Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/645

Rh the people of the north had generally ceased to strive for emancipation, or even to discuss the sub- ject. With the exception of Lundy"s earnest though feeble protest, supported mainly by Quak- ers, the general silence and indifference were un- broken. The whole nation had apparently come to the settled conclusion that slavery was intrenched by the constitution, and all discussion of the sub- ject a menace to the Union. The emancipation of slaves in any considerable numbers, at any time or place, being universally regarded as dangerous to the public peace, the masters were held excusable for continuing to hold them in bondage. Mr. Gar- rison saw this state of things with dismay, and it became clear to him that the apathy which tended to fasten slavery permanently upon the counti'y as an incurable evil could be broken only by heroic measures. The rights of the slaves and the duties of the masters, as measured by sound moral prin- ciples, must be unflinchingly affirmed and insisted upon. Slavery being wrong, every slave had a right to instant freedom, and therefore immediate emancipation was the duty of the masters and of the state. What was in itself right could never be dangerous to society, but must be safe for all con- cerned ; and therefore there could be no other than selfish i-easons for continuing slavery for a single day. In joining Lundy, Garrison at once took this high ground, creating thereby a strong excitement throughout the country. His denun- ciations of the domestic slave-trade, then rife in Baltimore, subjected him to the penalties of Mary- land law, and he was thrust into jail. When re- leased upon the payment of his fine by Arthur Tappan, of New York, he immediately resumed the work of agitation by means of popular lectures, and on 1 Jan., 1831, founded " The Liberator," a weekly journal, in Boston, which he continued for thirty-five years, until slavery was finally abol- ished. It was small at first, but after a few years was enlarged to the usual size of the newspapers of that day. The spirit of the paper was indicated by this announcement in the first number : '• I am aware that many object to the severity of my lan- guage, but is there not cause for severity"? I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject 1 do not wish to think, or speak, or write with moderation. No ! no ! Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm ; tell him moderately to rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher ; tell the mother to grad- ually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen ; but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest— I will not equivocate — I will not excuse— I will not re- treat a single inch — and I will be heard." It was a purely_ moral and pacific warfare that he avowed. No appeal was made to the passions of the slaves, but to the consciences of the masters, and especial- ly of the citizens of the free states, involved by the constitution in the guilt of slavery. But he was charged with a design to promote slave insurrec- tions, and held up to public scorn as a fanatic and incendiary. The state of Georgia offered |o,000 reward for his apprehension, and the mails from the south brought him hundreds of letters threat- ening him with death if he did not abandon his moral warfare. The wholo land was speedily filled with excitement, the apathy of years was broken, and the new dispensation of immediatism justified itself by its results. In 1832 the first society under this dispensation was organized in Boston ; within the next two years the Atnerican anti-slavery so- ciety was formed in Philadelphia, upon a platform of principles formulated by Mr. Garrison ; and from this time the movement, in spite of powerful efforts to crush it, grew with great rapidity. Governors of states hinted that the societies were illegal, and judges affirmed that the agitators were liable to arrest as criminals under the common law. Mr. Garrison aggravated his offence, in the eyes of many, by his opposition to the scheme of African colonization, which, under the pretence of unfriendliness to slavery, had gained public confi- dence at the north, while in truth it fostered the idea that the slaves were unfit for freedom. His " Thoughts on African Colonization," in which he judged the society out of its own mouth, was a most effective piece of work, defying every attempt at an answer. From 1833 till 1840 anti-slavery societies on Mr. Garrison's model were multiplied in the free states, many lecturers were sent forth, and an extensive anti-slav.ery literature was creat- ed. The agitation assumed proportions that great- ly encouraged its promoters and alarmed its oppo- nents. Attempts were made to suppress it by the terror of mobs ; Elijah P. Lovejoy, in 1837, at Alton, 111., was slain while defending his pi-ess, and in 1835 Garrison was dragged through the sti'eets of Boston with a rope around his body, his life being saved with great diificulty by lodging him in jail. Marius Robinson, an anti-slavery lec- turer, in Mahoning county, Ohio, was tarred and feathered in a cruel way : Amos Di-esser, a theo- logical student, while selling cottage Bibles at Nashville, Tenn., was flogged in the public square because it happened that, without his knowledge, some of his Bibles were wrapped in cast-off anti- slavery papers ; and in Charleston, S. C, the post- office was broken open by a mob, which made a bonfire of anti - slavery papers and tracts sent through the mails to citizens of that city. In 1840 the abolition body was rent in twain, mainly by two questions, viz. : 1. Whethei- they should form an anti-slavery political party. 2. Whether women shoiUd be allowed to speak and vote in their socie- ties. On the first of these questions Mr. Garrison took the negative, on the ground that such a party would probably tend to delay rather than hasten the desired action in respect to slavery. On the second he took the -affirmative, on the ground that the constitutions of the societies admitted " persons " to membership without discrimination as to sex. This division was never healed, and thenceforth Mr. Garrison was recognized chiefiy as the leader of the party agreeing with him upon these two questions. Personally he was a non-resistant, aiul therefore a non-voter ; but the great body of his friends had no such scruples, and held it to be a duty to exercise the elective franchise in opposi- tion to slavery. In 1844 Mr. Garrison became convinced that the constitution of the United States was itself the main support of slavery, and as such was to be repudiated. Borrowing the words of Isaiah, he characterized it as " a covenant wath death and an agreement with hell." His influ- ence carried the anti-slavery societies over to this ground, which they firmly held to the end of the conflict. Few of the members had any scruples as to forceful government. They simply declared that they could not conscientiously take part iu a government that bound them by oath, in certain contingencies, to support slavery. The political party anti-slavery men went their way, leaving the work of moral agitation to Garrison and his associates, who were still a powerful body, with large resources in character, argument, and influ- ence. The two classes, though working by diver- gent methods, had yet a common purpose, and, though controversy between them at times waxed