434 ATTITUDE OF THE CHURCHES; SOUTHERN LYNCHINGS. Anti-slavery societies were formed by the New Hampshire Conference of Ministers and by the New England Methodist Conference, and sentiments against slavery were declared by the Maine General Conference and the Maine Baptist Conference, the Utica Synod, the Detroit Presbytery and the Michigan Synod. On the other hand, the Methodist bishop of New Hampshire repudiated the abolitionists; the Virginia Synod upheld slavery; the Presbyterian General Assembly refused to take action on the subject; the Baptist General Tract Society of Philadelphia instructed its agents not to meddle with the slavery question; and the American Bible Society refused a donation of money from the American Anti-Slavery Society presented for the purpose of placing Bibles in the hands of slaves. Baptist Board of Foreign Missions declared that the agitation over emancipation would split the church and that those Baptists who held slaves were as sincere in their religion as those who did not.* The The pro-slavery men began to be alarmed and late in July of 1835 a meeting arranged by Southern gentlemen was held at Tammany Hall, New York. It was resolved that the questions of slavery and abolition belonged wholly to the States, that the people of the South did not believe that the abolitionists could affect public opinion even in the North, and that * McMaster, vol. vi., pp. 271–272. they relied on the Northerners to frustrate the illegal schemes of such fanatics. A few days later (July 20) a meeting was held in Richmond to consider the attempts of the Northern abolitionists to interfere with the domestic concerns of the South, and a committee was appointed to report at some future time.* Before that time arrived, however, the South was in commotion. Late in June of 1835 two negroes in a little Mississippi town were overheard talking of an intended uprising of the negroes. The alarm was sent broadcast throughout that section, warning the people to be prepared against surprise, and later the two negroes were examined at a public meeting. So doubtful did their story seem that they were incarcerated in prison until more and better evidence could be secured, but, fearing that they might be set free, a mob stormed the prison, dragged the negroes out, and lynched them. A vigilance committee was then appointed and numbers of whites and negroes were arrested, some being lynched and others unmercifully flogged.t While these events were transpiring at Lexington, similar scenes were being enacted at Vicksburg. burg. For several years past a nest of gamblers had defied the laws and terrified the town. On July 4, 1835, during the festivities, one of this gang became so obstreperous that he was McMaster, vol. vi., pp. 272–273. Niles' Register, vol. xlviii., pp. 403-404, and vol. xlix., pp. 118-120. THE GARRISON MOB AT BOSTON. taken to the woods, tied to a tree, flogged, tarred and feathered, and ordered to leave town within 24 hours. A public meeting was then held and all the gamblers were ordered to leave. About 50 fled, but the worst characters remained, and of these 5 were seized and hanged.* The resort to lynch law was deplored at meetings held at Natchez, New Orleans, Mobile, and other places, and the authorities pledged their support to any attempt to uphold and enforce the laws, but said that resort to lawlessness on the part of the people was unnecessary. Several riots occurred in Northern cities. Thompson was despised as an impertinent intruder, and as one especially presumptuous in meddling with American institutions. He was subjected to humiliation at Boston, and came very near being mobbed at Concord. It having been announced that he would address a meeting of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society on October 14, 1835, a call was issued to the people to prevent it. The meeting was postponed, but a week * Niles, vol. xlviii., pp. 377, 381-382. Ibid., vol. xlviii., p. 401. The handbill sent out read as follows: "That infamous foreign scoundrel, Thompson, will hold forth this afternoon at the Liberator office, No. 48 Washington street. The present is a fair opportunity for the friends of the Union to snake Thompson out! It will be a contest between the Abolitionists and the friends of the Union. A purse of $100 has been raised by a number of patriotic citizens to reward the individual who shall first lay violent hands on Thompson, so that he may be brought to the tar-kettle before dark. Friends of the Union, be vigilant!" See Grimké, Life of Garrison, p. 218. 435 later was held in the anti-slavery rooms.