secretary, treasurer, four counselors, an electing-committee of
twelve, an acting-committee of six members. All these, except the
acting-committee, shall be chosen annually by ballot, on the first
seventh-day called Saturday, in the month called January.
II. The president, and in his absence the vice-president, shall
subscribe all the public acts of the Society.
III. The president, and in his absence, the vice-president, shall
moreover have the power of calling a special meeting of the Society
whenever he shall judge proper, or six members require it.
IV. The secretary shall keep fair records of the proceedings of the
Society; he shall also conduct the correspondence of the Society, with
a committee of three appointed by the president; and all letters on
the business of the Society are to be addressed to him.
V. Corresponding members shall be appointed by the electing-committee.
Their duty shall be to communicate to the secretary and his assistants
any information, that may promote the purposes of this institution,
which shall be transferred by him to the acting-committee.
VI. The treasurer shall pay all orders drawn by the president, or
vice-president; which orders shall be his vouchers for his
expenditures. He shall, before he enters on his office, give a bond of
not less than 200_l._ for the faithful discharge of his duty.
VII. The duty of the councilors shall be to explain the laws and
constitutions of the States, which relate to the emancipation of
slaves; and to urge their claims to freedom, when legal, before such
persons or courts as are authorized to decide upon them.
VIII. The electing-committee shall have sole power of admitting new
members. Two-thirds of them shall be a quorum for this purpose; and
the concurrence of a majority of them by ballot, when met, shall be
necessary for the admission of a member. No member shall be admitted
who has not been proposed at a general meeting of the Society nor
shall election of a member take place in less than a month after the
time of his being proposed. Foreigners, or other persons, who do not
reside in this State, may be elected corresponding members of the
Society without being subject to an annual payment, and shall be
admitted to the meetings of the Society during their residence in the
State.
IX. The acting-committee shall transact the business of the Society in
its recess, and report the same at each quarterly meeting. They shall
have a right, with the concurrence of the president or vice-president,
to draw upon the treasurer for such sums of money as may be necessary
to carry on the business of their appointment. Four of them shall be a
quorum. After their first election, at each succeeding quarterly
meeting, there shall be an election for two of their number.
X. Every member, upon his admission, shall subscribe the Constitution
of the Society, and contribute ten shillings annually, in quarterly
payments, towards defraying its contingent expenses. If he neglect to
pay the same for more than six months, he shall, upon due notice being
given him, cease to be a member.
XI. The Society shall meet on the first seventh-day, called Saturday,
in the months called January, April, July, and October, at such time
and place as shall be agreed to by a majority of the Society.
XII. No person, holding a slave as his property, shall be admitted a
member of this Society; nevertheless, the Society may appoint persons
of legal knowledge, owners of slaves, as honorary-counselors.
XIII. When an alteration in the Constitution is thought necessary, it
shall be proposed at a previous meeting, before it shall take place.
All questions shall be decided, where there is a division, by a
majority of votes. In those cases where the Society is equally
divided, the presiding officer shall have a casting vote.
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY.
_President_--PHILIP ROGERS.
_Vice-President_--JAMES CAREY.
_Secretary_--JOSEPH TOWNSEND.
_Treasurer_--DAVID BROWN.
_Counselors_--ZEBULON HOLLINGSWORTH, ARCHIBALD ROBINSON.
_Honorary-Counselors_--SAMUEL CHASE, LUTHER MARTIN.
_Electing-Committee_--JAMES OGLEBY, ISAAC GREIST, GEO. MATTHEWS,
GEORGE PRESSTMAN, HENRY WILSON, JOHN BANKSON, ADAM FONERDEN, JAMES
EICHELBERGER, WILLIAM HAWKINS, WILLIAM WILSON, THOMAS DICKSON, GER.
HOPKINS.
_Acting-Committee_--JOHN BROWN, ELISHA TYSON, JAMES M'CANNON, ELIAS
ELLICOTT, WILLIAM TRIMBLE, GEORGE DENT.
_September 8, 1789._
[22] Of the one hundred and eighty-nine incorporators of the Rhode
Island Society, one hundred and seventeen were from Rhode Island,
sixty-eight from Massachusetts, three from Connecticut, and one from
Vermont. The Nation, Nov. 28, 1872.
