town
in 1844,
by the report of the school committee recommending that no
discrimination should be made between the children of the
two races. The report was not, however, sustained, but was
A resolution was carried in town
meeting that colored children should be instructed by themselves, if deemed practicable by the school committee.
A
indefinitely postponed.
�496
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
portion, however, of the citizens, aggrieved
held a public meeting, largely attended by
enlightened of
Shaw.
They
its
by
this decision,
many
of the most
inhabitants, and presided over by
protested against the
John H.
action of the town as
unchristian, as a flagrant violation of the State constitution
and of the laws of the Commonwealth, and as imposing an
They invoked the friends of
additional tax upon the people.
law and order, morality and religion, freedom and equality, to
act in defence of the just claims of their colored population.
In 1845 petitions were presented to the legislature in favor
They were
of legislation.
referred to the Committee on Edu-
was reported to the Senate
by Mr. Barrett of Hampshire, providing that any child unlawfully excluded from the public schools should be entitled to
Comrecover damages in the courts of the Commonwealth.
ing up for consideration on the 18th of February, it was
cation, hearings were had, and a
bill
rejected.
The next day Mr. Wilson moved a reconsideration
vote by which
it
was
rejected.
He
of the
expressed his regret at
which he represented as the most important that had come up during the session. " It concerned,"
he said, " the rights and feelings of a large but humble portion
of our people, whose interests should be watched over and
cared for by the legislature, whose imperative duty it was,
when complaints were made of the invasion of the rights of
the poorest and humblest, to provide a remedy that should be
He said
full and ample to secure and guard all his rights."
Massachuof
glory
pride
and
the
system,
common-school
the
setts, was based upon the principle of perfect equality, and
the failure of the
bill,
that the distinction set up at Nantucket aimed a blow at its
very existence.
their feelings
The
were
colored people
trifled
felt,
and
rightly, that
with and their rights disregarded.
Denouncing the spirit that excluded colored children from the
" It
full and equal benefits of the common schools, he said
is the same which has drenched the world with blood for
six thousand years, made a slaveholder in South Carolina and
:
a slave-pirate on the coast of Africa."
He
said that those
whose rights he wished to guard and secure had but
little
�497
CASTE.
influence or power
;
while those
and were only too willing to use
who opposed them had both,
them for their own aggran-
dizement.
It was more popular to keep along with the
current of prejudice than by resisting it to be denounced " a
Radical or Abolitionist." " In retiring from the legislature,"
he said, " I am sustained by the consciousness that I have
never uttered a word or given a vote against the rights of any
human
being.
I
had
far rather
thanks of one poor orphan boy
have the
warm and generous
down on
the island of Nan-
may never see, nor even know, than to have the
approbation of every man in the Commonwealth, whether in
this chamber or out of it, who would deny to any child the full
tucket, that I
and equal benefits of our public schools."
Mr. Adams of Suffolk thought, if white children left the
common school because colored children were admitted, the
sooner they went the better.
Such distinctions in the common schools sanctioned an aristocracy which he did not
acknowledge.
There were several senators, however, who advocated the
Mr. Livermore of Middlesex County avowed
exclusive policy.
his opposition to the proposed legislation.
Referring to some
remonstrants from Nantucket, he said they had fairly shown
that no real injury was inflicted.
If the colored children were
excluded from the High School of Nantucket, " it was not on
account of their color, but of their capacity."
"I dislike,"
he said, " the philanthropic hobby-horses, and am not disposed to mount any of them." Mr. Clifford of Bristol, after-
ward attorney-general and governor, warmly eulogized the
people and schools of Nantucket, and denied that the colored children there were deprived of their privileges.
He
would not sacrifice, he said, the larger class for the benefit
of the smaller.
Mr. Park of Suffolk traced the history and
establishment of the Smith School in Boston. Referring to
the objection of the greater distance some colored children
must walk by this arrangement, he said " Boys in the country have frequently to walk miles through the snows of winter
:
to attend the district school."
ty opposed
any action.
63
Mr. Stone of Worcester Coun-
If the bill passed,
he
said, " interest
�498
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
in the public schools
By
raised.
would be
and
less
money would be
driving the colored children in, they will drive
the white children out."
if
lost,
IN AMERICA.
Mr. Lawrence of Hampshire said
they could legislate to the last
moment
of time they could
not change or remedy the difficulty complained of. "The
Ethiopian," he said, " cannot change his skin, nor the leopard
his spot
;
neither can the white
man
prejudices against the colored race.
change his
I
tastes,
do not justify
nor his
it
;
I de-
and we cannot change it."
After an earnest debate, Mr. Wilson's motion was adopted
by a large majority, and the bill was then committed to the
judiciary committee.
That committee reported a bill in
accordance with the prayer of the petitioners, which passed
and became the law of the Commonwealth.
A few weeks after the passage of the act a petition was presented to the school committee of Boston, from the colored
plore
it.
citizens,
But
it
exists,
praying that " separate schools for colored children
should be abolished, and that said children be permitted to
tend the schools in their several districts."
were made by Dr. Henry
I.
Vigorous
at-
efforts
Bowditch, in which he was earnestly
supported by Albert J. Wright and Dr. Charles A. Phelps.
petitioners was rejected by a vote of
The spirit of caste still lingered in porof the Commonwealth, and legislation so just and equita-
But the prayer of the
twelve to forty-five.
tions
ble could not then be secured.
�CHAPTER XXXY.
POSITION OF THE COLORED PEOPLE.
— FREDERICK
DOUGLASS.
— Diverse Influences of Slavery and Freedom.
— At— Cruelties of Slavery
tempts
escape. — Sent to Baltimore. — Became a Ship-caulker. — Escaped
to New York. — Introduced to Mr. Ruggjes. — Arrived at New Bedford. —
Works in a Ship-yard. — Addresses an Antislavery Convention in Nantucket.
— Impressions made upon Garrison and Rogers. — Becomes Agent of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society. — Wonderful Effects of his Speeches. — His
Devotion to the Cause of his Race. — Publishes his Autobiography. — Visits
England. — Reasons
going. — Establishes the "North Star." — Immense
Sentiments of the Colored People.
— Childhood of
Frederick Douglass.
illustrated.
to
for
Labors of Twenty Years.
While
the free colored people instinctively distrusted the
Colonization Society, and withheld their confidence from
it,
they at once and heartily accepted the abolition movement.
This was especially true of the more intelligent and well-in-
Among
formed.
seeing
sential
same
its
the colored ministers there were several who,
religious
as well as
aid to the cause.
A
humane
bearings, rendered es-
few others did something in the
direction, arousing public attention
and quickening the
zeal of the friends of freedom.
But
1841 a champion arose in the person of Frederick
in
who was destined to play an important part in the
great drama then in progress.
In him not only did the colored race but manhood itself find a worthy representative and
advocate one who was a signal illustration, not only of selfDouglass,
;
culture and success
under the most adverse circumstances, but
of the fact that talent and genius are " color-blind," and above
the accidents of complexion and birth.
He, too, furnished an
example of the terrible necessities of slavery, and its purpose
and power to crush out the human soul as also of the benign
energies of freedom to arouse, to develop, and enlarge its high;
�500
est
RISE
AXD FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
and noblest
faculties,
ing in the attempt, to
chattel
and
;
IN AMERICA.
— the one aiming, and almost succeed-
make him a mere mindless and
purposeless
the other actually and indissolubly linking his
labors-
in Europe.
name
with the antislavery cause, both in this country and
As few
of the world's great
checkered and diversified a career, so
bly claimed that no
man
it
men have ever had so
may be at least plausi-
represents in himself more conflicting
ideas and interests.
His life is in itself an epic which finds
few to equal it in the realms of either romance or reality.
Frederick Douglass was born on the Eastern Shore, Mary-
land, about the year 1817.
According to the necessities of
slavery and the usual practice of slave-masters, he was taken
from his mother when an infant, consequently deprived of even
the rude care which maternal instinct might have prompted,
and placed under the guardianship of his grandmother, with
whom he lived until he was seven years of age. At the age of
ten he was sent to Baltimore, to be the companion and protector
of the son of a young married couple, who, in consequence of
general refinement of character and his proposed relation to
This change
their darling boy, treated him, at first, kindly.
Mr. Douglass ever regarded as a providential interposition,
as the turning-point where his pathway, leaving the descending grade of slave life, entered upon that which led him in
that widely divergent and upward direction it has since pur-
—
sued.
Leaving the rude experience of the plantation, with the
barren and desert-like surroundings of the Eastern Shore, for
the bustle and necessary companionship of the city, an opportun-
read was afforded him, which he most seduand successfully, though surreptitiously, improved. But
the friendliness which his master and mistress had so generously extended to him as an ignorant slave, they felt obliged,
by the necessities of the system, to withhold from him now
ity of learning to
lously
that he could read, and had learned to question the rightful-
ness of slavery and to chafe under
its
chains.
Returned to the Eastern Shore, he encountered the rigors
of plantation life, greatly increased by the drunken caprices
of an intemperate master, and doubtless aggravated by his
own impatient and contumacious rebellings under such slave-
�501
FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
This, however, was hut a prelude to an ex-
holding restraint.
perience graver and
ling
young
still
more
tragic.
Despairing of control-
— as men
care of horse-trainers —
owner placed him
Douglass himself, his
place their unbroken colts under the
hands of a professed negro-breaker, known through the
who had not only gained
in the
region as a cruel and merciless man,
that reputation, but found
maintain
it
Concerning
it.
necessary or for his interest to
change Mr. Douglass remarks,
this
comparative tenderness " with which
he had been treated at Baltimore " I was now about to sound
after referring to the "
:
profounder depths in slave
The
life.
rigors of a field less tol-
That his ap-
me."
erable than the field of battle were before
prehensions were not groundless these extracts, taken from his
autobiography, abundantly show " I had not been in his pos:
session three whole days before he subjected
Under
brutal chastisement.
freely
the wales were left on
;
The
finger.
for
weeks."
I lived
I
a
to
most
my
back as large as
my
little
my
back from this whipping continued
remained with Mr. Corey one year, cannot say
sores on
"
me
heavy blows blood flowed
his
with him, and during the
months that
six
first
I
was
there I was whipped either with sticks or cowskins every week.
Aching bones and a sore back were
my
constant companions.
Frequently as the lash was used, however, Mr. Corey thought
it, as a means of breaking down my spirit, than of hard
and long-continued labor. He worked me steadily up to the
From the dawn of day in
point of my powers of endurance.
the morning till the darkness was complete in the evening, I
was kept at hard work in the field or the woods."
less of
He
gave accounts of individual cases of brutal chastiserevolting almost beyond conception
ment which were
his concise description of himself " as a living
;
while
embodiment of
mental and physical wretchedness " seems but a natural result.
" A few months of discipline," he says, " tamed me. Mr. Corey
succeeded in breaking me.
spirit.
My
guished
;
I
was broken in body,
natural elasticity was crushed
the disposition to read departed
that lingered about
closed in upon
my
me and
;
eye died
behold a
;
;
;
my
soul,
and
intellect lan-
the cheerful spark
the dark night of slavery
man transformed
into a brute."
�502
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
Having completed
another and more
IN AMERICA.
was hired out to
But the iron of slavery
his year with Corey, he
humane
master.
rankled in his soul, and he could not endure
its
galling re-
however softened by kindness. After long rumination upon the subject, and conferences with four or five of his
companions in bondage, he proposed and planned an attempt
Betrayed, however, by a confederate, they were
to escape.
prevented from carrying their attempt into execution, and were
Instead of being " sold South "
arrested and imprisoned.
that dreaded alternative of success, which held back thousands
he was sent again to Baltimore.
from making the attempt
Being nearly murdered by the carpenters of a ship-yard, because
straints,
—
—
of their jealousy of slave competition with white labor,
—a
crime for which no indictment could be found, though sought,
because no white witnesses would testify against his brutal assailants,
— he was sent
to another yard to learn the trade of a
Becoming an expert workman, he was permitted to
make his own contracts, returning his week's wages every Saturday night to his master. At the same time
which was of
he was permitted to associate with
more importance to him
some free colored men, who had formed a kind of lyceum for
their mutual improvement, and by means of which he was enabled to increase materially his knowledge and mental culture.
calker.
—
—
All of this, however, did but increase his sense of the essential
injustice of slavery,
and make him more
restive
under
its gall-
Accordingly he made his plans, now successful,
and on the third day of September, 1838, he says, " I bade
ing chains.
and to that slavery which had
For prudential reasons
the particulars of his mode of escape were withheld from the
public knowledge, as they were of little comparative importance while, had they been known then, they might have
compromised some and hedged up the way of escape of others.
Landing in New York, a homeless, penniless, and friendless
" In the midst of
fugitive, he thus describes his feelings
In
thousands of my fellow-men, and yet a perfect stranger
the midst of human brothers, and yet more fearful of them
than of hungry wolves
I was without home, without friends,
farewell to the city of Baltimore,
been
my
abhorrence from childhood."
;
:
!
!
�FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
503
without work, without money, and without any definite knowledge of which way to go or where to look for succor." In
the midst of his perplexities he met a sailor, whose seeming
frankness and honesty won, as they deserved, his confidence.
He
introduced
him
to
David Ruggles, chairman of the Vigi-
lance Committee, a colored gentleman of much intelligence,
energy, and worth,
did
to
much
New
who by
for his people.
his position
and executive
ability
This gentleman advised him to go
Bedford, Massachusetts, assisted
him
in reaching that
and introduced him to trustworthy friends there. Here
he was employed, mostly as a day laborer on the wharves, encountering the same shameful and unmanly jealousy of colored
competition that had nearly cost him his life at Baltimore,
and which would not allow him to work at his trade as
Being a professing Chriscalker by the side of white men.
tian, he was interested in religious meetings, where he was
accustomed to pray and exhort, a practice which probably
had something to do with his wonderful subsequent success
city,
as a public speaker.
The
first
demonstration of his eloquence which attracted
public attention was at a meeting mainly of colored people, in
which were specially considered the claims of the Colonization
Society.
Here began
to be emitted
specimens of that
fiery
eloquence from his capacious soul, burning with the indignant
and unfading memories of the wrongs, outrages, and the deep
which slavery had inflicted on him, and which it was
now inflicting upon his brethren in bonds. Of course, the few
white Abolitionists of New Bedford were not long in finding
out the young fugitive, appreciating his gifts and promise of
usefulness, and in devising ways of extending his range of
effort for their unpopular cause.
Attending an antislavery
convention at Nantucket, he was persuaded to address the
meeting.
His speech here seems to have been singularly eloquent and effective. Among those present was Mr. Garrison,
injustice
who
bore his testimony, both then and afterward, to " the
own mind, and
extraordinary emotion
it
powerful impression
exerted upon a crowded auditory."
it
exerted on his
declared, too, that " Patrick
Henry had never made
to the
a
He
more
�504
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
eloquent speech in the cause of liberty than the one they had
just listened to from the lips of that hunted fugitive."
Na-
thaniel P. Rogers, editor of the " Herald of Freedom," thus
After
characterized a speech made by him the same year.
"
commanding figure and heroic port," his
speaking of his
head, that " would strike a phrenologist amid a sea of them in
Exeter Hall," he adds
is
:
"Asa
speaker he has few equals.
not declamation, but oratory, power of debate
has wit, argument, sarcasm, pathos,
show
in their
master
that first-rate
all
It
He
men
efforts."
This language, especially that of Mr. Garrison, seems extravagant, and the laudation excessive
;
nor could
it
be ac-
cepted as a general and critical estimate of Mr. Douglass as an
orator, great as his
powers confessedly were and
are.
His
Nantucket speech was unquestionably one of those rare bursts
of eloquence, little less than inspiration itself, which are sometimes vouchsafed to a
man
speaker seems
above himself and to take his audience
with him.
to rise
Besides, there
in his happiest
was
certainly
moods
much
;
when
the
in the circum-
stances and surroundings of that meeting to impress the
minds and stir the sensibilities of such an assembly. On that
isle of the sea, at some distance from the mainland, one could
easily imagine a picture of the nation overshadowed by the
dark cloud of slavery, and prostrate beneath a despotism
pressing alike on the slaves at the South and on their advoIndeed, the latter had just passed
cates at the North.
through a baptism of fire and blood, during those fearful
years of mobs and martyrdom, which had measurably ceased,
but had been succeeded by what the earnest Abolitionist deprecated more than violence, and that was the general apathy
which then reigned.
In the conflict for freedom of speech and the right of free
What they
discussion Abolitionists had achieved a victory.
least, the
at
had contended for had, at length, been conceded
They had conquered a
principle was no longer contested.
;
peace
;
but their opponents were determined
it
should be the
For the wordy warfare of discussion and
the brutal violence of lynch laws they would substitute the
peace of the grave.
�FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
505
To let them severely alone, to belittle their
them by with a supercilious sneer, and to frown
contemptuously upon their attempts to gain a hearing, became
policy of neglect.
cause, to pass
at that time the tactics of the
human
enemies against the advocates
Of course, what were termed antislavery
meetings
of their zest and potency
became less numerously attended, and, consequently, less frequent organizations, losing their interest and effectiveness,
began to die out. Something was necessary to revive and
reanimate the drooping spirits and the languid movements of
the cause and its friends.
It was then, at this opportune moment, while they were thus enveloped in the chill and shade
of
rights.
measures had
lost
much
;
;
most uncomfortable and unsatisfactory state of affairs,
young fugitive appeared upon the stage. He seemed like
a messenger from the dark land of slavery itself as if in his
person his race had found a fitting advocate as if through
his lips their long pent-up wrongs and wisTies had found a
voice
No wonder that Nantucket meeting was greatly moved.
It would not be strange if the words of description and comment of those present and in full sympathy with the youthful
orator should be somewhat extravagant.
The Massachusetts Antislavery Society at once made overtures to Mr. Douglass, and he became one of its accredited
agents.
For this new field of labor, which he reluctantly and
hesitatingly entered, and for which he modestly said he " had
no preparation," the event proved that he was admirably fitted.
In addition to that inborn genius and those natural gifts of
oratory with, which he was so generously endowed, he had the
long and terrible lessons which slavery had burned into his
soul.
The knowledge, too, which he had stolen in the house
of bondage, had enabled him to read the " Liberator " from
week to week, as he was engaged in his hard and humble
labors on the wharves of New Bedford, and thus to become
acquainted with the new thoughts and reasonings of others.
Doubtless many things which had long lain in his own mind
formless and vague he found there more clearly defined and
more logically expressed while the fierceness and force of
of this
the
;
;
;
its
utterances tallied only too well with the all-consuming zeal
64
�506
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
IN
AMERICA.
Thus fitted and commissioned he entered
of his own soul.
upon the great work of his life. Though distrustful of his
abilities, no knight-errant ever sallied forth with higher resolve,
With whatever
or bore himself with more heroic courage.
undertook the proposed service, there was no
diffidence he
lack of earnestness and devotion.
ited one.
Nor was his range a limmove thousands on the
Fitted by his talents to
platform, he
was prepared by
his early experience to be equally
meeting in a country school-house. In
hall or church or grove he was alike effective.
He could
persuasive in a
make himself
little
at
firesides of the
home
in the parlors of the great or by the
He
humble.
could ride in the public convey-
ances from State to State, or tramp on foot from neighbor-
hood to neighborhood. Fertile in expedients and patient in
endeavor, he was not easily balked or driven from his purpose.
In the midst of the prejudices of caste, hardly less strong and
cruel in Massachusetts than in Maryland, he never permitted
these,
however
painful, to divert
him from
If he
his purpose.
could not ride inside the stage, he would ride outside
;
if
he
could not ride in the first-class car, he rocle in the secondclass
;
if
he could not occupy the cabin of the steamer, he
went into the steerage but to these insults to his manhood
he generally interposed his earnest protest, and often only
;
yielded to superior force.
The
character, cuitui'e,
and eloquence displayed by his adwas an impostor, and
dresses provoked the insinuation that he
To silence this imputation,
that he had never been a slave.
he prepared and published, in the spring of 1845, an autobiogAs in it he gave the
raphy, which was widely circulated.
and dates, by which his claims and
it was soon known in Maryland,
friends were given to understand that efforts
names of persons,
places,
statements could be verified,
and he and his
would be made for his recapture.
To
place himself out of the
reach of his pursuers, and, at the same time, help forward his
great work,
He was
it
was proposed that he should
visit
England.
very kindly received there, and visited nearly
large towns and cities of the kingdom.
all
the
In a lecture in Fins-
bury's Chapel, in London, to an audience of three 'thousand,
�FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
why he
he thus answered the question
507
did not confine his
labors to the United States.
"
My first
answer
with
its
the slave
a
is the common enemy
mankind should be made acquainted
because slavery
is,
of mankind, and that
all
My
abominable character.
a
is
man and
man, and
He
a brother.
second answer
as such is entitled to your
has been the prey, the
common
prey,
hundred years and it is
and proper that his wrongs should be known
of Christendom during the last three
but right, just,
that
is,
sympathy as
throughout the world.
I
;
have another reason for bringing this
matter before the British public, and
system of wrong so blinding to
it is
around
all
this
:
slavery
is
a
so hardening to
it,
the heart, so corrupting to the morals, so deleterious to relig-
immediate
ion, so sapping to all the principles of justice in its
community thus connected with
vicinity, that the
moral power necessary to
removal.
its
one nation
equal to
is
removal.
its
lack the
system of such
It is a
gigantic evil, so strong, so overwhelming in
it
power, that no
its
It requires the
humanity
remove
of Christianity, the morality of the civilized world, to
Hence
it.
upon the people of Britain
I call
matter, and to exert the influence I
to look at this
to
show they
removal of slavery from America.
sess for the
to
am about
them as strongly by
pos-
can appeal
I
their regard for the slaveholder as
their regard for the slave to labor in
this cause.
There
by
is
nothing said here against slavery that will not be recorded in
the United States.
me
do not want
I
am
down by Napoleon, never
would
like
have me,
me
to
I
maxim
laid
The slaveholders would much rather
denounce slavery, denounce it in the Northwhere their friends and supporters are, who will
to occupy.
mob me
stand by them and
power
I exert here is
erted
by the
man
for
denouncing
it
The
something like the power that is exat the end of the lever
my influence
;
just in proportion to
is
have adopted the
occupy ground which the enemy
if I will
ern States,
now
here, also, because the slaveholders
to be here.
my
distance from the United
States."
In the same speech, referring to the barbarous laws of the
slave
code,
denying
that
he was inveighing against the
�508
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
and asserting that his only purpose
was to strip this anomalous system of all concealment, he said:
" To tear off the mask from this abominable system to ex-
institutions of America,
;
pose
it
to the light of heaven, ay, to the heat of the sun, that
—
may burn and wither it out of existence,
is my object in
coming to this country. I want the slaveholder surrounded as
by a wall of antislavery fire, so that he may see the condemnation of himself and his system glaring down in letters of
light.
I want him to feel that he has no sympathy in England,
Scotland, or Ireland that he has none in Canada, none in
Mexico, none among the poor wild Indians that the voice of
the civilized, ay, the savage world is against him.
I would
have condemnation blaze clown upon him in every direction,
till, stunned and overwhelmed with
shame and confusion,
he is compelled to let go the grasp he holds upon the persons
of his victims and restore them to their long-lost rights."
it
;
;
That, like other prominent Abolitionists of those days, he
overrated the power of truth, and underestimated the power
of slavery and
and
in this
its
tenacity of
connection,
life,
when he
this country because to expose
it
appears in the same speech,
says " I expose slavery in
:
is
whom
of those monsters of darkness to
Expose
death.
slavery,
the heat of the sun
it.".
is to
and
it
to kill
it.
Light
dies.
the root of a tree
Mr. Douglass had not to
live
Slavery
is
one
the light of truth
;
long
is to
it
is
slavery what
must
— his
die
own
—
under
career
to see
furnishing the most convincing evidence of the fact
that something more than " light " was necessary to destroy
To expose it was not to kill it.
Of this, too, he received substantial evidence in England
and Scotland, especially the latter in England, by the refusal
of the Evangelical Alliance, at the instance of the American
slavery.
;
delegation,
to
churches from
exclude
its
representatives
the
platform
;
in Scotland,
of
slaveholding
where he found the
Free Church not only receiving contributions for
its
church-
building fund from such churches, but sturdily defending
propriety by the voice of
its
Dr. Chalmers, and by that of
Dr.
its
prince of scholars and clergymen,
its
hardly less honored leaders,
Cunningham and Dr. Candlish.
And
this latter
was done
�FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
509
earnest remonstrances of himself and others,
in spite of the
among them that most eloquent Englishman, George Thompthem not to receive that " price of blood," but to
son, urging
" send back the money."
in
Mr. Douglass remained in Great Britain nearly two years
which time he visited England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales,
everywhere pressing upon the public mind the
evils of slavery
and the duty of laboring for its overthrow. He was cordially
His
received, and treated with the utmost consideration.
hundred
him,
raised
one
friends, without solicitation from
and fifty pounds for his manumission, and twenty-five hundred dollars with which to establish a press in this country,
His
which he subsequently did, at Rochester, New York.
journal was first called the " North Star," and afterward
" Frederick Douglass's Paper," and was ably conducted and
till after the abolition of slavery.
Thus by
and personal influence has he contributed in no
small measure to those manifold labors which the last thirty
years have witnessed for the removal of slavery, and for the
rehabilitation of his race with those rights of which it had so
long been despoiled, and for the still higher purpose of prepar-
well sustained
voice, pen,
ing
it
for the
The main
lass's
new
position
it
now
occupies.
and importance, however, of Mr. Doug,
career, are public, rather than personal. Full of thrilling
interest
adventure, striking contrasts, brilliant passages, and undoubted
usefulness, as his history was, his providential relations to
some of the most marked
facts
and features of American
his-
tory constitute the chief elements of that interest and impor-
tance which by
common
tain, it revealed
consent belong to
it.
Lifting the cur-
with startling vividness and effect the inner
experience and the workings of slavery, not only upon
tims, but
upon
all
connected with
it.
In
it,
its vic-
as in a mirror, are
how inhuman, and how wicked were its
Torn from his mother's arms in infancy, he was
treated with the same disregard of his comfort and the promptseen
how
unnatural,
demands.
ings of nature as were the domestic animals of the farm-yard.
As he was
transferred from one master to another, every one
can see what the hazards of a " chattel personal " were, and
�510
how
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
IN AMERICA.
the kindness of one only aggravated the harshness of an-
In the extreme solicitude manifested by his kind masand mistress at Baltimore that he should not learn to read,
and their marked displeasure and change of treatment when
he had thus learned, are seen not only the stern necessities of
slavery, but how it quenched the kindlier feelings and turned
other.
ter
to bitterness even affection itself.
In the terrible struggle with
Corey which he so graphically describes, when " the dark night
of slavery shut in upon him," and he was " transformed to a
is disclosed something of the process by which manhood was dethroned, and an immortal being was transformed
by something more than legal phrase into a chattel,
a thing.
brute,"
—
Had
he, after his first unsuccessful attempt to escape, been
" sold South," as he had reason to apprehend, and had not
been sent north to Baltimore, that night would have remained
unbroken, and that transformation would have been complete
and the world now knows what a light would have been ex-
He
tinguished and what a sacrifice would have been made.
escaped, indeed
but
;
how many
endowed, though none can
richly
Hampdens," how many "mute,
been
did not
and
lost to letters
to
Not
?
all
how many
tell
were so
" village
inglorious Miltons" have thus
man;
while
many have
learned to
sympathize with Dr. Campbell, at Finsbury's Chapel, when be
exclaimed " My blood boiled within me when I heard his ad:
dress to-night, and thought that he had left behind
millions of such
And
sadder
not in the
still
name
those professing
when
it is
seen that
all this
three
was done,
of the Christian religion, in spite of
its
holy
faith,
—
his owner,
Corey, both being members of the church
ious
him
men."
and pretentious
;
it,
if
by
and tormentor,
the latter punctil-
in his church-going, praying,
and psalm-
singing, adding the latter generally to his daily family worship,
— and saddest of
all,
that,when Mr. Douglass, rescued as from
the lion's den, bore a testimony which could not be gainsaid,
the multitudes, though fascinated by his thrilling story and
matchless eloquence, withheld from him what he earnestly
sought, while only the few were willing to receive the un-
popular doctrines of his Abolitionism.
For twenty years he
�FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
511
labored as few others could, addressing thousands upon thou-
sands in the
yet
till
New
England, Middle, and Western States
;
and
the beginning of the Rebellion he belonged to a despised
him and his
dominated the State, and was sanctioned, if not
by the Church. In the light of such a history this
minority, while the system that had so outraged
people
still
sanctified,
mountain of national guilt assumes more towering proporand its base is seen to rest not upon the South alone,
The crime was gigantic and,
but upon the whole land.
though its expiation has already been terrible, who shall say
tions,
;
that
it
has been commensurate with the crime
Few have
itself
?
forgotten the closing utterances of Mr. Lincoln's
second Inaugural concerning the war
if
they
doom
fell
itself:
still raging, sounding as
from the judgment-seat and were the words of
" Yet,
if
God
will that it
continue until
wealth piled by the bondmen's two hundred and
fifty
all
the
years of
toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood
drawn by the lash shall be paid by another drawn by the
sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so it still must
be said, The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous
altogether.' "
The solemn significance of this language is
still worthy of thought, though the war has ceased and the
unrequited
'
great armies then in the field have been recalled.
�CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE FLORIDA WAR,
— SLAVERY
ITS CAUSE.
—
The Surrender of Slaves by the Seminoles demanded.
The Additional Treaty.
Agreement to remove to the West.
Outrages perpetrated by Slave-traders.
—
— Exasperation
—
of the Indians.
— Stern Policy of President Jackson. — Seizure
— Death of the Indian Agent. — Destruction of Major
Dade's Command. — Conduct
the Citizens
Florida. — Recall
General
— Action of General Jessup. — Treaty of Peace rejected by the
Government. — The Slave-hunters. — Admissions of General Jessup. — Boun— Honorthe Creeks. — Dishonorable Conduct of Army
ty
able Action of the Cherokee Delegation. — Cruel Action of the War Department. — Violation of Flags of Truce. — Noble Conduct of General Taylor. —
Treaty with the Creeks and Seminoles.-— Danger of the
— Demands
of the Creeks. — The Exiles emigrate
Mexico. — The Faith and Honor of
of
Osceola's Wife.
of
of
Scott.
of
;
offered to
Officers.
Exiles.
to
the Nation tarnished.
The citizens of Florida and the adjoining States continued
make demands upon the Seminoles for the surrender of
Unscrupulous adventurers,
negroes residing among them.
to
and in violation of treaty stipulaand humanity, sought to re-enslave not
only those who had escaped from their masters since the close
The Indians
of the war, but the exiles and their children.
were incensed by these claims and this lawless violence, and
it became apparent that peace could not be long maintained.
By treaty it had been provided that several of the Seminole
chiefs should visit the reservation occupied by the Creeks west
of the Mississippi.
It was intended, if the Seminoles were
satisfied with the country and such prospective arrangements
as might be made, that they should be removed and become
an integral portion of the Creek nation. Whether or not it
was the intention of President Jackson by this arrangement
to enable the Creeks to enslave the exiles, that would certainly have been the practical effect of this proposed removal.
too, entered that territory,
tions, of law, justice,
�THE FLOEIDA WAR,
— SLAVERY
513
ITS CAUSE.
Of course, as that purpose became known, the exiles were
alarmed and the Seminoles became suspicious. Being pressed,
too,
by the commissioners, the chiefs, though unauthorized by
what was termed the " ad-
their nation, entered, in 1833, into
ditional treaty,"
by which a
tract of land
use of the Seminoles forever.
When
Florida they desired a meeting of the head
to
whom
they might
make
was secured
for the
the chiefs returned to
men
of the nation
report of the results of their
visit.
But the Indian agent peremptorily refused to have such a
meeting called, and demanded that immediate preparations
should be
The
made
for removal.
citizens of Florida also presented a protest to the Presi-
dent against allowing the Indians to remain longer in the Territory.
They alleged
that the Seminoles did not recapture fugi-
and that unless they did, no slave property would
be safe. Although the treaty had not been ratified by the Seminoles, and it was known that they were nearly unanimous in
their opposition to it, President Jackson indorsed on the back
of this protest an order to the Secretary of War " to inquire
into the alleged facts, and if proved to be true, to direct the
Seminoles to prepare to remove West and join the Creeks."
In assuming this responsibility the President was consistent
with his usual policy wherever the demands of slavery were
tive slaves
;
Notwithstanding his traditional personal courage
and independence of character, he, either from sympathy with
the spirit and purposes of the Slave Power, or from fear of its
displeasure, ever showed himself forward, not to say unscrupulous, in any service it required.
involved.
By the treaty of Indian Spring two hundred and fifty thousand dollars had been reserved to pay the slaveholders of
Georgia for slaves lost prior to 1812. These claims had been
audited, and one
hundred and nine thousand dollars had been
hundred and forty-one thousand dollars,
which justly belonged to the Creeks. These slave claimants,
with a grasping cupidity which bespoke its origin, made a new
claim for this unexpended balance. Nor did an obsequious
paid, leaving one
Congress refuse to allow the singular claim " for the loss of
the offspring which the exiles would have borne to their mas65
�514
KISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
had they remained in bondage." Having paid the slaveholders of Georgia this enormous sum, the Creeks claimed
that the exiles became their slaves, and demanded of the SemiWhile, on the one
noles that they should be surrendered.
hand, the Creeks were claiming the exiles as slaves, the President, on the other, was requiring that the Seminoles and
ters
exiles should be sent to the Indian reservation in the "West,
where the former would have the power
demands.
By
to
enforce their
Camp Moultrie certain Seminole chiefs,
whom the exiles had intermarried, were
the treaty of
having slaves with
authorized to
name
certain persons
who should
them and who should be responsible
reside
among
for their conduct, while
the United States were to be responsible for the safety of the
agents thus employed.
slaves,
One of
these chiefs held about twenty
and there resided on his land several
never been slaves.
exiles
who had
Slave-dealers in Georgia desiring to get
both the slaves and exiles into their possession, one of their
number claimed
to
have purchased several of a Creek.
This
and void by the
other traders more
claim, having been pronounced fraudulent
judge of the District Court, was sold
to
They provided themselves
and bloodhounds, descended the river, and landed
daring and reckless than himself.
with fetters
on the reservation.
to
Finding that the negroes were prepared
defend themselves they retired, and with cowardly and
mendacious effrontery raised the cry that the Indian chief
had armed his slaves and was about to make war. A military force was sent to the reservation
and, although the
chief had explained to the officer that his people had taken
arms only against those who had come to rob them of their
liberties, their weapons and ammunition were taken from
them. The next day the slave-traders returned, seized the
slaves and exiles, manacled them, carried them to Georgia,
and sold them into bondage. The chief petitioned Congress
for redress, but could obtain none either for his own or his
people's wrongs.
Power was on the side of the oppressor,
and not on that of his victim.
Another chief had upon his plantation slaves and exiles.
;
�THE FLORIDA WAR,
— SLAVERY
515
ITS CAUSE.
The slave-stealers came and carried away both bond and free.
Knowing that a band of slave-stealers was watching his plantation, another chief armed his people, and when the maraudHe then
ers came they fired upon and drove them away.
propounded to the Indian agent this pertinent inquiry " Are
the free negroes and the negroes belonging to this town to be
:
stolen in face of law
the pockets of those
and
who
justice, carried off,
and sold
are worse than land pirates
?
to
fill
" and
he demanded protection according to treaty stipulations, but
The slave-stealers returned, seized their
them to Alabama, and sold them into per-
none was afforded.
victims, carried
petual slavery.
These lawless deeds exasperated the Indians and alarmed
If the exiles remained in Florida, they saw
negroes.
the
that they were to be reduced to slavery
by violence if they
removed to the West, they feared that they would be enGeneral
slaved by the Creeks. Mr. Thompson, Indian agent
Clinch, who had twenty years before commanded the troops
Governor Eaton, late Secretary of
at the Fort Blunt massacre
War and other officials, represented to the government the
wrongs of these people in Florida, and the probabilities that
they would be enslaved by the Creeks if sent to the West.
But the administration was not to be moved from its purpose.
General Cass, then Secretary of War, characterized appeals
made in behalf of the Seminoles and negroes as " the prompt;
;
;
;
—
ings of a false philanthropy."
He
persisted in the
that they should go to the West, join the Creeks,
demand
and subject
themselves to their authority.
Intent on getting these negroes into their possession, the
slave-traders applied for admission to enter Florida for the
purpose of purchasing slaves of the Indians.
This application
was referred to Mr. Grundy, Attorney-General, who reported
that he saw " no good reason Avhy the white people should not
be permitted to purchase slaves of the Indians."
Jackson gave the permission asked
for.
President
The Indian agent,
knowing that the Indians, when in a state of intoxication,
would give bills of sale of negroes pointed out to them, whether
owning them or not, and that the policy would be most disas-
�516
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
trous, remonstrated against
it.
IN AMERICA.
So great, indeed, was the indig-
nation excited against this infamous order, that
it was soon
But these acts of violence, this constant
pressure upon them to go to the West, unite with the Creeks,
and become subject to their authority, alarmed both Indians
and negroes, and they resolved to defend themselves.
At that time the number of slaves held by the Seminoles
was estimated at two hundred, and the exiles and free negroes
at six times that number.
Many of the latter had intermarried with the Indians.
Osceola, a young chief, had married
the daughter of another chief, whose wife had been one of
these exiles.
This young chief with his wife visited Fort
King for trading purposes. While there his wife was seized
as a slave and carried off into hopeless bondage.
Frantic at
this cruel wrong, Osceola himself was seized, manacled, and
put in prison, where he remained for six days.
Vowing vengeance on those who had committed this outrage, he lay for
weeks with his followers near Fort King, keeping watch upon
the movements of the agent.
Mr. Thompson and Lieutenant
Smith were walking some distance from the fort, when he
was fired upon by Osceola and his party, and Thompson fell,
pierced with fourteen balls.
The few soldiers at Fort Kingwere in no condition to follow them, and Osceola hastened to
countermanded.
join his companions.
In November General Clinch ordered Major Dade, then near
Tampa
Bay, to prepare for a march to Fort King, about one
As his march would be
thirty miles distant.
hundred and
through an unsettled
forest,
with
swamp and
lake and
hom-
mock, he obtained for a guide Lewis, slave of Antonio Pacheco,
who spoke and wrote with facility the English, French, and
Spanish languages, and also the Indian
dialect.
Knowing
the
persecutions and outrages inflicted upon his race, he deter-
mined
to
embrace
He communicated
this opportunity to
avenge their wrongs.
and exiles the information
that Major Dade was to go to Fort King, that he was to act
as guide, and that he would conduct them near the great Wahoo swamp. Hostilities had commenced, and the Indians and
The memories
exiles had gathered near the designated place.
to the Indians
�THE FLORIDA WAR,
— SLAVERY
517
ITS CAUSE.
of past wrongs and the fear of impending evils gave them a
purpose and courage to strike a blow for safety and revenge.
Entering the defile into which he and his hundred and ten
men had been
lured, Major Dade was fired upon, and himself
and more than half of his command were killed at the first
discharge.
Only two soldiers escaped. The murder of the
Indian agent and the massacre of Dade's command, both on
the 28th of December, 1835, inaugurated a war, which proved
But the Indians and
to be costly in both blood and treasure.
exiles had been forced into it by the sordid and all-grasping
the hatred
avarice,
and contempt of the slave-hunters of
Florida and the adjacent States.
The people
of Florida, assuming that the
and
their interest, attempted to interfere
war was fought
in
to dictate the policy
and movements of General Scott. Refusing to yield to this
dictation, he was bitterly assailed and his removal was demanded.
Influenced by these feelings, and perhaps by his
own
desire for power,
General Jessup wrote to Francis P.
Blair, sharply criticising General Scott's policy.
diately
This letter
hands of President Jackson, who immeordered General Scott to report at Washington, and
was placed
in
the
placed General Jessup in
command.
But that
had entered upon a struggle,
that he
tested, with red
men
fighting for their
officer
found
to be stubbornly con-
homes and black men
fighting for their freedom.
Early in the spring of 1837 a conference was held with
some of the Indian
chiefs.
With
a
magnanimity and
self-
abnegation in strange contrast with the sordid and unfeeling
policy of the
government and of those whose cause
it
cham-
pioned, they refused to enter into any arrangements that did
not guarantee to the exiles equal protection with themselves.
had then continued sixteen months, blood and
had been lavishly expended, and the question of
Hostilities
treasure
giving the exiles equal protection with the Indians remained
the chief obstacle in the
to the
way
of peace.
At length yielding
pressing exigencies of the situation, General Jessup
agreed, in behal f of the United States, that the Seminoles
and
their allies
who would emigrate
to
the
West should be
�518
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
Under
secured their lives, liberty, and property.
tins treaty
the exiles secured that promise of protection for which they had
Abraham, perhaps the
so bravely battled.
ablest
man among
them, entered upon the task of persuading them to remove to
the West, where they would be free from their persecutors.
A
region of country ten miles square, near
marked out
Tampa Bay, was
and
Even Osceola
avowed his purpose to emigrate. Twenty-six vessels were
brought for their transportation. General Jessup announced
that the war was ended, dismissed the volunteers, and asked
as a place of rendezvous for the Indians
negroes preparatory
to their
"Western journey.
leave to retire from active duty.
But
this treaty,
though
involved an enforced emigration
it
of the Seminoles from their
homes
to
an untried country, and
much of justice and
humanity to be acceptable to the slaveholders of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama.
Accordingly they addressed a communicathat, too, against their wishes, contained too
tion to the Secretary of
no provision
for
War,
stating the fact that
it
contained
indemnity or the restitution of negroes, and
that unless the Indians were compelled to perform the stipulations of the treaty of
Camp
Moultrie, " owners
may never regain
their slaves."
In pursuance of this same settled purpose, slave-hunters desired permission to go
were coming
among
the Indians and negroes
in preparatory to their
who
emigration to the West, for
the purpose of identifying and reclaiming fugitives.
Their re-
quest was indeed refused, but for reasons of policy rather than
" Any interference with the negroes," it was
of principle.
said, " will produce alarm on their part, and inevitably deprive
us of
all
Warren
the advantages
we have gained."
Writing to Colonel
of the Florida militia, General Jessup affirmed that
among the Indians to renew
any attempt to interfere with their negroes would be
followed by an instant resort to arms. In a general order of the
5th of April he declared that he had reason to believe the inter-
while there was no disposition
hostilities,
ference of unprincipled white
men
with " the negro property
of the Seminoles would prevent their emigration
a renewal of the war."
and lead
to
�THE FLORIDA WAR,
— SLAVERY
519
ITS CAUSE.
Pressed by the clamorous demands of the slave-jobbers, he
made an arrangement, not with those with whom he had negotiated the treaty, but with Co-had-jo, an unimportant chief,
who
acted without authority, that the Indians should surrender
who were taken durarrangement had no binding force
created the greatest alarm, and General
the negroes of whites, particularly those
Though
ing the war.
this
upon the Indians, it
Jessup was forced soon
after to
admit that the premature
at-
to obtain possession of slaves
tempts of the citizens of Florida
had prevented the Indians from coming in, and also that it had
caused many of those who had come in to leave the camp. But
the legislature of Florida affirming the right of the masters to
regain their slaves, and popular meetings resolving that the
recapture of their slaves constituted an object hardly less important than the peace of the country, General Jessup modified his order,
allowed citizens to enter a portion of the Terri-
though he had repeatedly stated that any attempt to
interfere with the negroes would defeat the treaty and cause an
tory, and,
immediate resort
them
army
to
to
arms, he weakly consented, and allowed
range the country in pursuit of slaves, and to use the
infamous work. On the 25th of May General
in that
Jessup wrote to Colonel Harvey
wish you to
into
tell
him
:
" If you see Osceola again, I
that I intend to send exploring parties
any part of the country during the summer, and
send out and take
all
I shall
the negroes that belong to the white
and he must not allow Indians and Indian negroes to
mingle with them. Tell him I am sending to Cuba for bloodhounds to trail them, and I intend to hang every one that don't
come in." Whether this message was ever communicated to
people,
the Indian chieftain or not, the re-enslavement of those
who
had taken refuge with the Seminoles created great alarm.