* At that time a mob, composed of the business men of Boston, gathered about the door and shouted for Thompson, who had been persuaded not to attend. The mayor assured the rioters of this fact and, after beseeching them to disperse, ordered the women to leave the meeting room, which they did amid the jeers and shouts of the crowd.† The mob then called for Garrison, who was in the anti-slavery office adjoining the room. Fearing the consequences, the mayor ordered Garrison to leave the building by the rear. This he did by dropping from a window to the ground, but not without being seen by the mob. He was seized and marched to the office of the mayor, committed to jail as a disturber of the peace, and taken off in a carriage, with the mob in hot pursuit. The next afternoon he was discharged from custody, but on the request of the authorities left Boston for a time. ‡ At the same time another mob broke up the anti-slavery convention at Utica. It had been proposed to form a State anti-slavery society and Utica, being in the central part of the State, was selected as the best place for the *Swift, Life of Garrison, p. 133. Schouler, United States, vol. iv., p. 221. Garrison, Life of Garrison, vol. ii., pp. 1129; Grimké, Life of Garrison, pp. 218-232; Rhodes, United States, vol. i., pp. 61-62; Smith, Life of Garrison, pp. 90-94; Wilson, Rise and Fall of Slave Power, vol. i., pp. 282-285; Swift, Life of Garrison, pp. 134-137; Schouler, United States, vol. iv., p. 221; Niles' Register, vol. xlix., pp. 145-146. 436 THE UTICA MOB; ABOLITION PAPERS IN THE MAIL. convention. The people of the town, however, were opposed to the abolitionists and had denounced them in mass meetings. When they heard that the common council of the city had granted the abolitionists the use of the court room they were highly indignant. Another meeting was held on October 17, 1835, at which were adopted resolutions declaring that the courthouse had been erected with public contributions for public purposes and "not as a receptacle for deluded fanatics or reckless incendiaries," and that it was the duty of the citizens to prevent the meeting. On the day appointed for the convention the people took possession of the court room and prevented the holding of the meeting. The delegates thereupon adjourned to the Presbyterian Church and had just finished the organization of the society when the citizens rushed into the church and stopped all proceedings. The minutes were forcibly taken from the secretary of the convention, the delegates were expelled from the church and later were ejected from their boarding houses. Nevertheless the abolitionists went to Peterboro, about 25 miles from Utica (on their way being ill-treated by a mob at Vernont), and there effected their organization.‡ Meanwhile an attack had been made on the United States mail at Charles * Niles Register, vol. xlix., pp. 146-149. Ibid, vol. xlix., p. 183. Ibid, pp. 162-163; Wilson, Rise and Fall of Slave Power, vol. i., pp. 287–291. ton. On July 29, 1835, a Southern newspaper (the Southern Patriot, of Charleston) announced that a steamer from New York had arrived laden with copies of abolition papers from the North. The Patriot declared: "Now it is a monstrous abuse of the privilege of the public mail, to use it as the vehicle for conveying and scattering in every direction over the South and West the moral poison with which these publications are drugged. Some mode of prevention should be adopted to abate this nuisance. If the mail cannot be purged of this pernicious stuff if the general postoffice is not at liberty to act in this manner, it is impossible to answer for the security of the mail in this portion of the country." # * * According to the Charleston Mercury of July 30, some of these papers were addressed to citizens and to clergymen of all denominations, and others to post-offices in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi. Claiming that this was an abuse of the postal privileges, it was said that some measures ought to be taken to prevent the circulation of these tracts and papers. The Mercury said: "The circulation of such papers is already severely punish [able] by the laws of South Carolina, and should any agent of the Northern fanatics, who are endeavoring to spread devastation and ruin through the fair fields of the South be detected in the act, he would assuredly expiate his offense on the gallows." † Such measures would have been taken at a meeting of the citizens, had not the lieutenant of the city guard persuaded the people to disperse quietly, but on July 29, 1835, a few of the more excitable element broke into ATTACK ON THE MAIL AT CHARLESTON. the post-office and carried off the abo- The Southern Patriot said that this act of violence was an over-hasty one and that it would have been time "to take the law into their own hands when an unsatisfactory answer had come from the general post-office. But we would sug gest that whatever be done in that way, let it be performed in open daylight and on the highway, and that persons of responsibility and weight of character be deputed to act in the name and for the good of the whole of the citizens."