[23] St. George Tucker, an eminent jurist, and Professor of Law at the
College of William and Mary, at Williamsburg, Virginia, January 24,
1795, addressed a letter to Dr. Jeremy Belknap, of Boston, inquiring
into the condition of the negroes in Massachusetts, and the
circumstances under which slavery had come to an end in that state.
His object was to obtain facts which he could use in removing
prejudice against general emancipation in Virginia. "The introduction
of slavery into this country," he says, "is at this day considered
among its greatest misfortunes. I have cherished a hope that we may,
from the example of our sister State, learn what methods are most
likely to succeed in removing the same evils from among ourselves.
With this view, I have taken the liberty to enclose a few queries,
which, if your leisure will permit you to answer, you will confer on
me a favor which I shall always consider as an obligation." He
propounded eleven queries, to which Dr. Belknap replied at length. The
correspondence is printed in the Massachusetts Historical Society's
selections, iv, pp. 191-211. The next year Judge Tucker printed, at
Philadelphia, his "Dissertation on Slavery, with a proposal for the
gradual abolition of it in Virginia." Dr. Belknap's replies to Judge
Tucker's inquiries have much historical interest. To the fifth query,
"The mode by which slavery hath been abolished?" he says: "The general
answer is, that slavery hath been abolished here by _public opinion_,
which began to be established about thirty years ago. At the beginning
of our controversy with Great Britain, several persons, who before had
entertained sentiments opposed to the slavery of the blacks, did then
take occasion publicly to remonstrate against the inconsistency of
contending for their own liberty, and, at the same time, depriving
other people of theirs. Pamphlets and newspaper essays appeared on the
subject; it often entered into the conversation of reflecting people;
and many who had, without remorse, been the purchasers of slaves,
condemned themselves, and retracted their former opinion. The Quakers
were zealous against slavery and the slave-trade; and by their means
the writings of Anthony Benezet of Philadelphia, John Woolman of New
Jersey, and others were spread through the country. Nathaniel Appleton
and James Swan, merchants of Boston, and Dr. Benjamin Rush, of
Philadelphia, distinguished themselves as writers on the side of
liberty. Those on the other side generally concealed their names; but
their arguments were not suffered to rest long without an answer. The
controversy began about the year 1766, and was renewed at various
times till 1773, when it was warmly agitated, and became a subject of
forensic disputation at the public commencement at Harvard College."
p. 201.
[24] Vol. ii, p. 30.
[25] Lectures by Members of the Mass. Historical Society on the Early
History of Massachusetts, p. 216.
[26] Mr. George H. Moore, in his elaborate work, "Notes on the History
of Slavery in Massachusetts," expresses a doubt whether slavery
legally came to an end in Massachusetts at the period stated above;
and perhaps not before the adoption of the fourteenth amendment to the
Constitution. He says: "It would not be the least remarkable of the
circumstances connected with this strange and eventful history, that
though _virtually_ abolished before, the actual prohibition of slavery
in Massachusetts, as well as Kentucky, should be accomplished by the
votes of South Carolina and Georgia." p. 242.
[27] Dr. Belknap says the clause "all men are born free and equal" was
inserted in the Declaration of Rights of Massachusetts "not merely as
a moral and political truth, but with a particular view to establish
the liberation of the negroes on a general principle, and so it was
understood by the people at large; but some doubted whether it was
sufficient"--p. 203. That some persons had this result in view is
probable; but contemporaneous records and acts of the citizens do not
justify the statement that "so it was understood by the people at
large." Dr. Belknap was living in New Hampshire at the time, and did
not come to Boston till 1786. The construction put upon the clause, by
the Supreme Court, was evidently a happy afterthought; and was
inspired by that _public opinion_ to which Dr. Belknap himself, in his
reply to Judge Tucker, ascribes the extinction of slavery.
[28] The Pennsylvanian Society assumed all the expenses of the
Convention, of entertaining the delegates, and of printing the
proceedings. The delegates of the Pennsylvanian Society were William
Rogers, Samuel P. Griffiths, Samuel Coats, William Rawle, Robert
Patterson, and Benjamin Rush. The printed proceedings of this
convention, which is in the New York Historical Society's library, I
have not had access to. Joseph Bloomfield, of New Jersey, an officer
of the Revolution, attorney-general, governor of the state from
1801-12, and member of Congress from 1817-21, was president of the
Convention.
