How the proponents and opponents of slavery used the analytical concepts that framed this course when making their arguments
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AntiSlaveryDoc1DeclarationofSentiments1.pdf
AntiSlaverDoc2FrederickDouglass.pdf
ProSlaveryDoc1StephensCornerstoneSpeech.pdf
ProSlaveryDoc2FitzhughSociology176-180.pdf
ProSlaveryDoc3FitzhughSociology20-27-Copy.pdf
SignatureInstructions.docx
The American Anti-Slavery Society’s “Declaration of Sentiments”
Founded by William Lloyd Garrison, among others, the American Anti-Slavery Society (AAS) arose as one of the major voices of the abolition movement in the 1830s. The AAS called for immediate, uncompensated emancipation, racial equality, and separation of the Free States from the slave states. It was a radical organization that help develop the moral critique of slavery and slaveholders. The selection here lays all that out quite well.
As you read, keep the following questions in mind: How did the authors of the Declaration of Sentiments view the abolition movement’s relationship to the American Revolution? Why did they argue emancipation should not involve compensation? What power did they believe the federal government had over slavery? And how did the AAS propose to proceed against slavery?
AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. 17
Again, I feel very reluctant to claim to be an Abolitionist, because
I think it to be a very high pretension for a man to make. I am
perfectly willing to bear the obloquy of the name ; but it looks like
pride, and may imply a want of self-knowledge, for a man to claim
with confidence that he is a genuine, thorough-going Garrisonian
Abolitionist. Under these circumstances, I esteem myself honored,
inasmuch as I have been invited to read to you the ” Declaration of
Sentiments” upon which this Society was founded; a Declaration
made in this city thirty years ago, and second only in time to the
Declaration of 1776.
DECLARATION OP SENTIMENTS.
The Convention assembled in the city of Philadelphia, to organize
a National Anti-Slavery Society, promptly seize the opportunity to
promulgate the following DECLARATION OP SENTIMENTS,
as cherished by them in relation to the enslavement of one sixth
portion of the American people.
More than fifty-seven years have elapsed since a band of patriots
convened in this place, to devise measures for the deliverance of this
country from a foreign yoke. The corner-stone upon which they
founded the TEMPLE OF FREEDOM was broadly this—”that all men
are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with cer
tain inalienable rights ; that among these are life, LIBERTY, and
the pursuit of happiness.” At the sound of their trumpet-call, three
millions of people rose up as from the sleep of death, and rushed to the
strife of blood ; deeming it more glorious to die instantly as free
men, than desirable to live one hour as slaves. They were few in
number—poor in resources; but the honest conviction that THDTH,
JUSTICE and RIGHT were on their side made them invincible.
We have met together for the achievement of an enterprise, with
out which that of our fathers is incomplete ; and which, for its mag
nitude, solemnity, and probable results upon the destiny of the world,
as far transcends theirs as moral truth does physical force.
In purity of motive, in earnestness of zeal, in decision of purpose,
in intrepidity of action, in steadfastness of faith, in sincerity of spirit,
we would not be inferior to them.
Their principles led them to wage war against their oppressors,
and to spill human blood like water in order to be free. Ours forbid
the doing of evil that good may come, and lead us to reject, and to
entreat the oppressed to reject, the use of all carnal weapons for de
liverance from bondage ; relying solely upon those which are spirit
ual, and mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.
Their measures were physical resistance — the marshalling in
arms — the hostile array— the mortal encounter. Ours shall be
such only as the opposition of moral purity to moral corruption—
3
18 THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
the destruction of error by tho potency of truth — the overthrow of
prejudice by the power of love—and the abolition of Slavery by the
spirit of repentance.
Their grievances, great as they were, were trifling in comparison
with the wrongs and sufferings of those for whom we plead. Our
fathers were never slaves—never bought and sold like cattle—never
shut out from the light of knowledge and religion—never subjected
to the lash of brutal taskmasters. •
But those for whose emancipation we are striving—constituting,
at the present time, at least one sixth part of our countrymen—are
recognized by the law, and treated by their fellow-beings, as market
able commodities, as goods and chattels, as brute beasts; are plun
dered daily of the fruits of their toil without redress ; really enjoy
no constitutional nor legal protection from licentious and murderous
outrages upon their persons ; are ruthlessly torn asunder— the tender
babe from the arms of its frantic mother—the heart-broken wife from
her weeping husband—at the caprice or pleasure of irresponsible
tyrants. For the crime of having a dark complexion, they suffer the
pangs of hunger, the infliction of stripes, and the ignominy of brutal
servitude. They are kept in heathenish darkness by laws expressly
enacted to make their instruction a criminal offence.