- Niles' Register, vol. xlviii., p. 403. McMaster, vol. vi., pp. 274-275; Jervey, Robert Y. Hayne and His Times, pp. 379-380; Garrison, Life of Garrison, vol. i., p. 485; Schouler, United States, vol. iv., p. 220. tiles' Register, vol. xlviii., p. 448. 437 are surrounded."* The Northern papers thereupon raised a great cry, for while they acknowledged that the circulation of incendiary tracts was inadmissible, yet who gave Kendall the right to judge of what was incendiary or inflammatory? Could an individual or a class decide whether a law was unjust and that it was patriotism to disregard it? In his report to the President, Kendall explained his position in the matter. He said that the papers were most flagitious and that such inflammatory matter could never be transmitted through the South. It had been his object, therefore, to intercept such publications with as little trouble as possible and he thought that this could best be done by allowing each postmaster to determine for himself what the effect might be on the people of the community of the transmission of such mail matter. This he was sure would prevent the rising indignation of the South. A mania for lynching, riots, and anti-slavery meetings then swept the country. The Richmond meeting of August 4, 1835, requested the North to put down the abolitionists and called on the Postmaster-General to prohibit the transmission of printed papers that might encourage an insurrectionary spirit among the slaves of the South. On August 11 the Char * Sumner, Life of Jackson, pp. 350-351; Parton, Life of Jackson, vol. iii., pp. 586-587; Wilson, Rise and Fall of Slave Power, vol. i., p. 323. † Niles' Register, vol. xlviii., pp. 444-446. 438 DENUNCIATIONS OF THE ABOLITIONISTS. leston city council offered a reward of $1,000 for the arrest and conviction. of any person printing, publishing, or circulating any incendiary paper, and declared that any person who voluntarily received such a paper or was in communication with abolitionists and abolition societies was an enemy to the State.* Foreign persons having abolition literature in their possession were mobbed and driven out of town, others were lynched, and still others were subjected to severe whipping. At Petersburg resolutions were adopted requesting the Postmaster-General to exclude papers of a seditious character from the mail. Kendall replied that he lacked power to do this, but added that the use of the mails for transmission from one State to another of printed matter tending to promote sedition was a violation of the spirit if not the letter of the Federal compact, and that the injured States would be justified in resorting to any measure to exclude such incendiary matter. Early in August of 1835 the postmaster at New York requested the American Anti-Slavery Society not to use the mails for transmitting their tracts to the Southern States, and when the Society refused, he announced that such tracts and newspapers would be laid aside, nor would they be sent in any direction by mail unless the Postmaster-General should so direct. On August 22 Ken *Niles, p. 441. Ibid, vol. xlix., pp. 7-8. Ibid, vol. xlviii., pp. 410, 447-448. dall approved this act, saying that had he been in the position of the New York postmaster he would have acted in the same manner: "Your act prevents the certain seizure of all of commerce and trade between the North and * The abolitionists were then denounced at several public meetings held in the North. At New York one of the greatest meetings ever held in the city denounced the methods of the abolitionists and the sending of abolition publications to the slaveholding States, save to subscribers, as an infringement of State rights. At Portland a set of resolutions was adopted on August 21 declaring that the sending of incendiary pamphlets and tracts through the mail to the blacks of the slaveholding States was an abuse of the mails and tended to lead *Niles' Register, vol. xlix., pp. 8-9. † Ibid, vol. xlix., pp. 9-10. |