Blacks who had come in fled, though ninety of them, confined
within the pickets of Tampa Bay, were immediately, on the 2d
of June, sent to
dians,
New
who had come
Orleans.
This act so alarmed the In-
in for the purpose of emigrating, that
they fled into the interior, resolved to defend themselves.
Two weeks
after this,
General Jessup wrote to General Gads-
den that he had captured ninety negroes, the property of
citi-
�520
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
and had sent them to St. Mark's and St. Augustine and
had seized and sent off ninety Indian negroes to
New Orleans, and held seventeen then. But his vigilant efforts
in the service of the slaveholders and slave-catchers had defeated his treaty of peace, and, in the same letter, he wrote,
" All is lost."
zens,
;
also that he
Hostilities
were renewed. The guilt and dishonor rest on
At least he was the instrument, though slav-
General Jessup.
He had promised the Creeks the
" plunder," understood by both parties to include slaves, they
ery was the inspiration.
might capture.
He now held
out the same kind of inducement
In a letter to Colonel Warren he prom-
to the Florida militia.
ised that the negroes of the Indians should belong to the corps
that captured them.
Field officers were to have three shares,
company officers two shares, and privates one share each.
Documents published by the XXVth Congress reveal the dishonorable fact that the war, which had been renewed, was to
be stimulated by the hope of sharing the profits or spoils of
forays into the Indian country, including captured negroes.
Even the Indians west of the Mississippi were thus appealed
to, and the same disgraceful motives held out, and some of the
Choctaws and Delawares actually entered the service of this
great and magnanimous Christian nation, for the purpose of
harrying and distressing this handful of Indians and negroes,
with the pledge that negroes taken, instead of being held as
prisoners of war, might be sold as their reward or the price of
their service.
on
And
to
make
the thing
more
disgraceful
still,
amount of pay
realized, General Jessup sought to pacify them with an additional offer, though admitting that he had transcended his
authority and the law in what he had already " stipulated."
He, however, promised that he would pay them " fifty dollars
their expressing
some discontent
at the
for every negro " captured.
But the Cherokees, instead of furnishing slave-catchers, sent
a delegation of twelve influential men,
noles an address, written by
who
bore to the Semi-
John Ross, assuring them that they
might confide in the justice and honor of the United States.
This assurance of the Cherokee chief was undoubtedly made
�THE FLORIDA WAR,
good
in
faith,
— SLAVERY
521
ITS CAUSE.
though, in view of the general course and policy
of the government,
it
sounds like the bitterest irony.
Indeed,
Mr. Ross himself soon had occasion to expostulate with the
officials for their breach of faith towards those who, yielding
to his suggestions,
had placed themselves within the power and
reach of United States troops.
King
Philip,
an aged
nandez of the Florida
He
sent a message to
was captured by General Her-
chief,
militia,
Wild
with eleven others of his
Cat, his son, one of the
Seminole chiefs, requesting a
tive of the
visit.
As
tribe.
most
ac-
the Cher-
okee delegation had laid before them the assurance of John
Ross that they could confide in the honor of the general government, it was determined that Wild Cat should visit his
Becoming thus a
father and bear with him a peace token.
messenger to his people, he visited them, and, after the space
of ten days, returned with the assurance that Osceola and about
a hundred Indians and as
way
to St.
many Indian negroes were on
their
Augustine for the purpose of negotiating peace. By
Hernandez they encamped a few miles
direction of General
from that place, keeping the white
met them
them into
encampment
at their
St.
Augustine.
flag flying.
for the
The General
purpose of escorting
But instead of doing
so, as the In-
dians expected, he read to Osceola a paper from General Jessup
asking these questions
" Are you prepared at once
:
to deliver
up the negroes taken from the citizens ? Why have you not
surrendered them already, as promised by Co-hacl-jo at Fort
King
?
Have the chiefs
King ?
of the nation acted in relation to the
talk at Fort
The Indian
chief exhibited great emotion and astonishment
at these questions.
answer,
I
am
Turning
choked."
to Co-had-jo,he said: ,"
The Indians were
You must
instantly surround-
and imprisoned. The
safe keeping.
Wild Cat,
ed, disarmed, taken into St. Augustine,
negroes were sent to
Tampa Bay
who had been innocently used
for
as an instrument for the betrayal
of Osceola and his friends, was also imprisoned, though after
some weeks he succeeded
after
in effecting his escape.
A few weeks
Micanopy, regarded as one of the most important chiefs
of the nation, through the influence of the Cherokee delegation,
66
�522
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
which had come more than a thousand miles on their mission
of peace, accompanied by a portion of that delegation, seventyfive Indians and forty exiles, bearing a flag of truce, came to
General Jessup's camp. A few days after their arrival, they
too were seized, disarmed, made prisoners of war, and sent to
Augustine.
St.
Readers of history must go far and peruse many volumes
before they can find a parallel to these transactions, in which
the principles of humanity, honesty, and fair dealing have
been so completely ignored and trampled underfoot. When
it
is
remembered that the Indian's only alleged
fault in this
controversy was his extension of the rites of hospitality to the
trembling fugitive, and his unwillingness to rudely repel those
who sought
that hospitality from his door
;
that his was the
pagan and his pursuers the professedly Christian nation,
can language be too strong that justly characterizes such conduct ? Is it possible to exaggerate ? Does Carthage alone deserve the unenviable distinction involved in
No wonder
its
"Punic faith"?
that the Cherokees remonstrated against this viola-
tion of the flag of truce.
their remonstrances
Nor should
were without
the
avail.
wonder be less that
The poor boon of
making an explanation to the deceived Seminoles, to assure
them that they were not parties to the cruel fraud, though
at first denied but finally permitted, can only be regarded as
an exception to the usual course of violence, deception, and
wrong. With good reason, though a most damaging reflec-
upon the government, the Cherokees returned to their
homes, refusing to have further communication with men so
oblivious of the commonest principles of honor and fair dealtion
ing.
The war went
and General Jessup continued to employ
the military power of the nation in seizing and returning fugiWhile the officers and soldiers of the United States
tives.
army deemed the work odious and degrading, the Florida volunteers were adepts. Early in 1838 General Jessup made
a campaign into the country, and had a skirmish with the
Indians and their allies. He erected a stockade which he
called Fort Jupiter, and, by the advice of his officers, sent a
on,
�THE FLORIDA WAR,
— SLAVERY
proposition to the Indians to
they and their
allies
ITS CAUSE.
make peace on
523
condition that
should remain in the southern portion of
His messenger, whom he designated as a
" Seminole negro," returned accompanied by several Indians,
the Territory.
who expressed a
On
strong desire to remain in the Territory
the 8th of February, 1838, the principal chief of that re-
gion met General Jessup, by appointment.
to
recommend peace upon the
allies to
The
latter
agreed
basis of allowing the negro
remain and occupy a portion of the southern part of
mean while
Florida, and permitting in the
the Indians to oc-
cupy the Territory, near the place of negotiation, until the
views of the President could be ascertained. Writing to the
Secretary of War, the next day, General Jessup expressed the
opinion that the prospect of terminating the war by employ-
ing an army to explore the country to remove a band of savages from one part of the country to another was not very
that he did not consider the country south of the
Chick-a-so-hatchie worth the " medicines " they would expend
flattering
;
from it and that, unless the idea of
" immediate emigration " was abandoned, the war would conin driving the Indians
tinue
many
;
years at great expense.
But the Indians were doomed to fresh disappointment. The
Secretary replied that removal was the settled policy of the
government, and he could not sanction any arrangement which
would assign any portion of Florida as the future residence of
the Indians and their allies.
Supposing, however, that the
proposed arrangement would be carried out, five hundred and
thirteen Indians and one hundred and sixty-five negroes had
assembled near the encampment. They had met there to
negotiate a peace on the idea of remaining in the country.
Four days after he received the decision of the Secretary of
War he directed the Indian chiefs to meet him in council.
They did not do so, however, in consequence, as it was believed, of this decision having become known to them.
He at
once ordered General Twiggs to seize them and hold them as
prisoners.
Fourteen of the negroes were represented to be
slaves of citizens of Florida, and were treated as such.
The
remainder were hurried off to Tampa Bay, and there confined.
�524
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
General Hernandez captured several Indians, and restored
more than three hundred negroes to the citizens. How many
were fugitives and how many were free negroes and exiles will
never he known.
John Ross addressed a letter to the Secretary of War
demanding the release of the prisoners who had come in with
a flag of truce through the influence of the Cherokee dele-
The House
gation.
of Representatives, on
Everett of Vermont,
violation of the flag of truce.
tempted
motion of Mr.
called for information concerning this
The Secretary of War
at-
by alleging that the
to the United States.
His
to justify this act of treachery
Indians had shown
bad
faith
attempt, however, to transfer the charge from the criminal
to the victims only
committed the administration more
fully
and
prompted Mr. Everett to make a most thorough exposure of
the outrage in an able speech, calling public attention and
to the
disgraceful policy pursued towards the Indians,
greatly exciting the indignation of the country at this persistent policy of the
government against humanity,
justice,
and
the most manifest claims of equity and fair dealing.
After General Taylor, however, took the
a great improvement.
army was no longer employed
and children,
command,
there
to chase clown
to be delivered into slavery.
and
seize
He
He no
women
denied the
right of any citizens to inspect those captured or to
with his prisoners.
was
Discarding his predecessor's policy, the
meddle
longer separated the Indians from
Under his
more humane and dignified policy many came in and were sent
In the spring of 1839 General
to their homes in the West.
McComb went to Florida. After consulting with the Indians,
the negroes, hut treated both as prisoners of war.
he issued an order setting apart a portion of this Territory for
their future residence
at the same time forbidding any white
;
persons to enter upon
it
The people of
war with the Indians the
without permission.
Florida, understanding that in the
negroes were to be given up to them, protested for this reason
against the peace.
The war had continued
for nearly eight years.
During that
time several hundred persons had been seized and enslaved,
�THE FLOEIDA WAR,
— SLAVERY
525
ITS CAUSE.
nearly forty million dollars had been expended, and hundreds
of lives
lost.
The exiles who had been sent West,
would be reduced to slavery by the Creeks,
the Cherokee country, hoping that there would be
had been
fearful that they
remained
in
assigned to them a territory, as stipulated in the " additional
treaty."
Their expectations and disappointments were repre-
sented to the general government, but no action was taken.
The Cherokees,
too, were dissatisfied at the refusal of the government to set apart territory for the Seminoles and exiles.
But the President adhered to his policy of having the Seminoles and their allies removed to the jurisdiction of the
Creeks
;
while the Creeks held firmly to their purpose to re-
enslave the exiles whenever they should
come under
their
jurisdiction.
In 1845 a treaty was
in
which
it
made with
was agreed that
all
the Creeks and Seminoles,
contested cases between the
tribes in regard to rights of property should be subject to the
decision of the President.
The Creeks agreed
that the Semi-
noles should settle as a body or separately in their country, and
no discrimination should be made between the two tribes
the Seminoles agreed to
move
to the
Creek reservation.
;
and
But
no sooner were they settled on their reservation, than the
Creeks claimed the exiles as their slaves. The Seminoles and
exiles appealed to the President, according to the
terms of the
The President not making
decision,
the
a
Creeks became impatient of delay, and threatened violence unless their demands were acceded to. The
exiles, repairing to Fort Gibson and demanding protection of
General Arbuckle, its commander, were directed to encamp on
treaty, to
determine the question.
the reservation near the fort, and were promised protection
The President, who had supposed that the matter
would be easily settled when the exiles were placed under
Creek jurisdiction, referred the matter to General Jessup.
That officer reported that he had solemnly pledged the nation's
there.
faith that they should not be separated,
to white
men
;
that they were free
of the United States, and that this
The matter was then
nor any of them sold
and under the protection
had been promised them.
referred to the Attorney-General, another
�526
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
He
Virginia slaveholder.
IN AMERICA.
decided that the exiles were enti-
freedom that the President could not interfere
and that they must return to their towns in the Indian country, where they had a right to remain.
Informed of this decision the exiles returned to their villages,
and for a short time were unmolested. But a slave-dealer, who
appears by documents in the War Department to have been
previously engaged in kidnapping, went among the Creeks and
offered them one hundred dollars for any exile taken and delivered to him, he assuming all risks of titles.
Two hundred
Creeks assembled, entered the negro villages, and seized sevThose, however, having arms offering reeral of the exiles.
sistance, they retired with their captives, delivered them to the
slave-dealer, and received the stipulated price.
The Indian
agent obtained a warrant from the nearest judge in Arkansas,
and the captured exiles were brought before him. He urged in
tled to their
;
;
their behalf the promises of General Jessup, the opinion of the
Attorney-General, and the action of the President, as evidence
But the judge decided that the Creeks
had obtained a title to them by their contract that their title
was good and, having sold them to the claimant, his title
was also good. By this strange and wicked decision these
manacled victims were thus suddenly and hopelessly bereft of
freedom, taken to the New Orleans market, and sold into perthat they were free.
;
;
petual bondage.
Alarmed for their safety, and losing all confidence in the
government that had thus betrayed them, more than three
hundred of these exiles left the United States and went to
Mexico, while one or two hundred, connected with the SemiStimulated by the slavenoles by marriage, remained behind.
dealers the Creeks pursued them.
was
Overtaking them, a battle
fought, and the exiles, under the lead of
back the slave-catching Creeks, who
field.
Wild
left their
Cat, drove
dead upon the
Directing their course southwesterly the exiles crossed
the Rio Grande and settled on a rich and productive
soil,
where, at length, they found for themselves homes, which had
been so cruelly and persistently denied them in the United
States.
Was
the truthfulness of Wesley's characterization of
�THE FLORIDA WAR,
slavery as " the
sum
— SLAVERY
of all villanies " ever
ITS CAUSE.
527
more completely veriand strange story of the
conduct of the citizens and governments of Florida, Georgia,
Alabama, and the United States towards these Indians and
fied
and
exiles
?
illustrated than in this sad
�CHAPTER XXXVII.
DEMAND FOR THE RECOGNITION OF PROPERTY
IN SLAVES.
— Mr. "Whittlesey's Report. — Debates
— Spanish Treaty. — The Florida Claims.
— Mr. Cooper's Report. — Mr. Giddings's and Mr. Adams's Speeches. — Pay— Speech
Slaves by the British Government. — Mr. Fillmore's
ment
of Mr. Giddings. — Violent Scenes in the House. — Degrading Influences of
Slavery. — General Jessup's Contract with the Indians. — Watson's Claim. —
General Gaines's Order. — His Honorable Conduct. — The Collins Claim. —
Action of General Taylor. — Faithless Action of the Government. — Renewal
of Watson's Claim. — Reports on the Claim. — Watson's Claim allowed.
— Claim of Pacheco. — Failure of the
The Greed
of
Gain
gratified
by Slavery.
on the Question of Slave Property.
for
Bill.
Bill.
Though other elements entered into the complex motive
which originated and sustained slavery, that of pecuniary profit
was most general. and mischievous. Indeed it was ever a prolific source of discord, as there were ever arising conflicting
claims in which the principle of property in man was involved.
And yet there was a shrinking, on the part of the majority,
from its open and undisguised avowal. The fact of slavery
was recognized in the Constitution, and the legislation of the
general government, but it was as persons, and not as property,
that slaves were referred to.
fully
admitted until after
Nor was "
many
"
the guilty fantasy
oft-repeated
and
oft-defeated
trials.
Questions growing out of the war of 1812 involving this
principle were early brought to the attention of the govern-
ment.
Slaves taken by officers as servants, and slaves hired
and applications for payment
it was decided that slaves
should be considered persons, and not property, and that the
government was not to be held liable to pay for slaves lost in
the public service, whether killed in battle or disabled and
destroyed by any other agency.
in other capacities,
were made.
In
all
were
lost,
these cases
�DEMAND FOR THE RECOGNITION OF PROPERTY
In the
trieve of
XXth
New
529
IN SLAVES.
Congress an application was made by M. D'AuOrleans to be remunerated for the lost time
slave, Warwick, who was wounded
The claim having been referred to the
and hospital charges of his
in the public service.
Committee on Claims, Mr. Whittlesey of Ohio reported against
it on the ground that the government had never, in a single instance, recognized the principle that slaves were property, or
paid for slaves lost in its service. Mr. Livingston of Louisiana
at once denounced the report as a " by blow " to the idea that
slaves were property. He appealed to the representatives who
were so happy as not to have that kind of property not to lay
the foundation for discontent, jealousy, and divisions, by insist-
He
ing on such a discrimination against Southern interests.
moved an amendment providing
for.
for the
compensation asked
" Allow the claim," he said, " and you do no more than
justice
;
reject
it
on these
principles,
and you shake the
Union."
and amendment a debate continued several
men of the House particiexcited,
and the debate was charpated.
Much feeling was
John
acterized by a thorough examination of the subject.
Randolph maintained that property was the creation of law
He reputhat what " the law makes property is property."
diated the doctrine that the Constitution was the protection
It was created, he contended, by State
of slave property.
laws, and the Southern States were able to maintain it.
He
expressed the hope that no Southern members would deign to
Upon
the
bill
weeks, in which some of the ablest
debate the question of property in slaves, or allow the general
government under any circumstances to touch the question.
Mr. Drayton of South Carolina maintained that the claim was
legitimate, and was justified by the Constitution and the laws.
He
expressed the deepest abhorrence of slavery in the abstract
said the African slave-ship
would
was a spectacle from which all men
had been steeled
recoil with horror unless their hearts
by the vilest love of lucre but he thought slavery in the States
had grown with their growth, and was then irremediable. " Our
;
consolation," he said, "
a colony
we
is
that
struggled against
67
we
it
;
did not originate
we found
it
it
;
when
at our birth
;
it
�530
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
was a part of our inheritance, from which we can no more dethan we can from the miasma of our swamps, or
the rays of our burning sun. However ameliorated by compassion, however corrected by religion, still slavery is a bitter
draught, and the chalice which contains the noxious potion is
more frequently pressed by the lips of the master than the
liver ourselves
slave."
Philip P. Barbour and Archer of Virginia, Hamilton and
McDuffie of South Carolina, defended the claim.
ern members also spoke in
its favor.
Some North-
Mr. Ingham of Pennsyl-
vania, afterward Secretary of the Treasury under General Jackson, characterized the doctrine advanced by the committee as
and maintained that if the government had taken
the property it was bound to give compensation. Even Edward
Everett of Massachusetts favored the claim, remarking that it
arose under the provision of the Constitution which declared
fallacious,
that private property should not be taken for public uses with-
out compensation
;
and he added that by rejecting the amend-
ment Congress would introduce
fication, "
into that instrument the quali-
excepting for slaves."
The claim, however, was strenuously opposed, though, as
was common in those days before sectional lines were so
clearly drawn, by varied lines of argument and thought. Thus
Mr. Storrs of New York agreed with Mr. Randolph that the
Constitution had nothing to do with the question, as that
never fixed the relation between master and slave. He was,
however, in favor of rejecting the claim, leaving the question
met under the pressure of some future and more
imperious necessity. Tristam Burgess of Rhode Island made
at issue to be
a characteristic speech in opposition to the claim.
He
said
the question referred to the deterioration which had happened
to a slave while
United States
;
in the performance of ordinary labor for the
that no freeman ever
and that
made such a
claim, or
would be the beginning of a series of claims which would be pressed or withdrawn,
according to the character of the vote now given. To remove
the jealousies of Southern men toward the North he entered
upon an apologetical explanation of the state of feeling in the
received such compensation
;
this
�DEMAND FOR THE RECOGNITION OF PROPERTY
IN SLAVES.
531
on the subject of slavery. There was a small class,
in favor of immediate emancipation.
They
had unbounded zeal, but were entirely without knowledge or
wisdom, and could do nothing, as their number was small,
their wisdom was small, and their influence was still more inAnother class embraced philanthropists, such
considerable.
men as composed the Colonization Society. They looked to
the gradual removal of slavery from this country, and the
gradual peopling of Africa with freemen.
Southern men, he
said unwittingly, though truthfully, had nothing to fear from
this large and influential class of genuine philanthropists.
There was another class who saw the superiority of free over
slave labor but Southern men would have nothing to fear from
that class, as it was composed of those who would never disturb
the tenure by which that kind of labor was maintained.
He
opposed the claim, however, and sharply reproved those who
pressed the question and threatened that the decision would
dissolve the Union; who declared that the discussion and the
Constitution would terminate together; and that Southern gentlemen would leave the hall in case of an adverse decision.
Mr. Barnard of New York opposed the amendment in a
speech of remarkable clearness of statement and force of logic.
Mr. Miner of Pennsylvania based his opposition mainly on the
ground of justice. " I cannot," he said, " give my sanction to
the principles that would take the farmer and mechanic of
Pennsylvania to defend a Southern city from an invading
enemy, risking poverty and death in your defence, and, if one
of your slaves in the battle shall be slain, that you may send
the tax-gatherer to such farmer and mechanic, if he should
chance to survive, demanding aid from him in payment for
such slaves." The amendment was adopted by a close vote,
the bill was recommitted to the committee, but was not heard
free States
he
said,
who were
;
of again.
A similar demand, involving the same principle, was based
upon one of the stipulations in the treaty formed in 1820 between the governments of the United States and Spain. By
that treaty it was agreed that the inhabitants of Florida should
be remunerated for losses sustained by them in the previous
�532
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
military operations in their Territory under General Jackson.
The
different character of the claims
troops in
followers
to different re-
;
taken from the inhabitants for the support of the troops.
plies
The
prompted
The claim growing out of the visit of the American
1814 was mainly for one hundred slaves which camphad taken that of the invasion of 1818 was for sup-
sponses.
was promptly paid but the first, involving the prinman, Mr. Crawford, an aspirant for the
The claimants then appealed to Conpresidency, rejected.
gress, and their claim was referred to the Committee on Foreign
last
ciple
;
of property in
Affairs.
Their appeal to the next Congress secured a favora-
from the committee to which it was referred, as Mr.
Everett was ready to pay a claim which Southern statesmen
But it was rejected
like Crawford and Archer had refused.
The claim, thus twice defeated in the House,
in the House.
Mr.
was again presented to the Secretary of the Treasury.
ble report
Woodbury
paid several thousand dollars, but ascertaining that
Mr. Crawford had refused the demand he suspended further
payment.
Repulsed at the Treasury Department, these persistent claimTheir petition was referred
ants again approached Congress.
Committee on Claims. But Mr. Giddings being chairman, no action was taken. Appealing again to the same body,
to the
the petitioners were gratified by having their
demand
referred
chairman was James
Cooper, a native of Maryland, then a representative from
Pennsylvania, afterward senator and a general in the war of
Though informed by Mr. Giddings of its charthe Rebellion.
to
the Committee on Territories.
acter,
yet,
Its
and of the reasons which influenced his adverse decision,
belonging to that large class of Northern statesmen which
has always seemed to have a tender regard for slaveholders,
Mr. Cooper reported in favor of the claims. The bill coming
up for consideration, Mr. Giddings, who had mastered the
subject, made a vigorous speech in opposition, and so far convinced even Mr. Cooper himself that he refused to vote for his
own report. Mr. Adams, becoming deeply interested in the
question, and obtaining from the Treasury Department a list
of ninety negroes, for whom payment was demanded, spoke
�DEMAND FOR THE RECOGNITION OF PROPERTY
strongly in opposition to the claims.
IN SLAVES.
533
Both he and Mr. Gid-
dings dwelt largely upon the moral considerations involved in
the proposition to recognize the principle of property in man.
Their speeches made a deep impression, and though the delegate from Florida spoke in defence of the
thirty-sis ayes recorded in its favor.
bill,
As an
there were but
illustration of the
sentiment and feeling which pervaded the House, Mr. Giddings states that after the vote was taken, Mr. Pickens of
South Carolina came across the hall to the seat of his
league, Mr. Campbell, and asked
the
bill.
Campbell.
Pickens.
"
him why he
col-
did not vote for
Why
did not you vote for it ? " responded Mr.
" Because I was ashamed to do so," replied Mr.
" Such was
my case,"
said Mr. Campbell.
And
yet
while these slaveholders from South Carolina were ashamed to
support the proposition, the Democratic members from New
Hampshire did not hesitate to record their votes in its favor.
Near the close of the session of 1841 Mr. Thompson of
South Carolina asked leave to introduce a
bill
appropriating
one hundred thousand dollars for the benefit of the Seminoles
and
their chiefs
who should surrender
for the purpose of emi-
Mr. Giddings states that the object of
was the purchase of the pretended interest of certain
white citizens in the exiles they claimed to own. Being better
informed than any other member concerning the origin, cause,
and history of the Florida war, he did not fail to oppose the
bill, laying bare at the same time the crimes and rascalities
grating to the West.
the
bill
involved in a contest prosecuted mainly for the re-enslave-
and their posterity who had sought in that Terfrom the oppressor. His speech caused great
excitement among the Georgia members, and he was repeatedly called to order.
When he closed, Mr. Cooper, of that
State, replied, denouncing abolitionism as " a moral pestilence," and Mr. Giddings and Mr. Adams as abolition leaders.
ment
of those
ritory a refuge
Black, also of Georgia, followed in a high state of excitement,
avowing his purpose
dings, and declaring
" would be hanged."
feeble
and vulgar
to be personally offensive to
if
Mr. Gid-
the latter should go to Georgia he
The delegate from Florida made a
Mr. Thompson took occasion
assault, while
�534
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
Whig party was not responsible for the conduct
"
of the obscure individuals belonging to
obscurest
of the very
to say that the
that party."
To this
insulting language Mr. Giddings replied with dignified
and unruffled firmness, denying the prerogative of the gentleman to designate his position in the Whig party, and assuring
Mr. Thompson that he fully appreciated the insult intended.
Though he could not resent it after the method so common at
the South, he would say, in the language of a military veteran
to a
young
him a
officer
who
spat in his face, expecting to
draw from
challenge, " Could I as easily wipe the stain of your
blood from
my
soul,
you should not
live
an hour." Mr. Alford,
springing from his seat with profane and menacing language,
rushed towards him, but was met by Mr. Briggs of Massachusetts and persuaded to return to his seat.
Mr. Thompson
again assured the House that he spoke the feelings of both
Northern and Southern Whigs, when he assured the member
from Ohio that he was considered " the very obscurest of the
obscure members of the
Whig
party."
Mr. Giddings states that General Harrison, soon to be inaugurated, arriving in Washington on the day the debate occurred,
expressed great dissatisfaction at
his purpose to relieve the
Whig
its
occurrence, and avowed
party from any odium brought
The next day Mr.
it by the course of Mr. Giddings.
Giddings called upon him, but the President elect gave him
such unmistakable indications of his displeasure, that he never
upon
called
State,
Mr. Giddings was from the same
upon him again.
had served with him in the war of 1812, and had toiled
for his election
;
but, true to his convictions, he maintained
the freedom of debate, and exposed the crimes of the Flor-
Mr. Thompson was from a State that had given
General Harrison no vote, and had insulted an honest and
ida war.
God-fearing man, because of his stalwart defence of right and
outraged humanity.
The former was rewarded by a Northern
President with the mission to Mexico, the latter with coldness
and manifest tokens of his displeasure. But Mr. Thompson,
though the recipient of executive favor, is forgotten, or scarcely
remembered while Mr. Giddings, whom he insolently charac;
�DEMAND FOR THE RECOGNITION OF PROPERTY
535
IN SLAVES.
terized as " the very obscurest of the obscure individuals beleft a national reputation which
countrymen cherish with increasing regard, a name which
longing to the "Whig party,"
his
they " will not willingly
The
British
let die."
government had agreed
to
pay the sum of
seventy-five thousand dollars for slaves on board the "
Hornet"
and " Encomium," which had been wrecked in its possessions
The
in the West India waters before its act of emancipation.
President,
distributing
this
appropriation
to
its
claimants
without consulting Congress, paid on his retirement four thou-
sand dollars which had not been called for into the treasury.
Slave-dealers, claiming this balance which the Secretary of
the Treasury refused to pay without authority of Congress, at
The claim was referred to the
Committee of Ways and Means. A bill was reported by unanimous consent of the committee to pay the money to the owners
of the slaves. The ever-watchful Giddings went to Mr. Stanley
once applied to that body.
who had charge of the bill, explained to
and proposed that the Treasurer should be
authorized to replace the money, which he held without authority of law, into the hands of the President, who would doubtless pay it over to the claimants, and Congress would be
Mr. Stanley agreed
relieved of the odium of the transaction.
of North Carolina,
him
its
character,
to accept the proposition as a substitute for the original bill.
The amendment was accepted by
the Senate.
House
the House, but rejected by
Mr. Giddings states that when
for concurrence,
it
came up
in the
he asked Mr. Stanley for an explana-
tion of that violation of
good
faith,
but received none
;
that
he then expressed a desire to speak upon the measure, to
which Mr. Stanley apparently consented
the latter
moved
;
but
when
the previous question, and the
Mr. Giddings then, obtaining the
tion of the vote.
floor,
bill
moved a
it came up,
was passed.
reconsidera-
Indignant at the treatment he had received,
and the measure. Alluding to the fact
that it was designed to pay the slaveholding constituents of
Mr. Stanley for losses they had incurred in their vocation, he
thanked God that he did not hold his seat by the votes of
" piratical slave-dealers." He entered, too, his earnest prohe denounced both
it
�536
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
EISE
IN AMERICA.
making the Whig party incur the
odium of thus sustaining a commerce in human flesh. He
showed how Presidents Jackson and Van Buren had condescended to become the solicitors and agents of slave-dealers
how they obtained payment from England by falsely represent-
test against the policy of
ing,
through Mr. Stevenson, that Congress " regarded slaves
them as such when lost in the public
as property, and paid for
service in time of war."
He
said the representation
was
"untrue," and affirmed that the records would show that when
House of Repre-
that question had been raised in Congress the
had " repudiated " the doctrine. He charged Mr.
Stevenson, who was Speaker of the House in 1828, when that
doctrine was thus repudiated, with uttering an " unmitigated
sentatives
falsehood."
Mr. Giddings challenged the representatives from Virginia in
Congress to show one instance in which the House had decided
that slaves were " property," or had voted to pay for them as
was " a libel upon Congress and
upon the people of the nation," and he protested that he denied
the doctrine and would not be a party to the falsehood. He said
he felt humbled and deeply humiliated, on looking around him,
to see two hundred and thirty American statesmen sitting in
that hall and gravely legislating in behalf of piratical slavedealers, whose crimes had rendered them moral outlaws, unfit
such.
The
assertion, he said,
human association, and fitted only for the gallows. He
showed with great force of logic that Congress had neither
moral nor constitutional right to involve the people of the free
for
States in a
war
criticised, too,
in
for the defence of the slave-trade.
He
sharply
both the President and the Senate for their action
committing the nation to the support of the domestic slaveand of the " heathenish " doctrine of property in man.
trade,
.
Neither Mr. Fillmore
charge of the
involved in
bill
it.
who
reported nor Mr. Stanley
who had
attempted any vindication of the principles
Caleb Cushing,
who had become a champion
money being
of Mr. Tyler's administration, contended that, the
United States, Congress became trustee
was therefore bound to make the distribution without regard to the circumstances under which it
in the treasury of the
for its distribution.
It
�DEMAND FOR THE RECOGNITION OF PROPERTY
came
The motion
into its custody.
IN SLAVES.
537
for reconsideration failed
by a large majority.
Mr. Giddings then rose to a privileged question. He stated
that while he was addressing the House he noticed several per-
whom was
sons standing in front of the clerk's desk, one of
Mr. Dawson of Louisiana that when he had concluded his
speech he was pushed by what appeared to be the elbow of a
person, and at the same moment Mr. Dawson passed him on
his way to the clerk's desk ; that he addressed him in an
;
undertone,
when he turned round,
seized the handle of a
bowie-knife, which partly protruded from his bosom,
vanced towards him
till
and adLook-
within striking distance.
ing him in the eye, he inquired whether he pushed him in
" Yes," he answered.
" For the purthat rude manner.
" Yes,"
pose," inquired Mr. Giddings, " of insulting me ? "
he replied, partially removing his knife
Mr. Giddings then said
:
"No
from
its
sheath.
gentleman will wantonly
in-
have no more to say to you, but turn you
over to public contempt as incapable of insulting another."
sult another.
I
Dawson was then seized by one of his colleagues and taken
from the hall. In laying these facts before the House, Mr.
Giddings wished it to be distinctly understood that he did not
claim the protection of the House, but left that body to protect
its
own
dignity.
Whig member from
Alexander H. H. Stuart, a
Virginia,
afterward Secretary of the Interior, then stated that he had
noticed Mr.
Dawson standing
in front of the clerk's desk
he apprehended an intention of viosight of him until he appeared in the aisle where
that, 'from his appearance,
lence, but lost
Mr. Giddings was standing.
that the
Adams
Mr. Wise expressed the opinion
member had intended no
insult to Mr. Giddings.
Mr.
rose and, in allusion to an incident that occurred a few
days before when the same individual, offended at some remarks
made by Mr. Arnold of Tennessee, went to his seat and assured
him that if he did not keep quiet he would " cut his throat from
ear to ear," inquired whether he had made the same threat to
Mr. Giddings he had to the gentleman from Tennessee.
believed that, acting with the approbation of others,
68
It
was
Dawson
�538
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
intended to insult Mr. Giddings and thus draw from him a
blow, which would have been an excuse for an assault with a
deadly weapon.
In a
letter,
written on the same day this
scene occurred, David Lee Child wrote:
"I was
sitting in the
I saw Dawson in the centre of the hall, amidst a
crowd of Southern members, all of whom were looking extremely wrathful, and one of them, as I am informed by a
member, said with an oath, I would like to cut off Gid-
gallery.
'
dings's ears.'"
This disgraceful and instructive incident had a threefold
was an illustration of the tone and temper of
that slaveholding regime which controlled the land for more
significance.
It
than half a century.
It
revealed the craven spirit of the North,
which, though largely in the majority, submitted to such dictation,
pocketed such insults, and gave to the villanous cause
that municipal support and power without which
have maintained
itself a single day.
ism and martyr
spirit
front these violent
Still
it
itself
could not
It revealed, too, the hero-
demanded in the few who dared to conmen and meet the dangers thus incurred.
such scenes were not without their influence at the North,
nor could they
fail
to impress
upon many there some idea of
the degrading and dangerous presence of a system that generated such a spirit and prompted to such deeds.
In 1845 the subject of property in man was again forced
upon public attention by appeals made to the XXVIIIth Congress for its practical recognition. The way in which this was
sought, with its antecedents, was still more degrading^ the
necessary recital of which may well make any American ear
tingle with shame, as thus reminded of the base uses to which
the government lent itself in its ignoble service to the slavemongers.
On assuming the command of the army in Florida in 1836,
General Jessup, without authority of law, entered into a contract with
the Creeks by which they were to receive such
plunder as they might capture
and this unauthorized contract
was approved by the President and Secretary of War. Among
this " plunder" were one hundred negroes which they claimed
as coming within the meaning of the contract.
This under;
�DEMAND FOR THE RECOGNITION OF PROPERTY
IN SLAVES.
539
standing was approved by the President and Ins Secretary
War, and this Christian republic stood before the world as
of
recognizing the principle that prisoners of war might be held
as slaves.
Complicating matters
still
more, he gave orders that eight
thousand dollars should be paid for these negroes, and that
they be sent to Fort Pike and held as the property of the
United States.
And even
this order
was approved by the Presi-
dent, and, so far as his authority could effect
came the purchaser
of slaves.
it,
the nation be-
The Commissioner
of Indian
however, suggested to the Secretary of War a doubt as
to the willingness of Congress, in the then state of the public
mind, to appropriate the funds to carry into effect General
Affairs,
For thirteen months this question remained
was finally determined to abrogate General
Jessup's order, though it had been approved, and to declare
that the Creek Indians were the owners of the negroes sent to
Jessup's order.
unsettled,
and
it
Fort Pike.
was suggested, he says, by government
officials, to James C. Watson, a Georgia slaveholder, to purchase these negroes, pay for them the sum of fifteen thousand
dollars, and receive a bill of sale, on the condition that the
In this exigency
Secretary of
army
War
to deliver
effected
officials
it
should issue an order to the officers of the
them
to
him
or to his agent.
This sale was
While the government
on the 7th of May, 1838.
the sale was
parties
the
negotiation,
were the active
in
effected in the
name
of the Creeks.
One
Collins, brother-in-
law of Watson, was appointed an agent, and furnished with
written instructions by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, to
New Orleans and receive the negroes.
But a few clays before these slaves had been purchased by
Watson, General Gaines had issued an order directing Major
Clark to make arrangements for the embarkation of the Seminoles and " black prisoners of war," then in Louisiana, for their
place of destination in the Indian country.
At the same time,
as if to make the whole transaction more complicated, the
claim of a slave-dealer was allowed by the Louisiana courts to
Having secured a favorable
sixty of these negro prisoners.
repair to
�540
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
decision of the court, he
But that
officer, to his
demanded them
IN AMERICA.
of General Gaines.
great credit, refused assent, and ordered
that they should be confined in the barracks for their safe keep-
He
ing.
also resisted the requisition of the sheriff of
Orleans, on the ground that they were prisoners of war.
iar with both the facts
and the law of the case
;
New
Famil-
knowing,
too,
that the most intimate domestic and social relations, from in-
termarriage and the ties of friendship, existed between them,
he was willing to assume the personal responsibility of the
costs, to appear before the courts, and to plead the laws of na-
and of war in vindication of the position that these
negroes 'were, and should be treated as, prisoners of war.
tions
He
assured the court that they were not captured from the
white people in that or any previous war. Professing to act
from his convictions, he said " I have not learned, while act:
ing in
my
official
of doing what
capacity on oath, to take the responsibility
repugnant to law, unjust, and iniquitous, as, I
any favor shown to this claim w'ould be." The
judge, however, assuming, under the laws of Louisiana, that
negroes were slaves to some one, discharged the rule, and
is
verily believe,
affirmed the order of sequestration.
Lieutenant Reynolds, leaving thirty-one of the negroes behind, embarked with the Seminoles and negro prisoners of war
But the next day Watson's agent
Reynolds had started, immediately
Convinced by the
followed and overtook him at Vicksburg.
evidences of sorrow and mutual interest and attachment exhib-
for the Indian
country.
arrived, and, finding that
ited
between the Indians and negroes
at parting at
New
Or-
leans that he must proceed with caution, Lieutenant Reynolds
persuaded the agent to accompany him. Arriving at Little
Rock, he called upon the government officials for assistance.
Governor Roane, though a slaveholder, declared that there
were no witnesses to identify the negroes, expressed the apprehension that to enforce the claim would endanger the frontier
settlers
of Arkansas, and, instead
of rendering assistance,
urged him to proceed at once to his point of destination.
Arriving at Fort Gibson, Lieutenant Reynolds enclosed to
General Arbuckle the order of the Indian Commissioner to sur-
�DEMAND FOR THE RECOGNITION OF PROPERTY
541
IN SLAVES.
render the negroes to Watson's agent, with the request that
he would give him an adequate force to carry his instructions
The request was refused, however, on the ground
into effect.
that there
was no evidence
to indicate
who were
included in
the claim.
But the "War Department, having been a party to the
sale of
these " prisoners of war," sought to carry out that slave-deal-
ing bargain so far as the thirty-one negroes remaining at
New
General Taylor's co-operation was
Orleans were concerned.
But that honand straightforward man would be party to no such arrange-
sought in a letter from the Adjutant-General.
est
In his letter of reply he said
ment.
:
" I
know nothing
of the
negroes in question, nor of the subject further than what
contained in the communication
for the information of all
;
is
but I must state distinctly
concerned, that, while I shall hold
myself ever ready to do the utmost in
my
power
to get the
negroes and Indians out of Florida, as well as to remove them
to their new homes west of the Mississippi, I cannot, for a
moment, consent to meddle with this transaction, or to be
concerned for the benefit of Collins, the Creek Indians, or any
This noble letter no more inured to the credit of
one else."
its
writer than
of the
War
upon the action of General Jessup,
Department, and of the President of the United
it
reflected
States.
Collins returned to
to turn the
New
Orleans, but Major Clark refused
negroes over to him as Watson's agent.
They
were at once despatched to their Western home, but only to
find new proof of the bad faith of the government.
Though
it had been stipulated with them, as an inducement for them
to go west, that a separate tract should be assigned them,
they found on their arrival that they were to be taken to territory assigned to the Creeks, where they would be subjected to
Creek laws. The Cherokees had used their influence to persuade the Seminoles to go west, and they felt that they were
bound to fulfil their pledges as far as in their power,
and so they consented that they should remain on their reservation until the United States government could be persuaded to
in honor
discharge
its
obligations to this abused
and scattered people.
�542
RISE
AXD FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
Without country, the victims of grasping slaveholders, these
Indians and exiles appealed for redress to the same govern-
ment which had already proved so faithless to its promises.
But President Van Buren and Mr. Poinsett, his Secretary of
War, instead of regarding these appeals, were renewing their
efforts to secure for Watson the negro prisoners of war he had
General Arbuckle, who had been directed to inpurchased.
vestigate the case, replied that not one of them could be
obtained without force. Of course the slave-dealer grew restive
and impatient under these delays, and wrote to the Indian
Commissioner, severely arraigning the military authorities.
Lieutenant Reynolds was under the necessity, therefore, of
explaining away these
charges.
pressed, the government
made
The demands being
still
further but ineffectual attempts
meet them. The Seminoles refused to surrender the exiles,
and the Creeks would hold no further communication on the
subject either with Watson or the officials.
to
Baffled in all these efforts, he turned his attention to Con-
what he failed to obtain from
and at the comthe executive officers of the government
mencement of the session in 1889 the petition was referred
Mr. Dawson of Georgia called
to the Committee on Claims.
but he
to it the attention of Mr. Giddings, its chairman
reported against it.
At the next session it was referred to
A bill was reported but
the Committee on Indian Affairs.
gress, petitioning that
body
for
;
;
;
XXVIIIth Congress
exbecome
the
Commitchairman
of
made
Governor Vance of Ohio was
tee on Claims, in place of Mr. Giddings, who had thus far prevented favorable action, and Mr. Howell Cobb was placed on
it
a law.
failed to
In the
the committee for the purpose of securing a favorable report.
Such a report and bill being presented, it was advocated by
Mr. Cobb, Mr. Stephens, and Mr. Belser of Alabama, each
alleging that
human
flesh
;
did not involve the question of property in
opposed by Mr. Giddings and Mr. Adams and
it
;
no vote was reached.
pressing his claim
;
Not discouraged, Watson persisted in
though he was again defeated, in 1848,
notwithstanding a favorable report from Mr. Daniel of North
Carolina.
�DEMAND FOR THE RECOGNITION OF PROPERTY
IN SLAVES.
In February, 1852, Daniel reported again in
543
A
its favor.
which several members took part, a
favorable vote was reached, and the bill passed by a majority of twenty-six, one member alone from the slave States,
long debate
arose, in
William R. Cobb of Alabama, voting against it. In the Senate it met but little opposition. Thus was consummated, after
a delay and struggle of thirteen years, that infamous bargain
between a slave speculator and the United States, by which
prisoners of war were sold as slaves, and in which were ignored not only the laws of God and humanity, but the laws
of the nation and the laws of war.
Another case involving
this idea of property in
who presented
man was
1848 a petition to
Congress for the loss of the slave Lewis, whom he had let to
Major Dade as a guide, who had been captured by the Indians,
that of Antonio Pacheco,
in
surrendered to General Jessup, and sent west of the Mississippi.
It
appeared from the testimony of General Jessup that
Lewis was a
man
of extraordinary talents,
who had kept up
a
correspondence with the Seminoles, and had been sent west
The petition was referred to the
as " a dangerous man."
Committee on Military
and a
Affairs,
Mr. Burt of South Carolina
was reported in accordance with
Mr. Dickey of Pennsylvania,
the prayer of the petitioner.
Mr.
