November 2, 1860
This article, from the N.Y. Journal of Commerce, appears in the Refuge of Oppression column. A few words give a sense of its point. “The native African is an habitual drunkard, a thief, a liar, revengeful, licentious, groveling in his habits, almost destitute of natural affection, unprogressive in character, and in religion a devotee of the obscene mysteries of Fetichism… The negroes held in slavery in the United States are much better off, physically and morally, than their ignorant and degraded brothers in Africa….only those who own slaves can abolish slavery, and ….every imprudent, or concealed, or violent opposition on the part of Northern men, does more injury than good, and impedes the advancement of genuine humanity.”
August 3, 1860
Three lines: ‘The latest news from New Orleans, dated July l30th, is that two Abolitionists have been hung in Texas for distributing arms and inciting slaves to rebellion.”
May 11, 1860
“A Democratic orator, addressing a meeting of his party in Philadelphia lately, exclaimed, –’if any one dares to come into my neighborhood and preach such treason as that of G.W. Curtis and Wendell Phillips, by the everlasting God he shall never leave the place alive!’” The editor comments: “Such is the spirit, such the love of free speech, which animates the great mass of the slavery-extending party.”
January 13, 1860
The item from the Cincinnati Commercial says that thirty-six persons have arrived there, having been warned to leave Kentucky “for the crime of believing slavery to be a sin”. The movement for expelling the men arose from excitement over the John Brown foray.
September 9, 1859
Under the Refuge of Oppression column, here are extracts of a speech by Davis, before the Democratic State Convention, in Mississippi, July 1859. The speech is statement of the positive good and necessity of slavery, and includes a favoring of the acquisition of Cuba. “That the presence of slaves in the island made it more desirable to me, I will not deny.” He favors acquisition by purchase from Spain, “but if all peaceful means should prove unavailing, then, whenever her island is about to become, in the hand of an enemy, dangerous to the United States, or whenever just cause for war shall be given by Spain, I say we should take possession of Cuba……” His speech also includes a fear that the nation is approaching a time when a decision must be made about the Union. He makes reference to a recent speech by Seward, and indicates if a President is elected on a platform such as in that speech, then “let the Union be dissolved”.
June 17, 1859
Recently convened in Baltimore, there is an article about resolutions passed.
Comment by the editor includes: “They are troubled that so many slaves run away; and they are also troubled that so many free negroes will not run away”.. they found that “there is a danger of Africanization of the State”, and ask the Legislature to pass laws “preventing emancipation”. “Poor old fogies, they cling to a rotten system that covers the land with desolation, and brings poverty and want to their doors.”
April 1, 1859
From the New York Commercial Advertiser comes an account of the “brutal and disgraceful manner” in which a lady from Brooklyn was recently driven from Aiken, S.C. The lady is said to have been spending the winter there in a hotel, with a sick daughter, who required a warm climate. It was discovered that she was the author of a letter to a brother in western New York, in which she wrote of the evils of slavery. “The letter was published and someone sent a copy to the postmaster of Aiken. A public meeting was called, and a committee appointed to ferret out the writer…. The citizens then turned their wrath upon her, and she was peremptorily ordered to leave the place within forty-eight hours. ….. The lady pleaded for more time on behalf of her sick daughter, but the citizens of Aiken knew no such, humanity. ….the citizens of Aiken knew nothing of gallantry or courtesy…..The landlord of the hotel ordered the mother and sick child “to leave his premises in half an hour.” The husband had heard of the threat, started south, and met his wife in Columbia.
January 21, 1859
As a memorial signed by William Cooper Nell, is brought before the Legislature, asking for the vindication and protection of the rights of colored citizens. Rep. Mr. Spofford, of Newburyport rises to protest “I rise to protest, at this early stage of the session, against the introduction of this agitating question of slavery….. there is nothing to be gained by the petition; nothing whatever is asked.” He then moves that when the question comes up, that a vote be taken by yeas and nays, “in order that the people of the Commonwealth may know who the Representatives are who are disposed to continue, throughout the session, “a constant and useless agitation of the slavery question.”
July 9, 1858
Under the Refuge of Oppression column, from the Richmond Whig, an article comments on “how dangerous and troublesome” the Yankee is in the state of freedom, and then wonders if he, ‘Yankee’, ought not be a slave. He stands in need of a master. “Whip him soundly for every political sermon, he would improve beyond what we think possible…”
July 24, 1857
From the Charleston, S.C. Mercury, the editor includes an account of a celebration of Independence Day, in which there is considerable language about the “natal day of our liberty” and the “rights of freemen”. (It is likely that the editor italicized these portions of what is said here.) The editor comments: “Very modest and very consistent language this, for men-stealers and slave-breeders, pro-slavery ruffians, and hot-head nullifiers!”