[29] The memorial was presented in both branches of Congress, January
28, 1794. The record in the House was as follows: "A memorial from the
several societies formed in different parts of the United States, for
promoting the abolition of slavery, in convention assembled at
Philadelphia, on the first instant, was presented to the House and
read, praying that Congress may adopt such measures as may be the most
effectual and expedient for the abolition of the slave-trade. Also, a
memorial of the Providence Society, for abolishing the slave-trade, to
the same effect. _Ordered_, That the said memorials be referred to Mr.
Trumbull [of Connecticut], Mr. Ward [of Massachusetts], Mr. Giles [of
Virginia], Mr. Talbot [of New York], and Mr. Grove [of North
Carolina]; that they do examine the matter thereof, and report the
same, with their opinion thereupon, to the House." Annals of Congress,
iv, p. 349.
A bill was reported in conformity to the wishes of the memorialists,
passed its several stages without debate, and was approved March 22,
1794. For the bill, see Id., p. 1426.
[30] The address is as follows:
"_To the Citizens of the United States_:
"The Address of the Delegates from the several Societies formed in
different parts of the United States, for promoting the Abolition of
Slavery, in convention assembled at Philadelphia, on the first day of
January, 1794.
"FRIENDS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS: United to you by the ties of
citizenship, and partakers with you in the blessings of a free
government, we take the liberty of addressing you upon a subject
highly interesting to the credit and prosperity of the United States.
"It is the glory of our country to have originated a system of
opposition to the commerce in that part of our fellow-creatures who
compose the nations of Africa. Much has been done by the citizens of
some of the States to abolish this disgraceful traffic, and to improve
the condition of those unhappy people whom the ignorance, or the
avarice of our ancestors had bequeathed to us as slaves. But the evil
still continues, and our country is yet disgraced by laws and
practices which level the creature man with a part of the brute
creation. Many reasons concur in persuading us to abolish domestic
slavery in our country. It is inconsistent with the safety of the
liberties of the United States. Freedom and slavery can not long exist
together. An unlimited power over the time, labor, and posterity of
our fellow-creatures, necessarily unfits man for discharging the
public and private duties of citizens of a republic. It is
inconsistent with sound policy, in exposing the States which permit
it, to all those evils which insurrections and the most resentful war
have introduced into one of the richest islands in the West Indies. It
is unfriendly to the present exertions of the inhabitants of Europe in
favor of liberty. What people will advocate freedom, with a zeal
proportioned to its blessings, while they view the purest republic in
the world tolerating in its bosom a body of slaves? In vain has the
tyranny of kings been rejected, while we permit in our country a
domestic despotism which involves in its nature most of the vices and
miseries that we have endeavored to avoid. It is degrading to our rank
as men in the scale of being. Let us use our reason and social
affections for the purposes for which they were given, or cease to
boast a pre-eminence over animals that are unpolluted by our crimes.
"But higher motives to justice and humanity towards our
fellow-creatures, remain yet to be mentioned. Domestic slavery is
repugnant to the principles of Christianity. It prostrates every
benevolent and just principle of action in the human heart. It is
rebellion against the authority of a common Father. It is a practical
denial of the extent and efficacy of the death of a common Savior. It
is an usurpation of the prerogative of the Great Sovereign of the
universe, who has solemnly claimed an exclusive property in the souls
of men. But if this view of the enormity of the evil of domestic
slavery should not affect us, there is one consideration more, which
ought to alarm and impress us, especially at the present juncture. It
is a violation of a Divine precept of universal justice, which has in
no instance escaped with impunity. The crimes of nations, as well as
individuals, are often designated in their punishments; and we
conceive it to be no forced construction of some of the calamities
which now distress or impend over our country, to believe that they
are the measure of the evils which we have meted to others. The
ravages committed upon many of our fellow-citizens by the Indians, and
the depredations upon the liberty and commerce of others, of the
citizens of the United States by the Algerines, both unite in
proclaiming to us in the most forcible language, 'to loose the bands
of wickedness, to break every yoke, to undo the heavy burthens, and to
let the oppressed go free.'
