Dec 15, 1832
“The Proclamation is very long and cannot fail to produce an extraordinary sensation throughout the land …” Then this brief extract:
I consider then the power to annul a law of the United States, assumed by one state, INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE EXISTENCE OF THE UNION, CONTRADICTED EXPRESSLY BY THE LETTER OF THE CONSTITUTION, UNAUTHORIZED BY ITS SPIRIT, INCONSISTENT WITH EVERY PRINCIPLE ON WHICH IT WAS FOUNDED, AND OBSTRUCTIVE OF THE GREAT OBJECT FOR WHICH IT WAS FORMED.
The editor says, “This then is the position in which we stand.”
Nov 24, 1832
Notice of meeting of GCA to be held on Nov 28th to consider petitioning Congress to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia … signed by Thomas Dalton, President, and James G. Barbadoes, Secretary
Nov 3, 1832
An Executor’s notice of sale of real estate, signed by Primus Hall, Executor, Oct 30.
Daniel Hersey, Auctioneer Land measurements are given .. land on a court leading from Belknap Street near the African Church.
October 13, 1832
In a long section “Tour of the Editor” in his visit to Providence, Garrison comments on seeing Moses Brown: “ I made a short visit to the venerable Moses Brown, (the patriarch of Friends), who is now in his ninety-fifth year. —-He is certainly an extraordinary man, and sustains the heavy weight of almost a century in an extraordinary manner. …”
July 28, 1832
At the bottom of the page, without comment, attribution, or signature:
“The whole system of slavery is essentially and radically bad—injustice and oppression are its fundamental principles; whatever lenity may be requisite in speaking of the agent, none should be shewn, none should be expressed for the act. Of his actions we should speak in the language of reprobation, disgust, and abhorrence.”
July 14, 1832
“The following is an extract from the speech of Mr. T. Marshall of Fauqier County, in the Legislature of Virginia in the last session:
‘Slavery is ruinous to the whites — retards improvement — roots out industrious population, banishes the yeomanry of the country — deprives the weaver, the spinner, the smith, the carpenter of employment and support. This evil admits of no remedy – it is increasing, and will continue to increase, until the whole country will be inundated with one black wave, covering its whole extent, with a few white faces here and there floating on the surface.The master has no capital but what is invested in human flesh – the father, instead of being richer for his sons, is at a loss how to provide for them – there is no diversity of occupations, no incentive to enterprise. Labor of every species is disreputable, because performed mostly by slaves. Our towns are stationary, our villages almost everywhere declining – and the general aspect of the country marks the curse of a wasteful, idle, reckless population who have no interest in the soil, and care not how much it is impoverished. Public improvements are neglected, and the entire continent does not present a region for which nature has done so much, and art so little. If cultivated by free labor, the soil of Virginia is capable of sustaining a vast population, among whom labor would be honorable, and where ‘ the busy hum of men’ would tell that all were happy, and all were free.”
March 10, 1832
The author of the “reverie” is not given, but the piece had evidently been previously rejected for inclusion in the Christian Register, so now the editor includes it. The introduction is from “G. X.” (tiny excerpt here)
The “dialogue” begins with Toussaint’s mocking address to Washington, to which comes this reply:
“Washington —-Spare me, Toussaint. Spare me that reproachful look, that reproachful allusion to ill-deserved eulogies. Alas! That I must admit that the reproach is just. First in the hearts of my countrymen: Why did I not better use my influence over those hearts? Why, when we had released ourselves from oppression, did we continue oppressors? Toussaint! That my example and acquiescence sanctioned this, is the bitterest recollection of my life on earth. “
Jan 21, 1832
Evidently the letter is in response to a statement by Adams in which he had said that he could “..give no countenance or support’ to petitions which had been presented to him. Garrison strongly rebukes Adams and demands a public explanation of his reasons for the statement.
January 7, 1832
There is a statement about the qualities of the lady who conducts this Department, and several paragraphs from her pen, but without her name:
Our Own Sex
“We have not language sufficiently strong to express our feelings of the necessity there is, that our own sex should become general and efficient workers in the cause of emancipation. ……….The situation of the slaves of our own sex, certainly claims in a pre-eminent degree the attention of American females …..Some have already flung off the unwonted carelessness that so long benumbed their hearts ……”
The article then is followed by a statement of the pleasure that the editor had in addressing the Afric-American Female Intelligence Society of Boston at a recent meeting, and concludes with the Constitution of the Society.
This is followed by a “spirited extract” from the tract by Mrs. Maria W. Steward (his spelling!) :
“Let each one strive to excel in good housewifery, knowing that prudence and economy are the road to wealth ……..How long shall the fair daughters of Africa be compelled to bury their minds and talents beneath a load of iron pots and kettles……How long shall a
mean set of men flatter us with their smiles, and enrich themselves with our hard earnings —their wives fingers sparkling with rings, and they themselves laughing at our folly?…..”
January 7, 1832
“As a people, we of New England, are lamentably ignorant of the subject of slavery, but even our ignorance is exceeded by our apathy. When we hear of the cruel conduct of the slaveholders, we often kindle into a flame, and our judgments tell us that they are without excuse. We can hardly believe that such beings exist in our land. This is a righteous indignation; these feelings of abhorrence are creditable to our humanity. But what if it should appear, on a candid examination, that we are as guilty as the slave owners? that we uphold a system which is full of cruelty and blood? that the chains which bind the limbs of the slaves have been riveted by us? Let us see whether we are indeed implicated in this bloody business.
“In its origin, slavery was a common crime; it is equally so in its continuance, as well as a common curse; in its removal we are all bound to assist. The foundation of the system was laid in Massachusetts and Virginia. Other colonies immediately began to build thereon; and if the free states have since overturned the wings of the superstructure, they have also assisted in furnishing material to enlarge the main edifice. For thirty-two years after the Declaration of Independence, the ships of New England were actively engaged in stealing victims on the coast of Africa. …..Moreover, the transportation of domestic slaves (a trade equally atrocious with the foreign) is almost exclusively effected in eastern vessels……..”
