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The Liberator Founded by William Lloyd Garrison, The Liberator was a weekly newspaper dedicated to speaking out against slavery and fighting for the rights of African Americans. The Liberator was widely known and he would continue its publication up until the end of the Civil War in 1865. A significant part of Garrison’s approach to abolition had to with the moral aspect of the cause. Known for being incredibly radical and uncompromising Garrison would become a prominent abolitionist in American history and one of the leaders of the anti-slavery movement. The New England Anti-Slavery Society The New England Anti-Slavery Society was founded in 1832 by William Lloyd Garrison. The society placed a significant emphasis on Christian ideals, the immorality of slavery, and the goal of a complete end to slavery accompanied by equal civil and political rights for African Americans. Based off of Our Saviour's Golden Rule the constitution stressed the idea that all men are created equal and entitled to "certain inalieable rights" such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The organization would spawn many other similar groups such as the American Anti-Slavery Society and its auxiliary the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. The Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society One year after the formation of the New England Anti-Slavery Society, a group of female abolitionists created the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society. The involvement of women in politics was very controversial at the time and the organization faced opposition. As a result they chose to focus on the strength of unity rather than numbers. Similar to many reform organizations of the time, they placed a high level of importance on the ideas of Christianity and universal equality regardless of race. Garrison Nearly Lynched The Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society attempted to meet at the Anti-Slavery Rooms on 46, Washington Street. Rumors had been circulating that George Thompson, a prominent abolitionist, would be making an appearance and rewards were offered to seize him. A huge crowd appeared outside the building and and demanded that the sign of the Anti-Slavery Society be taken down immediately and destroyed. Though Thompson was not actually present, Garrison was. He was let out a back window, hid in a carpenter’s shop, found, and then seized and taken to City Hall. He was then taken to Leverett Street Jail for protection overnight. Commonwealth vs. Aves Slaveholding Mary Slater traveled to Boston to visit her father, Thomas Aves in 1836 with the six year old slave, Med. Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society sympathizer Levin H. Harris and others then got a writ of Habeus corpus asking what right Aves was exercising in holding Med. This questioned whether a slaveholder could take a slave into a free territory temporarily and then force the slave to leave said free territory with them. The case was taken to the Massachusetts Supreme Court and Justice Lemuel Shaw who ruled against Aves. It was decided that because Slater had willingly taken Med into free territory she could no longer exercise her property rights over her. Therefore, Slater could not forcibly take Med back to Louisiana. It was ordered that Med be put into custody of a guardian and she was placed with Isaac Knapp, the publisher of the Liberator. The case was an important victory for Anti-Slavery. The Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society .Another anti-slavery organization, the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society was founded on the ideals of American Anti-Slavery Society with the belief that the previous state society had become distant from these ideals. They declared themselves auxiliary to the American Anti-Slavery Society and aimed for not only the complete abolition of slavery but also the “elevation of the character and condition of the people of color.” They also endeavored for a constitutional way to prevent slavery from being introduced into any possible future state of the United States and to obtain equal civil, religious, and political rights for those of color. The Boston Vigilance Committee Led by Theodore Parker, the Vigilance Committee contained a diverse membership of whites, African Americans, people of different classes, members of different anti-slavery organizations, and people of different religions. The committee assisted runaway slaves in a number of ways including paying the costs of passage to Canada, hiding fugitives, warning people of the arrival of slave catchers, writing petitions, providing clothing, fuel, furniture, small loans, and medical attention. Beyond that, the committee also helped those who were deemed safe from being recaptured in finding jobs and places to live. The George Latimer Case James B. Gray arrived in Boston to apprehend George Latimer who had escaped from his residence in