Giddings,
drew
up an adverse report. At
assisted by
the meeting of the committee the four Democratic members
and Marvin of New York,
signed the report of the chairman
being chairman
;
bill
;
Wilson of
New
of Mr. Dickey.
Hampshire, and Fisher of Ohio signed that
The majority held that slaves were property
and the minority contended that " one man could not hold
No action, however, was taken.
Coining up at the next session, Mr. Dickey and Mr. Wilson
property in another."
of
New Hampshire
sissippi
spoke against
it,
while Mr.
Brown
of Mis-
and Mr. Cabell of Florida followed on the other
side.
Mr. Burt closed the debate with the assertion that the simple
question involved in the bill -is, Are slaves property? The
motion to lay it on the table was rejected by nineteen majorMr. Giddings moved a reconsideration, in support of
ity.
which he made a very able speech, accepting the issue ten-
�RISE
54-1
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
dered by Mr. Burt, and boldly enunciating the doctrines of
rights.
By a mistake of the clerk it appeared that the
human
casting vote of the Speaker would be necessary, which would
have been cast against the
bill.
Subsequently, however,
appeared that one vote had not been counted, and the
it
bill
by that majority. A reconsideration was moved and
By that
carried, and the bill was passed by a majority of six.
was
lost
majority the House of Representatives declared that slaves
were property
and
it
;
failed of
but the bill was not acted upon by the Senate,
becoming a law.
�CHAPTER XXXVIII.
THE LIBERTY PARTY.
Early Abolitionists pledged to Political Action.
Seward, Cushing, Fillmore, Brooks, Parmenter.
— Myron Holley. — New York State Society
— Questioning
Candidates.
—
— A Political Party demanded.
call a
National Convention at Al-
—
— Nomination of James G. Birney President
and Thomas Earle for Vice-President. — Small Vote. — Address of Committee.
— Salmon P. Chase. — State Convention in Ohio. — Peterboro' Convention. —
Address to the Slaves. — National Convention. — Resolutions. — Candidates.
— Philadelphia Convention. — Professor Cleaveland's Address. — Election. —
Western and Southwestern Convention. — Mr. Chase's Address. — Eastern
Convention. — Dissensions. — Unconstitutionality of Slavery. — Divisions.
bany.
— Opposed by tbe
Board of Managers of the Massachusetts Society.
Meeting of the Convention.
The
for
early Abolitionists were pledged to tbe removal of slav-
Tbeir modes of
Some contemplated
ery by political as well as moral agencies.
political action,
it
however, were undefined.
through existing
formation of a
new
political organizations, others
party.
through the
Mr. Garrison, as early as 1834,
advocated the organization of a " Christian party in
politics "
;
and two years later Professor Follen suggested the idea of a
new, progressive Democratic party, of which the abolition of
slavery should be a fundamental principle.
William Goodell,
Alvan Stewart, Myron Holley, James G. Birney, Joshua Leavitt,
Gerrit Smith, and other eminent Abolitionists, early and persistently urged political action, and the formation of a party
that should make the abolition of slavery a paramount issue.
Antislavery
men
first
exemplified the principle of political
action by questioning candidates for public office.
Though
were generally treated with neglect, their numbers so increased that they were able, in some localities, to
their questions
effect results.
In 1838, in the great contest in
William H. Seward and Luther Bradish,
69
Whig
New
York,
candidates for
�546
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
IN AMERICA.
governor and lieutenant-governor, gave respectful answers to
their questions, while the Democratic candidates refused to
answer at
The answers
all.
of Mr. Bradish were satisfactory
those of Mr. Seward were but partially so, and their majorities
were unquestionably increased by the abolition votes they
At
ceived.
this election, Millard Fillmore,
who was
re-
a candi-
date for Congress, was also questioned and gave satisfactory
replies
and he received the antislavery
;
vote.
In after years,
however, he forgot the pledges he then gave, and disappointed
the hopes he then excited.
Among
the questioned candidates of those days was Caleb
He had
Cushing of Massachusetts.
vindicated in Congress
the right of petition with signal zeal and ability
;
and,
when
meet even
the exacting demands of John G. Whittier.
But, like Mr.
Fillmore, he failed to remember the pledges he was then so
prompt to give and, a few years later, he was found ready to
use the patronage of the Federal government " to crush out
plied with questions, he
framed his reply so as
to
;
the spirit of Abolitionism " in his native State.
In the Middlesex district of the same State, Nathan Brooks
and William Parmenter were candidates for Congress. Mr.
Parmenter, the Democratic candidate, was known to be unsound and unreliable on the antislavery issue. Mr. Brooks,
the Whig candidate, though known by his personal friends to
be in sympathy with his questioners, declined to answer, from
His wife, a
conscientious scruples about giving such pledges.
lady of culture, was then and continued to be an earnest and
self-sacrificing Abolitionist
women
to
But the
;
one of that class of antislavery
whose early labors the cause was so largely indebted.
Abolitionists, firmly adhering to their policy, refused,
without such pledges, to give him their votes, and he was
defeated.
The plan
of questioning candidates in
its
practical workings
not proving satisfactory, a distinct political organization was
demanded by some of the Abolitionists. At a meeting of the
New York State Antislavery Society, held at Utica, in September, 1838, a series of resolutions, setting forth with distinctness
the principles of political action, and pledging the society to
�THE LIBERTY PARTY.
547
was
William
Goodell,
drawn
by
These resolutions were
adopted.
and reported by the business committee, at the head of which
was Myron Holley. They were not intended to commit the
Abolitionists of New York to the formation of a new politivote for no candidate unpledged to antislavery measures,
cal party
;
but they enunciated principles of action to which, in
the then existing state of political parties,
it
was
difficult to
adhere without such an organization.
American Antislavery Society, in May, 1839, a committee was appointed to call
a national convention to discuss the principles and measures
At the
sixth anniversary meeting of the
This convention assembled at
of the antislavery enterprise.
Albany on the
last of July.
attended, nor did
its
result
The convention was not largely
fully satisfy those who desired a
It issued an address, however,
was asserted that the Slave Power was waging a
deliberate and determined war against the liberties of the free
States
that the political power of slavery could only be met
by political action and that slavery must be driven out and
dethroned from the stronghold in which it was so firmly intrenched by the ballot-box.
In September an antislavery
county convention was held at Rochester, New York. A few
months before the meeting of that convention, Myron Holley,
a resident of that city, had established the " Freeman," in
which he had advocated political action with such earnestness and ability that he has been regarded, by common con-
distinct political organization.
in
which
it
;
;
sent, the founder of the Liberty party.
Mr. Holley was a gentleman of superior attainments. He
had held a leading position in the politics of Western New
York as a supporter of De Witt Clinton, and was a canal commissioner during a considerable portion of the time in which
the Erie Canal was in process of construction.
He was a ripe
scholar, a ready writer, an impressive speaker, and an urbane
gentleman, of graceful manners and commanding presence. A
bold thinker, and of large forecast, he clearly saw that slavery
was to be put down either by the ballot-box or by the cartridge-box, or perhaps by both.
He was for hastening without
delay a resort to the former, in order that the stern appeal to
�548
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
the latter might if possible be averted.
It
IN AMERICA.
was under such a
leader that the convention adopted a series of resolutions and
an address, in which the necessity of distinct political action
was recognized, and the duty enjoined.
In the month of January, 1840, the New York State Antislavery Society held a convention in Genesee County.
Mr.
Holley, Gerrit Smith, and other Abolitionists, favorable to
political action,
were present.
It
was resolved
to issue a call
for a national antislavery convention, to be held
on the 1st
This convention was called to discuss
of April at Albany.
" the question of an independent nomination of abolition candidates for the two highest offices in our national government
and,
if
thought expedient, to make such nominations for the
friends of freedom to support at the next election."
The executive committee of the national society took no
action in relation to this movement of the New York society
but the board of managers of the Massachusetts Antislavery
Society issued an address to the Abolitionists of the United
States, in
which they took exceptions to the manner in which
the convention had been called, and the designs of those
called
it.
who
In this address the organization of a distinctive
was declared to be in violation of the wishes of
the great body of the Abolitionists, as had been shown by
the unanimous votes of the State societies of Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The silence of the executive
committee of the national society, and the advocacy of the
" Emancipator," its organ, were both sharply criticised. They
thus closed their address " For the honor and purity of our
political party
:
enterprise,
we
trust that the Abolitionists of the several States
any countenance to the proposed convention
Let their verdict be recorded against it as unauLet the meeting be
thorized, unnecessary, and premature.
will refuse to give
at Albany.
and thus rendered narmless."
at the time and place designated.
Six States only were represented.
Of its one hundred and
twenty-one delegates, one hundred and four were from the
insignificant
and
local,
The convention assembled
Alvan Stewart was made president. He
was an early Abolitionist, having witnessed and realized, while
State of
Xew
York.
�549
THE LIBERTY PARTY.
visiting the South, in 1816, the cruelties, corruptions, and
crimes necessarily involved in the system of chattel slavery.
He was
and tender-hearted. The cruelties of the syshim more than its crimes and he would
horrors in language that none who listened to him
sincere
tem seemed
paint
its
to affect
One
could ever forget.
who rendered such
its
;
that well
knew
this
man
remarkable
effective service to the antislavery cause in
days of weakness and
trial,
thus describes
him
" His
:
conceptions were grand, his sweep of thought majestic, his
language unique, his illustrations graphic, and his knowledge
He had
varied and minute."
favorite orators of the party.
politician,
accustomed
been a Whig, and one of the
A
good lawyer, a clear-sighted
he early
to deal with practical affairs,
saw the necessity of assaulting slavery as a political evil by
He came to that convention to aid, if
the use of the ballot.
possible, in giving form and shape to that idea.
Though small in numbers and somewhat local in its composition, its members were conscientious, earnest, and determined. After full debate and deliberate consideration, it was
resolved by the small majority of eleven votes to present candi-
dates for the presidency and vice-presidency.
James G. Birney was
selected,
and
For the former
for the latter
Thomas Earle
of Pennsylvania.
Born
in Kentucky, reared
and educated under the slave
system, Mr. Birney was an hereditary owner of slaves.
He
embraced the antislavery reform from the deepest convictions
of its justice, and gave freedom to his own slaves from the
purest motives.
He
sacrificed property, political preferment,
home and kindred, that he might
cause that could give him neither fortune nor favor.
tleman with dignity of manner and varied culture,
social
standing,
serve a
A
gen-
a sound
lawyer, remarkably well versed in constitutional and international law, he wrote and spoke with grace and vigor.
He
was a prudent counsellor, and inclined to moderate action.
Conciliatory in tone and manner, he was firm and fearless in
maintaining his convictions of right.
Thoroughly comprehending the vitality of the slave system and the tenacity of
slaveholders, he foresaw and predicted the terrible convulsions
�550
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
into which the Slave
lie ved
Power would plunge
IN AMERICA.
the country.
He
he-
was binding
that the exercise of the elective franchise
all.
To possess and not to use the right to vote he
declared to be " inconsistent with the duty of Abolitionists
upon
under the Constitution."
Mr. Earle was a native of Massachusetts, of Quaker ancesA law student under John Sergeant
try and sentiments.
of Philadelphia, and editor and author of several papers and
books, he occupied qujte a prominent public position in his
Though acting with the Democratic
member of the old Pennsylvania Abo-
adopted city and State.
party, he
lition
was an
Society.
active
Laboring
for
twenty years for constitutional
reform in his State, he was a prominent
member
of the con-
vention called for that purpose, of which, says Whittier, he
was the " recognized author and originator." In that convention, his political friends proposed " white suffrage " as the
basis of representation
all
hopes of political
though by so doing he sacrificed
preferment, he took and firmly main;
tained the doctrine of
but,
human
rights, without distinction of
color or race.
Such were the men selected by the Liberty party as its canit entered the arena of national politics, and for the
first time solicited the suffrages of the humane and libertyIts vote,
loving for the highest offices of the government.
million
the
two
and
half
Of
a
of the
however, was but small.
didates, as
votes cast at that election,
its
candidates received less than
seven thousand.
But small as was the
action were encouraged.
vote, the friends of this
Soon
new mode
of
after the election the national
committee of correspondence issued an address to the friends
It was written by
of the oppressed in the United States.
Alvan Stewart, and bore the marks of his enthusiastic and
hopeful
spirit.
It
congratulated the friends of the slave that
humanity, as a new element in
political
action,
had been
that the voice of stern justice was beginning to speak
from a new place and that the power to overthrow slavery had been discovered in " the terse literature of the ballot-
found
;
;
box."
�THE LIBERTY PARTY.
The Liberty party received
551
into its ranks, in 1841, an impor-
tant accession in the person of
Salmon P. Chase.
Mr. Chase
woman claimed as
Birney, who had been
had, as early as 1837, acted as counsel for a
a fugitive slave, and also for James G.
indicted for the offence of harboring a slave.
In very elaborate
arguments he had maintained that the Fugitive Slave Act of
1793 was unwarranted by the Constitution of the United States
that Congress had no power to impose any duties in fugitive;
slave cases upon State magistrates
and that slavery was local,
and depended on State law for existence. Like several other
antislavery men in Ohio he had voted for General Harrison.
But the course of Mr. Tyler had convinced him that the cause
of emancipation had little to hope from the Whigs, whose action was modified, if not controlled, by their slaveholding
;
members
He
at the South.
united with others in calling an
antislavery State convention, in December, 1841, at Columbus.
It
was strong
in
numbers,
talent,
and character.
Samuel
Lewis presided, and Leicester King, a gentleman of large influence, was nominated for governor. An address, written and
reported by Mr. Chase, and unanimously adopted by the convention, was issued.
It was a full exposition of the powers
and duties of the people, and of the principles and purposes
of the Liberty party.
It
was, perhaps, the best presentation
of the subject that had then been made.
No
previous paper
had so clearly defined the province of political action, its limitations and prospective results.
It was extensively circulated,
and exerted considerable influence in giving cohesion and impulse to the
new
organization.
Other conventions, State, county, and
The men and
district,
presses that had inaugurated this
were held.
mode
of effort
exhibited activity and zeal, accessions were made, and the
party steadily increased.
held in Peterboro',
New
Among
York,
these conventions was one
January, 1842.
It issued an
address to the slaves of the United States, written by Gerrit
Smith. In justification of this act it was proclaimed that the
slave has the right " to all the words of consolation, encour-
in
agement, and advice which his fellow-men can convey to him."
Slaves were specially enjoined to use no violence, and to cherish
�552
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
AMERICA
IN
no vindictive feelings towards their oppressors. They were
urged to pray to Him who hears the sighing of the prisoner to
grant them speedy deliverance, and never let bribes, menaces,
They
or sufferings obtain their consent to violate God's law.
were told, however, to have no conscience against the inexpressibly wicked law which forbade them to read, and that the
slave who had learned to read " has already conquered half
the difficulty in getting to Canada, and the slave
learned to read the Bible has learned the
way
who has
to heaven."
They were cheered by the declaration that the decree of God
had gone forth that slavery should continue to be " tortured
even unto death," and that their redemption drew nigh. They
were counselled to seek liberty by flight, and assured that the
Abolitionist knows no more grateful employment than that of
carrying the escaping slave to Canada.
A
national convention of the Liberty party was held at
Buffalo in August, 1843.
There were nearly a thousand
gates, every free State but
New Hampshire
It
was a convention of character and
among
its
leaders
men
dele-
being represented.
integrity,
embracing
This
of large ability and influence.
by those who did not belong to it by either
Says Stephen S. Foster, who was
" It was in my judgment the
present, though not a member
most earnest, devoted, patriotic, and practically intelligent
A compolitical body which has ever met on this continent."
embodyresolutions
series
of
mittee was appointed to report a
was
freely accorded
association or sympathy.
:
ing the principles and policy of the party.
effort
was made in
An
this committee, supported
and opposed by Mr. Goodell,
to postpone the
unsuccessful
by Mr. Chase
nominations
till
This committee reported a platform
in which were clearly enunciated the purposes of the organization. An effort was made in the committee by John Pierpont,
the spring of next year.
but successfully opposed there by Mr. Chase, to report a declaration " to regard and treat the third clause of the Con-
whenever applied to the case of a fugitive slave, as
and consequently as forming no part of
utterly null and void
the Constitution of the United States whenever we are called
stitution,
;
upon or sworn
to support it."
Failing in the committee, he
�THE LIBERTY PARTY.
553
introduced it into the convention with the startling question
" Shall we obey the dead fathers or the living God ? " The
convention responded to his appeal, and adopted the resolution
by a decisive majority.
The convention nominated
for President
James G. Birney,
then residing in Michigan, and for Vice-President Thomas
Morris of Ohio.
With
its
platform and candidates the Liberty
party went into the canvass of 1844 with zeal and energy.
A
and State conventions was held, at which its
platform and candidates were earnestly commended for the
suffrages of the country.
Among these conventions was one
in Philadelphia on the 22d of February, 1844.
It appointed a
committee, of which Professor Charles D. Cleaveland of that
city was chairman, to prepare an address to the country. This
address from the graceful and eloquent pen of its chairman was
an admirable presentation of the principles and purposes of the
party.
It was largely circulated.
Thus supported the Liberty
party cast more than sixty thousand votes, had the balance
of power in the States of New York and Michigan, and held
in its hands the fate of that memorable contest.
Though the immediate annexation of Texas followed at
once the election of Mr. Polk, the leaders of the Liberty party
felt justified in their course of action, and still continued their
appeals to the people to join their organization and sustain
In the spring of 1845 a convention of the
their line of policy.
designed
party,
to embrace all who were in favor of continuing
an uncompromising warfare against the usurpations of the
Slave Power, and who were determined to use all constitutional and honorable means to effect the extinction of slavery
in their respective States, and its reduction to its constitutional
limits in the United States, was called to meet at Cincinnati,
and was held on the 11th and 12th of June, about two thousand persons being present.
It was strong in character as
in
numbers.
well as
It issued an address written by Salmon
P. Chase, in which the evils of slavery and the crimes of the
Slave Power were presented with great comprehensiveness and
The conditions of ultimate triumph were declared
eloquence.
to bo " unswerving fidelity to our principles
unalterable deseries of local
;
70
�554
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
termination to carry these principles to the ballot-box at every
election
those
inflexible
;
who
and unanimous support of those and only
are true to these principles."
moral as well as
Recognizing the
political character of the struggle in
which
they were enlisted, and confident of the favor of God, the
address said " We are resolved to go forward, knowing that
:
our cause
We
trusting in God.
is just,
with us, invoking his blessing
who
ask you to go forward
sent his Son to redeem
mankind. With him are the issues of all events. He can
and he will disappoint all the devices of oppression. He can,
and we trust he will, make our instrumentality efficient for
the redemption of our land from slavery, and for the fulfilment
of our fathers' pledge in behalf of freedom, before him and
before the world."
In October a convention of the friends of freedom in the
Eastern and Middle States was held in Boston.
An
address
was issued appealing to the people by every consideration of
religion,
humanity, and patriotism to exert all their powers for
" Your homes and your altars," it
the overthrow of slavery.
said, "
The slave in
manacled hand towards you, implor-
your honor and good name, are at stake.
his prison stretches his
ing your aid.
A
cloud of witnesses surround you.
The
oppressed millions of Europe beseech you to remove from
freedom the reproach and stumbling-block
From the damp depths of dungeons,
of democratic slavery.
from the stake and the scaffold, where the martyrs of liberty
their
pathway
to
have sealed their testimony with their blood, solemn and awful
voices call upon you to make the dead letter of your republicanism a living truth.
Join with us, then, fellow-citizens.
mighty but it can be overthrown. In the name of
God and humanity let us bring the mighty ballot-box of a
kingless people to bear upon it."
Mr. Chase and other leading men of the party confidently
Slavery
is
;
expected large accessions to their ranks as the result of these
felt by
by the Texas scheme.
conventions and from that sense of outrage and injury,
large
numbers
at the North, inflicted
They were, however, disappointed
;
for the Liberty party con-
tained within itself the seeds, if not of
its
own
dissolution, at
�THE LIBERTY PARTY.
least of dissensions
differences of
and
divisions,
555
and there were marked
sentiment on other subjects, growing out of
former political and ecclesiastical connections, which could not
but reveal themselves in their
new
relations.
These differences manifested themselves in a very marked
degree in a State convention in New York during the same
Among
summer.
the leading points of these differences was
their divergence of views
States
;
some regarding
it
upon the Constitution of the United
an antislavery instrument, and some
maintaining the exactly opposite opinion.
Before the disrup-
tion of the American Antislavery Society the former view had
been entertained by some, from which they deduced the conclusion that slavery was unconstitutional as well as morally wrong.
In 1844 Mr. Goodell had published a work entitled, " Views
Law in its Bearings upon Amerihad a large circulation and exerted considSoon after its publication Lysander Spooner,
of American Constitutional
can Slavery."
erable influence.
It
a lawyer of Boston, published the " Unconstitutionality of
was a work of decided ability and acuteness,
and, though by many deemed fallacious in its reasonings and
conclusions, exerted no small influence upon the popular mind,
large numbers of the Liberty party accepting its positions.
These causes soon began in a clear and unmistakable manner to reveal their presence, by the diverse modes of action
and policies to which they gave rise. Of course these divided
counsels and inharmonious efforts hindered the growth of the
party and greatly diminished its influence.
Slavery."
It
�CHAPTER XXXIX.
— ANTISLAVERY
MOBS.
Riot at Cincinnati.
— Cowardice
ACTIVITIES.
of the City
— WOMEN'S
Government.
FAIRS.
— Manly
Stand of
— Eiot in Philadelphia. — Riots in New Bedford, Nantucket,
and Portland. — Riotous Demonstration in the North. — The Tone of the
South. — Divisions among Abolitionists. — New Organization. — Old Organization. — Antislavery Fairs. — Liberty Bell. — Address to the Slaves. — Address to President Tyler. — One hundred Conventions. — Thomas P. Beach. —
Visit of Abolitionists to England. — Henry C. Wright. — Case of John L.
Dr.
Bailey.
Brown.
ments.
— Spread
of Antislavery Senti-
to culminate in the
murder of Love-
— Decrease of Antislavery
— The Impending Struggle.
The mob
spirit
seemed
Societies.
joy and in the burning of Pennsylvania Hall.
a time,
it
burst forth afresh in 1841.
Subsiding for
In September of that
year a terrible riot broke out in Cincinnati against Abolition-
and the colored people. For two days the mob set all law
and held undisputed sway over the city. Citizens
from Kentucky largely participated in the outrage, declaring
that they had been sent for, and that there were hundreds who
were ready to come and rid the city of negroes and Abolitionists.
Bands of armed men patrolled its streets searching for
negroes, sending the men to prison under the pretence of protection, leaving the women and children defenceless, to be subsequently outraged and treated with the greatest indignity.
Slaveholders hunted among them for runaway slaves, and
ists
at defiance,
lawless violence ran riot.
The office of the " Philanthrocolored
pist " was attacked, and its press was destroyed.
A
meeting-house and several dwellings were demolished, the
city authorities doing little to prevent, or
outrageous proceedings.
But, more
even restrain, the
significant of the
spirit
that ruled the hour, and indicating pretty clearly where the
responsibility for the riot rested, a public
meeting was held,
�557
mobs.
the
presiding, at which resolutions were adopted, that
mayor
every negro escaping from his master should be given up
that the negroes should be disarmed
;
;
and that the law of
1807, requiring free negroes to give bonds, should be enforced.
also denounced the Abolitionists, and assured their
" Southern brethren " that these resolutions were adopted in
The meeting
good
faith,
and that they would be executed.
The immediate cause of the riot, it was stated by the " Philanthropist," was the presence of men from Kentucky, who
upon the city and particiBut subsequent revelations disclosed
the fact that they were greatly encouraged, if not invited, by
some of the business men, who had been threatened with loss
of trade if the nuisance of free negroes and Abolitionists was
not abated, and who took this method of assuring their Southern brethren of their soundness so that there was far too
much of truth in the humiliating confession, which was then
made, that Cincinnati was but ". a conquered province of Kenprecipitated these scenes of violence
pated largely in them.
;
tucky."
A
few antislavery
publication.
its
the
'
Philanthropist
now openly
back
To such
We
?
'
men
'
advised Dr. Bailey to suspend
" No, friends,
advice he nobly replied
:
The war has become
discussion, and shall we give
must be published.
a war against free
are not ambitious to be a martyr,
life is
precious
;
Heaven helping us, to suffer all things
rather than turn traitor to a cause we have long advocated,
a cause identified with the highest interests of man,
a cause
which God approves, and which he will conduct to a glorious
but
we
are willing,
—
—
issue,
whatever the
fate
of its advocates."
This bold and
manly stand taken by Dr. Bailey extorted the admiration and
excited the sympathy of those who differed widely from him in
their views.
Mr. Garrison sent him a hundred dollars to aid
him in re-establishing his press, and wrote him a letter urging
him not to yield to the violence of his enemies or the timid
counsels of his friends.
On
the 1st of August, 1842, the colored people of Philadel-
phia attempted a celebration in commemoration of
emancipation.
up largely of
Their procession was assailed by a
Irish laborers.
West India
mob made
Deeds of violence and blood-
�558
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
A
IN AMERICA.
and a church were burned,
private houses were demolished, and many families were reduced to abject penury. While the buildings were in flames
the fire companies refused to make the necessary effort for
their extinguishment
and for three days the mob received
but little check from the city authorities, who, as on a previous
occasion, either from timidity or base connivance, shrank from
a proper performance of their duties. Adding insult to injury,
they proclaimed the colored people and their friends responsible for the very outrages of which they were but the victims.
shed were enacted.
public hall
;
A
decision of the Court of Sessions gave color to the gravest
A
suspicions concerning the motives of this conduct.
public
which had been erected by the colored people for temperance and religious purposes solely, was ordered to be demolished on a petition representing that there was well-grounded
hall,
would be burned by the mob, and that it
was therefore a nuisance. So overawed by, if not in sympathy with, these outrages, committed at the bidding of the Slave
Power, were the civic authorities of one of the leading cities
apprehension that
it
of the Union.
Nor was
vania.
this spirit of lawless violence confined to Pennsyl-
Similar demonstrations occurred elsewhere.
Within
a few days of these occurrences, antislavery meetings were
broken up in
New
Bedford and Nantucket in Massachusetts.
Early in September, Stephen S. Foster was mobbed at an antislavery meeting in Portland, and
was with great
rescued from the hands of the rioters.
were similar outbreaks
jured, persons
;
meetings were broken up
wounded, and the
difficulty
In other places there
spirit of riot
;
halls in-
and misrule too
generally prevailed.
While the North was thus disturbed and disgraced by these
riotous assemblages of Southern sympathizers, the peace of
the South was seldom broken by such demonstrations.
For
bonds the body of the black man
inthralled the spirit of the white man.
Few were bold enough
there to express words of sympathy for the slave, or to question
the
same Power that held
in
the authority of the master.
To be suspected even
the one, or lack of fealty to the other,
was
of pity for
to be in danger.
�ANTISLAVERY ACTIVITIES.
559
An
enforced and submissive silence there reigned, seldom
broken by pulpit or press, by public denunciation, or even by
private expostulation.
But if perchance heart or conscience
did impel utterances, and the feelings of humanity did gain
mastery, then the
the
hand of violence was sure
swift
to
fall.
When
the
in 1840, the
the
American Antislavery Society was rent
in twain
hope had been expressed by John G. Whittier that
members
of the old
and new organizations,
if
they could
not walk together in unity, could co-operate with each other
for the
common
Catholic and charitable in his views,
cause.
he recognized the high character, earnestness, and services of
such
men
as
Garrison, Phillips, May, Quincy, and Francis
Jackson, and such
women
Mott, the Grimkes, and
as Mrs. Child, Mrs.
Abby
Chapman, Mrs.
Kelley, of the old organization,
men as the Tappans, Birney, Goodell,
Alvan Stewart, Myron Holley, General
Fessenden, and Samuel E. Sewall, of the new organization, to
which he belonged
and he desired that the influence of
neither should be lost to the cause.
But these hopes were not
as well as those of such
Leavitt, Gcrrit Smith,
;
destined to be realized.
Divided into two
rival, if
not hostile,
organizations, they too often wasted their forces in mutual
criminations and recriminations, which should have been com-
bined against the
common
foe.
The American and Foreign Antislavery Society and its affiliated societies contained many men of eminence and worth.
Many of their members were connected with Christian
churches and benevolent associations. Fully aware of the
moral power of these organizations over the opinions and
convictions of the people, the latter sought both to absolve
them from
all
complicity with slavery and to persuade
bear their testimony against
it.
them
to
In church conference and
convocation, in missionary meetings and on anniversary occasions, they pleaded the cause of
of the gospel
though the
itself.
full results
humanity as an essential part
Nor were
their
efforts
without avail,
they aimed at were not secured.
Many
churches adopted their views, antislavery churches were in
some instances formed, and missionary and benevolent asso-
�560
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
were organized on the basis of no fellowship with
slaveholders the most important of them being the American
ciations
;
Missionary Association, which was formed in 1846.
Believing, too, in the necessity of political action, they con-
an important and controlling element of the Liberty
stituted
In the use of such means, in addition to their associated efforts in connection with the new organization and its
party.
branches, they were active and vigilant in their attempts to
infuse their sentiments through these channels of influence
into the public mind.
Nor were these varied
efforts
without
corresponding results, in no degree to be measured by the
number and
direct
formed or kept
men
life,
which were
societies
The character and
in their other relations of
siastical,
of the
efficiency
alive.
influence of these
domestic, social, and eccle-
were often, without doubt, more
effective
and
than their action in these distinctive and associated
The
who adhered
diffusive
efforts.
American Antislavery
was
as wide as the world and as broad as humanity, and that they
stood aloof from all political associations and all sectarian
biases, asserted that it was their task to enlighten the public
mind and awaken the public conscience.
Believing that
slavery could not be abolished until a change was wrought in
Abolitionists
to the
Society after the separation, claiming that their platform
the popular
mind and
heart, they proclaimed
business, in the words of
Edmund
it
to be
their
Quincy, " to sound forever
the tale of the wrongs of the slave, and their
own
guilt in the
ears of the people, whether they will hear or whether they will
Our accents may sometimes seem
forbear.
to be lost in the
roar of the world's business or of politics, but their
still
small
make itself heard in the secret chambers of the
heart.
We may never be numerous but we shall be always
enough to make the general conscience uneasy, until it has
voice will
;
purified the nation of
success
is
fulness, of those
into
effect
benign and
its
guilt.
Our
conflict is one in
which
not in proportion to the numbers, but to the faith-
who engage
in it."
To
the task of carryings
these plans, and of endeavoring to
lofty aspirations realities,
with unflagging resolution.
make
these
they devoted themselves
If their forms of expression
and
�ANTISLAVERY FAIRS.
modes of
action do not always
561
command
assent, few will be
found to withhold from them the meed of an earnest zeal and
an honest purpose.
By
the labors of their few but earnest presses, of their elo-
quent orators, by their conventions in city and country, by
meetings in church and hall, they endeavored to scatter broadcast the seeds of living truth, the indestructible principles of
Openly welcoming women to their ranks, they
were cheered and sustained by the presence, sympathy, and
hearty co-operation of a circle of ladies of Boston and vicin-
human
ity
rights.
of culture
and
active philanthropy,
social
position, of stainless purity
who rendered, by presence and
speech and pen, essential service to the cause.
Among
agencies employed with signal success was that of Fairs.
first
was held
of Mrs.
Ellis
and
purse,
the
The
in Boston, December 16, 1834, under the lead
Gray Loring, Mrs. Lydia Maria Child, and a few
others of kindred sympathies.
As
the Abolitionists were then
shut out from the halls and churches of Boston, they were
compelled to hold
slavery Society on
it
at the office of the Massachusetts Anti-
Washington
Street.
unpopular cause, that often subjected
Held in behalf of an
advocates and supand in most unattrac-
its
and insult,
was deemed a success, although the sum-total
of its receipts was but three hundred and sixty dollars.
The next was the year of mobs, the black year on the
calendar of Boston, when its men of property and standing
were not above the outrage of breaking up a meeting of antislavery women, and of assaulting a young man whose only
offence was fidelity to the oppressed.
To hold an antislavery
fair at such a time was a hazardous experiment.
The Female
Antislavery Society, which had been, a few weeks before,
mobbed and driven from its room, adopted and resolved to
hold it, although no hall could be procured, and it was not
deemed safe to advertise it. Henry Chapman offered to them
his private dwelling, and though the colored people did not
dare to attend, for fear that their presence might increase the
danger, it was measurably successful, and its managers were
encouraged. These Fairs gradually increased in interest and
porters to social proscription
tive quarters, it
71
�562
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
sum of two thouSuch an advance had been made that in 1841
they were enabled to procure a large and attractive hall, and
secure from home and foreign contributions a fine display of
Although a cloud of opprobrium
articles of fancy and utility.
still rested upon the cause and its friends, persons in the more
fashionable circles began to extend their presence and patronDuring this year, too, they were specially gratified by a
age.
visit from Lord Morpeth of England, afterward Earl of Carlisle and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, who thus gave expression
of his sympathy for the object of their efforts.
Faneuil Hall was -asked for and obtained, and these annual
gatherings were appropriately held in the Cradle of Liberty
for many years.
Valuable contributions were received from
abroad, especially from the antislavery women of England,
They were visited and patronized by
Scotland, and Ireland.
increasing numbers, and were continued until slavery finally
success until the seventh, in 1840, yielded the
sand
dollars.
disappeared.
Their receipts contributed largely to the support
American Antislavery
and of its organ the
What became an important feature
was the publication of a volume entitled " The Liberty Bell,"
It was edited by Mrs.
of which fifteen numbers appeared.
Maria W. Chapman, and received the contributions, in prose
and verse, of many of the most gifted writers in England
and America.
Its very list of contributors was an assurwhich contained their writings were
volumes
ance that the
replete with conclusive reasonings, glowing thoughts, and tender appeals which could not fail to affect the thoughts and
of the
Society,
" Antislavery Standard."
and help forward the sacred cause.
While in no other place except Boston did Fairs become an
" institution," they were held in various parts of the country.
They were early held in Philadelphia under the direction and
impulse of Lucretia Mott, Mary Grew, and others like minded.
feelings of the people,
They,
too,
were more or
less frequently resorted to in other
and towns, not only in New England, but in the Middle
and Western States. Indeed, among the multiplied agencies
that were adopted during those years of weary toil to effect the
desired change in the public sentiment, this agency was often
cities
�ADDRESS TO PRESIDENT TYLER.
and in many places put in requisition.
made
may
of the labors of these noble
never be
But on the
known
Slight record can be
women, and
to the lowly ones for
tablets of their
own
563
their
whom
names
they toiled.
souls were inscribed in endur-
ing characters these lessons of love and
self-sacrifice, truth
and trust, which made them wiser and better, however much
or however little their efforts may have advanced the common
cause.
May not, however, their patient and persistent labors
have prepared them and stimulated others of their countrywomen for those exhibitions of sublime and heroic devotion,
at home and in the camps and hospitals of the army, which so
signalized the late civil war ?
Among other instrumentalities employed by the members
of the old organization was the adoption of two addresses,
both from the pen of Mr. Garrison, one to the slaves of the
South, and the other to President Tyler on the occasion of
his visit to Massachusetts at the completion of the Bunker Hill
monument. The slaves were assured that the word had gone
forth that they should be delivered from their chains.
They
were invited to transform themselves from things into men by
flight from their masters and the pledge was sacredly given that
" If you come to us,"
they should find succor and protection.
said the address, " and are hungry, we will feed you if thirsty,
we will give you drink if naked, we will clothe you if sick, we
;
;
;
will minister to
you
we
;
if
your necessities
;
;
if in
prison,
we
will visit
you need a hiding-place from the face of the pursuer,
will provide
one that even blood-hounds will not scent out."
President Tyler was requested to liberate his slaves.
was reminded
He
though he occupied the highest office in
the land, subscribed to the Declaration of Independence, bethat,
and was then on a visit to celebrate " the memories of those who bled and died in the cause
of human liberty," he was " yet a slaveholder."
He was relieved in the Christian religion,
minded of the
influence which such a beneficent example as the
emancipation of his own slaves would exert toward the eman-
and they implored
" It might," said the address,
cipation of three millions held in bondage,
him
to
perform that great duty.
" subject you temporarily to the ridicule of the heartless, the
�564
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
IN AMERICA.
curses of the profane, the contempt of the vulgar, the scorn
of the proud, the rage of the selfish, the hostility of the powerful
;
but
it
would assuredly secure
to
you the applause and ad-
miration of the truly great and good, and render your
illustrious to the latest posterity."
name
Such advice from despised
Abolitionists President Tyler of course disdained to follow.
Had he
accepted
it,
however, and acted up to
its
benign pre-
he would never have linked his name so indissolubly
with the Texas iniquity he would have saved his character
from the taint of treason, and himself from being remembered
cepts,
;
as the only traitor President.
Another instrumentality which they adopted was the holding a hundred conventions throughout the free States, mainly
in the Northwest, at which one or more of their popular orators were present.
Sometimes that oppression which maketh a man mad moved
from their propriety the friends of the oppressed and those
who labored for his redemption.
His sad fate and cruel
wrongs, the indifference of the people, and the coldness of
the churches during these years, did not a
little to
imbitter
and impel them to the utterance of words and
the adoption of measures which were neither wise nor in harmony with the very doctrine of equal rights of which they were
such sturdy defenders. Especially was this true of some of that
class which felt constrained to come out from the churches,
and to separate themselves from the political parties of their
day. Impatient at what they regarded the wicked silence of the
pulpit concerning the wrongs of the slave, and provoked at their
Abolitionists
own
general exclusion from the Christian temples of the land,
which they sought to plead his cause, they sometimes entered
those sanctuaries unbidden, and, in the presence of congregations assembled for religious worship, undertook themselves
in
to supply the lack of service of those who, professing to hold
the poorest of
had no plea
men their brethren, children of a common
Father,
bondman, no rebuke for his oppressor.
Among the most prominent and persistent of those who
adopted this policy were Stephen S. Foster and Thomas P.
Beach. The latter entered the meeting-houses of the Friends
for the
�VISIT OF ABOLITIONISTS TO ENGLAND.
in
565
Lynn and
of the Baptists in Danvers,
was
and
fined for a violation of the
law against the
arrested,
forcibly ejected,
dis-
which
he would neither pay himself nor allow his friends to pay, he
was sent to the Newburyport jail, where he lay three months.
He published there a little paper called " The Voice from the
Jail," which increased the popular sympathy in his behalf,
and made the shortcomings of the churches more apparent.
But, though Mr. Beach was a man of character and culture,
unquestioned integrity and conscientiousness, he could not
but fail to convince many, even among Abolitionists, of the
turbance of religious worship.
wisdom
In default of his
of his course, or the propriety of such
though adopted
for a
fine,
modes
of action,
good purpose.
Several of their leading advocates visited England and there
pleaded the cause, arraigning their country and
its institutions,
and sectarian organizations, as recreant to
the cause of freedom and the claims of humanity.
Nor were
they and their British coadjutors any less ready to criticise
and censure the shortcomings which there met their eye.
The prominent leaders of the Anti-Corn-Law League were in
close and friendly correspondence with Calhoun and McDuffie,
hailing these champions of slavery as distinguished friends of
free trade, and they denounced the inconsistency of recognizits political parties
ing " the enemies of personal liberty as the friends of commercial liberty."
They found,
too, the
Free Church of Scot-
land receiving contributions from the slaveholding churches
and they demanded that they should return the
Henry C. Wright was especially persistent,
by voice and pen, in his reiterated demands to " send back
the blood-stained money."
Though the money was not sent back, and Southern cooperation in the cause of free trade was still welcomed, there
was manifested a growing interest in the English mind on the
subject of their mission.
Nor was this increase due to antislavery efforts alone.
As often before and since, the slaveholders themselves added to its intensity. Among their doings
which then excited deep feeling were the trial, conviction, and
sentence to death, in South Carolina, of John L. Brown, for
of the South,
price of blood.
�566
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
the sole offence of aiding a female slave to escape.
When
the
news reached England, Lord Brougham brought the subject beA memorial, signed by Rev. Wilfore the House of Lords.
the United States, was published.
Jay,
inhabitants
of
liam
to the
The ministers and office-bearers of Christian churches, and
benevolent societies in Lancashire and London addressed a
memorial
to the
generally.
It
churches of South Carolina, and to Americans
was signed by thirteen hundred of the most
eminent of the ministers and elders, among whom was the
Petitions were sent from England to
venerable Clarkson.
the governor of South Carolina, praying for the release of
Brown.
A
feeling of horror
and indignation was
felt
freely expressed at the enormity of such a penalty for such
offence.
Similar though far less feeling was exhibited in the
United States, but
it
was owing mainly
the governor was induced to
By
these and other
members
and
an
commute
to British efforts that
the sentence.
modes of action the leading and
active
of the antislavery societies prosecuted their work,
sometimes with and sometimes without their aid. In earnest
and regarding organizations as
to secure the object in view,
only means to an end, they did not cease to seek the end,
though that means might be wanting or ineffective for their
purpose.
For, as distinctive organizations, these societies soon
began to diminish in number and efficiency. This was admitted, as early as 1844, by Parker Pillsbury, in the " Herald
of Freedom."
It was then said by him that they had but a
name to live, that " the annual meetings had been a disgrace
Mr.
to humanity, and a scandal to the antislavery cause."
Pillsbury was apt to take gloomy views of affairs, and sometimes to express himself in extravagant and exaggerated language. And yet there is no doubt whatever that at that time
they had largely diminished in numbers. At the time of the
disruption it was estimated that there were nearly two thousand antislavery societies in the United States, with a membership of some two hundred thousand.
Immediately after
the organization of the American and Foreign Antislavery So-
were also formed.
But they were
and most of their members labored for the
ciety, auxiliary societies
never very
effective,
�SPREAD OF ANTISLAVERY SENTIMENTS.
common
567
cause through political and ecclesiastical associations.
Indeed, within
five
years of the disruption large numbers of
had ceased
and their membership
Some of them, however, especially
the American, New England, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Pennsylvania societies were then strong and effective.
But the decrease of antislavery societies, and the diminution of the numbers, interest, and zeal of many that remained,
were no indication of the decline of antislavery ideas, but an
evidence, rather, that the antislavery cause was assuming larger
dimensions, and that the sympathies and views of many found
expression in other forms and by other modes of action.
The
startling issues growing out of the Texas plot, the increasing aggressions of the Slave Power, brought the various questions pertaining to slavery to the hearts and homes of hundreds of thousands who had heretofore given little heed to abolition movements. They broadened and deepened the public interest, so
that the conflicts of opinion and the adoption of policies passed,
in a large degree, from the arena and control of antislavery
societies to the wider domain of general debate and political
combinations.
Matters involving both slavery and antislavery
were no longer mere problems of civil polity and reform, to be
antislavery societies
to exist,
had greatly diminished.
calmly considered in the study or on the platform as abstract
questions of right and
momentous
wrong merely
;
but they became the
and imporand
They forced themselves upon the atten-
issues of the hour, instinct with
life
tance, involving both peril and guilt on the one hand, duty
safety on the other.
tion of statesmen
and into the assemblages of the people
;
they
entered the halls of State legislatures and the chambers of Congress.
They appealed
to the public eye
and ear
in the
columns
of the press, in the pulpit, and in meetings of religious assem-
and at the hustings of political parties. Fiction made
theme of her most successful efforts, and poetry consecrated to them the magic of its numbers. And thus the subject
which had been discussed only by the few became the theme
of the many, and that which had been confined to scattered
circles overspread the land, until that land trembled under the
tread of armies and was reddened with the blood of civil war.
blies,
them
the
�CHAPTER XL.
NO UNION WITH SLAVEHOLDEES.
—
Debate on the Issue of
Meeting of the American Antislavery Society in 1842.
Meeting of the Massachusetts Antislavery SoNo Union with Slaveholders.
—
— Protest against the Constitution by Mr. Foster. — Mr. Garrison's
— Meeting of the American Antislavery Society in 1844. — The
Doctrine of No Union with Slaveholders adopted. — Protests. — Address to
the Abolitionists. — Letter of Francis Jackson. — Gerrit Smith's Letter to John
G. Whittier. — Replies. — Disunion Policy adopted.
ciety.