"We shall conclude this address by recommending to you:
"_First._ To refrain immediately from that species of rapine and
murder which has improperly been softened by the name of the African
trade. It is Indian cruelty and Algerine piracy in another form.
"_Second._ To form Societies in every State, for the purpose of
promoting the abolition of the slave-trade, of domestic slavery, for
the relief of persons unlawfully held in bondage, and for the
improvement of the condition of Africans and their descendants amongst
us.
"The Societies which we represent, have beheld with triumph the
success of their exertions in many instances, in favor of their
African brethren; and, in full reliance upon the continuance of Divine
support and direction, they humbly hope their labors will never cease
while there exists a single slave in the United States."
[31] Mr. Jackson opposed the reference of the memorial to a committee,
and wished it to be thrown aside. Mr. Burke, of South Carolina, said
he saw the disposition of the House, and feared the memorial would be
referred. He "was certain the commitment would sound an alarm, and
blow the trumpet of sedition in the Southern States."
Mr. Seney, of Maryland, denied that there was anything
unconstitutional in the memorial; its only object was that Congress
should exercise their constitutional authority to abate the horrors of
slavery as far as they could.
Mr. Parker, of Virginia, said: "I hope the petition of these
respectable people will be attended to with all the readiness the
importance of its object demands; and I cannot help expressing the
pleasure I feel in finding so considerable a part of the community
attending to matters of such momentous concern to the future
prosperity and happiness of the people of America. I think it my duty
as a citizen of the Union to espouse their cause."
Mr. Page, of Virginia (governor from 1802-1805), said he was in favor
of the commitment. He hoped that the designs of the respectable
memorialists would not be stopped at the threshold, in order to
preclude a fair discussion of the prayer of the memorial. With respect
to the alarm that was apprehended, he conjectured there was none; but
there might be just cause, if the memorial was _not_ taken into
consideration. He placed himself in the case of a slave, and said
that, on hearing that Congress had refused to listen to the decent
suggestions of a respectable part of the community, he should infer
that the general government (from which was expected great good would
result to every class of citizens) had shut their ears against the
voice of humanity; and he should despair of any alleviation of the
miseries he and his posterity had in prospect. If anything could
induce him to rebel, it must be a stroke like this. But if he was told
that application was made in his behalf, and that Congress was willing
to hear what could be urged in favor of discouraging the practice of
importing his fellow-wretches, he would trust in their justice and
humanity, and wait for the decision patiently. He presumed that these
unfortunate people would reason in the same way.
Mr. Madison, of Virginia, said, if there were the slightest tendency
by the commitment to break in upon the constitution, he would object
to it; but he did not see upon what ground such an event could be
apprehended. He admitted that Congress was restricted by the
constitution from taking measures to abolish the slave-trade; yet
there was a variety of ways by which it could countenance the
abolition of slavery; and regulations might be made in relation to the
introduction of slaves into the new States, to be formed out of the
Western Territory.
The memorial was committed by a vote of 43 yeas to 14 nays. Of the
Virginia delegation, 8 voted yea and 2 nay; Maryland, 3 yea, 1 nay;
Delaware and North Carolina, both delegations absent. Mr. Vining, the
member for Delaware, however, spoke and voted later with the friends
of the memorialists.
The committee reported on the 8th of March. The report was discussed
in committee of the whole, and amended to read as follows:
"_First._ That the migration or importation of such persons as any of
the States now existing shall think proper to admit, can not be
prohibited by Congress prior to the year 1808.
"_Second._ That Congress have no authority to interfere in the
emancipation of slaves, or in the treatment of them, in any of the
States--it remaining with the several States alone, to provide any
regulations therein which humanity and true policy may require.
"_Third._ That Congress have authority to restrain the citizens of the
United States from carrying on the African trade, for the purpose of
supplying foreigners with slaves, and of providing, by proper
regulations, for the humane treatment during their passage of slaves
imported by the said citizens into the States admitting such
importation."