These are the prominent circumstances in the condition of more
than two millions of our people, the proof of which may be found
in thousands of indisputable facts, and in the laws of the slavehold-
ing States.
Hence we maintain—that in view of the civil and religious privi
leges of this nation, the guilt of its oppression is unequalled by any
other on the face of the earth ; and, therefore,
That it is bound to repent instantly, to undo the heavy burden, to
break every yoke, and to let the oppressed go free.
We further maintain—that no man has a right to enslave or im-
brute his brother—to hold or acknowledge him, for one moment, as
a piece of merchandize—to keep back his hire by fraud—or to bru
talize his mind by denying him the means of intellectual, social and
moral improvement.
The right to enjoy liberty is inalienable. To invade it is to usurp
the prerogative of Jehovah. Every man has a right to his own
body—to the products of his own labor—to the protection of law—
and to the common advantages of society. It is piracy to buy or
steal a native African, and subject him to servitude. Surely the sin
is as great to enslave an AMERICAN as an AFRICAN.
Therefore we believe and affirm—That there is no difference, in
principle, between the African slave trade and American Slavery :
That every American citizen, who retains a human being in invol
untary bondage as his property, is, according to Scripture, (Ex. 21 :
16,) a MAN-STEALER !
That the slaves ought instantly to be set free, and brought under
the protection of the law :
AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. 19
That if they had lived from the time of Pharaoh down to the
present period, and had been entailed through successive generations,
their right to be free could never have been alienated, but their
claims would have constantly risen in solemnity : =
That all those laws which are now in force, admitting the right of I
Slavery, are therefore, before God, utterly null and void ; being an }
audacious usurpation of the Divine prerogative, a daring infringement
on the i^w jj’ nature, a base overthrow of the very foundations of ir >
the socjal^aispact, a complete extinction of all the relations, endear- *•*> /-
ments, and obligations of mankind, and a presumptuous transgression
of all the holy commandments—and that, therefore, they ought in
stantly to be abrogated.
We further believe and affirm— that all persons of color who
possess the qualifications which are demanded of others, ought to be
admitted forthwith to the enjoyment of the same privileges, and the
exercise of the same prerogatives, as others ; and that the paths of
preferment, of wealth, and of intelligence, should be opened as
widely to them as to persons of a white complexion.
We maintain that no compensation should be given to the planters
emancipating their slaves ;
Because it would be a surrender of the great fundamental princi
ple, that man cannot hold property in man ;
Because SLAVERY is A CRIME, AND THEREFORE is NOT AN ARTICLE
TO BE SOLD;
Because the holders of slaves are not the just proprietors of what
they claim ; freeing the slaves is not depriving them of property, but
restoring it to its rightful owners ; it is not wronging the master, but
righting the slave— restoring him to himself;
Because immediate and general emancipation would only destroy
nominal, not real property ; it would not amputate a limb, or break
a bone of the slaves, but, by infusing motives into their breasts, would
make them doubly valuable to the masters as free laborers ; and
Because, if compensation is to be given at all, it should be given
to the outraged and guiltless slaves, and not to those who have plun
dered and abused them.
We regard as delusive, cruel and dangerous, any scheme of expa
triation which pretends to aid, either directly or indirectly, in the
emancipation of the slaves, or to be a substitute for the immediate
and total abolition of Slavery.
We fully and unanimously recognize the sovereignty of each State
to legislate exclusively on the subject of the Slavery which is tole- j
rated within its limits ; we concede that Congress, under the pzesent “”i
natiojial_ compact, has no right to interfere with any of the Slave
States, in relation to this momentous subject :
But we maintain that Congress has a right, and is solemnly bound,
to suppress the domestic slave trade between the several States, and
to abolish Slavery in those portions of our territory which the Con
stitution has placed under its exclusive jurisdiction. ^
20 THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
We also maintain that there are, at the present time, the highest
obligations resting upon the people of the Free States to remove
Slavery by moral and political action, as prescribed in the Constitu
tion of the 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 moment 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 op
pression ; they support a standing army at the South for its protec
tion ; and they seize the slave who has escaped into their territories,
and send him back to be tortured by an enraged master or a brutal
driver. This relation to Slavery is criminal, and full of danger : IT
MUST BE BROKEN UP.
These are our views and principles—these our designs and meas
ures. 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 Everlasting Hock.
We shall organize Anti-Slavery Societies, if possible, in every
city, town and village in our land.
We shall send forth agents to lift up the voice of remonstrance, of
warning, of entreaty and rebuke.
We shall circulate, unsparingly and extensively, Anti-Slavery
tracts and periodicals.