Proposition.
In tracing the history of the antislavery struggle and in
forming an estimate of the utterances and proposed measures
of the men engaged in it, it should never be lost sight of that
much which is now seen
What, therefore, may now with present lights seem
incongruous and extravagant would very likely appear eminently legitimate and proper, did the critic of to-day have no
more facts within his reach than did they who, amid its darkness and threatening dangers, were grappling with the momen-
they were necessarily ignorant of
clearly.
tous problem a generation ago.
After the disruption of the American Antislavery Society,
those
who adhered
to the original organization evinced a
determined opposition to
cially
was
political
this true of a small
action
than ever.
more
Espe-
and active body of those who
had accepted the extreme doctrines of non-resistance.
They
were not only opposed to acting with existing political parties,
either with or without antislavery pledges, but to the formation
of any organization for the purpose of such action.
They
assumed that personal consistency and duty
slave
to
the
required that they should not give voluntary support to the
government by holding
others for that purpose.
office
themselves, or by voting for
Some were
of the Union, and others were
fast
in favor of a dissolution
tending in that direction.
�NO UNION WITH SLAVEHOLDERS.
The
society
first in
to hold its
among
gested that
the
was
annual meeting in
Mr. Garrison, in urging a
May, 1842.
New York
in
attendance, sug-
the questions coming up for consideration,
importance would be one concerning " the duty of
making the repeal
of the union between the North
South the grand rallying-point, until
slavery cease to pollute our soil."
presses
full
569
commented upon
it
Several of the
this declaration
lated to excite popular violence, and
and the
be accomplished or
New York
in language calcu-
Judge Noah charged the
grand jury to indict the agitators if such discussions tended
But neither the comments of the
to a breach of the peace.
press nor the charge of the judge prevented a free and full
discussion of that question.
mending
A
resolution
was adopted recom-
voting Abolitionists to submit to candidates for
the question
:
office
Are you in favor of the abrogation of every pro-
vision in the Constitution
and the laws of the United States
people or their agents in holding
requiring the aid of the
human beings in slavery ?
To a resolution setting
forth that
inasmuch as neither the
people of the United States nor the Abolitionists had ever
asked for the abrogation of the slaveholding features of the
Constitution, there was no reasonable ground for asking for a
dissolution of the Union,
stitute that the
mand
cause of
this dissolution.
Henry
C.
Wright
offered as a sub-
human rights does imperatively deUpon this resolution and substitute
there sprang up an earnest and able debate, which ran through
two days, in which Mr. Wright, Wendell Phillips, Abby Kelly,
Charles Lenox Remond, Thomas Earle, and Ellis Gray Loring
participated.
the resolution
They were not, however, ready for
and substitute were laid upon the
at the eleventh
action,
table.
and
But
annual meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-
was reported by Wendell
no Abolitionist could consistently dethan " a dissolution of the union between North-
slavery Society, in 1843, a resolution
Phillips, asserting that
mand
less
ern freedom and Southern slavery, as essential to the aboli-
and the preservation of the other." This
amended,
on motion of Mr. Garrison, so as to
was
resolution
read that the compact which exists between the North and the
tion of the one
72
�570
RISE
South
is
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
" a covenant with death and an agreement with hell,"
involving both parties in atrocious criminalities, and that
it
should be immediately annulled.
At
the twelfth annual meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-
slavery Society, Stephen S. Foster presented a protest against
the Constitution of the United States, and against the union
of the Northern and Southern States, with the reasons for this
extreme measure
fully
enumerated.
In the preamble was set
forth the declaration that the officers
Massachusetts Antislavery Society "
and members of the
now
publicly abjure our
and the
Union, and place the broad seal of our reprobation upon this
unnatural and unholy alliance between liberty and slavery."
The obligations of the Union were declared to be utterly null
and void the pledge was given to seek its peaceful dissolution
and the friends of freedom in the North were invited
allegiance to the Constitution of the United States
;
;
thereafter to vote for repeal, instead of casting their votes for
Abolitionists for office.
Mr. Foster was followed by Mr. Garrison, who also presented
a preamble embodying the same propositions in briefer and
more concise form, closing with a resolution declaring in substance that the national compact was in principle and practice
an insupportable despotism from its inception, before God,
and void and that it was the right and duty of the friends
of impartial liberty to withdraw their allegiance, and effect,
if possible, its overthrow by peaceful revolution.
These reso;
null
lutions
;
were discussed with great earnestness, the discus-
sion being held in the evening, in the State House.
In both
Faneuil Hall and the capitol the speeches of Garrison, Foster,
Phillips, Quincy,
solution
of the
and Burleigh in favor of the immediate disBut no vote was
Union were applauded.
reached.
The questions
of receding from the government, and of placing on the antislavery banners the war-cry of " No union with
slaveholders," were carried into the meeting of the
Antislavery Society, in
New
York, early in May,
American
184-1.
On
the proposition by Mr. Garrison, the declaration was made,
after earnest debate, that " henceforth, until slavery be abol-
�NO UNION WITH SLAVEHOLDERS.
571
ished, the watchword, the rallying cry, the motto on the banner of the American Antislavery Society shall be, " No Union
with Slaveholders." The resolution introduced by Mr. Phillips
was also adopted, declaring that secession from the government was the duty of every Abolitionist, and that to take
or to vote for another to hold office under the Constitu-
office
and made such voter an
tion violated antislavery principles,
abettor of the slaveholder in his sin.
This position was not taken by the American Antislavery
Society, however, without the
most strenuous and persistent
William A. White, then a young, earnest, and
active member from Massachusetts, entered his protest, and
opposition.
withdrew
his
name from
the roll of the society.
A
protest
was
presented, signed by Ellis Gray Loring, David Lee Child,
Joseph Southwick, and others, declaring that this " novel test
members was "
intolerant and presumptuous
and tendency " that it narrowed the antislavery
platform; that it was "not required by enlightened conscience "
was " impracticable," and " calculated justly to impair the character and influence of the society."
A protest
was also entered by Thomas Earle and Arnold Buffum. They
protested on the ground that it was in effect the exclusion of
all but non-resistants from the society
that it was a loss of
power that it assumed the province of an ecclesiastical tri-
prescribed for the
in its spirit
;
;
;
;
bunal in settling questions of conscience, not involved in the
original design of the society
that it tended to retard the
;
cause of emancipation
;
and that
proposed
it
American Union without petitioning
for a
to dissolve the
change of the objec-
tionable features of the Constitution.
Two weeks
after this position was taken, an address was
announcing the above action and calling upon the
friends of freedom to adopt the policy proposed.
It charged
issued
that the national
that
it
compact was formed
despotism
;
that
it
was
at
expense of liberty
war with God and man
could not be innocently supported
immediately annulled.
upon
at the
;
favored a slaveholding oligarchy and an insupportable
their fellow-citizens
;
and that
it
;
that
it
deserved to be
In behalf of the society, they called
who
believed
it
to be " right to
obey
�572
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
God
rather than
man
IN AMERICA.
to declare themselves peaceful revolu-
and to unite with them under the stainless
liberty, having for its motto, Equal Rights for All,
with Slaveholders '" " Up," they say, " with the
Not to shed blood, not to injure the
revolution
estate of any oppressor, not by force of arms to
tionists,
banner of
— No Union
'
!
banner of
person or
!
any
resist
law, not to countenance a servile insurrection, not to wield
any carnal weapons
No
!
;
ours
—
cepting our blood be shed,
must be a bloodless
for
we aim,
leader, not to destroy men's lives, but to save
come
evil
with good
eousness' sake
;
;
to
strife,
ex-
as did Christ our
them
;
to over-
conquer through suffering for right-
to set the captive free
by the potency of trut^h."
government which
It declined to define or describe the form of
should succeed the present, leaving that matter for time to de-
But it expressed the opinion that when the people
were regenerated and turned from iniquity, when they ceased
from oppression and established liberty, what was then fragmentary would in due time be " crystallized and shine like a
gem set in the heavens for all coming ages."
Near the close of the month the New England Antislavery
termine.
Society adopted the
same
this
new
position
same
policy, for substantially the
reasons, by nearly a unanimous vote.
But, as in
was not taken without earnest
New
York,
protests.
One
signed by William A. White and Richard Hildreth, the historian, and concurred in by George Bradburn, was presented
against the adoption of these resolutions.
consistency required of
renunciation of
ment
;
all
all
It set forth
that
persons voting for them an absolute
the advantages derived from the govern-
that the repudiation of the Constitution and the pur-
posed dissolution of the Union did not tend in the slightest
degree to peaceful abolition
;
that abjuration of the Constitu-
tion did not relieve those persons so abjuring
it
of any obliga-
and responsibilities they were under as citizens, so long
as they remained in the country.
A protest was entered, too,' by Joseph Southwick, a Boston
merchant, and an early and devoted friend of the slave. He
tions
protested, for the reason that their adoption impaired the efforts
of Abolitionists, protracted the time for the removal of slavery,
�NO UNION WITH SLAVEHOLDERS.
contracted the antislavery platform
;
and
lie
573
affirmed that he
could not live in the country under the present Constitution,
and pay taxes
for the
support of the government,
if
he adopted
them.
In spite, however, of these and other protests, State and local
societies hastened to accept
and proclaim the new doctrine.
Francis Jackson, the president of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society, addressed a long letter to Governor Briggs, asking
him
to receive his resignation of the office of justice of the
In this letter he set forth, at length and in detail,
peace.
what he deemed
to be the demoralizing influences of the pro-
visions of the Constitution which recognized
"
slavery.
me," he said, "
To
it
and protected
appears that the virus of
body politic by
and poisoned the
slavery, introduced into the Constitution of our
a few slight punctures, has
now
so pervaded
whole system of our national government, that
is
no health in
disease
is
it.
The only remedy
literally there
that I can see for the
to be found in the dissolution of the patient."
He
avowed that he could no longer give voluntary assistance in
holding up the Constitution of the United States, which had
become so imbecile for good and so powerful for evil that he
withdrew all allegiance to it and that " henceforth," he said,
" it is dead to me, and I to it."
Several members of the American Antislavery Society not
only dissented from this action, but took an early occasion to
state their objections.
George Bradburn denounced it as " a
wild crusade against voting under the national Constitution "
and he announced that he should avail himself of the oppor;
;
;
tunity to
act
thereafter with the
regarded as " the most
Liberty party, which he
efficient antislavery instrumentality,
—
as the grand instrument, indeed, by which the institution of
slavery
is to
be overthrown."
Gerrit Smith, in a letter to
John G. Whittier, affirmed that
the people of the North were as guilty as the people of the
South, because they were more aroused to the wickedness of
slavery,
and sinned against greater
fact that the
nation in
its
light.
He
said that the
national capacity upheld slavery
proved nothing against the Constitution.
Maintaining that
�574
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
the Constitution was an antislaveiy instrument,
it
needed, he
said, but to be administered in consistency with its principles
immediate overthrow of the whole system of
to effectuate the
slavery.
He
declared
it
to be " a
people which they cannot fling
selves guilty of ingratitude to
slave."
God
He
power
in the
hands of the
away without making themGod and of treason to the
regarded the Constitution as a shield given by
head of the
and a weapon for
which had been murand it is, he
derously wielded on the side of the oppressor
"
fruit
poor
repentance,
if
our
said,
of
now, when
hearts are
a
smitten with a sense of our wrong use of this shield and
weapon, we shall, from our study of ease and quiet, from our
desire to promote a favorite theory, or from any other cause,
throw them away, instead of manfully, courageously, perseveringly, and therefore successfully, putting them to a right
to be placed over the
slave,
fighting the battles of the oppressed,
;
use."
But Garrison,
Phillips, Burleigh,
replied to all protests
Adin Ballou, and others
and criticisms with
They persisted
the new theories and
earnestness and vigor.
and advocacy of
society and its affiliated
position,
made
it
associations,
their accustomed
in the
maintenance
policy.
The parent
having accepted this
thereafter the distinctive feature of their
organization, and the most prominent article of their creed.
" No Union with Slaveholders " was the motto everywhere em-
blazoned on their banners.
Disunion was their recognized
remedy.
men
Other antislavery
of whatever organization
were proclaimed to be wanting in an essential element of
true and effective opposition.
all
However earnest and devoted,
they were deemed inconsistent, and their labors were regarded
This general critias only partial? if not wholly inefficient.
cism embraced every class of antislavery men, and every form
of antislavery effort.
From
the adoption of this policy of
disunion in 1844, to the opening of the Rebellion, so persistent
were they in
effort, that
its
promulgation, as the element of
all effective
the supporters of slavery seized upon that fact to
identify all antislavery
men
with them, and to characterize
all
opposition to slavery as disorganizing, revolutionary, and unpa-
�NO UNION WITH SLAVEHOLDERS.
575
was indeed a most potent weapon in the hands
and propagandists of slavery.
Nor did they cease its use until their voices were silenced by
the patriotism of the nation, outraged as it was by their own
treason or acknowledged complicity with it.
triotic.
It
.
of the apologists, perpetualists,
�CHAPTER
XLI.
IMPRISONMENT OF COLORED SEAMEN.
— Laws of Louisiana. — Resolutions of Massa— The Governor authorized appoint Agents defend Colored SeaMr. Hoar. — Excitement in South Carolina. — Action
men. — Appointment
South Carolina Legislature. — Fines
of Governor Hammond. — Resolutions
and Imprisonments imposed upon Persons that defend Negroes. — Indignation
leave the
at Charleston. — Action of the Authorities. — Mr. Hoar forced
—
— Mr. Hubbard's Mission New Orleans. — Compelled
Hoar and
Congress by Mr. Winthrop. — Reports
Petitions presented
the Legislature.
the Governor. — Action
Hubbard. — Message
Imprisonment in South Carolina.
to
to
chusetts.
of
of
to
to leave.
to
State.
of
to
of
Among
of
the aggressive and oppressive measures of the slave-
holding States were the arrests and imprisonments, the
fines,
whippings, and selling into slavery of free colored men, guilty
of no offence but entering Southern ports in the prosecution
of their lawful callings.
In 1820 South Carolina passed an act to restrain the emancipation of slaves, and to prevent free persons of color from
This act was followed by several others
These
of like character and with more stringent provisions.
acts bore with great severity upon colored persons employed
entering the State.
on board vessels entering her harbors. They were arrested,
A case
forcibly taken out of their vessels, and imprisoned.
was taken into one of the State courts, and a discharge
demanded, on the ground that such laws were unconstitubut, that court holding the law to be constitutional,
tional
an appeal was taken to the highest tribunal of the State.
After argument, the court being divided in opinion, the case
was suspended, and the prisoners were still held in custody.
The petitions of twenty-six masters of vessels were presented to the Congress of the United States by Mr. Sargent
;
of Pennsylvania, in the winter of 1823, setting forth that these
�IMPRISONMENT OF COLORED SEAMEN.
577
acts destroyed the liberty of freemen, interfered with the free-
dom
and with the employment of seamen.
to relieve them from the situation in
which these acts placed them by exposing their free colored
mariners to unlawful imprisonment, and their vessels to an
enormous and unnecessary expense and detention. Congress,
however, gave no relief, and South Carolina went on increasing the severity of her statutes and the rigor of their enforcenavigation
of
They asked Congress
ment.
England made formal complaint against these
acts,
and
re-
monstrated not with that State, but with the national government.
The
subject
was referred
to
ney-General of the United States
;
William Wirt, then Attorand that eminent jurist,
though a native of Virginia and a slaveholder himself, in
1824, pronounced the acts she complained of an infraction of
" the Constitution, treaties, and laws of the United States,
and incompatible with the rights of
the United States."
far as
it
all
nations in amity with
South Carolina bowed to that decision so
applied to foreign nations, but mercilessly enforced
those laws against the citizens of her sister States,
who some-
times found in her ports that temporary protection on the
decks and under the flags of other governments which their
own
failed to secure.
Though one
of her most eminent sons,.
William Johnson, then a judge of the Supreme Court of the
United States, held the opinion that these laws " trampled
on the Constitution," " implied a direct attack upon the sovereignty of the United States," tended " to a dissolution of the
Union," and were " unconstitutional and void," yet she persistently adhered to her illegal, unfriendly,
and cruel
policy.
Louisiana and some other Southern States followed her per-
For years the merchants, shipmasters, and
seamen of Northern States were thus harassed and burdened.
These oppressions continuing, petitions were presented, in
1836, to the legislature of Massachusetts, by antislavery men,
asking the interposition of the State.
Samuel J. May and
Samuel E. Sewall appeared before the committee and presented the carefully collected facts bearing upon the subject.
No action, however, was taken till 1839, when a series of
nicious example.
73
�578
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
was passed, protesting against laws under which
" citizens of this Commonwealth, visiting those States for
resolutions
purposes of business or driven thither by misfortune, often
have been and continue to be, though
guiltless of crime, cast
and in many instances
was the paramount duty
of Massachusetts to protect her citizens, the governor was
authorized to employ a suitable person, whenever any colored
citizen of the State was imprisoned in another State on account
into prison, subjected to onerous fines,
Assuming
sold into slavery."
that
it
of complexion or race, to lay the matter before the proper au-
These
and secure the release of the individual.
resolves, so moderate in language and so reasonable in their
demands, were unheeded, and treated with contemptuous negthorities
lect.
After patiently waiting three years, the legislature authorized the governor to take suitable measures at the expense of
the
Commonwealth
to procure the discharge of persons held
under such laws, and to
Court
;
test their legality before the
Supreme
but this action secured no practical result.
laws were
felt to
These
be more and more oppressive and burden-
some, and petitions were presented in 1843, to the legislature,
asking the appointment of counsel in the ports of Charleston
and
The
New
Orleans to act in behalf of their oppressed citizens.
legislature promptly passed resolves authorizing the gov-
ernor to employ an agent for the ports of Charleston and
New
Orleans, for a term not exceeding one year, for collecting and
transmitting information respecting the
number
of persons
imprisoned without the allegation of a crime, and to prosecute one or more suits, so as to test the legality of these im-
prisonments.
pose
;
Governor Morton appointed agents
for that pur-
but they took no notice of their appointment, or declined
to act.
Defeated in
all
its
efforts
to secure the protection of its
citizens, the legislature, in 1844, authorized the
governor to
appoint an agent to reside at Charleston, and another to reside
in
New
Orleans, to carry into effect the resolutions of the pre-
ceding legislature.
Under
this
authority
Governor Briggs
Mr.
appointed for Charleston Samuel Hoar of Concord.
�IMPRISONMENT OF COLORED SEAMEN.
Hoar was
and
579
a gentleman of ripe age, of great personal
worth
influence, eminent in his profession, having served with
much
acceptance in both the State and national legislatures.
He was
by temperament, education, and social position cauHe had never been an Abolitionist,
tious and conservative.
but was a supporter and advocate of the colonization scheme.
Accepting this appointment, Mr. Hoar set out on his mission
With his daugh-
of justice, humanity, and constitutional law.
ter,
a lady of rare intelligence and excellence of character, he
arrived at Charleston on the 28th of November, 1844.
On
the
same day he addressed a communication to the governor of
South Carolina, informing him that he had been appointed by
the governor of Massachusetts an agent to collect and transmit accurate information respecting the imprisonment of citizens of that Commonwealth, and bring one or more suits in
The next day Mr. Hoar sought an introduction
their behalf.
to the
mayor
of Charleston, for the purpose of obtaining ac-
cess to " the records of orders on sentences to imprisonment
of our colored seamen or other citizens."
at
Columbia,
But that
official
was
attending a session of the legislature.
James H. Hammond was then governor of South Carolina.
His views upon slaveholding were of the most extravagant
He believed it to be the normal condition of socharacter.
ciety.
In Congress he had shown himself to be its most
zealous advocate, and a violent exponent of the most extreme opinions of his State. Reckless alike of the rights of
whites and of blacks, he did not hesitate to make this avowal
on the
floor of the
House
:
" I warn the Abolitionists,
rant, infatuated barbarians as they are,
—
that, if
— igno-
chance shall
throw any of them into our hands, they may expect a felon's
death." On receiving Mr. Hoar's letter, the governor hastened
Incensed at what they
to communicate it to the legislature.
chose to regard " as part of a deliberate and concerted scheme
Southern States,"
to subvert the domestic institutions of the
the legislature promptly adopted a series of resolutions declaring the right of South Carolina to exclude from her territory
denying that free
persons whose presence might be dangerous
negroes were " citizens of the United States " in the meaning
;
�580
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
of the Constitution
;
IN AMERICA.
and requesting the governor
to " expel
the emissary sent by Massachusetts to South Carolina."
Nor did the
legislature pause with these declarations.
passed an act to punish by
fines,
They
imprisonment, and banishlimits of the State with
ment any person coming within the
the intent to disturb or hinder the operation of laws relating
to slaves
and
free persons of color.
resident citizen of the State
It also
who should
for a like purpose should receive a
still
enacted that any
accept any commission
severer punishment.
As his mission became known, a like feeling of resentment
and hostility ran through the State. Charleston was in a ferment of rage. The sheriff called on Mr. Hoar, and said to
him " It is considered a great insult on South Carolina by
Massachusetts to send an agent here on such business. The
You are in great danger, and you
city is highly incensed.
had better leave the city as soon as possible." He replied
with firmness, that he had been sent by the governor of Massachusetts on lawful business, and he could not consent to
leave until he had attempted, at least, to carry out his instrucThe sheriff then read a portion of a letter he had retions.
:
ceived from the attorney-general, urging the importance of pre-
serving order and deprecating a resort to lynching, which
would be " a disgrace to the city." Repeating several times
that the excitement was intense, that the people regarded the
object of his visit an insult, he advised him to leave at once, as
But Mr. Hoar was firm in his
the only means of safety left.
Other citiunwillingness to leave under such circumstances.
zens called, with similar representations and counsel.
It was suggested to him by the sheriff, that a case be made
up and taken before the Supreme Court, and a decision secured
by this means. To this proposition he readily assented but,
on further reflection and consideration, the sheriff withdrew
Dr. Whitridge, to whom Mr. Hoar had a letter
the offer.
of introduction, also called upon him and, though expressing his " unutterable mortification in communicating the state
;
;
of things existing in Charleston," he
him
He
told
felt
obliged to apprise
and of the necessity of immediate escape.
him that he had just come from the common council
of his danger,
�IMPRISONMENT OF COLORED SEAMEN.
581
that the people were assembling in groups, and that the best
course to be pursued was to take a carriage to his plantation,
some twenty miles distant, where they could arrange further
movements. But he still firmly declined the proffered aid and
advice.
Three gentlemen
— one
of
them a bank president and the
whom was Mr. Mag-rath,
others two attorneys of that city, one of
a lawyer of eminence, afterward a judge of the United States
District Court,
and one of the leaders of the Rebellion
on Mr. Hoar, avowedly
the city.
Hoar
To
for the purpose of inducing
— called
him
to leave
he should leave, Mr.
their urgent request that
replied by stating the lawful nature of his business,
and
was under to perform it. After further conversation, they informed him that they would call
again and escort him to the boat.
He replied that fighting on his part would be very foolish, that he was too old to
run, and they would find him there to be disposed of as they
the pressing necessity he
When they were about leaving the room,
reminded
them
that
he had a daughter with him to which
he
" It is that which
Mr. Rose, the bank president, replied
While these gentlemen used no
creates our embarrassment."
violent language, their words and tones indicated that they
were determined in their purpose.
He was further embarrassed by the action of the keeper
Without intimating to him a desire that he
of the hotel.
should leave his house, he presented a request to the city
government that they would remove him, to save his house
from the impending danger. Informed that a story was circulating through the city that he had consented to leave, Mr.
Hoar stated to Mr. Rose and his friends that he had given no
such consent and that, if he left the city, it would be because
he " must," not because he " would." It was admitted that
they had no power to order him away, and that all they could
do was to warn him of what was to follow if he should not go.
They concurred in assuring him that he had done all he could,
and that it was impossible for him to remain longer in the city.
" It seemed then," said Mr. Hoar, in his report to the govshould think proper.
;
:
;
ernor of Massachusetts, " that there was but one question for
�582
me
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
EISE
IN AMERICA.
which was, whether I should walk to a carriage
or be dragged to it.
Unless I disregarded the statements of
friends as well as of foes, and also the preparations which I
then saw about me, this, I must conclude, was the only alternative.
I could perceive no use to any State, cause, or person in
choosing the latter and I then, and for the first time, said,
I will go.' "
He entered the carriage pointed out to him, and
was driven to the boat " without any tumult or further abuse."
to settle
;
;
'
Thus was the accredited agent of Massachusetts expelled
from the
guilty of
soil
of a sister State, while her colored citizens,
no crime, were
still
doomed, though in the pursuit of
their lawful avocations, to arrests, imprisonments, fines, and,
for a
too,
second offence, to be sold at public sale as slaves.
Thus,
in violation of the guaranty that " the citizens of each
State shall be entitled to all the immunities
and privileges
of citizens of the several States," did South Carolina adhere,
not only inflexibly but vauntingly, to her inhuman and lawless
Not only did the efforts of Massachusetts to protect
her lowly and defenceless sons signally fail, but she found herpolicy.
self
powerless either to maintain the rights guaranteed by the
Constitution, which she felt herself
vindicate her co-equality
Significant, indeed,
among her
bound
to support, or to
sister States.
were the inquiries with which Mr. Hoar
closed the report of his fruitless mission.
"
Has
the Constitu-
tion of the United States the least practical validity or binding
force in
South Carolina
?
She prohibits the
trial of
an action
under the Constitution for determining such cases in which a citizen of Massachusetts complains that a citizen of South Carolina has done him an injury
saying that she has herself already tried that cause and decided against the plaintiff.
She prohibits, not only by her
in the tribunals established
;
mobs, but by her legislature, the residence of a free white citizen of Massachusetts within the limits of South Carolina
whenever she thinks his presence there inconsistent with her
policy. Are the other States of the Union to be regarded as
"
the conquered provinces of South Carolina ?
But South Carolina was not alone in her violent and contumacious course. Henry Hubbard, a lawyer of Western Massa-
�583
.IMPRISONMENT OF COLORED SEAMEN.
chusetts,
had been appointed the agent
arrival in
At
New
for Louisiana.
His
Orleans threw the city into great excitement.
the outset he
was
careful to disclaim all connection with
abolitionism, or any intention to interfere with slavery or with
slaves at the South.
was
The purpose
of Massachusetts, he said,
imprisoned without
to enable the citizens of that State,
crime, to avail themselves of
lawful
all
means
for their libera-
In a communication to Governor Mouton he assured
tion.
him
that Massachusetts was simply striving to protect her
own
and had done nothing to infringe the right of her
But all these explanations and disclaimers were
States.
citizens,
sister
The excitement
unavailing.
murmurs
increased, the
of hos-
grew louder, and threats of lynching were freely
Everything boded a popular outbreak.
circulated.
Mr. Hubbard was waited upon by the city recorder, accompanied by Mr. Soule*, afterward United States senator, and
tile
intent
urged immediately to leave the
city.
As he
declined com-
pliance with these demands, the recorder, under great excitement, said to him " It is from no motive but that of humanity
:
come
that I
ise
to
warn you of your danger.
to leave the
night
;
and
if I
city
life
is
not safe this
should take you into custody, I could not pro-
tect you, for they
would murder
here another night, your
was assured,
you do not prom-
If
immediately, your
me
in a
moment.
If
you stay
will certainly be taken."
life
He
by Jacob Barker, a native of Massachusetts,
but long a citizen of New Orleans, that his life was in imminent peril. Under these circumstances he addressed a letter to
too,
the governor of Louisiana, expressing his purpose,
now
his mission was fruitless, immediately to leave the State.
that
The
law, the government, and the people of Louisiana were against
and Mr. Hubbard returned home, made his reand resigned his agency.
Thus Louisiana, like South Carolina, acting on the practical
assumption that everything must be subordinate to the inter-
his mission
;
port,
ests of slavery, did not hesitate to violate both the spirit
the letter of the Constitution
;
and
while Massachusetts, believing
that the government was designed to secure the blessings of
liberty to all,
aimed
to
make
it
effectual in
guarding the rights
�584
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
of the humblest of her citizens
;
IN AMERICA.
but she found herself, under
the slavery regime, powerless for the protection of her most
honored
official representatives.
Nor could she look
to the national
Power and compelled
government
for the vin-
That, too, was bestrode by the Slave
dication of her rights.
to
do
its
bidding.
An
appeal had
ready been made, and that appeal had been denied.
al-
In De-
cember, 1842, Mr. Winthrop of Massachusetts had presented
a memorial of the citizens of Boston, owners and masters of
vessels
and
others, representing that
it
was necessary
to
em-
ploy free persons of color in vessels entering the ports of
Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, and
men were
New
Orleans
;
that these
frequently taken from their vessels and thrown into
prison, greatly to the prejudice of their interests
ment of commerce
and render
;
and they prayed Congress
and the
detri-
to grant relief,
effectual the privileges of citizenship secured
by the
Constitution.
This memorial had been referred to the Committee on
Commerce, and Mr. "Winthrop, who evinced in this case deep
interest and zeal, had promptly reported that the judiciary
alone could give relief from these oppressive laws, and the
State alone could repeal them.
But the committee reported a
series of resolutions, trusting that their adoption by the House
would not be without influence in securing for the petitioners,
and much more for the seamen in their employ, the redress
they demanded. These resolutions pronounced that the seizure and imprisonment in the ports of any State of free colored
seamen against whom there was no charge but that of entering such ports in pursuance of their lawful business, and the
authorizing of such seizure and imprisonment by State laws,
were in contravention of the paramount and exclusive power
of the general government to regulate commerce, and were
also in direct, positive, and permanent conflict with the express provisions and fundamental principles of the national
compact. The House of Representatives, however, under the
lead of Cave Johnson of Tennessee, soon thereafter made
Postmaster-General, laid those resolutions on the table by a
large majority
;
and by so doing gave
its
sanction and encour-
�IMPRISONMENT OF COLORED SEAMEN.
agement
to this
585
inhuman, unjust, and unconstitutional State
legislation.
Early in the session of 1845 Governor Briggs sent to the
accompanied by a well-reasoned
and temperate message. It was referred to a joint special
committee, of which Charles Francis Adams was made chairman. That committee, on the 3d of February, reported resolves concerning the treatment of Samuel Hoar by the State
legislature Mr. Hoar's report,
of South Carolina, with a declaration to be adopted as the act
of the
Commonwealth
of Massachusetts.
clearly set forth the whole case in issue,
and
This declaration
justified
by indis-
putable facts and impregnable arguments the course Massachusetts
With becoming
had pursued.
presence of
all
solemnity, as " in the
Christian nations, of the civilized world, and
of an omniscient, all-seeing Deity, the final judge of
human
action," she addressed " each of her sister States," entered
her solemn protest, and arraigned South Carolina because the
latter had disregarded " the comity acknowledged by all civilized communities," defied " the express stipulations of the
Constitution," and refused to submit her action to be adjudged
by the Supreme Court of the United States.
This admirable State paper, which was unanimously adopted
and sent forth to the country, closed with this firm and digni" She will
fied enunciation of the purposes of Massachusetts
never relax in her demands of all the rights which belong to
her as a State and member of the Union, or in the execution
of her utmost energies in support of the undying principles of
:
justice and liberty among men, the base of her social edifice,
cemented in the blood of many of its founders, as they are the
pride and honor of modern civilization."
This appeal awoke no response and secured no action from
the offending States.
Their cruel laws
still
continued to dis-
grace their statute-books, and Northern freemen were
still
sub-
Nor was there
they were swept away by the fire and flood
jected to their harsh and humiliating operation.
any relaxation until
which destroyed the guilty cause itself. What and how potent
was the agency which this persistent injustice, these continued
oppressions, exerted in bringing on that struggle, Omniscience
74
�586
EISE
only knows.
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
How
important a factor
it
IN AMERICA.
became
in that
com-
bination of causes which hastened on the bloody struggle no
human
sagacity can divine.
Nor can
it
be
known how much
the manly stand of Massachusetts, though then overborne, contributed to the building
later,
up of that power which, sixteen years
grappled with slavery in arms and closed
crime.
its
career of
�CHAPTER
XLII.
PLOT FOR THE ANNEXATION OP TEXAS.
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
— General Jackson's
— Mr. Tyler. — Mr. Gilmer's
Presidential Intrigue. — Address of Members of Congress against the Texas
— Visit of Mr. Andrews and Mr. Tappau to
Scheme. — Duff Green's
Annexation distinctly avowed. — Accusations against
England. — Motives
England. — Position
the British Government. — Texas or Disunion. — Conditions demanded by Texas. — Death
Mr. l/pshur. — Mr. Calhoun made Sec— Treaty.
retary of
Texas.
Immigration from the
Dominating Influences of the Slave Power.
Annexation to the United States proTexas declared Independent.
South.
Election and Death of General HarRejected by Mr. Van Buren.
posed.
Letter.
Letter.
rison.
Letter.
for
of
of
State.
So marked had been the slaveholding policy of the United
had been its avowals, that well-informed and
thoughtful men in the Old World saw, and did not hesitate to
States, so distinct
characterize in fitting terms, the inconsistency of the great Republic.
In the year 1845, Macaulay in the British parliament
unquestionably gave expression to the well-considered senti-
ments of European opinion when he said " That nation is the
champion and upholder of slavery. They seek to extend slavery with more energy than was ever exerted by any other na:
tion to diffuse civilization."
and of those avowals no page of American history affords more striking examples than that which narrates
Of
this policy
the inception, progress, and consummation of the plot for the
annexation of Texas.
For, perhaps, at no point in that his-
tory was the ascendency of the Slave
Power more complete,
nowhere along its gloomy pathway did the nation afford sadder examples of abject subserviency to its behests. For that
power not only controlled the government and dictated its
policy, but it made no concealment of its designs and purposes
It was openly and almost ostentaof control and dictation.
�588
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
tiously proclaimed, not only that slavery should be protected
against a threatened danger, but that
ened and
its
area extended.
it
Its friends
should be strength-
were not only busy,
but they were open in their avowals of the object of their
efforts.
When
Louisiana was purchased of France, in 1803, by Mr.
Jefferson, its western boundaries
were undefined.
Texas was
claimed by both the United States and Spain, and there was
danger of
collision between the authorities of the two nations.
Mr. Pinckney and Mr. Monroe were therefore directed by Mr.
Jefferson, in 1805, to settle with Spain the question of boun-
and in 1816, Mr. Erving, minister to that government,
was authorized to make a treaty fixing upon the Sabine River
Mr. Jefferson
as the boundary between the two countries.
had virtually accepted such an arrangement in 1806 by assenting to an agreement between the American and Spanish commanders, on their respective frontiers, by which the
troops of the United States were not to move beyond the
Rio Hondo, and the troops of Spain were not to come east
dary
;
of the Sabine.
By
the treaty of 1819 the claim of the United States to the
undefined territory of Texas was ceded to Spain as a part of
the consideration for the cession of Florida.
This acquisition
had been so earnestly urged by the slaveholders of Georgia
and Alabama as a remedy or protection against the escape
of slaves into that territory from those States, and so strongwas the pressure upon the government, that Mr. Monroe, with
the consent of all his Cabinet, agreed to this recession of Texas
to Spain. It met with opposition, however, though unavailing,
even from slaveholders themselves, a resolution being introduced into the House by Mr. Clay, dissenting from it. But the
resolution was rejected, and the treaty received not only the
sanction of the Senate, but also the approval of the country.
Texas thus became an undisputed part of Mexico by the action
of the United States
and when that country achieved her independence, this territory became an integral portion of that
;
republic.
Efforts,
however, were early made to recover
it
by
treaty.
�PLOT FOR THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS.
589
In 1827, Mr. Clay, then Secretary of State in the administration of
to
Mr. Adams, authorized an
Mexico
offer of a million dollars
for the territory east of the
Under
Rio Grande.
the
administration of General Jackson, two years later, that offer
was increased to four or five million dollars for Texas proper,
which did not include either New Mexico or the valley of the
Rio Grande. Other efforts were made by General Jackson,
but Mexico persistently refused to treat for its cession on an}The avowed and probably the real reasons for those
terms.
early efforts were to secure a better western boundary, to protect New Orleans, and to prevent the occupation of that terriIt was stated by Mr.
tory by a foreign and hostile power.
Adams, in 1845, in the debate on the resolutions for the annexation of Texas, that it was a free country when he offered
to purchase it, and that he had ever been willing to acquire it,
as a free country, with the assent of Mexico.
By
the decree of the President of Mexico, in 1829, slavery
was abolished throughout the Mexican Republic.
very few Mexican inhabitants in the territory
There
known
being-
as Texas,
the slave-masters looked with hungry eyes upon that region,
whose climate,
migration.
States,
soil,
and other natural resources, invited im-
Adventurers, principally from the southwestern
many
of
them broken
and reckless and desunbounded prospects of wealth
in fortune
perate in character, allured by
and power, flocked into the territory, and, with characteristic
effrontery and lawlessness, took their slaves with them, though
in plain defiance of Mexican law.
With still greater audacity
and criminality, secret agencies were formed for enlisting and
arming men for the hardly concealed purpose of re-establishing
had been made free by Mexican statand even of wresting that territory from its allegiance to
the Mexican government.
Indeed, in 1832, Sam Houston, who
had been a soldier under General Jackson, and who was subsequently a member of Congress and governor of Tennessee,
went to Texas avowedly for the purpose of taking possession
of the country, and of establishing there an independent government. In that work he received the support of large numslavery in territory which
ute,
bers of the Southern people, with the countenance, hardly dis-
�590
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
guised, of the civil and military authorities of the United
States.
On
the 2d of March, 1836, the independence of Texas was
A
proclaimed.
few weeks later the battle of San Jacinto was
Santa Anna, president of the Mexican Republic, having been taken prisoner, stipulated for the recognition of
fought.
Texan independence, though Mexico would not sanction a
treaty
made by
its
president while thus held in duress.
Immediately after the battle of San Jacinto, Mr. Calhoun
announced it to be the policy of the government to recognize
at once the independence of Texas, and to annex it as soon
as possible to the United States.
In accordance with this
object, its independence was recognized
and its minister at Washington, General Hunt,
proposed in August its annexation. The proposition was, however, rejected by Mr. Van Buren.
Though generally subservient to the slaveholders' policy, he faltered here.
This was a
little too bold and unequivocal, and consequently Mr. Forsyth,
his Secretary of State, in his reply to General Hunt, affirmed
that the United States was bound to Mexico by a treaty of
amity and commerce, which would be scrupulously observed
that so long as Texas should remain at war, while the United
States was at peace with her adversary, the proposition " necessarily involved the question of war with that adversary."
The Secretary further stated that the United States might
boldly proclaimed
early in 1837,
;
justly be suspected of a disregard of the friendly purposes of
the compact,
if
the overtures of General
Hunt were
to be
reserved even for the purpose of future consideration, as this
" would imply a disposition on our part to espouse the quarrel
of Texas with Mexico."
This scheme having
during Mr.
Van
failed,
no further overtures were made
Buren's administration.
who had disapproved
Those, however,
of the policy of the cession of Texas to
Spain in 1819, looked with favor on its recession if, as Mr.
Benton expressed it, " its recovery " could be effected " without
crime and infamy." But they generally relinquished the idea
when they saw that it had now become a part of a scheme of
sectional aggrandizement, another demand of the Slave Power,
�PLOT FOR THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS.
591
another step in the march of slavery aggression and ascen-
Mr.
dency.
Adams had
raised his warning voice against
it
Mr. Webster, in his speech at Niblo's Garden, in March, 1837,
nearly six months before the proposition had been made by
the Texan authorities, declared that he saw " objections, insur-
mountable objections," to the annexation of Texas to the
United States.
He
thought
all
the stipulations contained in
the Constitution in favor of the slaveholding States
which
were already in the Union " ought to be fulfilled in the
ness of their spirit and to the exactness of their letter." "
all see,"
he
said,
ful-
We
" that by whomsoever possessed, Texas
likely to be a slaveholding country
;
and
I frankly
avow
is
my
unwillingness to do anything that shall extend the slavery of
the African race on this continent, or add other slaveholding
States to the Union."
The
legislatures of several States pro-
nounced against annexation. The warning of Mr. Adams, the
emphatic utterances of Mr. Webster, and the decisive refusal
of Mr. Van Buren's administration, seemed to check, for a
while, the effort, and to give its advocates the idea that a large
work of preparation was essential to success.
But the advanced leaders, confident of ultimate triumph,
determined to achieve
it
at
dential reasons, they did not
no distant day
;
though, for pru-
make annexation an
presidential contest of 1840.
issue in the
That election resulted in the
defeat of the Democratic party.
By
the election of General
Harrison the Whigs came into power. Though antislavery
was not a plank in their platform, and the party had its Southern wing,
it
still
embraced the few antislavery men in the
more favorable to a
country, and was generally regarded as
humane and
liberal policy
than
its
antagonist.
The President
month, and John Tyler became his
successor.
Whatever of hope had been cherished by the
friends of freedom was speedily dispelled by the accession
died, however, within one
The friends of the scheme saw
and man had come. In Mr. Tyler they found
hearty sympathy with their object, though his party
of the Virginia slaveholder.
that their hour
one in
affiliations
They
linked
him with the opponents
therefore gathered
of the measure.
around him, flattered his vanity,
�592
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
him from
the great body
But Mr. Webster, who
had remained in Mr. Tyler's cabinet after his colleagues had
excited his ambition, and separated
of the party which
retired,
had elected him.
stood in the way, until the
coldness,
not to say
members of the administration, compelled
The State Department then passed into the
rudeness, of some
him
to resign.
hands of Mr. Legare of South Carolina, then into those of
Mr. Upshur of Virginia, and soon afterward into those of Mr.
Calhoun, each of whom was an admitted propagandist, and
ready to make any sacrifices in behalf of slavery and to execute any of the behests of the Slave Power.
Having colonized Texas in order that slavery might be
extended, the slaveholders had wrested it from Mexico for
They were now determined on its anthe same purpose.
words
of General Hamilton, to " give a
in
the
nexation
;
Gibraltar to the South," and in those of
Henry A. Wise,
to
Southern legisgive " more weight to her end of the lever."
latures declared that annexation would give an " equal poise
of influence in the halls of Congress," and " a permanent
guaranty of protection " to the slave system.
The " Madi-
sonian," President Tyler's organ, affirmed that annexation
would have the most salutary influence upon slavery, and that
" it must be done soon, or not at all."
To " fire the Southern
heart" and stimulate the administration, the leaders raised
the war-cry of "
Now,
or never."
In the winter of 1843 it became apparent that a gigantic
Early in January a
intrigue for annexation was in progress.
written
by Thomas
paper,
Baltimore
in
a
published
letter was
W. Gilmer, a member of the House from Virginia. He was
a warm personal and political friend of Mr. Calhoun. Like
many other young men of the South, trained in the Whig parand accepted the theories of the Calhoun
This letter was an adroit and skilful
appeal in favor of immediate annexation, in order, as the
ty,
he had deserted
it,
school of Democracy.
It
writer said, to thwart the abolition designs of England.
House
the
member
of
Brown,
a
Vail
Aaron
through
sent
was
from Tennessee, to General Jackson, with a view of drawing
from him an answer in favor of seizing the golden opportunity
�PLOT FOR THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS.
593
immediate admission of Texas, and to defeat the
Van Buren for the presidency. Jackson,
always in favor of the scheme, and ever devoted to the cause of
slavery, replied, on the 13th of February, 1843, that the annexa-
to secure the
nomination of Mr.
Texas had occupied much of his attention during his
and that,
that it had lost none of its importance
His
its aspects, it was essential to the United States.
more
than
year,
a
was withheld from publication for
tion of
presidency
in all
letter
when
it
;
;
was brought
out, with its date altered to 1844, for the
purpose of aiding in carrying through the Senate the annexa-
and of affecting the action of the Democratic
was to meet in May at Baltimore.
