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SLAVE-HOLDERS' CONVENTION. 325
But the spirit of abolitionism was not to be thus silenced. Contributions
were made, zealous agents employed and the southern mails flooded with documents of a most incendiary character, which excited a feeling of indignation,
mingled with alarm, throughout the South. Public attention was called to
these movements in Maryland by the slave-holders of Anne Arundel County,
who held a large public meeting, on the 15th of September, 1841, and unanimously adopted the following resolutions :
"Resolved, That a convention shall be held in the City of Annapolis, of the persons
favorable to the protection of the slave-holding interests in the State upon the first Monday of January next.
"Resolved, That a delegation of twenty be appointed by each county in the State, and
from the Cities of Annapolis, Frederick and Baltimore, and twenty from Howard District,
to attend said convention.
"Resolved, That the chairman of this meeting be considered the chairman to represent
the meeting from Howard District.
"Resolved, That these proceedings be published in the Howard Free Press, with a
request to all papers in the State to copy.
"GEORGE HOWARD, Chairman.
"William H. Marriott, Secretary."
Accordingly, on the 12th of January, 1842, the Slave-holders' Convention
:assembled at Annapolis, having representations from every county in the State
excepting Carroll, Alleghany, Caroline and Worcester. The following officers
were elected: Robert W. Bowie, of Prince George's County, president; General Thomas Emory, General Benjamin C. Howard, Dr. Thomas Willson,
vice-presidents; John A. Carter and James B. Eicaud, secretaries. After a
session of three days, they adopted a large number of recommendations to the
Legislature, concerning the colored population, and adjourned on the 14th.1
In compliance with the recommendations of the convention, laws were
passed, placing restrictions upon the free negroes, and binding tighter the
bonds of slavery.
The abolitionists of the North, meanwhile, continued their operations
with all their ardor, through the press, the pulpit, State Legislatures, State
and County Conventions, anti-slavery societies, and abolition lecturers
employed for the purpose. Prominent among these agencies were what were
then called abolition petitions.
" Throughout the session of 1835-6, and for several succeeding sessions, these petitions
incessantly poured into Congress. They prayed for the abolition of slavery in the
District of Columbia, and in the forts, magazines, arsenals, and dockyards of the United
States within the slave-holding States. They also protested against the admission of any
new slave-holding State into the Union, and some of them went so far as to petition for a
dissolution of the Union itself.
"These petitions were signed by hundreds of thousands of men, women and children. In them slavery was denounced as a national sin and a national disgrace. Every
epithet was employed calculated to arouse the indignation of the Southern people. The
time of Congress was wasted in violent debates on the subject of slavery. In these it
1 Niles' Register, lxi., pp. 323-356.
| Title | History of Maryland - 3 |
| Creator | Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas) |
| Publisher | J. B. Piet |
| Place of Publication | Baltimore |
| Date | 1879 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000356 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | SLAVE-HOLDERS' CONVENTION. 325 But the spirit of abolitionism was not to be thus silenced. Contributions were made, zealous agents employed and the southern mails flooded with documents of a most incendiary character, which excited a feeling of indignation, mingled with alarm, throughout the South. Public attention was called to these movements in Maryland by the slave-holders of Anne Arundel County, who held a large public meeting, on the 15th of September, 1841, and unanimously adopted the following resolutions : "Resolved, That a convention shall be held in the City of Annapolis, of the persons favorable to the protection of the slave-holding interests in the State upon the first Monday of January next. "Resolved, That a delegation of twenty be appointed by each county in the State, and from the Cities of Annapolis, Frederick and Baltimore, and twenty from Howard District, to attend said convention. "Resolved, That the chairman of this meeting be considered the chairman to represent the meeting from Howard District. "Resolved, That these proceedings be published in the Howard Free Press, with a request to all papers in the State to copy. "GEORGE HOWARD, Chairman. "William H. Marriott, Secretary." Accordingly, on the 12th of January, 1842, the Slave-holders' Convention :assembled at Annapolis, having representations from every county in the State excepting Carroll, Alleghany, Caroline and Worcester. The following officers were elected: Robert W. Bowie, of Prince George's County, president; General Thomas Emory, General Benjamin C. Howard, Dr. Thomas Willson, vice-presidents; John A. Carter and James B. Eicaud, secretaries. After a session of three days, they adopted a large number of recommendations to the Legislature, concerning the colored population, and adjourned on the 14th.1 In compliance with the recommendations of the convention, laws were passed, placing restrictions upon the free negroes, and binding tighter the bonds of slavery. The abolitionists of the North, meanwhile, continued their operations with all their ardor, through the press, the pulpit, State Legislatures, State and County Conventions, anti-slavery societies, and abolition lecturers employed for the purpose. Prominent among these agencies were what were then called abolition petitions. " Throughout the session of 1835-6, and for several succeeding sessions, these petitions incessantly poured into Congress. They prayed for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and in the forts, magazines, arsenals, and dockyards of the United States within the slave-holding States. They also protested against the admission of any new slave-holding State into the Union, and some of them went so far as to petition for a dissolution of the Union itself. "These petitions were signed by hundreds of thousands of men, women and children. In them slavery was denounced as a national sin and a national disgrace. Every epithet was employed calculated to arouse the indignation of the Southern people. The time of Congress was wasted in violent debates on the subject of slavery. In these it 1 Niles' Register, lxi., pp. 323-356. |