We shall enlist the pulpit and the press in the cause of the suffer
ing and the dumb.
We shall aim at a purification of the churches from all participa
tion in the guilt of Slavery.
We shall encourage the labor of freemen rather than that of
slaves, by giving a preference to their productions : and
We shall spare no exertions nor means to bring the whole nation
to speedy repentance.
Our trust for victory is solely in God. We may be personally
defeated, but our principles never. TRUTH, JUSTICE, REASON, HU
MANITY, 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 is full of encouragement.
Submitting this DECLARATION to the candid examination of
the people of this country, 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 will
do all that in us lies, consistently with this Declaration of our prin
ciples, to overthrow the most execrable system of Slavery that has
ever been witnessed upon earth—to deliver our land from its dead
liest curse— to wipe out the foulest stain which rests upon our
national escutcheon—and to secure to the colored population of the
United States all the rights and privileges which belong to them as
men and as Americans—come what may to our persons, our inter
AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVEKY SOCIETY. 21
ests, or our reputation—whether we live to witness the triumph of
LIBERTY, JUSTICE and HUHAHITY, or perish untimely as martyrs in
this great, benevolent and holy cause.
Done at Philadelphia, the 6th day of December, A. D. 1833.
I am informed that of the sixty persons and upwards, who appended
their names to this Declaration, only fifteen have died, when the an
ticipation here expressed has been realized. The large body of the
signers ” lire to witness the triumph of liberty, justice and humanity.”
You all know what have been the weapons of our friends in the
great war in which they have been engaged. If our country had
responded to these sentiments thirty years ago, as they responded to
the tidings of the attack upon Fort Sumter, slavery would have been
utterly abolished by this time, without the shedding of a single drop
of blood. But there is a homely proverb, that it is in vain to talk
about what might have been, or what should have been. Blood is
running like water, and the consolation and reward of our friends is,
that when the South broke out in brutal assault upon the life of the
nation, that the nation was so well prepared for the hour was due in
great part to the fidelity with which they have redeemed the pledges
they gave in this Declaration, in forming Anti-Slavery Societies
throughout all the North, and in sending every where anti-slavery
information.
I confess there are very strong points of resemblance between the
Abolitionists of the North and the conspirators of the South. Our
friends at the North, thirty years ago, undertook to fire the Northern
heart, insensible to the fact that they were in danger of firing the
Southern heart at the same time. So, also, a few years ago, the ‘
leading conspirators at the South undertook to fire the Southern
heart, never dreaming what a tremendous fire they were going to
kindle in the Northern heart. So that, in this respect, the Aboli
tionists of the North and the Fire-eaters of the South resembled
each other; with this difference —that the Abolitionists undertook to
kindle the Northern heart with fire from heaven ; the Fire-eaters
undertook to kindle the Southern heart with fire from—the other
place. (Applause.)
SPEECH OF WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.
On the Fourth of July, 1776, our fathers put their names to the
Declaration of American Independence. They testified before the
,
Frederick Douglass on the Fourth of July
Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery and became one of the most prominent abolitionist in the United States. Before he fled Maryland, Douglass taught himself to read and write, and ultimately became a masterful writer. He published his own paper, The North Star, as well as autobiographical slavery narratives like The Narrative of Frederick Douglass and My Bondage, My Freedom. He also was a popular speaker on the antislavery circuit.
The selection here comes from a Fourth of July Speech Douglass delivered in 1852, a particularly bleak time for the antislavery movement because it appeared to be making little headway. As you read, pay attention to the following things. Note how Douglass uses pronouns. Why did he make a point to discuss your Revolution (instead of our Revolution)? What emotions did the Revolution evoke in Douglass? Finally, what significance did Douglass place on the relatively young age of the Republic? Why point that out?
Extracts from Frederick Douglass, “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” Speech made at Rochester’s
Corinthian Hall (July 5, 1852)
Full text
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july/
The fact is, ladies and gentlemen, the distance between this platform and the slave plantation, from which
I escaped, is considerable — and the difficulties to be overcome in getting from the latter to the former,
are by no means slight. That I am here to-day is, to me, a matter of astonishment as well as of gratitude.
You will not, therefore, be surprised, if in what I have to say I evince no elaborate preparation, nor grace
my speech with any high sounding exordium. With little experience and with less learning, I have been
able to throw my thoughts hastily and imperfectly together; and trusting to your patient and generous
indulgence, I will proceed to lay them before you.