Mi-. Benton, in his " Thirty Years' View," states that General Jackson's letter passed into the hands of Mr. Gilmer,
that he showed it to a confidential friend, and said that " it
was to be produced in the nominating convention, to overthrow Mr. Van Buren and give Mr. Calhoun the nomination,
both of whom were to be interrogated beforehand, and as it
Calhoun for,
was well known what the answers would be,
and Jackand Van Buren against, immediate annexation,
son's answer coinciding with Calhoun's, would turn the scale
"
in his favor, and blow Van Buren sky high.'
The leaders in this annexation scheme were unquestionably
ambitious, selfish, and unscrupulous intriguers, as charged by
tion treaty,
national convention, which
—
—
'
many
of their political associates
;
but their action was mainly
inspired by slaveholding policy, so that this, like so
many
other
of the great events of American history which have really
tended to the aggrandizement and material advancement of
was prompted and really accomplished for a no
more worthy purpose than to strengthen and perpetuate the
vile and inhuman system of chattel slavery.
At the close of the XXVIIIth Congress, twenty members
of the House united in an address to the people of the free
States, warning them against the scheme to bring a foreign
slaveholding nation into the Union. This address was written, after consultation with Mr. Adams, Mr. Giddings, and Mr.
Slade, by Seth M. Gates, a representative from New York.
It
set forth in direct, clear, and emphatic language the purpose
the nation,
75
�594
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
of the slaveholding power to secure, beyond all redemption,
the perpetuation of slavery, and to maintain
ascendency.
It
its
continued
pronounced annexation to be a violation of
its objects, designs, and the great elementary principles which entered into its formation. It declared it to be " an attempt to eternize an institution and a
power of a nature so unjust in themselves, so injurious to the
interests and abhorrent to the feelings of the people of the
our national compact,
free States, as in our opinion not only inevitably to result in
a
and we not
States ought not to sub-
dissolution of the Union, but fully to justify
only assert that the people of the free
mit to
it,
we say with confidence
;
that they will not submit
was published generally in the Whig papers of the
States, and contributed largely to awaken the people to
to it."
free
but
it
It
the meditated action of the leaders of annexation.
These motives
tinctly
for annexation,
avowed by
its
advocates.
it is
to be observed,
Nor did they
were
dis-
hesitate to pro-
claim, almost defiantly, that all risks to be run and all sacrifices to
be
made were
for slavery.
Mr. Upshur, Secretary of
State, in his letter of the 8tlrof August, 1843, to
Mr. Murphy,
the Charge* d' Affaires in Texas, expressly declared that " few
calamities could befall this country,
more
the abolition of slavery in Texas."
In a despatch of the 22d
to be
deplored than
to fear that there
Murphy that there was no reason
would be any difference of opinion among
the slaveholding
States touching the policy of annexation,
of September, he assured Mr.
which he pronounced " absolutely necessary
to the salvation
In his despatch of the 21st of November of
that year, he distinctly announced that " we regard annexaof the South."
tion as involving the security of the South," and in that of
the 16th of January, 1844, he asserted that " if Texas should
not be attached to the United States she cannot maintain that
and probably not half that time."
These frank and unhesitating avowals on the part of Mr.
Upshur, seemed to alarm Mr. Murphy, who, intent upon secur-
institution ten years,
ing the prize, deprecated anything that looked like a needless
obstacle thrown in its way,
and he cautioned the too outspoken
secretary against offending " our fanatical brethren at the
�PLOT FOR THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS.
595
North," suggesting, at the same time, that the idea that annexation was undertaken for " the cause of civil and religious
liberty " was the safest issue to present to the nation at large.
"The
to
Constitution of Texas," said Mr. Murphy in a despatch
Mr. Upshur, " secures to the master the perpetual right to
and prohibits the introduction of slavery into Texas
from any other quarter than from the United States. If the
his slave,
United States preserves and secures to Texas the possession
of her Constitution, then we have gained all we can desire, and
all that Texas asks or wishes."
Nor was Mr. Calhoun any
less explicit.
Having, on the
death of Mr. Upshur, succeeded to the State Department,
he wrote
in
to Mr. Green, the representative of the government
Mexico, that " it was impossible for the United States
to witness with indifference the
abolish
slavery
in
Texas."
efforts of
To
the
Great Britain to
British
minister he
wrote on the 27th of April, while the treaty was pending
in the Senate, that annexation " was made necessary in order
to preserve domestic institutions, placed
under the guaranty
of the Constitutions of the United States
also gravely asserted that
what
is
and Texas."
called slavery
is
He
in real-
" essential to the peace, safety, and
Union in which it exists,"
and he avowed that Texas was to be annexed to guard against
the clanger of the abolition of slavery in the Southern States.
Mr. Green was instructed to say to Mexico, that the treaty of
annexation was forced upon the government in self-defence,
in consequence of the policy adopted by Great Britain in referity a political institution,
prosperity of those States of the
ence to the abolition of slavery in Texas.
Nor were these statements misapprehended, or the position
For the Mexican Minister
of the government misunderstood.
of Foreign Relations sharply and with dignity replied
in order to sustain slavery
and avoid
its
:
"
When
3
disappearance from
Texas and from other points, recourse is had to the arbitrary
act of depriving Mexico of an integral part of her possessions
as the only certain and efficacious remedy to prevent what Mr.
Green calls a dangerous event,' if Mexico should be silent
and lend her deference to the present policy of the Executive
'
�596
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
reproach and censure of nations
of the United States, the
ought to be her reward."
Even the more thoughtful and scrupulous of
party itself saw and
from
men
the Democratic
the degradation of such utterances
high in station. Thus the New York " Evening
felt
Post," then a leading organ of the Democratic party, con-
ducted by William C. Bryant, well described the unnatural
and humiliating position of the government and the vital
issue then pending
:
" It
evident that this presents to the
is
people a question entirely new, and which they cannot avoid.
This issue
is
not as to the abolition of slavery in the South-
ern States, the District, nor the Territories of the Union, but
whether
this
government
shall devote its
the perpetuation of slavery
on
this continent,
;
whether
which desire
all
whole energies to
the sister republics
to abolish slavery, are to be
dragooned by us into the support of this institution."
Unscrupulous as were the annexation managers, and
little
means for the accomplishment of the
end in view, nowhere did they seem more reckless of assertion
than in their attempt to fix upon England what they repreas they hesitated at any
of promoting the abolition of slavery in
Duff Green, a friend of Mr. Calhoun, " an intermeddler in other men's matters," and fond of intrigue, then in
sented the crime
Texas.
England, reported that there was then in the process of
cubation a plot for the abolition of slavery in Texas.
It
in-
was
charged by this serviceable instrument that Stephen Pearl
Andrews, then in London, was negotiating with the British
Cabinet, to secure the abolition of slavery in Texas, by the
guaranty by England of ten million dollars in Texan bonds.
There was a modicum of truth in the charge, if it be not an
abuse of language to apply that term to any legitimate attempt
an embryo State from the curse of slavery.
Mr. Andrews, who then resided in Texas, had endeavored to
form an emancipation party in its two leading cities, Houston
to rescue such
and Galveston.
Though
rents to his plan,
it
at first successful in gaining adhe-
failed
because of the general unwilling-
ness to submit to the pecuniary sacrifices involved.
The
de-
pressed state of the market for slave products and for slaves
�PLOT FOR THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS.
597
themselves suggested and encouraged the project of seeking
emancipation through compensation,
the former plan accepting the latter.
many who had opposed
Believing that the British
Andrews
who would
Abolitionists would gladly aid in such a scheme, Mr.
visited
New York
for the
be willing to join in the
purpose of finding those
effort.
Stating the facts that there
were but some twenty-five thousand slaves in Texas, and that
the contribution of four or five million dollars would make
Texas a free State, he found that the antislavery men of that
and its vicinity were ready to listen to his suggestions,
and to co-operate in the proposed endeavor.
Lewis Tappan, with his prompt and large-hearted philanthropy, entered earnestly into the attempt, and accompanied
Mr. Andrews to England for the purpose of making, if possible,
such arrangements with the English government. Members
They expressed their sympaof the Cabinet were consulted.
thy with the object aimed at, but asserted that the government
as such could not enter into any such arrangement without
involving England in a war with the United States.
Lord
Palmerston, though in the opposition, concurred in the views
expressed by Lord Aberdeen.
Lord Brougham conceded,
though reluctantly, that the government could not render such
aid and still preserve friendly relations with this country.
No objections, however, were urged against such private contributions as individuals might see fit to make.
No money,
however, was raised. The Secretary of State, seeming to assume that it was the duty of the national government to support slavery in a foreign nation as well as in his own, communicated these incidents of " an alarming character " to Mr.
Murphy, and directed him to consult the Texan authorities in
city
regard to annexation.
The charges of Duff Green against the British cabinet were
promptly denied by Lord Aberdeen, in a communication to the
American minister, Mr. Everett, and transmitted by him to the
State Department in November of that year.
Lord Aberdeen
also sent to the British minister a
peremptory denial in a de-
spatch, dated the 26th of December,
to
which was communicated
Mr. Upshur on the 26th of February, two days before his
�598
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
death, which was caused by the bursting of a gun on board
the
war steamer " Princeton."
Secretary of Foreign Affairs
able to the British
slaveholding States
desist
government
may
In this despatch the British
made
:
this declaration, so honor" The governments of the
be assured that although we shall not
from those open and honest
efforts
made for procuring the abolition
world, we shall neither openly nor
which we have con-
stantly
of slavery throughout
the
secretly resort to
any
measures which shall tend to disturb their domestic tranquilMr. Packingham, too, the British minister, replied to
lity."
the accusations of the Secretary of State against England,
disavowing in the clearest and strongest language the designs
imputed
When
to his
government.
Congress assembled in December, 1848,
it was seen
had made great progress, and the probabilities of
success seemed to many great. In addition to these utterances
of her public men, there were corresponding efforts throughout
State legislatures, public meetings, and the press,
the South.
entered vigorously upon the work of preparing the public mind
of the country for the consummation of a purpose its leaders
had so much at heart. The legislature of Mississippi perhaps
gave expression to the more advanced and intense views and
that the plot
when it declared slavery to be
" the very palladium of their prosperity and happiness " ; that
the South does not possess within its limits " a blessing with
feelings of the propagandists,
which the affections of her people are so closely intwined and
and that " the protection of her
so completely enfibred "
best interests will be afforded by the annexation of Texas."
Governor Gilmer, in the letter already referred to, had expressed the opinion that the institutions of Texas would incline her people " to unite her destiny with ours," and that
;
annexation would have a most salutary influence on slavery
itself.
But, he added, she must be annexed " soon, or not at
all."
Nor was the menace of dissolution wanting. " Texas or
A condisunion " became a watchword and a rallying cry.
"
to take
vention of the slaveholding States was demanded
into consideration," in the
words of a meeting in the Barn-
�PLOT FOR THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS.
599
well District, South Carolina, " the question of annexing Texas
to the
Union,
not accept
and
it,
if
the
Union
will accept it
;
or, if the
Union
will
then of annexing Texas to the Southern States "
;
have " the alternative distinctly presented to the free
to
States, either to
admit Texas into the Union or to proceed
peaceably and calmly to arrange the terms of a dissolution of
Another meeting in the Williamsburgh District
of the same State declared that " it was better to be out of
At Beaufort,
the Union with Texas than in it without her."
another of these assemblages announced that they would dissolve the Union " sooner than abandon Texas."
the Union."
But the scheme was beset with
discouraged any but the desperate
difficulties that
men engaged
would have
in this work.
sound the depths of mendacity or to
Texas was at war with
scale the heights of audacity reached.
Indeed,
it
is difficult
to
Mexico, a friendly power, and there was an armistice, with a
fair
prospect of a favorable result of the negotiations then in
progress.
The Texan President,
made
tage, or his danger, or both,
all
therefore, seeing his advanit
a condition precedent of
negotiations that the United States should assume the
Mexican war, and that
it
should place at his disposal, " subject
to his orders," sufficient naval
and military forces
tection of the belligerent State.
tutional
tained
demand was
it
unanswered
too
for the pro-
This audacious and unconsti-
much even for Mr. Upshur, who remonth, when his death occurred.
for a
Mr. Nelson, the Attorney-General, for a few days acting Secretary of State, gave an adverse decision, affirming that the gov-
ernment had no constitutional power thus
to use the military
forces of the nation.
Mr. Calhoun, however, on his accession as Secretary, saw
no insuperable objections. He therefore renewed the negotiation, and on the day before the treaty of annexation was
signed, he gave to Texas, in the words of Mr. Benton, " the
fatal pledge which his predecessors had refused, and followed
it up by sending our ships and troops to fight a people with
whom we were at peace; the whole veiled with the mantle
of secrecy."
This was the testimony of a slaveholder, of one,
that it was a
too, who subsequently supported the scheme,
—
�600
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWEE
RISE
IN AMERICA.
palpable violation of the Constitution and of the laws of nations,
and an unpardonable outrage upon the rights of a
Nor did Mr. Benton seem to have much con-
friendly people.
fidence in the leaders of this crusade in the matter of slavery
itself.
He
expressed the belief that, at the bottom and under
the pretext of getting Texas into the Union, the scheme was
South out of it. The whole scheme he characterized
" as an intriguing negotiation, concealed from Congress and
the people an abolition quarrel picked with Great Britain to
to get the
;
home, a slavery correspondence
war with Mexico, the clandestine concen-
father an abolition quarrel at
to outrage the North,
and ships
tration of troops
at the Southwest, the secret
com-
pact with the President of Texas and the subjection of Ameri-
can forces to his command, and the flagrant seizure of the
purse and the sword."
Mr. Calhoun, the corypheus of the annexation scheme, entered the State Department early in March.
Proceeding at
once with the negotiations begun by Mr. Upshur, he concluded
on the 12th of April a treaty of annexation. That concluded,
he took up the despatch of Lord Aberdeen, which had remained
unanswered, and, seizing upon the declaration that England
desired the abolition of slavery throughout the world, made an
elaborate argument in favor of slavery and against the policy
of England, which he assumed to be hostile to the slaveholding
policy of the country.
This despatch, written on the 18th, was
But before it left the counwas promulgated here to promote the cause of immediate
annexation, assumed to be necessary because of the abolition
machinations of Great Britain. Ten days thereafter it was
sent with the treaty to the Senate.
try
it
sent to the Senate by the President with a message.
In
it
he assured the Senate that the Southern and Southwestern
States would
find
in
annexation " protection and security,
peace and tranquillity, as well against
efforts to disturb
Of course a
all
domestic as foreign
them."
treaty involving such
momentous
issues
and
consequences so important to the nation became the occasion
of a long
and heated debate. During these debates the lobcrowded by land-jobbers and flesh-
bies of the capitol were
�PLOT FOR THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS.
601
Texas scrip-holders and the owners and agents of
jobbers
Mexican claims were drawn thither as if by a common inLike beasts and birds of prey they seemed to scent
stinct.
they hoped to win, and they infested by their noispoils
the
some presence every department of the government. They
were clamorous for the treaty, and by their paid agents and
advocates slandered and misrepresented the motives and actions of those who stood between them and the objects of
Never before had Congress been subtheir greedy desire.
jected to a pressure so severe and to influences so corrupt.
;
The administration, too, brought to the support of the treaty
But all these
all its powers and all its seductive influences.
efforts
were unavailing.
Instead of receiving the needed " two-
thirds" vote, less than one third of the Senate were found
names in its favor and on the 10th
was defeated by a vote of sixteen to thirty-five.
Of the sixteen who voted for the treaty, five were from the
Of that number were James Buchanan and Levi
North.
Woodbury. Their ready obedience to the behests of slavery
The one was soon made Secretary of
was not forgotten.
State, and the other was elevated to the bench of the Supreme
willing to record their
of
June
;
it
Court.
After the treaty was communicated to the Senate, and before
its
action, there
were public meetings,
many
without distinc-
tion of party, in different parts of the country.
was one
in the city of
New
York, on the 24th of April.
were present many of the most distinguished
The aged and
officers of the
parties.
Among them
illustrious Albert
men
There
of the city.
Gallatin presided, and the
meeting were equally divided between the two
The venerable Chancellor Kent
sent a letter in which
he expressed the conviction that the annexation of Texas
without the consent of Mexico would be " a breach of faith
and honor which should be universally condemned." On taking the chair, Mr. Gallatin declared that to annex Texas
under the present condition of affairs was to make the United
States a party to the war with Mexico, and that, " according
to the universally acknowledged laws of nations and universal usage of all Christian nations, to annex Texas is war."
76
�602
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
EISE
IN AMERICA.
And
he further stated that in making that declaration he
would be " sustained by any publicist in the Christian world."
He said that this would be a war of conquest founded in
—
a disgrace to the national character. " This measure," he said, " will bring indelible disgrace upon democratic
injustice,
institutions
;
it
will excite the
hopes of their enemies
check the hopes of the friends of mankind."
"
I
;
am
it
will
highly
gratified," he said in closing, " that the last public act of a
long
the last accents of an almost extinguished voice,
life,
should be employed in bearing testimony against this outra-
geous attempt " upon the peace, safety, and honor of our beloved land.
The causes
But the main reawork of preparation
had not been fully accomplished, the dragooning procecs had
not been completed. The fires had indeed raged furiously, but
they had not burned long enough to fuse the conflicting views,
purposes, and individualities of those who were, nevertheless,
in a position and in a state of mind to be converted to any
of this defeat were various.
son, doubtless, lay in the fact that the
might dictate or its wants render necessary.
hour this work remained incomplete, and thus
not only did the Senate reject the treaty by this decisive vote,
but the House of Representatives refused a favorable reception
to a message from the President still invoking immediate action, while the measure proposed in the Senate by Mr. Benton
himself, to open negotiations with Mexico and Texas for the
policy slavery
But up
to that
adjustment of boundaries and the annexation of the latter to
the American Union, failed.
The question had become
complicated with other issues, there were so
involved
on which members had so
selves, the
movement had become
fully
many
so
points
committed them-
so confessedly a simple pur-
pose and project in the support of slavery, that a majority in
neither House could then be controlled or brought to take the
position involved in the treaty.
But the men who were engineering
this project were in
and not ignorant of
the advantage these two facts gave them, that there were the
two national parties, each dependent on its " Southern wing,"
earnest, not to be deterred by obstacles,
�PLOT FOR THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS.
603
and that with the growing idea in the Southern mind, that, on
all questions where there was a conflict between the claims of
slavery and of party, the claims of slavery must be paramount.
It was also becoming more and more apparent that this was a
"
case in which the vital interests of " the peculiar institution
were involved and must be regarded.
In this state of
affairs the friends of
annexation were not
only prepared, but determined, to carry the question into the
The
presidential election of 1844.
indications in the winter
of that year were that Mr. "Van Buren was the choice of the
Democratic party, though he had not the confidence, nor was
he the choice, of the plotters of annexation, either South or
North.
To compel him to dcfme his position, Mr. Hammet
month of March,
while negotiations were pending, requesting him to make a
statement of his opinions upon the question. Having been
of Mississippi addressed
him
a letter in the
appointed a delegate to the approaching nominating convention,
he intimated that Mr.
Van
Buren's views would probably
influence the results of that convention.
reply, dated
treaty
Mr.
Van
Buren's
on the 20th of April, only two days before the
was transmitted
to the Senate, while avoiding
any
refer-
ence to slavery, admitted that annexation in itself considered
was desirable. He, however, deprecated its immediate consummation because, he said, it would, " in all human probability, draw after it a war with Mexico."
He also insisted
upon the importance and necessity of maintaining the sacred
obligations of treaty stipulations, the duty of preserving peaceful relations
our
own
with friendly powers, and of keeping unsullied
national honor.
however, sealed his
fate.
This dignified and patriotic
Though he was
choice of a decided majority of his party as
its
candidate for
the presidency, he could not be trusted by those
resolved to have Texas at any price.
letter,
the unquestioned
"With
who were
them patriotism
a discount, and
and a nice sense of national honor were at
some more pliant tool must be found.
In the Democratic convention, which assembled at Baltimore on the 27th of May, Mr. Van Buren received on the first
ballot a majority of thirty.
His enemies and treacherous
�604
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
what was
friends had, however, adopted
IN AMERICA.
called the " two-thirds
and that rendered his nomination impossible. On the
name was withdrawn, and James K. Polk
Mr. Polk was a slaveholder, an
received the nomination.
rule,"
eighth ballot his
uncompromising and
fanatical advocate of the system,
an un-
scrupulous partisan, and fully committed to the policy of
annexation.
The nomination for the vice -presidency was
Wright of New York, but promptly declined.
offered to Silas
George M. Dallas of Pennsylvania, ever obsequious to the behests of the Slave Power, was then selected as candidate for
that
office.
The convention then resolved
that " the reoccupation of
Oregon and the reannexation of Texas at the earliest practicable period are great American questions which the convention
recommends
to the cordial support of the
By adopting this
Buren, who only objected
Union."
Democracy
of the
platform, by overslaughing Mr.
to
Van
annexation in the interests of
peace and national honor, and by taking a candidate whose
chief recommendation
the scheme, the Slave
was his loudly proclaimed adhesion to
Power gained a decisive victory, and
committed the Democratic party to that policy of slavery
propagandism which the Southern leaders were so fiercely
fully
pursuing.
Mr. Clay was unquestionably the choice of the masses of
the Whig party, though many in its ranks would have preferred a candidate whose position and past avowals had not so
His friends, however, were
fully identified him with slavery.
zealous and enthusiastic in his support, and they believed that
the time
had come
to place
him
in the executive chair.
Of
course his views on the subject of annexation became mat-
and inquiry, and he was compelled
In a
on the troublesome question.
letter, dated at Raleigh, April 17, he set forth his opinions
with clearness and precision. He referred to and deprecated
the fact that annexation was both espoused and opposed on
ters of public solicitude
to define
his position
sectional grounds.
He
said that the acquisition of territory
for the purpose of strengthening one portion of the country
against the other would be pregnant with fatal consequences.
�PLOT FOR THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS.
He
605
declared that " annexation and war with Mexico are iden-
tical "
;
and that such a measure
at that time
would compro-
mise the national character, be dangerous to the integrity of
the Union, and be inexpedient in the then financial condition
of affairs, and that
it
was not called
for
by any general expres-
sion of public opinion.
Two weeks after the publication of this letter, Mr. Clay was
nominated by acclamation for the presidency at the Whig convention at Baltimore.
With him was associated Theodore
Frelinghuysen, a gentleman of high personal worth and position,
but of conservative views and tendencies.
The Liberty party, too, had entered the contest with the
name of James G. Birney as its candidate for the presidency,
and that of Thomas Morris of Ohio for the vice-presidency.
On all the issues growing out of the existence of slavery its
principles were clearly defined, and its policy distinctly proclaimed, " the absolute and unqualified divorce of the general
government from slavery."
Of course the Abolitionists who adhered to the American
Antislavery Society and its auxiliaries took no part in the
and
watchword " the disand slavery." They pro-
election except to criticise each of the parties, its policy,
its
candidates.
They announced
solution of all union
as their
between liberty
claimed their resolute and invincible determination to arouse
the country to a sense of
lute action.
its
danger, and the necessity of reso-
�CHAPTER
XLIII.
TEXAS PLOT CONSUMMATED.
—
—
The Issue distinctly presented.
Position of the "Whig
Embarrassing Position of Antislavery Men.
and Democratic Parties.
The
Secret Circular.
Alabama Letter.
Mr. Walker's Letter.
Election of Mr.
Presidential Election.
—
Polk. — Meeting
— Mr.
—
— Mr. Benton's
— Mr. Hale's Proposition.
— Mr. Hamlin's Motion. — The Debates. —
Amendment. — Passage of the Resolutions. — Re-
of Congress.
Ingersoll's
Bill.
Resolution.
Adoption of Mr. Brown's
ported against by the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Senate.
— Mr.
—
—
—
— Mr.
— Debates in the
Amendment.
Southern Whigs.
Weakness
Walker's Amendment.
— Position of
ery of Northern Democrats. — Action of Mr.
of Joint Resolutions.
Miller's
—
Tyler.
— Passage
or Treach-
— Rejoicing of the Friends
of Annexation.
The
adroit leaders of the Slave
Power had succeeded
in for-
cing upon the country the direct issue of immediate annexation.
Never had the nation been brought to confront an issue so palpably and flagrantly wrong, and never had it presented a
more sad and humiliating spectacle. Mankind could not fail
to comprehend that it involved aggression, conquest, the establishment of slavery where it had been prohibited by Mexico,
the strengthening of the slave system at home, and the continued ascendency of the slave-masters in the United States.
Nor could the civilized world fail to see that if annexation and
war were identical, the banners of Mexico, not the banners of
Christian and republican America, would be the banners of
liberty
and
Though
civilization.
painfully
awake
to this wickedness
and ignominy,
the antislavery opponents of annexation were so few in
bers,
really
possessing small
political
influence,
diminished by other complications, that they
felt
num-
and that
greatly per-
plexed and had grave doubts about the best use of the
little
power they did possess. A vote for Mr. Birney was
indeed an individual commitment, yet hardly more, as it could
political
�TEXAS PLOT CONSUMMATED.
contribute
little
607
or nothing to prevent the impending catastro-
A vote for Mr. Clay, with his commitments
and the commitments of his party North and South, was clearly
a vote against immediate annexation. But such were the conditions of his opposition and that of his Southern supporters,
that it was seen that they could be, and probably would be, removed at no distant day. Mr. Clay's personal position, too,
was far from satisfactory. His life, acts, and opinions had
given no assurance that he opposed annexation on the ground
that it would strengthen slavery.
On the contrary, he was
known to entertain and to have expressed the opinion that
" slavery ought not to affect the question one way or the
other."
This embarrassment was increased by his Alabama
letter of the 16th of August, which had been wrung from him
by the importunity of Southern Whigs, who seriously felt the
phe of annexation.
sectional pressure of the advocates of annexation.
In this unfortunate
letter, believed to
have been the
fatal
obstacle to his success, he expressed the opinion that annexa-
would not prolong or shorten the duration of slavery,
which was destined to become extinct, as he believed, at some
tion
distant day, by the inevitable laws of population
;
besides, he
said, " far
from having any personal objection to the annexation of Texas, I should be glad to see it, without dishonor,
without war, with the common consent of the Union, and
upon just and fair terms." Mr. Clay's Southern supporters
had been put on the defensive, while those in the North had
been aggressive, hopeful, and confident of victory. This letter
reversed their positions.
"
It placed," says Mr. Greeley, ever
Mr. Clay's admirer and devoted friend, " the Northern advo-
cates of his election on the defensive during the remainder of
the canvass, and
convictions of the
weakened their previous hold on the moral
more considerate and conscientious voters
of the free States."
In a subsequent letter Mr. Clay distinctly avowed that there
was not a
Raleigh
an opinion expressed in his
which he did not adhere that he was decidimmediate annexation, because it would be
feeling, a sentiment, or
letter, to
edly opposed to
;
dishonorable, involve the nation in war, be dangerous to the
�608
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
and harmony of the Union, and could not be effected
upon just and admissible conditions.
But these apparently
conflicting declarations served only to confuse the public mind,
render more difficult the task of decision, and make still more
Yet, under circumstances so well
obscure the path of duty.
calculated to dishearten, distract, and divide the opponents of
annexation, more than sixty thousand men, who really held
integrity
the result in their
own hands, voted
for
Mr. Birney, although
they were morally certain he could not receive a single electoral vote.
Few were
so blind as not to see that a vote for Mr. Polk was
immediate annexation. When his nomination was
announced, Northern Democrats were greatly incensed at the
treatment Mr. Van Buren had received. Many of them had
warmly approved the sentiments of his letter against immedi-
a vote for
and had, in many ways, pronounced against
fail to see, endangered the peace
of the country, besides unreservedly committing the nation to
Silas Wright had voted against the
the extension of slavery.
treaty of annexation, and as the Democratic candidate for
governor of New York he had proclaimed in the canvass his
continued hostility to that measure. Several eminent friends
ate annexation,
a policy which, they could not
of Mr. A7 an Buren in that State united in issuing a circular
urging Democrats, while supporting Mr. Polk, to repudiate the
Texan scheme. The high character of the men who signed
that circular, so sharply criticised
and denounced by
their asso-
an assurance of the purity of their motives, though
That cira more fatuous course could not have been devised.
cular and the declarations of Mr. Wright unquestionably gave
the controlling vote of the great State of New York to Mr.
ciates, is
made the immediate annexation of Texas inevitable,
and crowned the continued intrigues and plottings of the
Slave Power with signal triumph.
During that evenly balanced and hotly contested canvass
seductive appeals were made to the selfishness of the North.
Robert J. Walker, perhaps more than any other man the
Polk,
organizing and effective agent of that slavery-extending plot,
issued a long and elaborate letter, written with the power and
�TEXAS PLOT CONSUMMATED.
609
which he was an acknowledged master, appealing to
and moneyed
interests of the land.
The acquisition of Texas, he claimed,
would largely increase Southern production, and thus promote
the shipping, mercantile, and mechanical interests of the nonslaveholding States.
Nor did he miscalculate. The lust of
dominion, the greed of gain, and the love of office, silencing
the voice of patriotism, honor, and conscience, gave a transcendent victory to the Slave Power.
tact of
the cupidity of the commercial, manufacturing,
He used, too, the language of warning. " Let it be known,"
he said, " and proclaimed as a certain truth, and as a result
which can never hereafter be challenged or recalled, that upon
the refusal of annexation, now and in all time to come, the
tariff as a practical measure fails wholly and forever, and we
compelled to resort to direct taxes
shall hereafter be
port the government."
to sup-
This menace, aimed at the friends of
domestic industry, was not wholly without
effect.
But those
any degree influenced by it lived to see the protective policy, under the lead of Mr. Walker himself, overthrown, and the free-trade tariff of 1846 carried by the votes
who were
in
Texan senators.
On the first Monday
Congress commenced its
of
of December, 1844, the
closing session.
XXVIIIth
Emboldened by the
manifest significance of the election, the advocates of annexation entered at once
on the work of
its
consummation.
Presi-
dent Tyler in his message called for immediate action.
claimed that the verdict of the
expressed upon the issue
He
people had been decisively
of annexation,
nakedly presented to their consideration.
which had been
He
expressed the
hope that Congress, in carrying into execution the public will,
clearly proclaimed by a controlling majority of the people and
by a large majority of the States, would avoid all collateral
and press
towards the consummation he had
For Mr. Tyler was not only influenced by
the ordinary motives which impelled the South to seek for
annexation, but he desired, if possible, to signalize his adminissues
so
much
istration
at once
at heart.
by an event of so much importance to slavery and
to slaveholders.
.77
�610
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
Resolutions of admission were introduced into the Senate
on the 10th, by Mr. McDuffie of South Carolina. On the 11th,
Mr. Benton introduced a bill, providing that a State, to be
called " the State of Texas, with boundaries fixed by herself,"
not exceeding in
size the largest State, be admitted into the
Union, the remainder of the annexed territory to be held by
the United States and to be called the " Southwest Territory."
This
bill
further provided that the existence of slavery should
be forever prohibited in that part of the Territory west of
the 100° of longitude, so as to divide equally the whole an-
nexed
territory
between the slaveholding and non-slaveholding
States.
In the House, on the 10th of January, John P. Hale, then a
Democratic representative from New Hampshire, moved the
suspension of the rules to allow him to introduce a proposition
Texas into two parts, by a line beginning at a point
on the Gulf of Mexico midway between the northern and
southern boundaries, and running in a northwesterly direction.
In the territory southand west of that line it was provided there should be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, and that provision was forever to remain an unalterable
compact. The motion received eleven majority, but, requiring
to divide
a two-thirds vote,
On
it
failed.
Commiton Foreign Relations in the House, introduced resolutions
Resolutions were also introduced by John B.
of annexation.
Weller of Ohio, Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, and several
other Democratic members.
Mr. Hamlin of Maine, then a
Democratic member, moved to refer these resolutions to a
select committee of one from each State, with instructions to
report whether Congress had power to annex a foreign, independent nation whether annexation would not extend slavery whether by the acknowledgment of Texan independence
the 12th, Charles J. Ingersoll, chairman of the
tee
;
;
Mexico was deprived of her right to reconquer that province
whether Texas owed any debts, and what treaties she had
with other powers. But his motion was rejected. The several propositions were referred to the Committee on Foreign
;
Affairs.
�TEXAS PLOT CONSUMMATED.
On
3d
the
of January the
611
House, on
motion of Mr.
Ingersoll, proceeded to the consideration of the joint resolutions he
ing out
had reported.
all after
Mr. Weller moved to amend by
had introduced, and Mr. Douglas moved
lutions he
strik-
the enacting clause and substituting the reso-
Mr. "Welter's amendment by substituting for
it
to
amend
the resolutions
he had introduced.
In the debate which was then opened were exhibited the
different views and shades of opinion evoked by this rash
and radical measure thus precipitated on the nation by the
As it was a cmestion of power, rather than of
Slave Power.
reason, of might more than of right, the advocates of the
measure prudently abstained from any great show of argument. As none but the most violent and outspoken would
avow the real reason, eulogies on the compromises of the
Constitution, clamors for peace and concession, and diatribes
against the aggressions of the Abolitionists, constituted the
Against the measure
embracing the language of those who
opposed it on the high ground of principle Northern Democrats who deprecated its influence on their party strength
and
the Southern Whigs, who feared its effects on the country and
staple
there
of the speeches in its defence.
was greater
variety,
;
;
Opening the debate, Mr. Ingersoll
the many plans that had been introduced into
even on slavery
referred to
itself.
the House, proving, he said, that
many
coveted the honor of
being the advocates of the admission of Texas.
But
for slav-
ery the American people were united for the measure.
He
avowed that " it is undeniable that Southern interests, Southern frontiers and Southern institutions
all
— are
—
I
mean
slavery and
to be primarily regarded in settling the restoration
of Texas."
One of the earliest and ablest to participate in the debate
was William L. Yancey of Alabama. A disciple of Calhoun
and an eloquent defender of his principles, he clearly comprehended and frankly admitted the necessities of slavery in
its competition with freedom.
Referring to statistics which
showed that the slaveholding States were losing " relative
strength in the representative branch of the government,"
�612
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
he declared that they had compromised away all possibility of
retaining an equality in the Senate by the fatal Missouri Compromise, and that a fearful prospective inequality stared them
Complaining that the world was arrayed against
in the face.
them, that their " favorite institution " was attacked day after
day, month after month, and year after year, he avowed that
" the highest consideration of individual, sectional, and na-
on to annexation."
tional interests urge us
Mr. Holmes of South Carolina pronounced that Southern
man a fool or a knave who would divide Texas between freedom and slavery and Mr. Rhett of the same State said,
;
"The
South has been wantonly wronged, insulted, and be-
trayed."
He
charged the people of the North with the offence
of laboring " to instigate hatred, insurrection,
and violence,"
which rendered Texas, in the Southern mind, necessary to
insure the domestic tranquillity they had disturbed.
New Hampshire,
Moses Norris, a Democratic member from
bitterly
assailed the
He
Abolitionists.
charged that while
they had " liberty and philanthropy on the folds of their
flag,
they were arming themselves to overthrow the Constitution
and break up the Confederacy."
Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, afterward President of the
United States, said that annexation would give the government the command of the Gulf, that streams of wealth would
flow from her mines and fertile fields, and that the profitable
employment of slave labor there would enable the master to
soften the condition of the
bondmen
;
and, singularly enough,
he contended that annexation would " prove
to be the
gateway
out of which the sable sons of Africa are to pass from bond-
age to freedom where they can become merged in a population
congenial with themselves,
who know and
feel
no
distinc-
tion in consequence of the various hues of skin or crosses of
blood."
In a very different strain spoke Mr. Rathbun, a
the same party from
New
vote for
opinion of the North
it.
;
He
member
of
characterized with stern
and denounced the Northern member
severity the resolution,
who should
York.
"
He
braves," he said, " the public
he scorns the interests of the North
;
�613
TEXAS PLOT CONSUMMATED.
he arouses the indignation of the North
self a mark which time cannot efface."
Among
Whigs a
the Northern
;
he fixes upon himMr.
similar variety appears.
Winthrop of Massachusetts opposed the project because, he
argued,
it
was unconstitutional
in substance,
would violate
the compromises of the Constitution, would endanger the per-
manence of the Union
;
and because he was " uncompromis-
ingly opposed to slavery, or the addition of another inch of
slavehfildmg territory to the nation."
Colonel John J. Harding of Illinois,
who
the head of his regiment at the battle of
afterward
Buena
fell at
Vista, charac-
terized annexation " as
an unwise, reckless, selfish, sectional,
and slavery-extending policy." He reminded Southern gentlemen who had pictured in their imagination a Southern
confederacy, that the free States on the Ohio and Mississippi
Rivers would hold the latter to
chivalry of the South, and that
its
if
mouth against
the united
dissolution took place, either
Texas scheme, or from any other cause,
must be wholly east of the Mississippi.
Daniel D. Barnard of New York made a learned and able
constitutional argument against the Joint Resolution, denoun-
in consequence of the
their confederacy
cing it as being framed " in contempt of the Constitution."
" The measure of annexation is," he said, " wild, bold, and
extravagant enough in
Constitution, but
it
is
itself,
considered in the light of the
a thousand times more wild, bold, and
when taken in connection with slavery."
Mr. Hamlin of Ohio spoke earnestly in deprecation of the
extravagant
measure, and drew gloomy presages of
its
effect
upon the
reputation and subsequent political history of the nation.
will present the humiliating spectacle,
he
It
said, of the republic
standing forth unblushingly before the world as the defender
of slavery.
No
stranger could read the correspondence of the
Secretary of State without feeling that " we have no other god
but the god of slavery." " The people of the North," he said,
" have reaped the bitter fruits of the Missouri Compromise,
and have seen and
felt
the iron rule of slavery."
He
predicted
slavery should then triumph, the line dividing parties
would henceforth be between freedom and slavery, and " the
that
if
�614
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
IN AMERICA.
South will then find not only that the sceptre has departed
from Judah and a lawgiver from between his feet, hut that
the Shiloh of the slave has come."
It remained for Mr. Giddings to place his opposition and
that of those he represented on the high plane of moral rectitude, and to draw his arguments, motives, and appeals from
the precepts of Christianity as well as from the workings of
"
nature.
Do we
above us that will
I
am
one
believe," he inquired, " that there is a
visit national sins
who solemnly
power
with national judgments
believes that transgressions
?
and pun-
ishments are inseparably connected with the inscrutable wis-
dom
God's providence.
of
With
this
impression I feel as
confident that chastisement and tribulation for the offences
we have committed
against the down-trodden sons of Africa
await this people as I do that justice controls the destinies of
nations and guides the power of Omnipotence."
On
the 18th of January, Milton Brown, a Tennessee
Whig,
introduced into the House a joint resolution declaring the
terms on which Congress will admit Texas into the Union as
and on the same day, Mr. Foster, another Tennessee
Whig, introduced the same resolution into the Senate. The
opponents of annexation had relied upon a majority in the
House against that measure. Several Democratic members,
who had been confidently relied upon to oppose it, under the
a State
;
influence of an incoming administration pledged to the meas-
and faltering. It had not been
any Whig member would vote for
But the action of Mr. Brown created no little anxiety and
ure, were evidently hesitating
anticipated, however, that
it.
alarm.
After this earnest and excited debate, which continued until
the 25th of January, the voting was commenced.
las's
amendments, as well as several
Welter's
tee
amendment
on Foreign
to strike out
so
much
it
of
Mr.
by the Commit-
having been rejected, Mr. Brown moved
Mr. Weller's amendment and insert the resolutions
he had introduced.
modified
to the resolution reported
Affairs,
Mr. Doug-
others, offered to
At the suggestion
of Mr. Douglas, he so
as to provide that slavery should be prohibited in
Texas as lay north of the Missouri Compromise
�TEXAS PLOT CONSUMMATED.
line.
615
His amendment was then agreed to by ten majority,
then substituted for the original resolutions of the Committee
on Foreign Affairs by a majority of seventeen, and then passed
by a majority of twenty-two.
it, which had been
upon estimates based upon former votes and
avowals, and upon pledges which had been made to a committee appointed by a Whig caucus to canvass the House,
there was a majority of more than twenty for it. Whence that
change ? Many of the agencies which wrought it were patent
The results of the presidential election, the
to the country.
known opinions and purposes of the President elect, the
patronage of the incoming administration, the intense activity and growing power of the slaveholding interest, were
potent influences, and contributed mainly to this result.
But
Instead of a majority of thirty against
anticipated,
many who, watching
Texas scrip had much to do in
there were
that struggle, believed that
that work of demoralization.
The Joint Resolution was introduced in the Senate and
referred to the Committee on Foreign delations, of which Mr.
Archer of Virginia was chairman. Although from a slave-
holding State, he promptly recommended
its indefinite
post-
But Mr. Buchanan, a member of the committee,
then as ever afterward, even to the close of his feeble and disponement.
astrous administration, derelict to his section, a serviceable
instrument of the Slave Power, more truly deserving than he
to whom it was originally applied the appellation of a " Northern
man
with Southern principles," opposed the action of the
committee, and made an elaborate argument in favor of the
Texas by Joint Resolution.
Rufus Choate of Massachusetts made a brilliant and eloquent speech in opposition, both on the ground of power and
constitutionality of admitting
expediency.
We could
not,
he contended, admit Texas by the
it would insure a thousand
joint resolution of the House, " if
years of liberty to the Union,
old, its
rivers should
—
like the fabled
its trees
garden of
bear imperial
yet even then we could not admit her, because
would sin against the Constitution."
William L. Dayton of New Jersey, then a Whig, afterward
fruit of gold,
it
if,
run pearls and
�616
the
EISE
first
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
candidate for the Vice-Presidency of the Republican
and subsequently minister to France during the Rebellion, made an able argument against the passage of the Joint
Resolution.
Mr. Archer declared that " a blow parricidal is
now aimed against the Constitution of the United States."
Mr. Buchanan, who was to be Secretary of State of the incoming administration, on the other hand, protested that in voting
for the resolution he was performing the greatest public act of
" I shall," he said, " do it cheerfully, gladly, glorihis life.
party,
ously, because I believe
merable on
my
my
vote will confer blessings innu-
fellow-men, now, henceforward, and forever."
Several senators participated in the debate, which continued
was moved by Mr. Foster of Tenamended so as to provide
that so much of the territory as lay south of the Missouri Com-
to the 27th of February.
It
nessee that the Joint Resolution be
promise line should be admitted with or without slavery, as
each State should determine, but the motion was rejected. An
amendment was then moved by Mr. Walker of Mississippi,
proposing further negotiations if deemed advisable by the Executive.
This adroit move was intended to smooth the way
by which Benton, Dix, Niles, and other Democratic senators,
who had opposed the treaty, might vote for the measure.
Mr. Foster declared he would vote for the House resolu-
amendment,
tion without, but not with, the
to " qualify a great act."
He
as
it
was intended
proceeded to express his want
of confidence in the North, and wished those
who were mak-
ing outcries against slavery would go to the South and " see
man, and compare him with the penury
The Walker amendment was agreed to by two
majority.
Mr. Crittenden wished to make the mode of admission definite.
If it was the intention of Congress to admit
how happy
is
the black
of the East."
Texas by treaty, let it say so if by resolution, let it say so
and not leave the mode discretionary with the President. He
moved an amendment to that effect but his motion was lost
by a single vote.
Mr. Miller of New Jersey moved to strike out the House
resolution, and insert in substance the bill which Mr. Benton
had introduced early in the session and he expressed the hope
;
;
;
;
�TEXAS PLOT CONSUMMATED.
that the senator from Missouri would
destroy his
own
617
support
it,
and " not
But that senator, having yielded
child."
to
the influences at work, promptly and ostentatiously responded,
" I '11 kill it stone-dead "
This declaration was vociferously
!
applauded by the galleries.
This sudden change in Mr. Ben-
was rendered more significant from his previous
course, his determined and violent opposition to the measHe had declared it " an act of unparalleled outrage on
ure.
Mexico," of which he " washed his hands." Indeed, he had
been regarded by both friend and foe as holding the fate of
the measure at his disposal. But notwithstanding all his antecedents, his positive and dogmatic assertion, so characteristic
of the man, he weakly yielded to, if he did not fabricate, the
ton's position
specious but shallow device proposed by Walker.