Norfolk, Virginia. Gray had Latimer arrested without legal processes on the charge of larceny. The Boston Vigilance Committee was able to get his wife Rebecca safely to an abolitionist’s home and the day after his arrest 300 people gathered outside the courthouse in an effort to prevent him from being taken outside the city until it was promised that Gray would not take steps outside the law Latimer was initially brought to Justice Story who ordered him to be held. Latimer’s lawyer then sought a writ of personal replavin from Massachusetts Supreme Court Justice Lemuel Shaw who was known to have anti-slavery views but he denied the writ. Shaw declared that it was a federal matter and that the constitution and laws of congress were to be obeyed. Latimer was eventually discharged by the order of the sheriff on the grounds that he had no legal warrant to detain him, Gray agreed to accept $400 for him, and he became a free man. The New England Freedom Association This organization was founded by African Americans in Boston with the purpose of assisting fugitive slaves and coincidentally formed at about the same time that the George Latimer Case was occurring. They wanted to aid runaways who could not obtain clothing, money, and information because they believed that doing so was a “legitimate branch of anti-slavery duty.” The NEFA published advertisements and its purpose in The Liberator as well but the organization would only last until 1846 before becoming defunct. The Great Massachusetts Petition One influential consequence of the George Latimer Case was the petition sent to the senate and house of representatives of Massachusetts. The objective was to protect citizens from the dangers of enslavement. The petition elaborated that they wanted to forbid anyone in office from arresting or aiding the arrest of a fugitive slave, to forbid the use of jails and/or other public property to detain any fugitive slave, and propose an amendment to the constitution that would eliminate any connection between slavery and the people of Massachusetts. It was signed by more than 65,000 citizens and reportedly weighed 150 pounds by the time it was delivered on February 17th, 1843. The Personal Liberty Act This piece of legislation was also dubbed the “Latimer Law” as the Latimer case and the following Great Massachusetts Petition contributed greatly to its passing. The law banned Massachusetts officials from contributing to the detention of suspected runaway slaves and the use of state facilities to detain said slaves. The Personal Liberty Act marked an important step in the right direction for abolitionist efforts. Macon Bolling Allen Macon Bolling Allen was the first black lawyer in the United States. Allen passed the Massachusetts Bar Exam on May 5, 1845. Following that, he and Robert Morris, Jr., opened the first black law office in the United States and in 1848 he passed another rigorous exam to become Justice of the Peace for Middlesex County, Allen is believed to be the first black man to hold a judiciary position. Though it was difficult to find work because many whites were not willing to be represented by a black man his achievement was important for abolition as the idea of a black lawyer was virtually unheard of at the time. Roberts vs. Boston Brown vs. Boston challenged the segregation in the Boston school system. The lawsuit began over five year old Sarah Roberts who had been banned from attending certain schools because she was African American. The school that she had been attending was far from her home and in order to get there she had to pass the schools that refused to accept her. In 1845, a city ordinance had been passed saying that any child “unlawfully excluded from public schools” could recover damages and her father sued the city. Roberts worked with Charles Sumner and Robert Morris, a young black abolitionist and activist lawyer. They argued that every person stands equal under the law regardless of race. The school board argued that they were allowed to prohibit her from attending because there were other schools in place that African Americans were allowed to attend and therefore they had set up special provisions for colored students. In April 1850, Chief Justice Shaw ruled that the school board had the right to set their policies as they saw fit and did not see any constitutional reason to eliminate black schools. As a result, schools would remain segregated. Proposed Dissolution of the Union Contrary to popular assumption it was not only the south that considered a separation of the Union. At a meeting held in Faneuil Hall, the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society suggested a dissolution of the Union. They felt that continuing to merely question the morality of slavery was pointless when the United States was entering an increasingly divided state and disunion was beginning to look like the only viable option. Shadrach Minkins Shadrach Minkins was the first escaped slave seized in New England after the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850. Minkins' master