…This, for the purpose of this celebration, is the 4th of July. It is the birthday of your National
Independence, and of your political freedom… This celebration also marks the beginning of another year
of your national life; and reminds you that the Republic of America is now 76 years old. I am glad,
fellow-citizens, that your nation is so young. Seventy-six years, though a good old age for a man, is but a
mere speck in the life of a nation…. Were the nation older, the patriot’s heart might be sadder, and the
reformer’s brow heavier. Its future might be shrouded in gloom, and the hope of its prophets go out in
sorrow. There is consolation in the thought that America is young. Great streams are not easily turned
from channels, worn deep in the course of ages.
…Fellow-citizens, I shall not presume to dwell at length on the associations that cluster about this day.
The simple story of it is that, 76 years ago, the people of this country were British subjects. The style and
title of your “sovereign people” (in which you now glory) was not then born. You were under the British
Crown. Your fathers esteemed the English Government as the home government; and England as the
fatherland. This home government, you know, although a considerable distance from your home, did, in
the exercise of its parental prerogatives, impose upon its colonial children, such restraints, burdens and
limitations, as, in its mature judgment, it deemed wise, right and proper.
…To say now that America was right, and England wrong, is exceedingly easy. Everybody can say it; the
dastard, not less than the noble brave, can flippantly discant on the tyranny of England towards the
American Colonies. It is fashionable to do so; but there was a time when to pronounce against England,
and in favor of the cause of the colonies, tried men’s souls…. [but now] The cause of liberty [in the form
of slavery] may be stabbed by the men [Americans who tolerate slavery while they] … glory in the deeds
of your fathers [the patriots]. But, to proceed.
…Feeling themselves harshly and unjustly treated by the home government, your fathers, like men of
honesty, and men of spirit, earnestly sought redress. They petitioned and remonstrated; they did so in a
decorous, respectful, and loyal manner. Their conduct was wholly unexceptionable. This, however, did
not answer the purpose. They saw themselves treated with sovereign indifference, coldness and scorn. Yet
they persevered. They were not the men to look back.
…They [the founding fathers and patriots of ‘76] loved their country better than their own private
interests [that is, they showed ‘republican virtue] ; and, though this is not the highest form of human
excellence, all will concede that it is a rare [republican] virtue, and that when it is exhibited, it ought to
command respect. He who will, intelligently, lay down his life for his country, is a man whom it is not in
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july/
human nature to despise. Your fathers staked their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, on the
cause of their country. In their admiration of liberty, they lost sight of all other interests.
…Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I,
or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom
and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us [African
Americans]? and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to
confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to
us?
…But, such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I [as an
African American and former slave] am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your
high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this
day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. — The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and
independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and
healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine. You may
rejoice, I must mourn….
….Fellow-citizens; above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose
chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that
reach them. If I do forget, if I do not faithfully remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, “may
my right hand forget her cunning, and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth!” To forget them,
to pass lightly over their wrongs, and to chime in with the popular theme, would be treason most
scandalous and shocking, and would make me a reproach before God and the world. My subject, then
fellow-citizens, is AMERICAN SLAVERY. I shall see, this day, and its popular characteristics, from the
slave’s point of view. Standing, there, identified with the American bondman [slave], making his wrongs
mine, I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never
looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July! Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the
professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America is false
to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. Standing with God
and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, I will, in the name of humanity which is outraged, in
the name of liberty which is fettered, in the name of the constitution and the Bible, which are disregarded
and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis I can command,
everything that serves to perpetuate slavery — the great sin and shame of America! “I will not
equivocate; I will not excuse;” I will use the severest language I can command; and yet not one word shall
escape me that any man, whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice, or who is not at heart a slaveholder,
shall not confess to be right and just.
,
Alexander Stephens on the Confederacy’s Corner-Stone Alexander Stephens began his political career in the 1840s as a Georgia Whig in the House of Representatives before the Civil War. When the South seceded in 1860-1861, Stephens had become prominent enough to serve as Vice-President of the Confederacy. After the war, he would again serve in the House of Representatives as well as governor of Georgia. Stephens also spent the post-war years developing an interpretation of the coming of the Civil War as a conflict over states’-rights rather than slavery. That effort stood in stark contrast with what he argued on the eve of the war. The selection here comes from what historians call Stephens’s “Corner-Stone” speech. His speech provided a description of the constitution for the newly created Confederate States of America, but our interest rests in what he believed to be the foundation (or “corner-stone”) of the new government. As you read this selection, keep the following questions in mind. What did Stephens claim to be the corner-stone of the Confederacy? What was the truth (so-called) that the Confederate Constitution acknowledge that the framers of the original constitution had missed? Finally ask yourself, does Stephens’s description of the original constitution square with depictions made by other documents you have read (or with the textbook for that matter)?
Extracts from Alexander Stephens, “Corner Stone” Speech.
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