Mr. Tyler was known to be fiercely intent on annexation,
and
this device gave
him
absolute power to
consummate the
during the few remaining days of his administration.
The unwritten history of that transaction may never be fully
act
known, and the actual influences which induced the somerWithout
sault of the veteran senator may never be revealed.
such explanation, however, there was in it the not infrequent
or unprecedented occurrence that a Southern slaveholder, in
assumed necessity of slavery, allowed
and to override all other conThe amendment proposed by Mr. Miller received
siderations.
but eleven votes, and the Joint Resolution was then adopted
by a majority of two. The House hastened to concur by a
majority of more than fifty.
Of that
In the House four Whigs voted for the measure.
H.
who
afterward
joined
the
Stephens,
number was Alexander
Democracy, became vice-president of the Confederacy, whose
" corner-stone " he declared slavery to be, and who continued
to maintain its principles, though they had been so signally
overborne and overthrown by the valor and vote of the nation.
In the Senate, Merrick of Maryland, Henderson of Mississippi, and Johnson of Louisiana, also Whigs, voted for it
avowedly because it was a measure essentially Southern in
its character and purposes, and tended to promote domestic
the
presence
of an
that necessity to be paramount,
�618
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
But the large
and cast
Nor was their
their votes against the Joint Resolution.
stand maintained without personal sacrifice and hazard. Indeed there were none, not even the friends of freedom, who
were more sorely tried than were the better and more thoughtFor they not only felt a
ful portion of the Southern Whigs.
agencies
at work which threatand
saw
sectional pressure
ened party disruption and defeat, but they wisely dreaded the
effects of these violent and revolutionary proceedings upon the
nation, and even upon slavery itself.
Claiming fealty to Southern institutions, and disavowing all
tranquillity in the
States they represented.
majority of the Southern
Whigs
steadily opposed
sympathy with abolitionism, they based
their opposition
to
the scheme on constitutional grounds and those of expediency.
They denied the
right of admitting foreign territory by legis-
lative resolution,
and protested against the
bill
as a clear
and
palpable violation of the Constitution of the United States.
This position was ably argued by the Virginia senators, Archer
and Rives, both of whom, in the words of the first, " lifted a
determined though unavailing voice against
cide struck at the Constitution "
this
blow of
parri-
to be
" a dangerous and revolutionary precedent." Of their position
Mr. Berrien of Georgia, while claiming to " stand on Southern
;
the latter declaring
it
ground and in vindication of Southern rights," said that they
stood " unmoved, immovable, resting on its own firm foundation like some giant rock against which the waves of the ocean
break in their fury only to be thrown back in their impotence."
He declared also that the acquisition of Texas in this unconstitutional manner would be " at the sacrifice of the peace and
harmony of the Union." " The feeling," he said, " which
will be aroused in vast multitudes of that people, by what they
will deem a flagrant usurpation of power which they have
never delegated,
repressed
;
and
it
is
too deep, too strong, too abiding to be
may
The power of the
The patronage of the govern-
not be sported with.
government cannot check
it.
ment
will not seduce it.
Nay, the iron rule of party, that
image of omnipotence here below, will not, cannot control it."
Characterizing the correspondence of Secretaries Upshur
�TEXAS PLOT CONSUMMATED.
619
and Calhoun " as a deplorable humiliation of diplomatic character in the eyes of the world," Mr. Rayner of North Carolina
said that by putting the annexation of Texas so squarely on
the slavery issue, the South had been driven from its " impregnable position " that slavery was an institution that neither
Congress nor the people of the North could constitutionally
interfere with. " If we admit," he said, " that the general government can interpose to extend slavery as a blessing, we must
also admit that it can interfere to arrest it as an evil."
Avowing himself as an unqualified advocate of Southern interests
and ready to " hang an Abolitionist without the form of trial
for
disseminating his hellish doctrines," he said he scorned to
ask of the North any other aid than the performance of
constitutional obligations.
the
He
its
expressed his great regret that
Whigs had not presented an unbroken phalanx
in opposi-
and he predicted that this sudden change
of front in face of the enemy would prove fatal to the party.
The Joint Resolution was approved on the 2d of March.
The next day, President Tyler despatched a messenger to
Texas to secure her assent, which, like the executive approval, was but too readily given
and thus was consummated the scheme audaciously conceived, skilfully planned,
boldly and persistently prosecuted, and successfully accomtion to the measure,
;
plished.
Twenty-three Democratic members of the House had voted
against the passage of the Joint Resolution.
four,
All but three or
however, voted for concurring with the Senate in the
Walker amendment.
It will
Their votes were a surprise and a regret.
ever remain a marvel that honest and intelligent
could have been caught by a device so transparent.
they were not surprised
when Mr. Tyler
.
men
Surely
eagerly accepted the
power thus given him, and at once secured for his administrahonor which he had so long and so earnestly
tion the coveted
sought.
This vote of the House, concurring in the Senate amend-
ment, ended the contest.
28th of February.
On
was taken on the evening of the
announcement, it was hailed with
It
its
every demonstration of uproarious delight, by bonfires,
illu-
�620
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
minations, and volleys of artillery, by social
mutual congratulations.
The
revelry
scrip-holders, land-jobbers,
and
and
flesh-jobbers gloated over their anticipated profits, the slave-
holding chiefs over their grandest victory, and the Democratic
leaders, but too well assured, over the prospect of long-con-
Amid
tinued ascendency.
these flashing lights
sounds there were, however, thoughtful
and jubilant
men whose
hearts
throbbed heavily over that new dishonor to the nation and
The
the darkening future of their country.
faithful
fearless
and
ever-
Giddings gave expression to the thoughts and feelings
of thousands of his countrymen, as he thus described his
tions on the evening of that fatal day.
said he, " the writer
walked
to his lodgings.
he viewed his country as he then saw
slave-breeders
and
emo-
" Pensively and alone,"
it.
Never before had
The
exultation of
slave-dealers, at thus controlling the Con-
gress of the United States, constituted a spectacle that he
had not expected
to witness.
The barbarous war,
the blood-
shed, the devastation, the corruption, and the civil war which
resulted from this triumph of the Slave
subsequent period of his
life,
more
Power were,
vividly before his
at
no
mind
than they were that evening, while alone in his room, contemplating the results that would naturally follow the action
of Congress on that sad day."
�CHAPTER XLIV.
VERMONT AND MASSACHUSETTS.
— JOHN
P.
HALE.
— CASSIUS
M.
CLAY.
Action of Vermont and Massachusetts.
— Massachusetts
Anti-Texas Conven-
P. Hale. —
— Denounced by the Democrats of New Hamp— His Nomination withdrawn. — Appeal to the People. — "Independent Democrats." — The State canvassed by Mr. Hale. — Speeches of Hale and
Pierce. — Coalition between the Whigs and Independent Democrats. — The
Democracy defeated. — Mr. Hale elected United States Senator. — Brave Fight
the Senate. — Cassius M. Clay. — Opposes the Annexation of Texas. —
— Advocates the Election of Mr. Clay. — Eeturns
Visits the Northern
the People. — Establishes the "True
Kentucky. — Issues an Address
American." — Boldly denounces Slaveholding. — Exasperation of Slavehold— They demand the Suppression of the Paper. —
to comply with
the Demand. — The Paper forcibly suppressed. — Mr. Clay appeals to the
People. — Re-establishes his Paper.
tion.
— Prescriptive
Policy of the
New
Administration.
— John
Address to his Constituents.
shire.
in
States.
to
to
Piefusal
ers.
had passed resolutions against
Those of Vermont and Massachusetts were among the first to express opposition to the growing
demands of the Slave Power. They had vindicated the right
of petition and freedom of debate pronounced in favor of the
abolition of slavery and the slave-trade in the District of Columbia, the prohibition of the coastwise slave-trade, and of
slavery in the Territories and against the annexation of Texas,
and the admission of any more slave States. Indeed, for several years their voice had been clear and distinct in behalf of
Several State
legislatures
the annexation of Texas.
;
;
freedom.
The uncompromising,
aggressive, and persistent action of
John Quincy Adams in
and of the freedom of de-
the Abolitionists, the brave fight of
Congress
for the
right of petition
and the clearly pronounced sentiments of her legislature,
had placed Massachusetts not only in a conspicuous, but in a
bate,
�622
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
leading, position
among her
edged by friend and
foe,
sister States.
— by the
first
the latter with hatred and hostility.
however, though at
first
IN AMERICA.
This was acknowl-
with hope and trust, by
The Democratic
party,
joining in resistance to slaveholding
demands, had early yielded
to the
seductive influences of
power, while the Whigs continued firmly to maintain their
The
position.
latter
had proclaimed
their unalterable deter-
mination to resist the consummation of the Texan scheme, and
had fought w ith unity and vigor the presidential contest of
1844, upon which its immediate fate depended. But, after the
defeat of Mr. Clay and the popular triumph of the friends of
annexation, defections in the Whig party began to manifest
r
themselves.
When
the legislature assembled in 1845, Governor Briggs
called attention to the
impending danger of annexation.
Reso-
lutions were promptly reported by Joseph Bell, a lawyer of
eminence and a gentleman of conservative opinions, denying
the constitutional power of Congress to annex a foreign nation
by legislation declaring that such act of annexation would
have no binding effect upon the people of Massachusetts and
affirming that she " will never consent, where she is not already
bound, to place her own free sons on any other basis than that
of perfect equality with freemen and, last of all, and more
than all, she will never by any act or deed give her consent to
the further extension of slavery to any portion of the world."
These unequivocal declarations received the emphatic indorsement of a four-fifths vote in the House. When they came
up for consideration in the Senate, Mr. Wilson of Middlesex
County moved an amendment to the effect that, if Texas should
be admitted by a legislative act, that act could and ought to
be repealed at the earliest possible moment. After an earnest
;
;
;
debate, that
to eight
;
amendment was
in the minority
rejected by a vote of twenty-four
were Charles Francis Adams, Linus
The resolutions were then
Childs, and Nathaniel B. Borden.
unanimously adopted.
Nor w ere
r
the protestations of the people of Massachusetts
confined to these declarations of her legislature.
A
State con-
vention, called by gentlemen of capacity, experience, and large
�VERMONT AND MASSACHUSETTS.
623
was held on the 29th
was large in numbers and
influence, without distinction of party,
of January, in Faneuil Hall.
It
strong in talent and character.
All portions of the
Common-
wealth were represented by delegates differing widely in opinions on other subjects, but going to Faneuil Hall in the spirit
of self-devotion worthy of the cause that brought them to-
John M. Williams, an aged and venerable jurist, preaddress of great vigor and force, portions of which
were dictated by Mr. Webster, was prepared by Charles Allen
It was
of Worcester, and Stephen C. Phillips of Salem.
circulated.
convention
and
widely
unanimously adopted by the
gether.
An
sided.
Referring to the grave issues involved in annexation, to a
war
that,
it
seemed, must inevitably follow the adoption of the
Joint Resolution, which had already passed the House, it expressed the hope that the clay might " never dawn which shall
behold the glorious flag of this Union borne on foreign battlefields to
name
sustain in the
eternal foe."
of liberty the supremacy of
It affirmed that "
iniquitous project in its inception
gress, its
tences of
means and
its
its
its
Massachusetts denounces the
and
in every stage of its pro-
end, and all the purposes and pre-
authors."
An anti-Texas committee was appointed, for the purpose of
making an earnest, and, if possible, successful effort to combine and make effective the public sentiment of the free States
against the consummation of a scheme known to be wicked in
its
purpose, corrupt in
and believed
The
its
means, dishonorable in
its
character,
to be disastrous in its consequences.
discussions were
marked by great freedom, earnestness,
solemnity, and determination.
Thoughtful
men
filled
the hall.
Speakers and hearers partook of a common sentiment. They
realized as never before the imminence of the impending calamity, the gravity of the occasion, and the pregnant issues of
the hour.
But these speeches, eloquent and graphic as they
were, rather increased than diminished the feeling of public
danger and impotency which pervaded that assembly, so that,
the illusive battle-cry of " repeal " was raised by Linus
when
Childs, a sense of relief ran through the hall, and a gleam of
light
seemed
to illumine the darkness of the
immediate future.
�624
PJSE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
While the struggle
IN AMERICA.
annexation of Texas by Joint
for the
Resolution was in progress, the friends of that measure
left
no
means untried which political chicanery or menace could sugThe President elect made no concealment of his purgest.
pose
and it was distinctly understood that those Democrats
who opposed the measure had little to expect from his administration.
Even those in New York who had signed the secret
;
which alone made Mr. Polk's election possible were
feel the force of that displeasure which the Slave
Power usually inflicted on those who resisted its authority.
But its immediate and most marked demonstration was in
New Hampshire, and John P. Hale was its first victim.
Though at first successful, its ultimate results were disastrous to the cause and party which prompted it. For it placed
Mr. Hale in a far more commanding position than he had ever
occupied before, and gave his ready tongue a voice and an
audience it could never otherwise have obtained, besides affording an example of successful resistance to partisan tyranny and
slaveholding dictation greatly damaging to their pretentious
and hitherto unquestioned supremacy.
Mr. Hale, then a member of the House of Representatives,
had been nominated by the Democratic party for re-election.
But he had not, like the great body of that party, forgotten its
strong anti-Texas testimonies nor would he, at the bidding
of the convention which overslaughed Mr. Van Buren and
circular
soon made to
;
nominated Mr. Polk, or in the hope of the prospective patronage of the incoming administration, disown that record, and
applaud what a few short weeks before had been so vociferously
condemned.
Compelled
to define his position, he did not hesitate to re-
affirm his opposition to the scheme,
and
to vote against
it,
though he regarded that declaration and vote as his political
death-warrant a martyrdom from which he evidently expected
no resurrection. Indeed, he at once made his arrangements
;
to retire
city of
resume his profession in the
a purpose from which he was with some
from public
New York
;
life,
and
to
difficulty dissuaded.
What he apprehended soon
transpired.
Such honesty of
�JOHN
P.
625
HALE.
purpose, such fealty to right, such contumacy to party discipline could not be tolerated in the ranks of the exacting De-
mocracy of that
State.
Early in January Mr. Hale addressed to
on the annexation of Texas. It was
an earnest and unequivocal condemnation of the scheme. The
reasons given by its advocates in support of the measure he
his constituents a letter
declared to be " eminently calculated to provoke the scorn of
Heaven " ; and he avowed that he
earth and the judgment of
could never consent, by any agency of his, to place the country in the attitude of
annexing a foreign nation
for the
avowed
purpose of sustaining and perpetuating slavery.
At once the leading Democratic presses of New Hampshire
and of the country opened upon him a war of denunciation,
calling upon his constituents to rebuke and silence him.
The
Democratic State Committee immediately issued a call for a
convention at Concord on the 12th of February. Franklin
Pierce, who had been distinguished in Congress for his fidelity
to the Slave Power, addressed the meeting, sharply and bitterly
criticising this independent action of Mr. Hale, and defending
He admitted that he would rather
the policy of annexation.
have Texas annexed as free territory, but he exclaimed,
" Give it to us with slavery, rather than not have it, and have
And such an avowal was consistently applauded by
it now."
the same convention which had just voted down, by " an emphatic No," the proposition that the meeting should be opened
with prayer.
Stephen S. Foster, being present, inquired if he might he
permitted " to set the speaker right in a few of his misstatements."
A
violent clamor at once arose against permission.
The chairman decided
that none but delegates could speak
" I conseat, with the declaration
and Mr. Foster took his
sider myself, in
common
:
with every
man
in the house, in-
by the remarks of the gentleman who has just taken
And that convention of the same party which
his seat."
had a few months before pronounced against the annexation
scheme, and whose chief organ had declared it to be " black
as ink and bitter as hell," at once changed front on this very
issue, and by a unanimous vote struck Mr. Hale's name from
sulted
79
�626
EISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
the ticket on which
it
had so recently inscribed
an obscure
in its stead that of
IN AMERICA.
it,
and placed
politician.
But many of Mr. Hale's constituents were more hopeful than
were less resigned and less disposed
their leader; at least, they
to submit to defeat
who
and death.
Under the lead
of
Amos
Tuck,
had already taken an active part in giving expression and
direction to the popular disfavor against such high-handed
tyranny, they at once prepared for action.
In consequence of
and vigorous proceedings, even without much aid
from Mr. Hale, who deemed all resistance to the decrees of
the party hopeless, the Democratic candidate lacked a thousand votes of a majority. While this result surprised and
exasperated the Democratic leaders, it greatly encouraged Mr.
their earnest
Hale and his
friends.
Stimulated by their success, and con-
tinuing the struggle with increased determination and vigor,
they established at the State capital the " Independent Democrat," under the editorial control of George G. Fogg.
was conducted with signal ability and tact, rendered
service, and contributed largely to the triumph of
successful
revolt
against
the
iron
It
essential
this first
despotism of the
Slave
Power.
In the next election Mr. Hale participated. He canvassed
the State, delivering speeches, in which he brought into full
play the capacities and characteristics of his peculiar, versatile,
and popular eloquence. Great excitement pervaded the State,
and crowds thronged to hear him. But the Democratic leaders were indignant at his continued contumacy, and deeply
chagrined at his manifest success with the people. These feelings found voice at a meeting held at the capital the first week
During that week the legislature commenced its
session, and the religious and benevolent associations of the
Mr. Hale was expected to
State held their anniversaries.
address a meeting at the Old North Church. Unwilling that
his speech should be heard, as it probably would be, by the
of June.
political
and religious representatives of the State then assem-
bled, the Democratic leaders determined that
replied to on the spot.
purpose.
Aware
it
should be
Franklin Pierce was selected for that
that he
was addressing many men of large
�JOHN
intelligence
criticised
627
HALE.
P.
and influence, and that
his
words would be sharply
by him under whose lead his name had been stricken
from the ticket, Mr. Hale spoke with calmness, dignity, and
effect.
Those who listened to him could not but feel, whether
they agreed with him or not, that he had been actuated by
conscientious convictions and a high sense of public duty.
Mr. Pierce had noted, with the quick instincts of an adroit
marked effects produced by Mr. Hale's manly
and temperate vindication of his principles and position.
Evidently in a towering passion, he spoke under the deepest
excitement.
He was domineering and insulting in manner,
and bitter and sarcastic in the tone and tenor of his remarks.
Mr. Hale replied briefly, but pertinently and effectively. He
politician, the
his triumphant vindication of his motives, opinions,
and purposes against the aspersions of his bitter enemy with
" I expected to be called ambitious, to have my
these words
name cast out as evil, to be traduced and misrepresented. I
have not been disappointed. But if things have come to this
condition, that conscience and a sacred regard for truth and
duty are to be publicly held up to ridicule, and scouted at
without rebuke, as has just been done here, it matters little
whether we are annexed to Texas or Texas is annexed to us.
closed
:
I
may
be permitted to say that the measure of
will be full if
my
are laid beneath the soil of
New Hampshire,
wife and children shall repair to
affection to
'
He who
my memory,
lies
rather than
my
earthly career shall be finished and
they
my
may
beneath surrendered
bow down and worship
and,
ambition
my bones
when my
grave to drop the tear of
my tombstone
and place and power,
read on
office
slavery.'
:
"
At the second election the Democratic candidate lacked some
hundred votes necessary to an election. Several other
fifteen
attempts Were made, in which the " Independent Democrats,"
though they failed of electing their own, succeeded in defeating the Democratic candidate, and in holding the balance of
power.
In the election of 1846, Mr. Hale was chosen a
ber of the legislature, was
made
The State was
and Mr. Tuck was
elected to the Senate of the United States.
then subdivided into congressional
mem-
Speaker, and subsequently
districts,
�628
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
to fill the seat Mr. Hale had occupied in the naHouse of Representatives. As a majority of votes was
necessary for an election, no choice was effected during the
whole of the XXlXth Congress.
But in July, 1847, by a
"
coalition between the Whigs and " Independent Democrats
in the first and third districts, Mr. Tuck was chosen in the
former and General James Wilson in the latter. Mr. Tuck
served six years in Congress, and made an honorable record.
His chief distinction, and perhaps his chief service, however,
grew out of his bold and wise leadership in that first and successful assault upon the party which had for years controlled
the State with iron sway
beating down the very Gibraltar of
the Northern Democracy, and making it one of the leading
and most reliable States in opposition to the Slave Power.
And if merit is due to any actors in the great struggle now
under review, surely no inconsiderable share belongs to those
who, in that dark night, dared to beard the lion in his Northern
lair, and strike for freedom with the odds so fearfully against
them. Nor is the nation's debt of gratitude to Mr. Hale small
nominated
tional
;
for his long, brave fight in the Senate, against the scorn
and
For if he did not
contumely of the slaveholding majority.
then proclaim the full and perfect evangel of liberty, his
was
certainly the voice of one crying in the wilderness, pre-
paring the
way
of complete deliverance.
As
his
successful
resistance to party and slaveholding tyranny broke the spell
of
its
assumed
invincibility,*
and encouraged others
do likewise, so his ready eloquence and wit, his
artee
and unfailing good-humor, did nn\ch
go and
to familiarize the
country with the subject, and to call attention to
principles,
to
brilliant rep-
its facts
which perhaps a sterner advocate would have
and
failed
to effect.
While Mr. Hale was making his gallant and successful fight
New Hampshire, by which he placed himself at once among
the foremost advocates of liberty, freedom found another chamin
pion, on the very soil of slavery itself, in the person of Cassius
M. Clay.
Belonging to an eminent family, reared under the
was identified with it by birth, inheri-
influences of slavery, he
tance,
and
position.
From
personal knowledge and his
affilia-
�629
CASSIUS M. CLAY.
and business, lie had spoken during the
1844 with authority upon the subject
of slavery, revealing to thousands the inner life and workings
tions of family, party,
presidential canvass of
of the system.
Educated
Mr. Clay was a native of Kentucky.
at Yale,
he
had soon learned to recognize the difference between the slave
and the
rife
free States, while the antislavery discussions that
during his stay in
New England
ings and changed his sentiments
greatly excited his feel-
and
;
were
at
an early day he
emancipate his slaves. Entering the Kentucky
legislature in 1835, he at once introduced and became the
champion of a common-school system for his native State.
determined
to
But he soon learned that such a system was incompatible with
the presence and power of slavery wherever the latter was
established, and was giving tone to the thought and feeling
of society.
In 1841 an act was introduced into that legislature for the
repeal of a law adopted in 1833 to prevent the importation
He, of course, arrayed himself against
of slaves into the State.
the repeal, and denounced in fitting language this reactionary
Such a demonstration from one occupying his position naturally excited surprise, and provoked that kind and style
of opposition in which the slave-masters were accustomed to
measure.
indulge toward any
who opposed
their policy or
condemned
But he declared that denunciation
could not silence him that epithets and the cry of abolition
had no terrors for him and that bowie-knives, pistols, and
their
cherished system.
;
;
He said that his blood
mobs could not force him to desist.
for
ready
the
sacrifice,
though
was
he warned gentlemen that
he should not be " a tame victim of either force or denunciation." He affirmed that there was a party in the country which
was the advocate of perpetual
ing the Union.
He
slavery,
and in favor of destroy-
protested against what he termed the trea-
sonable scheme of the disunionists
and he asserted that on
consummated there should be " one Kentuckian shrouded under the
stars and stripes
one heart undesecrated with the faith that
the day
when
this should be
;
seriously attempted or
;
slavery
is
the basis of civil liberty
;
one being who could not
�630
EISE
exist in a
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
government denying the right of
of speech and of the press
;
one
IN AMERICA.
petition, the liberty
man who would
not be the
outlaw of nations or the slave of a slave."
Entertaining such sentiments, and believing that the proposed annexation of Texas was for " the extension of slavery
among men," he interposed a most determined opposition. In
a speech in December, 1843, in reply to ex- Vice-President
Richard M. Johnson, he made an impassioned appeal to the
people of Kentucky to enter their solemn protest against this
He reminded
most unholy scheme.
carried out for the purposes for which
if this project was
was formed, they could
them,
it
no longer cover themselves, when reproached for the existence
of slavery, under the plea that it was an entailed evil for which
they could not be held responsible.
with this the real
scheme,
mit themselves anew to
If they supported this
and avowed object, they would comthe system it was thus proposed to
strengthen and extend.
Holding these ideas of annexation, and deeply impressed
with the magnitude of the interests at stake and the gravity
of the impending peril, he entered with great earnestness
into the presidential contest of 1844.
He
traversed the free
He was specially
States, urging the claims of Henry Clay.
him their votes,
give
should
urgent that antislavery men
as the only
way by which annexation could be
prevented.
Affirming that Mr. Clay had virtually pledged himself to oppose the admission of Texas,' by making the conditions of his
support such as could not be fulfilled, he contended that they
themselves held the power in their hands to prevent it. Among
those conditions was the " common consent of the Union."
" So long, then," he
said, in
one of his speeches, " as the vestal
flame of liberty shall burn in your bosoms, eternal and inextin-
Mr. Clay, three several times, in the most
solemn manner, before the nation and all mankind, irrevocably bound to oppose the annexation of Texas to the United
guishable, so long
States."
" Of
all
is
men," he continued, " now present
the greatest cause to take care that I
matter
;
but I can go
—
I say it before
am
I
have
not deceived in this
God and man
good conscience for him, because I believe
it
— with a
will save
my
�631
CASSIUS M. CLAY.
country from ruin
if
we
His labors
shall secure his election."
in the canvass were arduous, his feelings were deeply enlisted
in the issues at stake,
and
consequent disappointment in
his
view of defeat was very great.
The defeat of Mr. Clay, however, while
certain, did not discourage him.
His
it
made annexation
spirit rose
with the oc-
and his purpose to war against the cause of all this
scheming and plotting seemed to be strengthened. Returning
to Kentucky, he issued, in January, 1845, an address to the
people of his State, in which he portrayed the baleful effects
of slavery, even upon that " young and beautiful Commonwealth," to whose " Italian skies " and " more than Sicilian
verdure " he mournfully referred as being blighted and clouded
casion,
by
this terrible curse.
Her
fields,"
he says, " relapse into
her population wastes away, manufactures
from her infected border, trade languishes, decay
primitive sterility
recede
"
;
trenches upon her meagre accumulations of taste or
utility,
gaunt famine stalks into the portals of the homestead, sullen
despair begins to display itself in the careworn faces of men,
the heavens and the earth cry aloud, the eternal laws of happiness and existence have been trampled underfoot
culture drags along
reckless labor.
its
Agri-
slow pace with slovenly, ignorant, and
Science, literature, and art are strangers here.
and machinists the lovers of the
flourand the useful,
where thought and action are* untrammelled
A loose
Poets, historians, artists,
;
—
ideal, the great, the beautiful, the true,
ish
and inadequate respect for the rights of property, of necessity, follows in the wake of slavery.
Duelling, bloodshed, and
lynch-law leave but
hot contagion has spread
ness, crime,
and
A
security to person.
little
moralization has corrupted the
first
among
minds
the whole people
bitter hate infest us at
the forcible propagandism of slavery
is
home
general de-
in the nation, its
;
;
licentious-
repudiation and
arraying against us the
world in arms."
He urged upon them to choose delegates to a convention for
amending the Constitution, and to repeat the attempt " until
victory shall perch on the standard of the free."
While the struggle 'was
in progress in both
Congress and
�632
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
LN AMERICA.
the country for the expansion of slavery, he issued proposals
"
for the establishment of a paper to advocate its " overthrow
Kentucky. Its publication was commenced at Lexington,
and on the 3d of June was issued the first number of the
" True American." In it he discussed with great vigor the
evils and remedies existing and proposed.
The general tone
and character of its utterances were very offensive to the
slaveholders of the State, whose course he condemned, and
whose interests, they felt, he was putting in peril.
This
indignation was specially increased and intensified by articles
that appeared on the 12th of August, in which the writer
in
referred not only to the general principles of the contest, but
to
contingencies and possibilities, and which very
and very greatly excited their ire.
In those articles not only was emancipation advocated, but
certain
naturally
civil and political rights to the colored peowas vindicated. The pride and selfishness of the slaveand the charge was made that,
master, too, was referred to
the securing of the
ple
;
in his esteem, national character, conscience of the people,
and sense of duty weighed nothing against that pride and selfThe warning, too, was given that the Abolitionists
were becoming quite as reckless as the slaveholders themselves and, when provoked by injustice and wrong, they might
manifest something of the same spirit. " It is in vain," it was
said, " for the master to try to fence his dear slaves in from all
intercourse with the great world, to create his little petty and
tyrannical kingdom on his own plantation, and keep it for his
ishness.
;
exclusive reign.
He
cannot shut out the light of information
It will penetrate all
any more than the light of heaven.
He must
disguises, and shine upon the dark night of slavery.
The North, the East, the
recollect that he is surrounded.
the free "West-Indian,
West, and the South border on him,
the free Mexican, the free Yankee, the more than free AboEverything trenches upon his
litionists of his own country.
infected district, and the wolf looks calmly in upon his fold."
The slaveholders were greatly exasperated, too, by these
—
words
:
"
But we are
told the enunciation of the soul-stirring
principles of Revolutionary patriots is a lie
;
that slavery the
�633
CASSIUS M. CLAY.
most unmitigated, the lowest, basest that the world has seen,
to be substituted forever for our better, more glorious, holier
The Constitution is torn and trampled underfoot,
aspirations.
justice and good faith in a nation are divided, brute force is
substituted in the place of high moral tone, all the great principles of national liberty which we inherited from our British
ancestry are yielded up, and we are left without God or help
When the great-hearted of our land weep, and
in the world.
is
the
man
of reflection mjJHdens in the contemplation of our
national apostasy, there are
who
men, pursuing gain and pleasure,
smile with contempt and indifference at their appeals.
But remember, you who dwell in marble palaces, that there
arms and fiery hearts and iron pikes in the streets,
and panes of glass only between them and the silver plate on
the board and the smooth-skinned woman on the ottoman.
When you have mocked at virtue, denied the agency of God
in the affairs of men, and made rapine your honeyed faith,
tremble, for the day of retribution is at hand, and the masses
are strong
will be
avenged."
The establishment of such a paper by such a man, with
views so radical and a purpose so determined, was naturally
regarded by the slaveholders as a challenge to them to come
to the defence of their cherished
was, therefore, doomed from the
and menaced system.
start.
It
Probably no journal,
however mildly and courteously conducted, that contemplated
and advocated emancipation, would have remained unmolested.
Certainly one with sentiments so decided and uncompromising might naturally expect resistance. It came in
the form of a committee, which waited upon him on the 14th
of August, while confined to a bed of sickness, requiring
him to suspend the publication of his paper, " as," they say
in their note, " its further continuance, in our
judgment,
dangerous to the peace of the community, and
to the safety
of our
homes and
is
families."
His reply was very decided and
defiant.
Alluding to the
phrase in their letter that they had " been appointed as a com-
mittee on the part of a
number
of the respectable citizens of
the city of Lexington," he wrote
80
:
" I say, in reply to your
�634
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
assertion that you are a committee appointed by a
able
'
portion of the community, that
it
'
respect-
cannot be true.
Trai-
tors to the laws and Constitution cannot be deemed respectable
by any but assassins, pirates, and highway robbers." After
reminding them that their meeting was unknown to the laws
and Constitution, and that its " proceedings " were secret, and
its
purposes were " in direct violation of every
ple of honor,
them with
known
princi-
"
I treat
government," he added
religion, or
:
and a
the burning contempt oi§a brave heart
loyal
Your
deny their power and defy their action
my personal safety is worthy of the
source whence it emanated, and meets with the same contempt
from me which the purposes of your mission excite. Go, tell
your secret conclave of cowardly assassins that Cassius M.
I
citizen.
advice with regard to
Clay knows his rights, and how to defend them."
He then issued an appeal to the people of Kentucky to stand
by him in his conflict with the enemies of law in the defence
On the 18th of August
of the civil and political rights of all.
a meeting
was called
to consider the question of suppressing
the " True American."
To this meeting he sent a communiwhich he endeavored to remove some false constructions which had been placed upon the articles in question,
and in which he made some further statements concerning the
purposes and plans of his paper, concluding with the solemn
and unequivocal averment that his constitutional rights he
cation, in
should never " abandon."
The meeting, unmoved by
summation of the purpose
his appeal, proceeded to the con-
which
for
it
was convened, by choos-
ing a committee of sixty, which proceeded to the
offending journal, boxed up
It also
State.
was charged
the North which held
morals, and law," and
dom. It asserted, too,
it
sympathy with
Thomas
F. Marshall.
that a formidable party
the
out of the
In this ad-
had arisen
in
that slavery was " opposed to religion,
that the negro
was
entitled to his free-
that the aim of this party
tion of slavery in America.
full
press,
office of
it
unanimously adopted an address to the people
of Kentucky, reported by
dress
its
and sent
It
this party
;
was the
aboli-
charged Mr. Clay with being in
that he
had
visited the North,
�635
CASSIUS M. CLAY.
and, having been " received there in
full communion by the
and nattered and feasted, hailed intriumphal progress by discharges of cannon,
abolition party, caressed
the stages of his
and heralded in the papers devoted to the cause as the boldthe most intrepid, the most devoted of its champions, lie
returned to his native State, the organ and agent of an incenest,
diary sect, to force upon her principles fatal to her domestic
repose, at the risk of his
own
life
and the peace of the com-
munity."
Stigmatizing an abolition paper in a slave State as a " nui-
sance of the most formidable character," a blazing brand in the
hands of an incendiary or madman, which might scatter ruin,
conflagration, revolution, crime unnamable over everything
life, sacred in religion, or respectable in moddenounced the " True American " as an example of
dear in domestic
esty,
it
the worst type of such papers.
Representing Abolitionists as
and abolition principles in a slave
magazine of powder," the address urged
traitors to the Constitution,
State as "
fire
in a
these considerations as the justification of
summary measures they
its
authors for the
adopted.
Mr. Clay also issued several appeals to the people of Ken-
them
tucky, calling upon
down
to vindicate their rights, stricken
But though overpowered, he exhibited
the same defiant spirit and unconquerable purpose, as he
in his person.
dedicated himself
anew
and of
up in the omand peaceably overthrow the slave
to the liberty of his country
mankind, and called upon Americans
nipotency of the ballot,
to " rise
despotism of the nation."
He
re-established his paper, which,
though published in Lex-
ington, was printed in Cincinnati.
But when the war with
many and the sharp
censures of others, entered the army
and, under the plea of
standing by the flag of his country in the day of battle, volunteered his services for that most indefensible war.
After his
return he renewed and continued his warfare on slavery until
Mexico opened, he,
to the great regret of
;
it
ceased to exist.
�CHAPTER XLV.
TEXAS ADMITTED AS A SLAVE STATE.
Resolve of Antislavery
Men
to continue the Struggle.
— Action
-
of the Massa-
— Differences among leading Whigs. — Celebration of the
1st of August by the Abolitionists. — Anti-Texas Conventions held in Massachusetts. — Committee appointed. — Petitions against the Admission of Texas
Slave
— Meeting of Congress. — Presentation of Petitions. — Reso— Speech of Mr. Rockwell. — Resolutions
lutions
the Admission
a
Admission. — Considered
the Senate. —Protest of Mr. Webster. — Texas
admitted. — Address of the Anti-Texas Committee. — Complete Victory of the
chusetts Legislature.
State.
as a
for
as
for
State.
in
Slave Power.
Antislavery men were humiliated, but not disheartened, by
While they comprehended
in some degree the fearful significance of that baleful triumph,
and the purposes and power of the men who achieved it, they
the success of the annexation plot.
felt
constrained by an imperative sense of the duty they owed
and humanity to continue the struggle. Two
days after the Joint Resolution had been approved by the President, Charles Francis Adams proposed, in the Senate of Mas-
their country
sachusetts, the inquiry whether any further action should be
taken.
A few
days afterward he reported from a special com-
mittee resolutions declaratory of the position and purposes of
that
Commonwealth.
They affirmed that Massachusetts refused
acknowledge the act of annexation as binding or legal that
it put at hazard the predominance of the principles of liberty.
When they came up for consideration, a motion was made by
Mr. Clifford that they be laid upon the table. But this motion
received but five votes, and the resolutions were then adopted
to
;
by both Houses.
It
was evident, however, that a portion of
Whig party gave them a reluctant support.
On the 4th of March, Mr. Wilson introduced an
the
order
requesting the Committee on the Judiciary to report a
bill
�TEXAS ADMITTED AS A SLAVE STATE.
637
making it a penal offence to surrender a slave escaping from
Mr. Lawrence
Texas and taking refuge in Massachusetts.
of Hampshire County reported against the proposed legislaThe report was sustained by himself and other senators,
tion.
on the ground that no action was required, that it was a question to be determined by the courts whenever- a case contem-
plated by the order should arise.
Mr. Wilson moved to recommit the report with instructions.
He
would, he said, provide by law that the
held as a slave in Texas stepped upon the
sacred as his
setts, his liberty should, be as
make
it
a felon
moment
soil of
life.
the attempt.
man
He would
a high crime to molest him, and he would treat
who should make
a
Massachu-
him
as
Massachusetts had pro-
claimed that the Joint Resolution admitting Texas should have
no binding force upon her.
Whether
constitutional or not,
Texas would instantly demand the guaranties of the Constitution.
He would " meet the issue at once, and declare that the
soil
of Massachusetts should not be the
The panting
Texan
slaveholder's
from that region should
find in Massachusetts a city of refuge, and his pursuing
Everything indicated an impending
master a felon's cell.
struggle between freedom and slavery that would absorb the
hunting-ground.
mighty energies of the nation
fugitive
;
and in that contest it was fit
But the motion failed, and
that Massachusetts should lead."
the adverse report
When
was then accepted.
the legislature adjourned in the spring of 1845, there
were marked indications of a wide divergence touching
ery
among
the leading
Whigs
of the
Commonwealth.
slav-
After
the defeat of Mr. Clay, a portion of the wealthy and influential
members
of the party, especially those connected with the
commercial, manufacturing, and
monetary interests of the
State, positively refused to take part in the efforts
defeat annexation, or to prevent the admission of
slaveholding State.
in Faneuil Hall
When
made
to
Texas as a
the call for the anti-Texas meeting
was circulated in the
legislature by Mr. Wilson,
ex-Governor Lincoln, then president of the Senate, and several
members of the party, peremptorily refused to affix their
names to it. They said that they had fought annexation so
other
�638
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
it was an open question, and they had been defeated
by the Abolitionists who withheld their votes from Mr. Clay.
Abbott Lawrence and Nathan Appleton, representative men,
and especially influential with the manufacturing interest,
took no part in that meeting. It was well understood, too,
that ex-Governor Davis, Mr. Winthrop, and several other eminent Whigs did not concur in that action, and manifested
much coldness towards those who did. On the 4th of July,
when the feelings of grief and indignation were fresh in the
hearts of the people, and their murmurs still filled the air,
Mr. Winthrop took occasion, in Faneuil Hall, to give utter-
long as
ance to the sentiment, " Our country, however bounded,"
which was understood to be the expression of his acceptance
of the result, and a tacit rebuke of those of his political associates who did not readily acquiesce in the same policy.
Though Texas had promptly accepted the conditions of annexation, and her territory had become an integral portion of
the Republic, she was not actually a State of the Union.
The
free States had a majority of fifty in the House of Representatives.
Why should
the country
?
The
not another stand be
defection of so
and commercial
political
circles,
many
made
for
freedom and
of their leaders in the
and their readiness
to acqui-
was indeed disheartening and ominous.
But they were not the majority, and it was hoped they
did not represent it.
It was certainly worth the trial for the
chance of defeating a nefarious project even at the last moment and, at the same time, for the .opportunity of ascertaining
whether the same appliances which had debauched and subdued the government had corrupted and conquered the people.
Nor was there a more fitting field in which that trial could
be inaugurated than Massachusetts. Though the efforts were
crowned with no great success, and few in other States seemed
esce in the great iniquity,
disposed to join in the attempt, there
is
in tracing the steps of those earnest
a mournful satisfaction
men who would bow
to
nothing but the inevitable, and yield only when resistance was
manifest
though
folly.
There was something heroic in the closing
ineffectual
struggles of that great conflict.
And
if
readers are sometimes tempted to smile at their bold, defiant,
�TEXAS ADMITTED AS A SLAVE STATE.
639
and hopeful words, with so feeble a following, and a foe in
rampant with victory, audacious in his insolence, with a
nation at his beck, a little study of the situation will change
that feeling to sympathy as they consider how hopeless was
the task those brave men were undertaking, how absolutely
" forlorn " was the hope they were attempting to lead.
On the 1st of August, the anniversary of West India emancipation, several meetings were held by the Abolitionists of
Massachusetts. The recent crime of the Slave Power, which
had insulted the reason and outraged the patriotism and confront
science of the antislavery
men
of the North, contributed not
only to increase their numbers but greatly to deepen their in-
At the meeting
terest.
in
Dedham Mr.
Garrison presided.
Pungent, vigorous, and eloquent speeches were made by him-
Theodore Parker, and Edmund Quincy.
large meeting was held at Leicester, which was addressed
Samuel
by
May, Jr. In a speech full of faith and hope in the
ultimate triumph of the cause of emancipation, although the
omens in that hour of defeat were far from auspicious, he said
that they had come together to acquire new courage and zeal
self,
A
their warfare.
He would have their faith increased in
moral power and in the living truth of Christ, and he would
send " forth words of instruction, exhortation, and rebuke,
in
until
Slavery utters her last groan, and expires, never to
know
a resurrection."
Wendell
Phillips, in reply to the oft-repeated assertion that
the church was right in nine cases out of ten, and that slavery
was but " one case," referred to the fact that one sixth of the
population of the country was
to the cruelest treatment
and
now
held as property, subject
and
to the grossest outrages,
unprotected by law or by public opinion.
all
In such a condition
of affairs he maintained that the church either remained silent,
or, if it
infidels.
spoke at all, it denounced the friends of the slave as
" I will not," he said, " have for mine the Christian-
ity of this land,
and
its
a Christian.
and
I
with
its
negro pew in the corner of every church,
negro hate in the corner of every heart.
should
I
hang
feel
all
my
And
hopes on the faith of
myself forever disgraced
if I
my
yet I
am
fathers
failed to
rebuke
�640
the
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
moral dwarfs which have now come into our fathers'
places."
On
that day a large
assemblage gathered at Walthani.
Francis Jackson, president of the Massachusetts Antislavery
Society, presided.
The meeting was addressed by Jonathan
Walker, who had been
hand
fined, imprisoned,
and branded
in the
But in
spite of all the barbarities which he had borne, he avowed that
as long as life remained that "branded hand" should be raised
right
for assisting slaves to escape in Florida.
against slavery.
In response to the question, often asked,
why
Captain Walker broke the laws of Florida, John Weiss, then
man was
and Christ was greater than Hancock
the Unitarian clergyman of Watertown, said that
more than
or Adams.
constitutions,
" Our Northern apathy," he truly said, " heated
the iron, forged the manacles, and built the pillory."
William
and beauty,
said that the republic was the child of promise, but slavery was
denationalizing the people, and that it proclaimed itself autoThe Constitution, he said, had been tried
crat and dictator.
and found to be an instrument of slaveholding usurpation, and
the annexation of Texas absolved the people from its support.
Rev. Caleb Stetson agreed with Mr. Channing that the
bond of union had been broken, but the government of Massa-
Henry Channing,
chusetts
in a speech of graceful eloquence
was under the
and
rule of the cotton aristocracy,
if
" the fiery cross was raised the people would prove recreant."
I. Bowditch, in a thoughtful and temperate speech,
urged the friends of the slave to apply the great reformatory
" Let us," he also said,
principle of love to the slaveholder.
William
" fearlessly and constantly extend the
principle of
human
brotherhood to the despised and oppressed slave, and
let
us
here solemnly pledge ourselves to follow out these great princi-
and resolve, Constitution or no Constitution, custom or
no custom, that nothing shall ever induce us to acquiesce in
ples,
or tolerate slavery."
Mr. Wilson, then a senator from Middlesex County, said that
the calamity and disgrace of annexation had come upon the
country through the treachery of Northern
men
;
that even the
representative of Concord and Lexington had proved recreant.