This was the first legislation on the subject of slavery in the new
Congress, and was carried by 29 votes to 25--North Carolina, South
Carolina, and Georgia voting unanimously in the negative. All the
other States (except Rhode Island, from which no member was present)
voted in the affirmative or divided. New Hampshire voted 1 yea, 1 nay;
Massachusetts, 6 yeas, 3 nays; Connecticut, 2 yeas, 2 nays; New York,
5 yeas, 2 nays; New Jersey, 3 yeas; Pennsylvania, 5 yeas; Virginia, 5
yeas, 6 nays; Maryland, 1 yea, 4 nays; Delaware, 1 yea.
[32] At this period, one hundred and fifteen American citizens,
captured by piracy, were held as slaves in Algiers, for whom large
ransoms were demanded by the pirates.
[33] The convention, after discussing principles, appointed a
"committee of detail," consisting of Mr. Rutledge of South Carolina,
Mr. Randolph of Virginia, Mr. Wilson of Pennsylvania, Mr. Ellsworth of
Connecticut, and Mr. Gorham of Massachusetts, to reduce to the form of
a constitution the resolutions agreed upon. This committee without
instructions, or authority from the resolutions adopted, introduced a
clause forever prohibiting the abolition of the African slave-trade.
Mr. Randolph earnestly protested against this clause. He was opposed
to any restriction on the power of Congress to abolish it. He "could
never agree to the clause as it stands. He would sooner risk the
Constitution." Madison Papers, p. 1396. Mr. Ellsworth "was for leaving
the clause as it now stands. Let every State import what it pleases.
The morality, the wisdom of slavery, are considerations belonging to
the States themselves. What enriches a part, enriches the whole; and
the States are the best judges of their particular interest." Id., p.
1389. It was moved, as a compromise, to guarantee the slave-trade for
twenty years, by postponing the restriction to 1808. This motion was
seconded by Mr. Gorham, of Massachusetts, and it passed. Mr. Madison,
of Virginia, opposed it. "Twenty years," he said, "will produce all
the mischief that can be apprehended from the liberty to import
slaves. So long a term will be more dishonorable to the American
character, than to say nothing about it in the Constitution." Id., p.
1427. Mr. Mason, of Virginia, pronounced the traffic as "infernal."
Id., p. 1390.
[34] Life of Benjamin Lundy, Phil. 1847, p. 218. The total membership
of the 130 societies was 6625, exclusive of twelve societies in
Illinois from which no returns had been received. These statistics
were gathered by the American Anti-Slavery Convention, which was held
at Philadelphia, in 1827.
Addenda.
Since the preceding pages were in type, I have seen, in the
library of the New York Historical Society, the printed minutes
of the first convention held by the Abolition Societies of the
United States, which met at Philadelphia, January 1, 1794, and
was several days in session, of which mention was made on page
59. These minutes show that my statement of the societies
represented needs correction. The Rhode Island Society appears to
have had no delegates present. The Virginia Society appointed
delegates; but, for reasons stated below, they were not admitted.
Several societies, however, were represented, of which before I
had seen no mention. As the convention met in the depth of
winter, and as traveling was then expensive and difficult, it is
evidence of a deep interest in the subject, that so many
delegations attended.
The convention met in the City Hall, at Philadelphia, and
organized by choosing Joseph Bloomfield, of New Jersey,
President; John McCrea, Secretary; and Joseph Fry, Door-keeper.
The following societies were represented by the delegates named:
_Connecticut Society_--Uriah Tracy.
_New York Society_--Peter Jay Munroe, Moses Rogers, Thomas
Franklin, Jr., William Dunlap.
_New Jersey Society_--Joseph Bloomfield, William Coxe, Jr., John
Wistar, Robert Pearson, Franklin Davenport.
_Pennsylvania Society_--William Rogers, William Rawle, Samuel
Powel Griffitts, Robert Patterson, Samuel Coates, Benjamin Rush.
_Washington (Pa.) Society_--Absalom Baird.
_Delaware Society_--Warren Mifflin, Isaiah Rowland, Joseph
Hodgson, John Pemberton.
_Wilmington (Del.) Society_--Joseph Warner, Isaac H. Starr,
Robert Coram.
_Maryland Society_--Samuel Sterett, James Winchester, Joseph
Townsend, Adam Fonerdon, Jesse Hollingsworth.
_Chester-town (Md.) Society_--Joseph Wilkinson, James Maslin,
Abraham Ridgely.