April 12, 1839
“From a letter to the editor of the Michigan Observer — I have just received a letter from a highly valued friend in Mississippi, who says, ‘I was recently conversing with a lawyer of Woodville in this state, a Kentuckian by birth and education, who said, ‘the abolitionists stand on the right ground and their principles must prevail.’”
September 29, 1843
Here are two brief items, one from Kentucky, one from Maryland, from the Rochester Evening Post, each used to indicate that Anti-Slavery is advancing in the South.
February 22, 1856
A letter to Samuel May, Jr., name of writer and place from which it comes omitted. In it the writer asks for more copies of The Liberator, which he will distribute, and which he claims will be read with “avidity”. “Slavery is not so strong in the South as many suppose. Some persons here who do not own slaves, are as good anti-slavery men as I ever desire to see, but they are cautious in talking about it.
April 24, 1863
A crowded meeting at Faneuil Hall hears Gen. A. J. Hamilton, of Texas. “He showed that the South, before the rebellion, had always carried its point, and therefore had no excuse for revolt. He justified the emancipation proclamation of the President, the suspension of the habeas corpus, and other necessary measures of the administration.” At one point he says, “I shall no doubt leave Boston under the charge of being an Abolitionist.” ….He plays with the crowd a bit, but then announces, “I am an Abolitionist!” (Tremendous cheering follows.)
June 26, 1863
A large and enthusiastic meeting was held at the African Church. Resolutions passed “acknowledge the hand of God in the great events which are now taking place”, call for people to “enlist under the banner of Freedom”, to”join Brig.Genl. Edward Wild’s African Brigade”, to “celebrate the 8th of June, 1863, as the “anniversary of the freedom of North Carolina”, and “to honor the illustrious name of Abraham Lincoln”.