�TEXAS ADMITTED AS A SLAVE STATE.
641
the question what should be done, he said, " Act ; hold
meetings in every district, town, and county of the State.
To
Oppose the admission of Texas into the Union as a slaveholding State, and appeal to the people of the free States to arrest
Say to the men of
the consummation of the great iniquity.
the
South,
'
You
are
warring against
civilization,
against
humanity, against the noblest feelings of the heart, the holiest
and the providence of God and
"
the conflict must ultimately end in your defeat.'
Ralph Waldo Emerson said that it was the office of power
and that it was the ruin of
to protect, to help, to preserve
impulses of the
human
soul,
;
;
and
power
to oppress
ment
to govern, of the
It
injure.
sun to
was the property of governshine, of moral power to
The Persian poet has said,
strengthen, raise, and refine.
" Beware of the cries of the orphan, for his cries reach the
The oppressed had the power to
and overturn stately edifices. Those who
throne of the Almighty."
destroy prosperity
right, and he would have
Massachusetts take the attitude of " a sublime patience," and
trust " in principle, honor, and justice, rather than in the com-
hoped and trusted were ever proved
binations of physical power."
On
the motion of Mr. Bowers
of Concord, afterward a captain in the
was appointed
to
make arrangements
civil
war, a committee
for a meeting, to be held
on the third Wednesday of August, to protest against the
admission of Texas as a State. As no action was taken by
the committee, the meeting was not held.
Early in September, Mr. Wilson,
members, prepared a
who had been appointed
and obtained the signaand influence for a meeting to be held at Concord, on the 22d of
that month, to " take into consideration the encroachments of
the Slave Power, and recommend snch action as justice and
patriotism shall dictate to resist those encroachments and
one of
its
tures of a large
number
call
of gentlemen of character
arrest the progress of events so rapidly tending to that fearful
consummation when slavery
shall
have complete control over
the policy of the government and the destinies of the country."
Men
of all parties, sects, and pursuits were invoked to " de-
vote one day to the country and the oppressed."
81
" Let old
�642
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
age,"
it said,
" with
experience, be there
IN AMERICA.
its
garnered treasures of wisdom and
let
manhood
;
in its maturity
and vigor
its high hopes and aspirations be
such measures and awaken such a spirit as
shall free the country from the dominion, curse, and shame
youth with
be there
;
there,
to devise
—
let
of slavery."
The convention was large, earnest, and united. Elisha Hunmayor of Lowell, and afterward lieutenant-governor
tington,
of the State, presided,
and a
and Mr. Wilson reported a preamble
series of resolutions.
acter of slavery
The preamble
set forth the char-
and the aggressions of the Slave Power.
It
closed by " distinctly presenting the issue to the people of the
free States of
an unconditional and pusillanimous submission,
or a determined and constitutional resistance."
This paper
had been prepared by Samuel Hunt, a Congregational clergyman, then a resident of Natick, who had always in the pulpit,
in religious and political organizations, and at the ballot-box,
acted for the slave and against the domination of his master.
The resolutions declared " We solemnly announce our
purpose to the South, and to the execution of that purpose we
pledge ourselves to the country and before Heaven, that, reject:
ing
all
compromise, without restraint or hesitation, in our
pri-
vate relations and in our political organizations, by our voices
and our
votes, in
Congress or out, we will use
all
practicable
on the American continent." The resolutions were unanimously adopted, and a committee, of which E. Rockwood Hoar, afterward Attorney-Gen-
means
for the extinction of slavery
eral of the
United States, was chairman, was appointed to
confer with the general committee appointed by the anti-Texas
Convention held in the preceding January in Faneuil Hall,
and' with other opponents of slavery and of annexation, to
endeavor to have meetings held, and in other ways to organize
an
efficient resistance to the final
consummation of that
measure.
A letter
was received from Charles Francis Adams, urging
In the midst of doubts and discouragements, he said that he had but one single word of hope
" Let the people,"
to present, and that word was " union."
unity and concert of action.
�TEXAS ADMITTED AS A SLAVE STATE.
he
said,
643
" throughout the length and breadth of this great land,
it their industry, their property, nay, even
and liberty, may in the course of time fall under the
oligarchy of two hundred thousand owners of slaves."
A letter was also received from John G. Whittier. He said
he was no blind worshipper of the Union, and as an Abolition" But I see nothing," he
ist he was shut out from its benefits.
necessarily limited, secsaid, "to be gained by an effort
The moral and political
tional, and futile
to dissolve it.
feel
that without
their lives
—
—
power
requisite for doing
it
could far more easily abolish every
vestige of slavery."
Conciliatory, earnest, and eloquent speeches were made by
William A. White, Stephen C. Phillips, William Lloyd GarriAn adson, William Henry Channing, and other gentlemen.
journed meeting was held at Cambridgeport, which was well
The con-
attended, and was addressed by several gentlemen.
vention then adjourned to meet in
and took measures
to secure the
Lyceum Hall
Cambridge,
attendance of the opponents
of annexation from other sections of the State.
On
in
•
Henry
the 21st of October the convention reassembled.
Wilson presided, and Colonel William Schouler acted as secretary.
On taking the chair, Mr. Wilson made a hopeful appeal for prompt, bold, and united action.
" Let us," he said,
" at once take an advanced step against the Slave Power.
Let
we have the constitutional right, go in
favor of emancipation.
Let us make it the cardinal doctrine
of our creed, the sun of our system.
Let us inscribe emancipation on the banners under which we rally in letters of light.
us act and, as far as
Let us go to the country on that issue.
heart and conscience of the people.
rescue,
and we
shall
lay
the
We
They
shall reach the
will
foundations
come
of an
to the
enduring
triumph."
Mr. Garrison presented a resolution, asserting that
it
would
be the constitutional duty of the legislature of Massachusetts
promptly to declare that,
should be consummated,
if
the
illegal
act
of
annexation
was null and void. Mr. Stetson
he
would
affirmed that
meet the issue of the admission of
Texas as a slave State with an " everlasting No." Mr. Garit
�644
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
EISE
IN AMERICA.
came to the meeting, he said, to learn the spirit of Midand not to give his own plans. As a peace man he
had no difficulties. He would submit, but he would never
rison
dlesex,
sanction or acquiesce.
William A. White spoke with great earnestness and anima" Let us go on," he said, " rallying the country as we
tion.
Like those Spartans
go.
who passed
the night of their reso-
lution to sacrifice themselves for their country in prayer
and
song, and then went forth in the morning joyfully, though
they
knew
it
was
to die, let us gladly devote ourselves to the
salvation of our country."
Mr.
Adams
said
did not become
it
them
to speak in very
Com-
strong terms, in view of the divided condition of the
monwealth.
and
it
"
We
fought the battle last
year," he
said,
" and
why we lost it. But I will say that
owing to your own party divisions and
I will add that unless you can agree to act together, you will
always be defeated in like manner. Look at Massachusetts,
divided into I know not many parties, and then look at the
lost
;
not say
I will
your own situation
is
South, united in
that concerns slavery as the heart of one."
Wendell
Mr.
all
Phillips favored Mr. Garrison's resolutions, though
Adams had
declared that they could not be
of union and action.
may
of Delilah, they
What
sceptre
" As long," he said, " as
made
men
the basis
lie in
the lap
be sure they will have their locks shorn.
cares the South for all you can do while under the
? "
He expressed a belief that disunion must come, as
Calhoun wanted
it
;
it
at
at the other, " and
one end of the Union and Garrison wanted
it was written in the counsels of God."
Resolutions were reported by the business committee in
favor of instructing the committee appointed at Concord, to-
gether with such
members
as
might be appointed
at that time,
to correspond with individuals in different parts of the State
with a view to calling county and State conventions.
The
During a recess a
convention urged unity and co-operation.
chairman, and
Loring
was
Gray
Ellis
held.
conference was
Edmund Quincy was
secretary.
A
large
State
committee
was appointed, of which Charles Francis Adams was chairman. This committee at once entered upon its duties, an
�TEXAS ADMITTED AS A SLAVE STATE.
645
address to the people was issued, a form of remonstrance
against the admission of Texas as a slave State was sent to
every part of the Commonwealth, and to other States.
A
weekly paper, called the " Texas Chain Breaker," edited by
Public meetings were held,
Elizur Wright, was established.
and speeches of rare eloquence and power were delivered by
some of the most gifted men of the Commonwealth. Petitions
signed by tens of thousands were sent to this committee, and
Henry Wilson and John G. Whittier were commissioned to
carry them to Washington.
On the 4th of November Faneuil Hall was thronged by the
citizens of Boston, to protest against the admission of Texas
as a slave State.
Charles Francis
Adams
presided.
Resolu-
drawn up by Charles Sumner were presented by John G.
They distinctly set forth that annexation was sought
Palfrey.
increasing
the market in human flesh, for extending and
for
perpetuating slavery, and for securing political power, and they
protested against the admission of Texas as a slave State " in
These resothe name of God, of Christ, and of humanity."
lutions were supported in earnest, learned, and eloquent
speeches by Mr. Palfrey, Mr. Sumner, Mr. Phillips, Mr. Stanton, Mr. Hillard, Mr. Channing, and Mr. Garrison.
This was the first public participation of Mr. Sumner in that
tions
great conflict in which he subsequently bore a part so impor-
His speech and the resolutions from his
tant and honorable.
pen were based on the fixed and indestructible principles of
justice, humanity, and moral rectitude.
Stating that the
object of the meeting was to strengthen the hearts
and hands
of those opposed to the admission of Texas into the family
of States,
and referring
heard, that
all
to the voices of
discouragement they
exertion would be in vain, he declared that
fail to accomplish great good, as no
and devotion to duty can ever be without
its. reward.
Such an act as theirs, he said, must ever stand
as a landmark, and " future champions of equal rights and
their efforts
could not
act of self-sacrifice
human brotherhood
tions."
will derive new strength from these exer" Massachusetts," he said, " must continue foremost
in the cause of
freedom
;
nor can her children yield to dal-
�646
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
liance with slavery.
They must
be forearmed against
its fatal
IN AMERICA.
resist it at all times,
influence."
He
and
closed by ex-
it might be hereafter among the praises
"
on this occasion she knew so well how
of Massachusetts that
"
'
to say No
pressing the hope that
!
'
This attempt, however, to rally the people of Massachusetts
and,
if possible,
of the free States, resulted in the most dis-
heartening revelation of sentiments and purposes
leaders and in the ranks of the
Whig
party.
among
Indeed,
little
the
was
found that was calculated to inspire courage and confidence.
Prominent and honored members not only positively declined
to take any part in the movement themselves, but discouraged
Abbott Lawrence, in his reply to the
the efforts of others.
anti-Texas committee, said, " I have opposed the annexation of
my
was an open
majority of the people have decided in favor of annexation, and
Texas now virtually composes a part of the Union." Nathan
Appleton went still further. He referred to the fact that he
saw among the parties engaged in the movement many who
had distinguished themselves as Abolitionists and he doubted
whether the abolition movement was " reconcilable with duty
under the Constitution." At any rate he thought it had produced nothing but evil, banded the South into a solid phalanx,
Texas, and continued
question.
I
deem
opposition so long as
further action
on
my
it
part useless, as a
;
exasperated the feelings of slaveholders, increased the severity
of their slave laws, postponed the period of emancipation in
the Northern slave States, and secured the election of Mr.
Polk and the admission of Texas into the Union. " I cannot," he said, " take part in this
Texas movement.
For
all
practical purposes, as far as the people are concerned, I con-
sider the question as settled.
I
have opposed
it,
and contrib-
so long as there appeared a chance of
uted funds to oppose
preventing it. Massachusetts has done her duty, and her senit
and representatives will continue to do theirs. Beyond
it good policy to waste our efforts upon the
These sentiments expressed the views and feelimpossible."
Although no
ings of a large class of Massachusetts Whigs.
division took place at the State convention of that year, and its
ators
that I cannot think
�TEXAS ADMITTED AS A SLAVE STATE.
647
resolutions were distinct and full in their condemnation of an-
nexation, and of the continued aggressions of the Slave Power,
it
was seen and felt that there were radical differences in the
and that a conflict was certain, and a rupture probable
[tarty,
in the near future.
The XXIXth Congress met on the
On
the 10th Mr.
Adams
1st of
December, 1845.
presented remonstrances from Massa-
chusetts against the admission of Texas into the
Union as a
and moved their reference to a select committee.
But the House, by a vote of one hundred and fifteen to seventyThe next day a large number of
two, laid them on the table.
similar memorials, signed by thousands, were presented by
Mr. Adams and other members, but they shared the same
slave State,
fate.
On
the 16th the
House proceeded
to the consideration of the
Joint Resolution, reported by Mr. Douglas, chairman of the
Committee on
Territories,
State into the Union.
haste,
for the admission
The previous
of Texas as a
question, with indecent
was immediately moved, and sustained by eighteen
majority, and the bill ordered to a third reading by a majority of eighty-four.
of Massachusetts, a
On its final passage, Mr. Julius Rockwell
member of the Committee on Territories,
contrived to obtain the floor, and spoke earnestly and eloquently
against
it.
He
declared that amidst
all
the heat and dust,
and violent efforts
which the Texan question had given occasion, there stood
out one honest feature on the part of the government, and
that was the clear, distinct, and open avowal, that the motive
was the preservation of domestic slavery. Massachusetts disamidst
the misrepresentations, intrigues,
all
to
sented from the measure on that very ground.
and was
She objected
in urging it,
As one called to
had been the purpose
to annexation because that
likely to prove its actual effect.
represent in part the people of his ancient Commonwealth, he
must enter his " solemn protest against the extension of slavery, as
country
an
evil
directed
against the truest interests of his
and freedom, and darkening that national character which she ought
to hold up to all nations and ages of the world
as being in
;
as militating directly against her prosperity
;
�648
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
RISE
opposition to the Constitution which
in concord
republic,
;
IN AMERICA.
had preserved us hitherto
as against the principles of the fathers of the
who
lived themselves in
would have saved
slaveholding States,
who
from so great an evil, and
who openly confessed that they trembled for their country
us, if they could,
when they remembered
that
God
The
is just.
vote was then
taken, and the resolution of admission was adopted by a majority of eighty-five.
In that minority of
fifty-six there
were
only three members of the Democratic party, Preston King,
Bradford R. Wood, and Horace Wheaton, of the State of
New
York.
On
December Mr. Ashley of Arkansas reported
from the Judiciary Committee the House resoluand that body proceeded at once to its consideration.
the 22d of
to the Senate
tion,
Mr. Webster rose and declared that he had felt it to be his
duty " steadily, uniformly, and zealously to oppose it." He
" I agree with the unaniclosed his brief speech by saying
:
mous
opinion of the legislature of Massachusetts
the great
mass of her people
;
I
reaffirm
what
I
;
I
agree with
have said and
written during the last years at various times against this
annexation.
and
I
I here record
my own
dissent and opposition
;
here express and place on record, also, the dissent and
protest of the State of Massachusetts."
But
all
arguments were unavailing, and the protests, how-
ever impressively pronounced, by States or statesmen, could
The slaveholders had the
not avert the impending blow.
" giant's strength," and they did not hesitate to " use it like
a giant," however "tyrannous"
it
might appear.
of thirty-one to fourteen the Joint
By
a vote
Resolution was passed,
and Texas became a State of the American Union. And the
saddest page in this gloomy record, the bitterest ingredient
in this cup of humiliation, was the large support the measure
received from the free States.
It seemed as if the demon of
slavery had power over the souls as well as the bodies of men,
and by his infernal sorceries had bound the one as completely
as the other.
But there were those who still had faith in
God and in the power of truth, and who still believed that,
in some way they were not able to forecast, this great wrong
�TEXAS ADMITTED AS A SLAVE STATE.
649
would be righted and this haughty power be overborne. At
any rate they meant to struggle on in the great endeavor, and
hope in God for success.
The Massachusetts Anti-Texas Committee issued an address
" Massachusetts," it said, " had done her part
to the public.
honestly, conscientiously,
and manfully, to sustain the true
New England." Affirming that
principles of the Puritans of
annexation had been accomplished by slavery,
it
said
" Slav-
:
ery has corrupted liberty in her fountain seat slavery has
hardened the hearts of this generation of political leaders, so
that they heed no warning except it should be a miracle from
;
heaven.
Slavery has infused
its
pestiferous
venom
into the
veins of the body politic in the free States to such an extent
that they see not
what mere instruments of tyranny
it is
mak-
ing of their people."
This address from the pen of Charles Francis Adams closed
" The contest about Texas has been
with the declaration
fought and
lost,
:
the Constitution trampled under foot, and the
Spirit of Liberty is driven
bered
fields yet
from her natural home
;
but unnum-
remain, each of which should be the subject
of a greater contest than the last, until either the institution
of slavery shall be overthrown, or else the
Samson
of the
North, intoxicated by the cup of worldly prosperity, and enfeebled by his dalliance with the harlot, shall ultimately perish
amidst the crumbling of the
edifice
which he had made
for
his protection."
Hitherto the government of the United States, in obedience
to the exacting
demands
verted from
original purpose to the antagonistic
its
of slave-masters,
had indeed been perand degrad-
ing service of protecting and fostering domestic slavery.
Now,
demands, the nation had taken another
and an advanced step, and had officially announced through
its Secretary of State, the channel of communication with foreign governments, to England, France, and Mexico, that it
looked with apprehension upon the extinction of slavery in a
foreign nation, and demanded the annexation of that nation,
to prevent its abolition there, and to strengthen it at home.
Regardless of the opinion of the Christian and civilized world,
in obedience to fresh
82
�650
RISE
AND FALL OF THE SLAVE POWER
IN AMERICA.
Nor
it had avowed these motives and principles of action.
were the means employed less reprehensible than the end proThere seemed, moreover, to have been a combination
posed.
of circumstances, a fatality, not to say fatuity, of conduct,
which conspired to facilitate and
with danger and dishonor.
effect the result so
pregnant
The underlying cause of this complete victory of the Slave
Power was unquestionably the inadequate conception by the
people of the high and comprehensive duties of self-govern-
That was the weak and vulnerable point of the contest.
Busy on their farms, in their work-shops, factories, and stores,
ment.
masses of the people too often think they are fulfilling the
duties of citizenship by sometimes voting at elections and patriotically
observing the anniversary of national independence.
Is it singular, then, that the clearest utterances, the
most
solemn warnings and earnest appeals, failed of evoking hearty
and effective responses ? Failing to comprehend, notwithstanding
was spoken and written, the
that
all
Texas
plot,
by the
many
political
left
real iniquity of the
that troublesome question to be solved
leaders at Washington, while they answered
demands of their business and grappled with the problems
and domestic life. Perhaps in coming years
juster views of personal responsibility will obtain, and it will
be seen and felt that republicanism is not a mere sentiment
the
of their personal
that
human
sponsibilities
rights are indissolubly linked with
;
that freedom
is
human
re-
not a glittering bauble which
constitutions can confer, but a prize that
is
to be
won and
kept in the presence of active and ever-watchful foes.
And,
in the light of subsequent events, is there reason to
doubt that there was a higher than any
in the defeat of
plot,
human agency
at
work
Mr. Clay and the success of the annexation
then deemed so mysterious and unfortunate
?
As
it
is
was not preof Bull Run, then wisely
the general conviction, that, in 1861, the nation
pared for victory on the battle-field
and fortunately withheld, may it not be believed that, in essentially the same conflict and for essentially the same reasons, it
was not prepared for triumph in 1844 ? The success of the
Slave Power then may now be looked upon not only as a means
�TEXAS ADMITTED AS A SLAVE STATE.
of stimulating
till it
its
grasping purposes and
o'erleaped itself and rushed to
its
its
651
vaulting ambition
own overthrow, but
as
a necessary step in that march of events which has so rapidly
and wonderfully opened the continent to the forces of a fresher
energy and a higher civilization. " God in history," to the
American and Christian patriot thus instructed, should therefore be a perpetual inspiration in the darkest hour, a perennial
source of faith and hope, of consolation and courage.
��INDEX TO VOL.
I.
Presents remonstrances
man, 532.
from Massachusetts against admission
Aberdeen, Lord,
of Texas, 647.
597.
Abolitionists, dissensions
among, 406- Alford, of Ga., 347.
Allen, Charles, of Mass., 370, 623.
410.
Adams, Benjamin, of Mass., 76.
Adams, Charles Francis, of Mass.,
Allen, of Conn., 82.
485,
491, 585, 622, 642, 645, 649.
Adams, John, Commissioner
to
Paris,
Alvord, James C, of Mass., 371, 372.
" Amistad," seized by slaves on board,
and brought
Adams, John Quiney.
Remarks on
On
speech of Rufus King, 143.
Mis-
into
Slaves
457.
113.
New London,
Conn.,
declared free by Judge
of,
Story, 465.
Anderson,
R
C,
of Ky., 74, 115.
Compromise, 149. Presents peti- Andrews, resident in Texas, 596, 636.
tions, 307, 311. Remarks on admission Anne, Queen, instructions of, to Royal
souri
of Arkansas, 344.
Presents petition
African Company,
re-
Anti-government,
marks on right of petition, 150, 353.
On power of Congress to abolish
Remarks on petition,
slavery, 395.
measures, 568.
from
slaves, 346, 348.
Impressive
Action on revision of
399.
rules, 424.
His reply to Rayner of North Caro-
Further defence of right
lina, 425.
of petition and debate, 427.
Presents
petition for dissolution of the
427.
Attempt to censure bim, 428. His
scathing reply to Wise, 430.
years'
432.
Union,
His ten
struggle for right of petition,
Not friendly to abolition soand measures, 433. Criticisms
his course, 435-437.
Defends
cieties
on
right of slaves of " Creole "
liberty, 447.
As
to their
counsel for slaves of
the " Amistad," 463.
" Amistad " case, 467
His defence in
- 469.
Presents
petition of Massachusetts basing repre-
sentation
on
free persons, 482.
Speaks
against the doctrine of property in
4, 5.
advocates
its
and
Repeal of the Union
demanded, meetings and debates, 569 575.
Antonio Pacheco, 543.
Antislavery publications.
" Genius
tional
nia
Inquirer," 174.
Freeman,"
174.
of
"Na-
Universal Emancipation," 169.
"Pennsylva"Liberator,"
176.
"Journal of the Times," 177.
" Emancipator," 231
Tracts and doc.
uments issued from New York office
" Philanthropist,"
in one year, 272.
276.
Measures to suppress their circulation through the mails, 323 - 327.
" Observer," at St. Louis, 375.
Abo''
litionist," 412.
"Antislavery Stand-
ard," 421.
"Philanthropist," 557.
" Liberty Bell," 562.
" True Ameri-
can," 632.
" Texas Chain Breaker,"
645.
Antislavery Societies.
Pennsylvania, ad-
�654
INDEX.
dress of, to governors of States, 23.
Memorials
New
New
Connecticut, New
to Congress, 24.
of,
Haven, one of
oldest,
In
25.
York, Rhode Island,
Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia,
Societies in
and Baltimore, 26 - 28.
Bacon, of Mass., 85.
Bailey, Dr., of Pa., 418, 476, 577.
Baldwin, Judge, of Conn., 26 - 75, 462.
Baldwin, of Ga., 51, 64.
general, and their influence, 28.
Con- Ballou, Adin, 574.
Union Hu- Baltimore, Abolition Society of, 28.
England, 224-228.
Journal of, describes domestic slave
vention of societies, 80.
New
mane, 168.
New York
American,
231.
City,
249-263.
Declaration of Sentiments, 256-259.
Personnel, 25-9 - 263. Female, Boston,
formed
Philadelphia,
in
South demands of Northern
281.
legislatures
suppress them, 225.
to
scene, 99.
Comment on
Bancroft, George.
traffic
and British
foundation of
new
policy,
slave-
On
3.
republic, 18.
Barbour, Philip P., of Va., 137, 142,
157, 530.
Action of Massachusetts Society in
Barnard, Daniel D., of N. Y., 531, 613.
defence of liberty of speech and press,
Barrow, of La., 442, 444.
330.
Meetings and measures on occa-
sion
of the martyrdom of Lovejoy,
Massachusetts Abolition,
383-389.
414. American and Foreign, origin
and formation of, 420. Disruption of
Number, agency, and
American, 421
diminished importance of, 422. Old
and new organizations pitted against
.
Their diminished
each other, 559.
number and importance,
567.
Bates, of Mass., 484.
Bayard, James A., of Del.,
Thomas
Beach,
Beardsley, Samuel, of Utica, N. Y., 288,
311.
Beecher, Dr. Edward, 361, 379, 380, 420.
Bell, Joseph, of Mass., 622.
Beman, Dr.
S. S., 294.
Benezet, Anthony, 10.
Ameri- Benson, ofN. Y.,
can advocates disunion, 568 - 572.
Benton,
Appleton, Nathan, of Mass., 638, 646.
67.
Thomas H,
John M., of Ga.,
Berrien,
Archer, of Va., 157, 530, 615.
Berry, of Va., 204.
in,
moved by Mr. Taylor,
Admitted
in, lost, 140.
as a slaveholding Territory,
Applies for enabling
Admitted
in,
Amend-
139.
ments prohibiting slavery
140.
government
territorial
Prohibition of slavery
139.
to the
act,
343.
Bill.
Of Mr. Fitzsimmons, prohibiting
Ohio,
Of committee on
33.
By Mr.
trade, 103.
dition to acts prohibiting slave-traffic,
105.
To
punish with death persons
souri Territory, 136.
Edwin
in
P., 250.
Boston Massacre,
Territorial
first
18.
Austin, Elbridge Gerry, of Boston, in
Latimer
case, 477.
Austin, James T., of Boston, disgraceful
speech
of,
384.
Aves, Thomas, of Boston, 371.
107.
ery in Missouri
394, 395.
Attacks, Crispus, colored patriot,
martyr
pre-
For admission of Mis-
tions,
Ashley, of Ark., 648.
Atlee, Dr.
To
slave-trade, 105.
Ashburton Treaty, 401, 452.
H,
slave-
Middleton in ad-
vent fitting out slave-trading expedi-
Arnold, of Tenn., 430, 454.
Atherton, of N.
618.
slavery in territory northwest of the
engaged in
Union, 345.
of Mo., 342, 343,
392, 401, 443, 600, 610, 617.
Arbuckle, General, 526, 542.
Arkansas. Bill for
82, 84, 393.
P., 564.
139.
141.
141.
government
To admit
for
Providing
Arkansas,
Missouri as
State,
For the admission of Maine,
For prohibition in Missouri, de-
feated, 143.
iting
Prohibiting slav-
lost, 139.
Passed in Senate, prohib-
slavery
France, 143.
in
country ceded
by
In House, with amend-
ment forbidding
slavery
and involun-
�655
INDEX.
tary servitude in Missouri, 143-145,
Burgess, Tristam, of R.
I.,
530.
and passed, 147. Taken up in Senate Burleigh, Charles C, of Conn., 244, 294,
and prohibition clause stricken out,
295, 416, 574.
147.
From committee of. conference, Burr, of Va., 204.
debated and passed both Houses, 148. Burrill, of R. I., 104, 106, 155.
For suppression of freedom of speech Burrows, Thomas K., of Pa., 327.
and press, 340. Incendiary Publica- Burt, Armistead, of S. C, 543.
To
tion, lost in Senate, 342.
trial
secure
by jury for one restrained of
man, passed by Congress, 543.
Birney, James G., 275.
Emancipates
Endorses
his slaves, 276, 407.
action,
413, 418,
politi-
420, 436, 545.
Candidate for the presidency, 549.
53, 398.
C.
Cabot, of Mass., 69.
Calderon, Mr., Spanish minister, 458.
Calhoun, John
C,
of S.
C,
314, 315,
port on incendiary publications, 340 -
Blanchard, Rev. Jonathan, 293.
342,390.
General Joseph, of N.
J.,
president of Convention of Abolition
Resolutions
of,
391.
Cambreleng, Churchill C, of N. Y.,329.
C,
352, 533.
Campbell, of Tenn., 104.
Boiling, of Va., 196.
Bond, George, of Mass., 337.
Canning, Stratford, 108.
Borden, Nathaniel B., of Mass., 622.
" Carter, Robert," schooner, 474.
" Boston," ship, with slave secreted, 473.
Cass, Lewis, 515.
Botts, of Va., 398, 430, 449, 481.
Castlereagh, Lord, proposition
Bowditch, Henry
S.,
I.,
Bowditch, William
of Mass., 486.
of Boston, 479, 498.
I.,
of, to
con-
cede right of search, 108.
of Mass., 640.
Causin, of Md., 455.
Chandler, Elizabeth M., assistant editor
Bradburn, George, of Mass., 489, 490,
572, 573.
with
Lundy and
Garrison, 173.
Chandler, of Va., 193.
Bradford, Dr. Gamaliel, of Mass., 337.
Bradish, Luther, of N. Y., 546.
534, 578, 585, 622.
British governor,
Channing, Rev. William Ellery, of Boston, 337, 383, 640.
Briggs, George N., of Mass., 309, 344,
Channing, William
F., of
Boston, 479.
Channing, William Henry, of Mass., 643.
spirited
reply
of,
to
U. S. government, 121.
Brodnax, of Va., 192.
Chapman, of Mass., 413.
Chapman, Mrs. Maria W., of Boston,
281, 295.
Brooks, Nathan, of Mass., 546.
Chase, of Maryland, 15, 32.
Brougham, Lord, of England, 566, 597.
Brown, David Paul, of Phila., 266, 294.
Brown, John L., sentenced to death, 565.
Brown, Milton, of Pa., 614.
Brown, of Ky., 160.
Brown, of Miss., 543.
Brown, of R. I., 73, 84.
Brownson, Orestes A., of Boston, 388.
Chase, Salmon P., 477, 551, 553.
Bryant, William
Secre-
tary of State, 600.
Campbell, of S.
Societies, 80.
Boutwell, George
Re-
324, 397, 440, 445, 590, 595, 599.
Black, of Ga., 454, 455.
Bloomficld,
C,
Recognizing property in
erty, 371.
cal
Butler, of S.
lib-
C,
of N. Y., 451, 596.
Buchanan, James, of Pa., 315, 343, 393,
402.
BufFum, Arnold, 226, 295, 571.
Child,
David Lee, 223, 229, 482,
538,
571.
Child, Linus, of Mass., 486, 622
Child, Mrs.
Lydia Maria, 236, 420, 561.
Choate, Rufus, of Boston, 371, 403, 485,
615.
Christie, of
Md.,
73.
Claggett, of N. H., 75.
Clarkson, Thomas, of England, 399.
Clay, Cassius M., of Ky., 628, 630-635.
Clay, Henry, of Ky., 110, 130, 137, 139,
�656
INDEX.
145, 160, 342, 394, 396, 423, 442, 445,
Governor
451, 604, 607.
Burgess, 19.
Rhode
.Eustis,
Clay, of Ala., 308.
of
Clarkson, Thomas, received an impulse
Connecticut, 19.
from writings of Benezet, a Huguenot,
of
D.,
Clergy of South, not opposed to slavery
Their course before
or slave-trade, 63.
and during the Rebellion,
mob
63.
Sanc-
Colver, Rev. Nathaniel
Columbia, District
up
Or-
fort, 130.
Congress,
commerce,
Cobb, William R., of Ala., 543.
fined, 67.
Cockburn, Admiral, refuses
in
to surrender
under Treaty of Ghent, 120.
new
etc.
Collegiate school for colored people, 238.
Colonies, articles of association, 18.
fa-
of,
Constitution, reasons for, 39.
Difficul-
40-42.
Slavery
way
ties
Encouraged by Mr.
Jefferson,
209.
the great obstacle, 41
indorsed by Virginia
hostility to free blacks, 212, 214.
intent of
more
its
Real
the
Distrusted by free
people of color, 216, 217.
opinion
ster's
44.
leaders to render slavery
secure, 214.
of,
219.
Mr. WebRum, pow-
in the
of,
.
Basis of repre-
sentation in, 42 - 44. Southern threats,
by
Characterized
209.
of,
Resolutions
against annexation of Texas, 373.
209.
principles
Legislature
Conrad, Charles M., of La., 402.
Hopkins,
legislature,
57.
Disgraceful
6.
242.
Dr.
Its
York,
See Constitution.
repeals black law, 372.
of,
and
Objects
New
in
offence,
law of State
163.
208.
met
Colony of, made man-steal-
ing capital
slaves, 9.
Society, organization
to revise
legislatures, 151.
Connecticut.
Rev.
of, re-
Its right to prohibit slavery
Coleman, Elihu, pamphlet against mak-
inconsistencies of,
Plan
16.
States affirmed by Northern
Compromises,
111.,
No power
powers enunciated, debated, and de-
Colden, of N. Y., 78.
Coles, Governor, of
Discus-
to, 15.
40.
first,
Its
by
of Boston,
Convention called
tion, 16.
Cobb, Howell, of Ga, 75, 138, 542.
vored
C,
sion resumed in 1777, 16.
its articles,
Coates, Lindley, of Pa., 421.
Colonization
20.
turned to Congress with recommenda-
dered to attack Fort King, 516.
men
arms
to slavery in
See Slave-trade.
of.
Confederation, obstacles
to regulate
violence, 323.
Governor, of Mass., 497.
Clinch, Colonel, blows
slaves
of, in
414, 480.
Philadelphia, 553.
Clifford,
to bear
Colston, of Va., 138.
Professor Charles
Cleaveland,
ing
Right
Reduced
disputed, 20.
Tristam
in " History
Battalion
Island," 19.
Maryland and Virginia,
10.
Clayton, John M., 345.
tion
By
19.
By Arnold
" Religion and humanity " and
"morality" of the question ig-
A
nored, 49.
" bargain " proposed
and accepted as a compromise,
53, 54.
Decisive victory of the Slave Power,
54 - 56.
and arms sent with negroes to Continental Congress signed "Articles
of Association," 13. Pledged united
Mr. Garrison sent to
Liberia, 220.
colonies not to import or purchase any
England to unfold real character of
der,
Protest of Wilber-
the society, 220.
and others against it, 221.
Colored people, ejected from cars, 493,
Children of, excluded from pub494.
Legislation in
lic schools, 495 -497.
force
18.
of, in
Boston Massacre,
Regiment
Rhode Island, 19. Notice of, by
soldiers, at
At Bunker
in, 14.
ings, 14.
Theory of human equality
enunciated, 41.
Cook, of
111.,
144, 158.
Cooper, James, of Md., 532.
their behalf, 497.
Colored
Slaveholding threat
slave, 13.
Articles adopted, and other proceed-
Hill, 19.
Cooper,
Mark
A., of Ga., 398, 450. 534.
Corey, trainer of Douglass, 501, 510.
Corwin, Governor, of Ohio, 476.
�INDEX.
657
Cox, Dr. Abraham L., of N. Y., 260.
Miss Prudence, her colored
E.
Crandall,
school
in
Conn., 240.
and imprisonment
Persecution
241.
Subse-
quent proceedings, 242-247.
Public
of,
morality at a low ebb, 246, 247.
in
Washington, 306.
5.32.
Creeks and Seminoles, treaty with, 525.
" Creole," brig, seized by slaves, 443.
Crittenden,
John
J.,
tion in Cincinnati
75.
His ac-
Synod, 178.
his
proclamation in
1791 concerning slavery and freedom,
Address of national convention
to
South Carolina written by«him, 28.
Eliot, Rev. John, his memorial to the
governor and council against enslaving Indians,
of Ky., 77, 451, 616.
Crothers, Dr. Samuel, of Ohio.
Pa., 549, 569, 571.
Edmond, of Conn.,
27.
Crapo, Judge, of Mass., 492.
Crawford, William H.,
Thomas, of
Eaton, of Tenn., 105, 154.
Edwards, Jonathan,
Dr. Reuben, imprisoned
Crandall,
Earle,
7.
Elliot, of Ga., 141.
Ellsworth, Oliver, of Conn., 35, 50.
Ellsworth, Hon. William W., of Conn.,
Cushing, Caleb, of Mass., 344, 536, 546.
counsel for Miss Crandall, 243.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, of Mass., 641.
D.
Evans, George, of Me., 350.
Dade, Major, shot in Florida, with
command,
his
Everett,
Edward, of Mass., 328, 329,
445, 530, 597.
517.
Daggett, Judge, of Conn., decision
of, in
Crandall case, 245.
Everett, Horace, of Vt., 430, 448, 524.
Exiles, Florida,
127-134.
Dallas, George M., of Pa., 604.
Dane, Nathan,
32.
Davie, General, of N.
C,
F.
44.
Davis, George T., of Mass., 489.
Davis, John, of Mass., 340, 341, 393, 442.
Dawson, of La., 455, 537.
Dawson, William C, of Ga., 351.
Dayton, William
De
L., of N. J., 615.
Argaiz, Spanish minister, 460.
Denison, Rev. Charles W., 231, 232, 250,
252, 419.
Dew,
Professor, 100.
portance, 561.
Faulkner, Charles
Fitzsimmons, Thomas, of Pa., 33,
Fletcher, Richard, of Boston, 281.
Law
128, 129.
Dillett, of Ala., 431.
struction of
Doddridge, of Va., 308.
Fort
life,
duration, cost,
Douglas, Stephen A., of 111., 610.
Douglass, Frederick, 493, 499-511.
529.
for
annexation
Georgia sends armed force
Dickson, John, of N. Y., 311.
Dutch
75.
Florida, introduction of slaves into, in
128.
Amos,
99.
1
Fillmore, Millard, 308, 402, 546.
1558, 124.
Dresser,
of Va.,
Finley, Rev. Robert, of Va., 211.
Dickey, of Pa., 543.
C,
J.,
Fessenden, of Me., 448.
Dexter, Franklin, of Mass., 489.
Drayton, of S.
and im-
Fairs, antislavery, their success
in,
blown up and
130.
etc.,
War
in,
of,
into,
de-
cause,
512 - 525.
Floyd, Governor, of Va., 191.
Follen, Professor Charles, of Mass., 333,
335, 545.
357.
Foot, Solomon, of Vt., 455.
ship entered
slaves
1620,
James River with Foote, of Conn., 158.
same year with "May- Forsyth, John, of Ga., 462, 590.
flower," 2.
Fort Jupiter, Florida, 522.
Dutch West India Company offered to Fort King, in Florida, Major Dade orsupply New York with slaves, 5.
dered to attack it, 516.
Duty on slaves imported, debated in first Forward, Walter, of Philadelphia, 294.
Congress, 57.
Foster, E. H., of Tenn., 616.
83
�658
INDEX.
James M.,
Foster, S. S., 552, 564, 570, G25.
Garnctt,
Foster, Stephen, of N.
Garrison, William Lloyd, his birth and
II., G5.
Franklin, Benjamin, of Pa., president of
Pennsylvania Abolition
Society,
23.
33.
In Baltimore
early labors, 176.
on,
His proposition on basis of represen-
and purposes,
Author of memorial
Congress, 62. Last and wisest of
" Liberator" in Boston, 182.
tation, 42.
to
his
180, 181.
of, to
Friends, society
New
early antislavery ad-
A
price
183-186. Mission
England, 220. Connection with
England Antislavery Society, 224.
Frelinghuyscn, Theodore, 235.
of,
Establishes
put upon his head by slaveholders,
186. His influence,
counsels, 62.
pris-
His assertion of principles
180.
In other relations, 250, 252. 260, 284,
vocates, 10.
demand of Butler of
295, 332, 358, 388, 435, 545, 557, 563,
570, 574, 639, 643.
S. C, that they be delivered up like
criminals, 53.
His amendment agreed Gayle, Governor, of Ala., 326.
Provision for the rendition of, Georgia, settled by colonies under James
to, 54.
Fugitive slaves,
inserted
Argu-
Constitution, 54.
in
ments of Southern members
for rendi-
Bill of 1793 for rendition of,
Oglethorpe,
4.
Claimed
passed both Houses, 69.
of
Alabama
House appointed to
tual means for rendition
Ceded her
tion of, 54.
Committee of
provide more effec-
for rendition of,
and
fiercely debated, 74
measures
in the
rendition
74.
of,
reported in
- 77.
House
for
Bill
House
Rendition
of,
ures, 127.
Demanded
Paid for
Treaty stipula-
Span126.
sought by various meas-
Their recovery sought by
for
recapture
of,
War
128,
oh
129.
Pursued by slave-hunters among Indians,
134.
Decision
Court on rendition
New York
them, 474.
of,
of
471.
legislature
slavery be not prohibited,
tion
that
35.
Sends forces into Creek country
Supreme
Act of
concerning
Action of Gov. Seward in
128,
Fort
129.
in,
Governor
destroyed,
terrible massacre, 130.
ernment
for
and
Paid by gov-
wanton outrages
in Flori-
da, 132.
Gentry, Meredith P., of Tenn., 398.
Gerry, Elbridge, of Mass., 51, 65.
Ghent, Treaty
of,
provided for restora-
tion of slaves, 120.
Gholson, of Va., 100.
Giddings, Joshua R., 425, 442, 447, 448.
Is censured by the
re-elected
467,
484,
and
House and
resigns,
returns, 451, 452, 454,
532 - 534, 537, 543, 614,
620.
Gilbert, of N. J., 72.
Giles, of Va., 36.
relation to, 475.
Mr. Wilson's motion
Gillette, Francis,
in Massachusetts
Senate for their pro-
Gilmer,
of Conn., 372.
Thomas W.,
of Va., 428, 592.
Goddard, Hon. Calvin, of Conn., coun-
tection, 637.
Fuller,
35.
1802, on condi-
territory in
sends military forces into Florida,
annexation of Florida, 128.
Florida
Mississippi,
burn and murder, 126.
surrender them,
to
and
of,
tion in 1790 for return of, 125.
refuse
forming States
territory
to
by England under decision of Em-
ish
4.
Further
of British government, 120.
peror of Austria, 121.
opposed slavery,
securing
Bill for rendition of,
of, 78.
reported and debated, 78.
He
4.
Slaves introduced into, from Africa,
James C of N.
,
Y., 413.
sel for
Miss Crandall, 243.
Goldsborough, of Md., 103.
G.
Goode, William O., of Va., 73.
Goodell, William, 232, 234, 250, 260, 332,
Gaines, General, 129, 540.
Gallatin, Albert, 37, 80, 601.
Garland, Rice, of La., 398.
336, 408, 421, 436, 545.
Gorham, of Mass., 42.
Gouveneur, Samuel L., of X. Y.,
323.
�650
INDEX.
dence
Govan.of S. C, 107.
Government, powers
Want
113-118.
republics,
other
of sympathy with
towards Indians,
injustice
514-527.
Seat
of,
Signal
127-134,
on slave
soil,
of,
Hazard, of P.
1838,
for
117.
of,
322, 326.
I.,
Hemphill, of Pa., 157.
Ilenshaw, Daniel, of Mass., 493.
Heyrick, Elizabeth, pamphlet, 178.
I
licks, Elias,
Quaker, 166.
Hildreth, Richard, 572.
299.
N.
H,
317.
John, of N.
C,
85.
Granger, Francis, of N. Y., 347, 398.
Hill, Isaac, of
Grantland, of Ga., 347.
Hill,
Green, Bcriah, of N. Y., 249, 250.
Ilillard,
Green, William,
Griffin,
John
C,
351.
Admiral, refuses to surrender
fugitive slaves to United States, 121.
Griffith,
Hoar, E. Rockwood, of Mass., 642.
Hoar, Samuel, of Mass., sent to Charleston
in
behalf of colored seamen, his
treatment and return, 578-582.
Grimke', Miss Angelina, 296, 372.
case, 459, 468, 515.
Holabird, of Conn., his connection with
the " Amistad " case, 428.
Ga., 113.
Holley, Myron, 545, 547.
Grundy, Felix, Attorney-General, U.
Gunn, James, of
of Mass., 338, 366,
S.,
Hillhouse, of Conn., 85.
of X. Y., 250.
Jr.,
K., of S.
Amistad"
George
384, 479.
Green, Duff, 596.
in "
Petition in
117.
recognition of independence
regard to
Humiliating po-
slavery defined, 65.
sition of, 112.
in
of,
S.,
Holmes, Isaac E., of S.