found out that he was in Boston where he was employed as a waiter. Patrick Riley, the US Marshal responsible for Minkins' capture, found and arrested him at work. The following Tuesday when Riley began clearing a courtroom a mob rushed the door and overpowered the marshals. About 20 men grabbed Minkins and successfully smuggled him out of Boston and onto the Underground Railroad. He eventually arrived safely in Canada. In Boston, nine abolitionists involved with Minkins' escape were indicted but all were acquitted in the end. Thomas Sims Thomas Sims was a slave who had escaped from Georgia and was arrested in Boston under the Fugitive Slave Act. In an abolitionist attempt to seize Sims and help him escape huge crowds surrounded the courthouse that Sims was being held in but they were unsuccessful. Sims was taken back to Georgia and then sold to a new master in Mississippi. He would end up permanently escaping slavery in 1863. Garrison Burns the Constitution Garrison viewed the constitution as a proslavery “agreement with hell” and the government as being created and controlled by slaveholders. The Garrisonians believed that political action was useless because the constitution legally protected slavery and supporting the constitution would just increase the power of slavery. It was this animosity toward the constitution that led Garrison to publicly burned a copy of the constitution and the Fugitive Slave Act at the annual picnic of the New England Anti-Slavery Society. The Emigrant Aid Company The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act essentially repealed the Missouri Compromise and determined that settlers of the territories would decide via popular sovereignty whether or not to allow slavery. Kansas quickly became one of the most pressing issues in the country. In response Eli Thayer formed the New England Emigrant Aid Company. The purpose was to defeat the Kansas-Nebraska Act and flood the state with free-soilers to prevent it from coming into the Union as a slave state. However, unlike abolitionists such as Garrison who opposed slavery on a moral basis, Thayer saw slave labor as a threat to the northern institution of free labor that he viewed as economically superior. Anthony Burns A slave named Anthony Burns escaped from Virginia and made it to Boston after stowing away on a boat. His owner figured out his location and Burns was arrested by a US Marshall and taken to a courthouse and kept under heavy guard. Thomas Wentworth Higginson led a group of abolitionists who took guns, battering rams, and axes to raid the courthouse. They managed to break in and kill a deputy but the overall mission was unsuccessful. President Pierce ordered US troops to go into Boston and help keep order. A vigilance committee then offered to buy Burns and his owner was willing to sell. However, the US attorney would not approve the sale. He was returned to slavery but his freedom would later be purchased for $1300. Bleeding Kansas In the midst of all the arguments over the state of Kansas, senator Charles Sumner gave an incredibly controversial, famous speech denouncing “the crime against Kansas.” He compared the idea of the existence of slavery in Kansas to “the rape of a virgin territory” and then proceeded to denounce a number of southern senators. Among them was Andrew Butler of South Carolina. Sumner accused Butler of taking “the harlot, Slavery” for his “mistress” and then followed up by making fun of a mental disorder that Butler had suffered from. The Caning of Charles Sumner Two days after Bleeding Kansas, Butler’s relative, Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina entered a nearly empty senate chamber. Seeing Sumner at his desk, Brooks charged at him and began hitting him over the head with a cane. He swung so hard that the cane broke into pieces. Brooks caned Sumner instead of challenging him because he viewed Sumner as his inferior. Therefore he decided to use the same method that slaveholders used to chastise slaves.Brooks then exited the chamber and left Sumner there. It took the Massachusetts senator three years to recover. Brooks became a hero in the south and Sumner became a martyr in the north. John Brown and the Secret Six Before John Brown led his famous raid on Harper’s Ferry he met with a group of abolitionists in Boston that would later be known as The Secret Six. They funded his efforts, essentially making his attempt at an attack on the south possible. However, once Brown was apprehended the secret six did not remain secret. Among them were Theodore Parker, leader and one of the founders of the Boston Vigilance Committee and Thomas Wentworth Higginson, abolitionist and member of the Boston Vigilance Committee. The effect of the Secret Six was extensive as the south became paranoid not only because of the raid against Harper's Ferry itself but also because they were now convinced that northern abolitionists would be either funding or participating in further attacks against the south. |