C,
448, 482,
612.
H.
Holmes, John, of Mass., afterwards of
Hale, John P., of N.
II.,
432, 610, 624,
626, 627.
Hopkins, Dr. Samuel, distinguished for
advocacy of human rights, 11. His
Hall, Robert B., 225, 359.
Hallet,
Benjamin
F
,
384.
noble act praised by Whittier, 12.
In
1776 published " Dialogue " on slav-
Halsey, of Ga., 352.
Hamilton, of S.
177,530.
C.,
Me., 75, 77, 156.
Hopkins, of Va., 428.
Hamlin, Hannibal, of Me., 432, 610.
ery, 12.
Hamlin, of Ohio, 613.
Congress,
Hammet,
against
of Miss., 603.
Hammond, James H, Governor
of S.
C., 309, 313, 579.
Hardin, John
J.,
111.,
613.
it
to Continental
Action of
12.
slavery,
12.
his
church
Characterized
slave-trade as sevenfold abomination,
47.
of
Dedicated
Sympathy with Colonization So-
ciety, 209.
Hopkinson, of Pa.,
Hardin, of Ky., 145.
75.
Harper, of S. C, 35.
Hopper, Isaac T., 232.
Harrison, William Henry, president of Houston, Samuel, of Tenn., 589.
convention in 1802 to memorialize Howe, General Appleton, of Mass., 490.
Congress, 33.
Death
of,
Elected President, 423.
423.
ole," 443.
Howell, of R.
Hartley, of Pa., 61, 65.
Hayne, R. Y., of S. C, speech
Haytien independence, 117.
of,
on
Hay ti, government organized by negroes,
114.
Surrender of Napoleon to
of,
114.
commercial
Congress
intercourse
ar-
suspended
with,
I.,
114.
Speech of Mr. Hayne on indepen-
32.
Hernandez, General, 52.
Hubbard, of N.
Haynes, of Ga., 347.
mies
Howell, John R., killed on board " Cre-
H,
391.
Hubbard, of Vt., 291.
Hubbard, Henry, of Mass., agent to New
Orleans in behalf of colored seamen,
582.
Hudson, Charles, of Mass., 455.
Hunt, of N. Y., 316.
�INDEX.
660
Hunt, General, Texan minister, proposes
and
writings, 267, 268, 420, 566.
His
reply to President Jackson, 271, 272.
annexation, 590.
Jay, John, Commissioner to Paris, 113.
Hunt, Rev. Samuel, of Mass., 642.
Hunter, R. M. T., of Va., 398.
Jefferson,
Thomas, branded
traffic in
men
Huntington, Elisha, of Mass., 642.
Huntington, of Conn., 65.
as an " execrable commei'ce," etc., 15.
Hurlburt, Rev. Mr., 292, 397.
Virginia,
Presents deed
lands claimed by
of
His
32.
action
on
the
Louisiana boundary question, 588.
Jessup, General,
commands
in Florida
war, 517, 521, 526, 538.
Dr. Jacob, 262.
Ide, Rev.
Illinois,
State,
conspiracy to
Jocelyn, Rev. S.
make her a
Constitution
161.
of,
limiting
and
for-
Legislature
of,
suffrage to free white persons
bidding slavery, 62.
enacts code of black laws, 162.
ure of efforts to
make
slave
it
Fail-
a slave State,
164.
S., 239, 250,
Johnson, Chief Justice, declares laws of
South Carolina unconstitutional and
void, 577.
Johnson, Oliver, 225, 409, 414.
Johnson, of La., opposition
Independence, Declaration
of,
clause re-
probating slavery struck out, 1 5. Of
thirteen Colonies acknowledged, 31.
Indiana, action of her Territorial legis-
of,
to
Hay-
tien independence, 117.
Johnson, R. M., of
Ivy., 143.
Johnson, William Cost, of Md., 425.
C,
Johnston, of N.
lature concerning negroes or mulattoes,
Jones, of Va., 73.
162.
Judson,
Indians, strange and cruel conduct to-
458.
Johnson, Andrew, of Tenn., 612.
Johnson, Cave, of Tenn., 584.
Andrew
89.
T., 241.
Judson, Judge, of Conn., 458.
wards, 123-126.
Ingersoll, Charles J., of Pa., 424, 466,
K.
410.
Ingersoll,
Ralph
I.,
461.
Keith, George, Quaker,
Ingram, of Pa., 530.
Kelley, Miss
Intermarriage, petitions to Massachusetts
legislature for repeal of
489.
Law
law against,
against, repealed, 492.
8.
Abby, of Mass., 296, 411,
420, 569.
Kendall,
Amos,
of Ky., 323.
Kentucky, carved out of territory claimed
Isaac, a negro, claimed as slave, 473.
by Virginia,
34.
Ketchell, of X. J., 72.
Kidnapping, of
Jackson, General Andrew, President, his
act of outrage on Seminoles, 132.
it
His message on closing mails against
70.
340.
70.
antislavery
publications,
324,
free
negroes under Fugi-
tive Slave Act, 70.
Protection against
asked by legislature of Delaware,
Free negroes taken from ships,
Exciting debate, 70, 71. Report
of committee, 71.
His action on occasion of freeing of
slaves by British government at Nas- King, Charles, of N. Y., 321.
His efforts to purchase King, Daniel P., of Mass., 490.
sau, 440.
Texas,
589.
Urges annexation
of
Texas, 593.
Jackson, of Ga., 58, 62.
Jackson, Francis, of Boston, 285, 520.
Jackson, William, of Mass., 309, 420.
Jarvis, Leonard, of Me., 312.
Jay, Judge William, bis antislavery acts
King, of Ga., 340, 341.
King, Rufus, of N. Y., 32, 47, 51, 104,
105, 143.
King, William R., of Ala., 444, 445, 484.
Knapp, Chauncy L., of Vt., 291.
Knapp, Isaac, 184.
Knox, General, 126.
�661
INDEX.
Lovejtfy, Rev. Elijah P., 362, 374, 377,
378, 381, 382.
Lambert, colored
Lowndes, William, 157.
soldier, 19.
Lane Seminary, antislavery debate
in,
Langdon, of N. H.,
51.
Latimer, George, a fugitive, seized in
Boston, and proceedings in bis case,
477-480.
ranks with emancipated slaves,
fill
Lumpkin, of Ga., 392, 397.
Lundy, Benjamin, his origin and early
Mr. Garrison's tribute
labors, 167.
to
C, songbt
Laurens, Colonel Jobn, of S.
to
Lowrie, Walter, of Pa., 106, 141.
Lucas, of Mass., 330, 331.
264.
him,
C, one
of com-
mission to Paris, 113.
Removes paper
Wash-
to
Starts
quirer," 174.
His death, 174.
and
so-
"National In-
ington, 174.
acter
Lawlcr, Joab, of Ala., 346.
first
and formation of
His appeal to Mr. Garri-
cieties, 169.
son, 172.
20.
Laurens, Henry, of S.
His paper,
168.
167,
public lecture,
Char-
services, 174, 175.
Lunt, George, of Mass., 330, 332.
Lawless, Judge, 376.
Lawrence, Abbott, of Mass., 638, 646.
Lawrence, of N. Y., 65.
Lay, Benjamin,
M.
9.
Lcavitt, Rev. Joshua, 231, 232, 234, 260,
Ledyard, Colonel,
killed,
and
Macon, Nathaniel, of N. C,
his death
formed
81, 116.
that
slavery
line of discrimination
between
Madison, declaration
420, 423, 458, 466, 479, 545.
of,
States, 41.
His plan of slave represen-
Lee, Benjamin Watkins, of Va., 318.
tation, 43.
On
Lee, Henry, of Va., 73.
ported, 59.
avenged by Lambert,
Legare,
Hugh
S.,
19.
C,
of S.
451, 592.
demanded, 339 -
Legislation, Northern,
Magrath, of
Maine,
bill
S.
for
taxation of slaves im-
C,
58.
admission
of,
and con-
ference committee, 147.
343.
Lewis, Dixon
H,
Mallory, of Vt., 157.
of Ala., 346, 347.
Lewis, slave of Antonio Pachcco, guide
Major Dade
Mangum,
Willie P., of N.
C,
340.
Mann, Abijah, of N. Y., 348.
Liberty party, its formation and candi- Mann, Dr. Daniel, of Mass., 493.
National convention Mann, Horace, remarks on slave-traffic,
dates, 549 - 555.
of, 552.
Acts against Texas annexa- Marcy, of Mass., 491.
to
in Florida, 516, 543.
Marcy, Governor William L., of N. Y.,
tion, 605.
Lincoln, William, of Mass., 489.
Linder,
W.
F., of
111.,
326.
379.
Marshall, of Va., 201.
Thomas
Linn, Lewis F., of Mo., 340.
Marshall,
Livermore, Arthur, of N. H., 76, 137.
Martin, Luther, of Maryland, 49.
Livermore, Isaac, of Mass., 497.
Martineau, Harriet, 285.
Livingston, of La., 529.
Maryland, prohibited introduction
Livingston, of N. Y., 82.
357, 371, 414, 569, 571, 644.
Mrs.
Ellis
Gray,
of Boston,
of
Mason, John Y., of Va., 309.
Mason, Jonathan, of Mass., 76.
measures
Massachusetts, adopted
in
1771 for abolition of slave-trade, 4.
561.
Louisiana,
chase,
F., of Ky., 425, 428.
slaves, 22.
Loring, Ellis Gray, of Mass., 285, 331,
Loring,
3.
acquisition
how
free colored
divided,
of,
136.
seamen, 577.
defined, 588.
135.
Pur-
Imprisons
Boundaries
Enacted
"
Body
bidding slavery,
of
Liberties,"
5.
Affixed
penalty to man-stealing,
constitution, 20.
6.
for-
death
Adopted
Declaration in Bill
�INDEX.
662
Bill to extirpate slav-
of Rights, 20.
ery, 20.
Letter to Continental Con-
Clause in
gress urging freedom, 21.
Supreme Court
Became a free State,
of Rights and
Bill
decision on, 21.
Hearing of Abolitionists before
22.
Resolutions of
her legislature, 331.
legislature
on slavery
in the District,
370. Hall of Representatives granted to
Antislavery
Society,
Proposes amendment
to Consti-
Massachusetts
371.
tution, basing representation
persons, 482.
Action
of,
intermarriage, caste,
Act of
6eamen
on
free
concerning
488-492.
etc.,
legislature concerning colored
in
Southern
Her
ports, 578.
declaration concerning
the treatment
Hoar by South
Carolina, 585.
of Mr.
Her
among
position
State convention
tion, 623.
of,
Amos
Merrill,
B., of Boston, 477.
Meriweather, Mr., of Ga., 431.
Mexico, her President abolishes slavery,
589.
Michigan, applies for enabling
Mid, slave child brought
setts
to
act, 343.
Massachu-
and freed by Supreme Court, 370.
Middleton, 102, 105.
Miller, Colonel, of Vt., 292.
Miller, of N. J., 616.
Miner, of Pa., 303, 531.
Missouri, petition
of,
and debate on ques-
tion of slavery in, 136.
ing slavery
in
House
to
Bill prohibit-
Senate, 139.
in, lost in
Bill
exclude slavery from,
passed after a protracted and fierce
debate, 147.
House
taken up in
bill
the States, 621.
Senate and prohibition clause stricken
on Texas ques-
out,
Public meetings
Texas annexation,
Mercer, Charles F., of Va., 105, 106, 211.
agaiust
bill
debated
Consti-
147.
tution
639.
Compromise
and passed both Houses, 148.
of,
subjected to searching and
by joint
modified
Massacre, Boston, 18.
extended
Matthews, General, 128.
committee, adopted by both Houses,
May, Rev. Samuel
and debate of two years closed, 1 53 Comments on the great contro160.
J., 241, 250, 260, 291,
330, 331, 334, 357, 358, 577, 639.
McCrummell, James, of
Philadelphia,
251.
McDowell, James, of Va., great speech
of,
debate,
versy, 161.
Mob, attacks house of Lewis Tappan,
Destroys Mr. Birney's press in
267.
Outrages
Cincinnati, 278.
205, 206.
C, 324,
N. C, 352.
McDuffie, Governor, of S.
McKay, James J., of
McKim, J Miller, 250.
McKrum, John, of 111.,
610.
York,
279.
Assaults
of, in
New
Rev. Orange
Scott and Rev. George Storrs, 280.
Breaks up meeting of ladies in BosSeizes and drags Mr. Garton, 284.
380.
McLane, Louis, of Del., 104, 145, 157.
McLean, Justice, 476.
Memorial of abolition societies, 67. Of
rison,
284.
through the
streets
of Boston,
Brutal violence in Utica, 289.
Outrages of, at Montpelier, 291. Meet-
Of Con-
ings of H. B. Stanton broken up, 293.
vention of Abolition Societies, of Quak-
Burning of Pennsylvania Hall, 297.
Forces open and robs post-office at
legislature of Delaware, 70.
Yearly Meeting, and of the Provi-
ers at
dence society for abolition of slaveOf Quakers in behalf of
trade, 80.
made free and enslaved again,
From North and South Carolina,
slaves
80.
setting forth
dangers of immigration
of blacks from San Domingo, 85.
Of
Friends to Congress for suppression of
domestic slave-trade, 103.
increase of slavery in
new
up by Daniel Webster,
1
To
restrain
States,
50.
drawn
Hangs Mcintosh, a
Charleston, 322.
mulatto, and enters and destroys
of Lovejoy, in St. Louis, 376.
seizes
and destroys
Illinois, 376, 377.
ollice
Twice
his press at Alton,
His murder, 381.
Riot and destruction of property in
Assails negroes and
Cincinnati. 556.
burns buildings in Philadelphia, 557.
Breaks up antislavery meetings in
New Bedford and
Nantucket, 558. As-
�663
INDEX.
Stephen S. Foster in Portland,
sails
Monroe, President, announces policy of
United States, 115.
Signs-
bill,
forever
prohibiting slavery north of the paral-
Opposes the Mis-
of 36° 30', 149.
lel
New Jersey, land bounty offered
(
of,
and
influence, 27.
its
agent of Massachu-
Orleans expels
setts, 583.
New
York, Abolition Society of, 26.
legislature concerning fugitive
Act of
souri restriction, 149.
slaves, 474.
Moore, of Va., 195.
Morgan, Margarette, of Md., an escaping
Nicholas, of Va., 84.
Nisbet, E. A., of Ga., 427.
slave, 471.
Morpeth, Lord, of England, attends
anti-
Morrill, of N.
II.,
John M., of Conn.,
North Carolina,
104.
Munis, Gouverneur,
Niles,
Norris, Moses, of N.
slavery fair in Boston, 562.
Virginia, 4.
47, 48.
Morris, Robert, of Ohio, 314, 320, 343,
Thomas, of Philadelphia,
294,
393.
612.
II.,
settled
Take
by colonies from
slaves with them, 4.
Xorvell, John, of Mich., 391.
Noyes Academy,
392, 397, 476, 553.
Morris,
Society
New
for every
Abolition
slave introduced there, 5.
558.
in N. H.,
colored students, 239.
opened for
Opposition, and
building removed by force, 240.
,420.
Moseley, of Mass., 331, 337.
Mott, Mrs. Lucretia, 255, 562.
O.
Ogden, David B., 235.
N.
Oglethorpe, James, founding colonies in
Napoleon, failure
to
of,
Demands
tiens, 114.
subdue Hay-
of United States
free,
tering
new
Presumed
laws to prevent their enMissouri,
State of
allowed, 301.
Testimony
not
mob
Driven by
violence from Cincinnati, 365.
refuge in Canada, 365.
sold, 515.
of,
In Ohio, and laws con-
cerning them, 363.
cars, 493.
153.
to be slaves in the District
of Columbia, 301.
Seized from vessels in
England
protests against their
imprisonment, 577.
ing,
Conflict concern-
576-586.
of,
139.
pist," 168.
Otis,
Harrison Gray, of Mass., 36, 142,
156, 280.
Palfrey,
John
G., of Mass., 645.
Palmerston, Lord, 597.
Panama, Congress of, 115.
Park, John C, of Mass., 491.
Parker, Isaac, of Mass., 82.
Parliament seeks co-operation with Unit-
Her
in
Parmenter, William, of Mass., 546.
Texas
Parsons, Theophilus, of Mass., 490.
free State
fight against
annexation, 626-628.
New Haven
Osborn, Charles, publishes " Philanthro-
ed States to suppress slave-trade, 108.
Hampshire, became
1784, 22.
33.
Osceola, Seminole chief, 576.
Parker, Josiah, of Va., 57, 65.
Nelson, of Va., threatening remarks
New
Ordinance of 1787,
Seek
Southern ports and imprisoned, 576 578.
4, 14.
exhibit the barba-
Ejected from
Stolen from Florida, and
Forbidden to enter South
Carolina, 576.
of,
rism of slavery, 365.
to cease trading with Hayti, 114.
Negroes,
Georgia and forbidding slavery,
Ohio, black laws
Patterson. William, of N. J., 43.
Colony enacted death pen-
alty for man-stealing in 1650, 6.
slavery Society
of,
one of the
Anti-
oldest, 25.
Leader of antislavery movements,
25.
Pattern,
John M., of Va.,
Paulding,
his
310, 347.
description
of
a
slave-
gang, 99.
Pennington, Governor, of N.
J.,
400.
�664
INDEX.
Pennsylvania, act of legislature in 1712
Act
to prevent increase of slaves, 3.
annulled
by British crown,
In
4.
Prigg, Edward, case
Property in
i
471.
of,
slaves, question of, struggle
on, 528-544.
1780 passed act of gradual abolition,
Abolition Society
22.
resuscitated,
of,
Q.
Oldest Abolition society in the
22.
Petitioned legislature for
world, 22.
law
to
Society
lition
Abomemorializes ConHer law against
prevent slave-trade, 24.
of,
gress in 1790, 62.
kidnapping, 471.
XXIIId
XXIId
Congresses, 307-309.
Petitions presented, discussed,
jected in the
Of New England, message to brethRhode Island, 9. Of Nantucket,
ren in
their declaration
and
XXIVth, 309 - 320.
Amos
and appeal,
to first Congress,
of,
Peti-
9.
and debate,
Petition of Mifflin, a Dela-
61, 62.
re-
ware Quaker, denounced and returned
to petitioner, 68.
Memorial of, in be-
Fi-
half of the re-enslaved, 80.
nally vindicated, 432.
Phelps, Rev.
8.
tion
Petition, right of, denied in the
and
Quakers, their protest against slavery,
ginia, petition for
A., 236, 251, 261,
Of
Vir-
removal of slavery,
192.
Queen Anne, her stock in Royal African
Company, and instructions to gover-
388, 411, 414, 415, 419.
Phelps, Charles A., 498.
Philip, King, Indian chief, 521.
nors, 4.
Orders constant supply of ne-
groes for
New
Phillips,
Jonathan, of Boston, 384.
Phillips,
Stephen C, of Mass., 495, 623,
Quincy,
Wendell, of Boston, 372, 385,
Quincy, Josiah, speech
Jersey,
Edmund,
5.
of Mass., 371, 388,
405, 644.
643.
Phillips,
386, 479, 494, 569, 574, 639, 644.
C,
Pickens, of S.
on the
of,
slave-
trade, 92, 93.
312, 533.
Pierce, Franklin, of N. H., 311, 393, 625,
R.
626.
Randolph, John, of Va., 33,
Pillsbury, Parker, 566.
Pinckney, Charles, of S.C., 46, 51,54,159.
Pinckney, Thomas, of S.
C,
Randolph, Thomas
313.
86, 97, 118,
146, 302, 529.
J.,
of Va., denounces
Pinckney, William, of Md., 143.
domestic slave-trade, 100. His plan for
Pindall, James, of Va., 74, 105.
extinction of slavery in Virginia, 194.
Plummer, William, of N. H.,
Poinsett, of S.
O,
Takes strong antislavery ground
146.
and division on,
407 - 410. Early Abolitionists pledged
Political action, debate
to
it,
545.
Polk, James K., of Tenn., 351,
400.
Nominated for President, 604.
Porter, A. S., of Mich., 442.
Portuguese and Spanish, introduced
slaves into Europe half a century before discovery of America, 2.
Rantoul, Robert,
Mass., 338.
Rayner, Kenneth, of N. C, 425, 426, 456,
619.
Read, George, of Del., 69.
Reid, Robert R., of Ga., 145.
Remond, Charles
L
,
of Mass., 493, 494,
Rencher, Abraham, of N.
demands Northern
legis-
Representation,
Congress, 42.
lation, 325.
Preston, William B., of Va., 202.
C,
Jr., of
569.
Powell, of Va., 199.
Preston, William
Rankin, John, 166, 178, 232, 256.
Rathbun, George, of N. Y., 612.
Party demanded, 546.
Press, Southern,
of S.
C,
Prentiss, Samuel, of Vt., 397.
in
Virginia legislature, 196.
106, 542.
393, 444.
lin,
42.
Of
plan
of,
C,
18.
in
Proposition of Frank-
slaves, 43.
Republic of United States,
menced,
352.
discussed
how com-
�665
INDEX.
Revolution, French, consequences
San Domingo,
blacks of
C,
Rhett, R. B., of S.
Rhode
of,
to
6.
Passed
law in 1774 against importation of
Abolition
negroes into the State, 12.
Society
Rich, Charles, of
Vt,
Richmond
Inquirer,"
Speech
of slavery in Missouri, 144.
its
portrayal of
slavery clause, 156.
the perils of slavery, 206.
Sewall,
C,
Seward,
of Va., 193.
Samuel
W.
E., 223, 335, 477, 577.
His de-
H., of N. Y., 408.
cision concerning fugitive slaves, 475,
Roane, of Va., 202.
Roberts, Jonathan, of Pa., 103, 141.
545.
Robertson, George, of Ky., 139.
Sewell, Justice Samuel, 7.
Robinson, John P., of Mass., 492.
Shaw, Chief Justice, 371.
Sherman, Roger, of Conn., 48, 57,
Sinnickson, Thomas, of N. J., 65.
Rochester, of N. Y., Secretary to Pana-
ma
Congress, 115.
Rockwell, Julius, of Mass., 647.
Sitgreaves, Samuel, of Pa., 83.
Rodney, Cesar, of
Slave Power.
Del., 33.
Root, Rev. Mr., of N. H., 358.
Ross, John, Cherokee, 521, 524.
Ruggles, Benjamin, of Ohio, plea
of, for
prohibition of slavery in Missouri, 142.
Ruggles, David, of Mass., colored, ex-
his
" Address " in
Author of address of Con-
1773, 13.
vention of Abolition Societies to
zens of United States in 1794, 80.
structed to
make
citi-
In-
slave-trade piracy,
108.
122.
Va
,
72.
Rutledge, John, of S.
C,
Its
ministration
Ralph, his " Mystery of Ini-
of,
them,
15.
Number
of,
in
independence
United States
declared,
18.
on importation
of, 49.
fused, 120.
Number
of,
at
Absconding,
British squadron and re-
Question of surrender of
Emperor of Russia,
Landed in Nassau from wrecked
slavers and made free by British government, 441. Of brig " Creole " seized
Mr.
vessel and ran into Nassau, 443.
taken prisoner, 590.
fugitives referred to
121.
Scott, John, of Mo., 138.
Scott, of Pa., 64.
Seamen,
Two brought
3.
Colony from Africa,
Action of General Court thereon,
Question of counting and taxing
into Massachusetts
demanded of
590.
Scott, General, superseded, 517.
Scott, Rev.
thirteen colonies un-
der British legislation,
declaration of war, 118.
9.
Jacinto, battle
Buren's ad-
364.
army, 20. Introduction of, prohibited
by Maryland and Virginia, 22. Debate
Santa Anna, President Mexican Republic,
Van
De-
339 - 343.
Emancipated on condition of entering
Saltonstall, Leverett, of Mass., 486.
San
to,
Brought into the
6.
46, 49, 72, 81.
S.
quity,"
control, 152.
legislation,
Slaves, African, introduced intoEurope, 2.
when
Staniford,
means of
mands Northern
6.
Rutherford, of
69.
Rapid
Origin of, 2.
growth and increasing influence of,
30,38. Signal victory of, 53 - 56. Humiliating attitude of nation by, 112 —
Subserviency of Mr.
cluded from cars, 492.
Rush, Dr. Benjamin,
of,
against constitution of Missouri with
Ritner, Governor, of Pa., 325, 327.
Rives, William
Camp Moul-
Driven from homes and
property, 133. Slaves and free negroes
among them seized by Georgia planters,
133.
trie,
Sergeant, John, of Pa., urges prohibition
75.
Richardson, of Mass., 486.
"
Jr., 458.
Seminoles, treaty with, at
515, 516.
formed, 26.
of,
Southern ports, 576 -
in
Sedgwick, Theodore,
352, 612.
Island, act for suppression of in-
voluntary servitude in 1652,
imprisonment
580.
113.
Orange, 280, 357, 415.
free colored, their seizure
84
and
Giddings's resolutions, 447-449.
Of
�INDEX.
666
the " Amistad," proceedings in their
-469.
case, 457
142.
Question
143.
Serainoles demanded, 512.
of property
in,
debated, 528 - 544.
debate
representation,
Slave
on,
43.
Proposition of Ran-
ern members, 44.
count slaves as three
to
fifths, 45.
Vote of
Influence and re-
His proposition carried, 45.
the States on, 45.
Slavery,
what
source,
its
it
American,
1.
reduced man,
to
Antagonistic
1.
territory north of
30', 148.
Virginia
in
192-207.
legislature,
Power of Congress
District admitted
to abolish
it
in the
by Calhoun, 391.
Slave-trade, African, early introduced into the
measure, 45.
sults of the
Bill for prohibition of, defeated,
Excluded from
Power of Congress to prohibit it in new States affirmed by many
legislatures, 151. Extended debate on,
36°
Plantation whip employed by South-
dolph
con of N. C, and Pinckney of Md.,
Surrender of by the
check
Their
colonies, 2.
efforts
Virginia attempted to check
3.
to
defeated by British legislation,
it
it
by
Efforts of Pennsylva-
and conscience, 2. Its friends
dictated policy of England from 1620
Planted in America
to Revolution, 3.
tax in 1726,
Increase at
by British avarice, 4.
South before Revolution, 5. Its opposDeers in England and America, 5.
nounced by popular leaders of New
England, Middle Colonies, and Vir-
Death penalty passed on it
1774, 4.
by Massachusetts and Rhode Island,
to reason
Believed by leaders of Rev-
ginia, 13.
olution to be inconsistent with doctrines
Statesmen
they were proclaiming, 17.
would pass away, 17.
Fostered by England and by individual indolence and pride for a hundred
expected
•and
fifty
it
years, 17.
Vermont,
from
it,
20.
Bill in legis-
it,
21.
territory ceded
Incorpor-
South as well as North,
38.
into
law, gave
new
to,
life
to
fundamen-
system, 55.
Memorials against, presented to
Congress, 60.
first
Its early extinction ex-
pected by authors of compromises of
Constitution, 86.
ences
of, 1
souri and
1
2.
People
6.
to
it
in favor of putting
pendence,
opposed
Leaders of Revolution
6.
1
extension
from
Permitted
17.
it,
till
1808,
on the twenty years'
Strictures
51.
an end
at time of Declaration of Inde-
of, 52.
Gathered fresh
compromises
life
Constitution,
of
Abolition Societies in 1794 to prevent
ation of concessions
tal
of,
Excluded
Massachusetts
Excluded
by Virginia in
deed drawn by Jefferson, 32. Excluded from territory northwest of Ohio,
Power of Congress to prohibit it
33.
in Territories conceded by statesmen of
lature forbidding
Abolition
3.
it,
sought by Massachusetts in 1771 and
Incorporated into
20.
sought to extirpate
nia to prevent
South Carolina and Georgia open
from Africa, 79. Congress memorialized by Convention of
social life of the people, 17.
from
3.
Mischievous
Prohibition
of,
influ-
in Mis-
Arkansas debated, 137 -
141.
79.
to fresh cargoes
it,
South Carolina, in 1803,
80.
Mr. Jefferson's
slaves, 86.
in
reference,
message, to time fixed for prohibi89.
Referred to committee,
Bill in
Senate to prevent importa-
tion of,
90.
tion of, 90.
relating
how
to,
Extended debate on bills
90-96. Extent of, and
stimulated, 97.
foreign
and domestic,
Increase of both
98.
Prosecuted
with fresh vigor after peace of 1815,
98.
Demoralization produced by, 100,
Insincerity and inconsistency of
government concerning, 109-111.
Debate on Quintuple Treaty for sup101.
this
pression
of,
Slave-trade,
402.
seat and headDenounced by John
101.
Arguments and
domestic,
Bill for restriction of slavery in Mis-
quarters
by Morrill of N H.,
Mellen of Mass., and Burrill of R.I.,
Randolph,
and opposed by 'Walker of Ga., Ma-
President calls attention
souri, supported
re-
pealed law prohibiting importation of
measures
of, 98.
99,
for abolition
of,
102-104.
to
it,
106.
�667
INDEX.
Eeport on, by Randolph, 302. Termed
" brutal commerce" by Judge Morrill,
Resolutions concerning
302.
Presented to Congress
District, 303.
by grand jury
as "disgusting traffic,"
Whipping of
304.
in the
it
slaves in District
authorized by Congress, 304. Petitions
for abolition of, in District, 307.
Peti-
and discussions on, 307 - 320.
press and
speech, enrages South, 324-338. Right
Sprague, Seth, of Mass., 490, 494.
Alanson, 295, 415.
St. Clair,
Stanton, Henry B., 262, 264, 293, 357,
Brilliant speech of,
366.
367-369,
373, 407, 413, 420.
Staples, Seth P., 458.
Mrs.
Starbuck,
Quaker
Nathaniel,
preacher, declaration
C,
John, of N.
of, 9.
68.
tions
Steele,
Interference with, through
Stetson, Rev. Caleb, of Mass., 640.
of petition for abolition
Debate
denied, 353.
Congress, 390-394.
on, in
by scene
Illustrated
of,
"Washington,
in
Congress petitioned to suppress
395.
all agitation
trict,
396.
concerning
Gag law
397.
in the Dis-
it
Petitions for
abolition,
its
Coast-
repealed, 432.
wise slavers wrecked and slaves
free
by British power, 439.
made
Slaves of
the " Hermosa," 442.
Slade, William, of
Slater, Mrs., of
Vt,
New
548, 551.
Dr. Ezra, 26.
Stiles,
Storrs, Rev. Charles B., 251.
Storrs, Rev. George,
Storrs,
Henry
His
101.
" Amistad" case, 463.
Story, Judge,
Smith, of N.
IT.,
of
decision
in
Sturgis, William, of Boston, 386.
Strother, of Va., opposes bounties
for
Stuart, Alexander H., of Va., 427, 537.
Suffrage, right
Smith, Oliver
mobbed, 280.
R., of N. Y., 75, 157, 520.
crews capturing slave-vessels, 105.
Orleans, 370.
573.
of,
a source of contention,
407.
la., 442.
Sullivan, William, of Mass., 322.
J., 70.
Smith, William, of S.
C,
64, 66, 106, 142,
155.
Summers, George W., of Western Va.,
203.
Smythe, General, of Va., 145.
South Carolina, though early opposed,
soon encouraged slave-trade,
egation
of,
come
into
ited,
50.
if
Del-
State not
declared their
Union
representation,
slaves, as
Re-
Passes an act to
re-
emancipation, and to prevent
free persons of color
from entering the
of Pa., 71, 82.
Swift, Benjamin, of Vt., 343.
T.
Tallmadge, N. P., of N. Y., amendment
concerning
of,
slavery
in
Missouri,
636.
Taney, Chief Justice, 472.
Tappan, Arthur, 231 - 233, 243, 244,
259, 260, 263, 419, 420.
Tappan, Lewis, 231 -233, 249 - 251,
State, 576.
Southard, Samuel L., of N.
W. W.,
Swan wick, John,
demanded
of,
pealed her law prohibiting importation
Southgate,
Sutherland, Joel B., of Pa., 310.
continuance of
and rendition of
of slaves, 86.
Sumner, Charles, of Mass., 645.
slave-trade prohib-
Statesmen
slave-trade,
14.
conditions of joining Union, 53.
strain
Stewart, Alvan, of N. Y., 295, 373 545,
Strong, Hon. Henry, of Conn., 243.
312, 350, 396, 398.
Smith, Gerrit, of N. Y., 289, 408, 545,
slave
Stevenson, Andrew, of Va., 440.
442.
J.,
of Ky., 476.
Southwick, Joseph, of Boston, 571, 572.
Spaight, Richard D., of N.
C,
32.
260,
263, 266, 267, 289, 413, 414, 417, 420,
458, 466, 597.
Tax, by Virginia, on slaves imported,
early repealed, 3.
Vote in Congress
Spear, John M., of Mass., 492.
not to tax slaves, 16.
Spencer, Joshua A., of Utica, N. Y., 288.
slaves,
Sprague, Pelcg, 281.
Of
On
imported
moved by Martin of Md.,
ten dollars, proposed
48.
by Mr. Par-
�668
INDEX.
ker of Va. in
Pro-
Congress, 57.
first
posed in 1804, by Mr. Bard of Pa., 86.
Warm debate on Bard's bill, 85 - 88.
Thatcher, George, of Mass., 36, 71, 82.
Thayer, Minot, of Mass., 489.
Thomas, Francis, of Md., 310.
Taylor, General, 524, 541.
Thomas, Jesse B., of 111., 143.
Taylor, John W., of N. Y., 106, 136, Thomas, Seth J., of Mass., 491.
138. 139, 141.
Thome, James A., of Ky., 264.
Taylor, of Va., 69.
Thompson, Indian agent, 515.
Tennessee, territory of, ceded by North Thompson, Justice, of Conn., 460, 462.
Carolina, 34.
Thompson, Waddy, of S. C, 347, 398,
Measures of Congress
Territory.
to fix
Portions of it claimed
534.
Deed of cession
Thurston, Rev. David, of Me., 250, 419.
Torrey, Charles T., 411, 415.
excluding slavery presented by Jeffer-
Treaty of Peace, signed in 1782, 31.
its
condition, 31.
by
several States, 31.
Bill to exclude slavery from,
of Ohio River, 32.
July,
1787,
territory
States,
out, 32.
With England,
northwest
slave-trade, 109.
Freedom clause struck
son, 31.
Ordinance passed
excluding
from
slavery
by five Western
Act passed prohibiting
covered
33.
slavery northwest of Ohio, 33.
Fail-
ure of efforts to repeal act prohibiting
slavery in northwest, 34.
fits
Great bene-
Treaty, Quintuple, between
Ashburton,
401.
provisions con-
its
Trimble, William A., of Ohio, 143.
Troup, of Ga., ready
to enforce abolition
of African slave-trade, 104.
626, 628.
admitted by South as well as North,
38.
Of Arkansas and Michigan,
ap-
ply for enabling act, 343.
Texas, a portion
of,
Attempt
purchase, 589.
Independence
claimed, 590.
Independence
nized by United States, 590.
ation
of,
proposed, 590.
sation, 597.
tion, 600.
0,
and exe-
191.
General, 523.
Becomes President,
Urges
in Missouri, 145.
Ultra slaveholder, 424.
Texas annexation,
609, 617.
U.
pro-
recog-
Annex-
Underwood, Joseph R., of Ky., 350, 430.
Union, dissolution of, advocated, 568 -
to
575.
of,
Protests
against the doctrine,
593.
sought by compen-
in,
Southern cry of " Texas
or Disunion," 599.
feated, 602.
of,
19
re-
Address
the people against annexation
Emancipation
to
of,
63.
trial,
Tyler, John, of Va., advocates slavery
423.
ceded to Spain by
United States, 588.
C,
S.
Turner, Nat, insurrection,
made tending to emancipation, 34.
cution
Power of Congress to prohibit slavery Twiggs,
in,
European
cerning slave-trade, 401.
Tennessee, ceded by North Carolina
on condition that no regulation be
of
powers for suppression of slave-trade,
Of Tuck, Amos, of N. H.,
Tucker, Thomas T., of
of the ordinance of 1787, 34.
suppression
for
571 -574.
Upshur, A.
P., of Va., 592, 594, 598.
Treaty of annexa-
Treaty of annexation de-
Extended debate on an-
nexation, 609-620.
Massachusetts
to resist
Convention
it,
642.
in
Anti-
Texas meeting in Faneuil Hall, 645.
Admitted to the Union, 648.
Address to the public
by Anti-Texas Com-
mittee of Massachusetts, 649.
Causes
of this victory of the Slave Power, 650.
Thacher, Rev. Moses, 225.
Van
Buren, Vice-President, gives
cast-
ing vote for Incendiary Publication
bill,
342.
slavers "
His
connection with the
Comet " and
"
Encomium,"
and the " Amistad " case, 468. Rejects
Texas annexation, 590, 603.
Van Dyke, Nicholas, of Del., 142.
Van Zandt, of Ohio, tried and punished
for assisting fugitive slaves, 475.
�669
INDEX.
Vance, Governor, of Ohio, 542.
Varnum, Joseph B., of Mass., 36,
constitution excluding
Vermont framed
slavery,
on slavery
resolutions
643, 644.
in the District,
Whitefield,
of,
Virginia, prohibits introduction of slaves,
Repeals statute forbidding eman-
Her plan of
cipation, 22.
tion, 42.
Convention
of Constitution, 189.
189.
George,
Rev.
Southern States,
370.
22.
White, William A., of Mass., 571, 572,
adopt
Legislature
20.
White, John, of Ky., 449.
White, Hugh L., of Tenn., 316.
72.
representa-
of, for
revision
Insurrection
Great debate in legislature
194-207.
Act
touching
in,
of,
fugitive
to them
Whitman,
in
travelled
His "Letter"
in 1739, 11.
Ezekiel, of Mass., 77.
Whitmarsh, Seth, of Mass., 337.
Whitridge, Dr., of S. C, 580.
Whittier,
John
G., 7, 236, 250, 260, 294,
418, 643, 644.
Whittlesey, Elisha, of Ohio,
Wild Cat, Indian
slaves, 474.
11.
529.'
chief, 521, 526.
Williams, of Conn., 77.
Williams, John M., of Mass., 623.
W
Williams, of N. Y., Agent of American
Antislavery Society, demanded for
in
Walker, of Ala., 106.
Walker, Jonathan, of Mass., 640.
622, 636, 637, 640, 641, 643, 644.
Walker, of N. C, 139.
Walker, Robert J., of Miss., 316, 608.
Wall, Garrett D., of N.
J.,
trial
Alabama, 326.
Wilson, Henry, of Mass., 485, 491, 496,
Wakefield, Horace P., of Mass., 252.
Wilson, James, of N.
Wilson, J.
J.,
H,
543.
J., 154.
of N.
Winslow, Rev. Hubbard, 387.
Winthrop, Robert C, of Mass., 584, 613,
392.
Wain, Robert, of Pa., 72.
Walworth, Chancellor, 235.
Ward, Aaron, of N. Y., 448.
638.
pronounces
Wirt, William,
imprison-
Lafayette,
ment of colored seamen unconstitu-
Washington, Judge Bushrod, of Va.,
Wise, Henry A., of Va., 309, 312, 344,
Washington,
his
letter
to
tional, 577.
30.
first
president of Colonization Society,
350, 395, 398,
424-426,428, 482.
Wolcott, Governor, of Conn., address
212.
Washington, Madison, a
slave, seized
brig " Creole " with slaves, 443.
591, 592, 648.
Woman
it,
410.
question, debate
speaking, 411.
of Md., 304.
delegates by
Weld, Theodore D., 262, 264, 273, 275,
ciety, 414.
Weller, John B., of Ohio, 449, 476.
characterization
sum
of
of,
of
and action on
Women
admitted as
American Antislavery SoMany delegates retire and
form Massachusetts Abolition Society,
414. Miss Kelley put upon committee
293, 428.
slavery as the "
effects
Protest against their public
Weiss, Rev. John, of Mass., 640.
Wesley, John, his
on deplorable
slavery extension, 152.
Webster, Daniel, of Mass., 342, 445, 446,
Weems, John C,
to legislature
of
all villanies,"
by
American
Wood,
11.
Antislavery
Society,
419.
of Va., 202.
Woodbury, Justice, decision in Van
Zandt case, 477.
288.
Whig party, defections from, 622. Di- Woods, Leonard, Jr., of Mass., 322.
vergence of views in, concerning slav- Woolman, John, travelled South in
1746 to 1767, proclaiming liberty, 9.
Development of proslavery
ery, 637.
Wetmore, Rev. Mr., of Utica, N. Y.,
sentiments
in, 646.
World's Convention,
letter of, 399.
�INDEX.
670
Wright, Albert
Wright,
J.,
Elizur,
of Mass., 498.
232,
250,
259,
407,
Yancey, William L., of Ala., 611.
412.
Yates, of N. Y., cast the only vote against
Wright, Henry C, 565, 5G9.
Wright, Robert, of Md.,
Wright,
Silas,
hill to
78.
exclude slavery from northwest
territory, 33.
of N. Y., 342, 604, 608.
END OF VOL.
I.
'0
Cambridge
:
Electrotyped and Printed by Welch, Bigelow,
A
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Co.
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Dublin Core
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Title
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Books, Booklets, Ledgers, & Diaries
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History Of Rise & Fall Of The Slave Power In America By Henry Wilson Volume 1
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A history of the rise and fall of enslavement of people, in the United States and the power surrounding it. Written by Henry Wilson. Volume one of three volumes. Approximately 694 pages.
A digital resource. This item does not exist in the physical museum collection.
FHS- Kyle Leach
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Henry Wilson
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Boston : James R. Osgood and Co
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1872
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1872
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Oberlin College Library
abolition
American Civil War
book
constiuition
Henry Wilson
law
slavery
-
https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/12165/archive/files/d7e4d12b605d3f954278c8a9d66a1370.pdf?Expires=1712793600&Signature=PEpc3B5pFPHjdPPA6l9uhW9iGUwBcBUfv7xZCIFIW6FgX5vwgErPKcY3tyzCJ5p1z9igIKPIcywHG07WzMzrEwSDhxp-J6xFvNYAOH1JC9ogMYycici6vdX6Wd8djqU7OAuOANDKC9kZ8fAA5-JX6cepPMX3TBFdvf3cBixXAAaRK6-GF9nIeq59k9PVwZ2hQR6ZUfjQaK9JavNeqP0Ll1pLHGaAYM-NeA9mVqmnKvH10CFfeajPivtDUcOLMLt2agzjKMFht0CWOPJ697ohPdnVm-894e%7E4tNmtmBwrE%7EQFhYiksWdsHXBjCBtdUIh0XEyzlQVEv9KQ3zy99WaweQ__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM
55124983507e2b09099dbb772d4b7ed0
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Title
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Books, Booklets, Ledgers, & Diaries
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1954 Life of Henry Wilson Booklet
Description
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Henry Wilson 18th Vice President of the United States
Serving under President U. S. Grant
Born in Farmington, NH
February 16, 1812
The Natick Cobbler's
Rise to Fame
Kyle-FHS
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Henry Wilson 18th Vice President of the United States
Serving under President U. S. Grant
The Natick Cobbler's
Rise to Fame
Subject
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1954- Life of Henry Wilson Booklet detailing parts of his life from birth to his death.
Creator
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Farmington-New Durham Historical Society, Inc
Publisher
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Farmington-New Durham Historical Society, Inc
Farmington
Henry Wilson
-
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d32ed06c91f15556da7b3ab611c2f9d6
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Documents, Papers, & Articles
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1970 Article Clipping Of Goodwin Library Accepting Henry Wilson Photograph Gift
Description
An account of the resource
1970 article clipping(with photograph) from the Farmington News, detailing the gift of a 9x12 photograph of an engraving of Henry Wilson to the Goodwin Library. The item was being gifted by the Farmington News co-publisher, Fred Noyes. The head librarian at the time was Mrs. Kathleen Dolliver, who was accepting the gift.
FHS-RKL
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Farmington News
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Farmington News
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1970
Dolliver
Farmington News
Goodwin Library
Henry Wilson
librarian
library