Read Ebook: The Way to Abolish Slavery by Stearns Charles Abolitionist

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thy for northern workingmen than the man who drives three hundred laborers to their daily toil, with the crack of the whip sounding in their ears, and who robs them of nearly all their earnings, and forces them to live in a state of prostitution? Is such a man a friend to the rights of northern laborers?

But it is these pretended friends of home industry, which means any thing but their own industry, who stand pledged to support the South. It is they who are so anxious to see Slavery extended, because they can sell as, they think, a few more goods for the use of the newly imported Slaves! Yes, they are ready, as one friend of the Slave has remarked, "to annex themselves to perdition, if by so doing, they could sell cotton cloth to its inhabitants for six cents a yard." They are unwilling to have Slavery abolished, for that would open one of the finest countries in the world, to the ingress of free laborers, who could manufacture their own goods, and would not purchase so many of Abbott Lawrence & Co., as they at present send to the South. But they are short sighted even in this; for the abolition of Slavery would open a market for many more goods than could be manufactured South, which would enrich the North much more than her present losing trade with the South does. They do not comprehend this problem, for if they did, the Couriers, Daily Advertisers, and Atlases, would be filled to overflowing with denunciations of Slavery, just as they were of the Mexican War, when political capital could be made out of such denunciations. Then the tariff must be upheld, or the North will go to ruin, and they hope to obtain the aid of the South in this matter, by assisting them to sustain Slavery. The great body of northern manufacturers, care as little for the existence of Slavery, as they do for the sufferings of men perishing on the scaffold, for crimes against law and order.

They are almost wholly selfish, as is evinced by the character of the men they set up for office. They care not whether 3,000,000 of Slaves clank their chains in their hearing or not, so long as the busy hum of their cotton-mills at Lowell and Manchester, and the noise of their trip-hammers in Pennsylvania, are heard to resound above these cries. The music of silver dollars rattling in their vaults, as drawer after drawer is deposited by their cashiers, is sufficiently beautiful to them, to operate as an offset against the shrieks and wailings of the Slaves. What though the Lord of Sabbaoth lends a listening ear to the sobs of the bondmen, it matters not to them, as long as the gold clinks in their chests. All heaven may cease its songs of joy, to listen to the shrieks of the Slave; but worlds of Slaves might shriek and groan, until the noise shook old earth from its foundations, and sounded in the ears of saints like the sound of "many waters" to the apostle John; and these men would not turn from the dull music of their water-wheels, or the clatter of their spinning-jennies. Indeed, it is a question, whether they would turn from their tables of discount, and their columns of bank stock, if God himself should speak from heaven, and request sympathy from them. Sympathy! they have none! Their hearts are made of silver and gold, polished to an icy coldness. If the blood of the slave-driver's lash should increase until it flowed over the entire South, and turned to red the color of the element upon which their ships sailed; it would not mar the harmony between them and the South, until it rusted the bottom of their vessels, and rendered them unfit for the carrying trade.

To be sure all the people who vote aid these cotton lords in sustaining Slavery; but let them pursue a different course; let the leaders of the two great political parties of the North, adopt another principle than that of subserviency to the slave-power, and the people would not long object. The result of the last election has fully shown the willingness of the people to adopt the watch-word of their party, whatever it may be, and it would be arguing a great amount of villany on their part to suppose, that they would refuse to follow them in the paths of righteousness, when they clung so closely to them, as they took the most conspicuous part of the broad road. Certainly the great body of the Whigs and Democrats, would not refuse to travel towards heaven, if their leaders should say so, when they have sprung with such alacrity to join them in the road to hell. How it would be with the rank and file of the Free Soil party we know not. As they have shown a readiness to burst party bonds, these would not operate upon them so much; but charity prompts us to believe, that if the leaders of this party were to propose the measure of a secession from the Union, the Anti-Slavery feeling of their followers would willingly respond to the call. It is then to the leaders of both church and state, that the rebuke of Nathan to David applies, "thou art the man." It is the prominent men in all parties who are to blame for the existence of Slavery.

The great question is, how shall this alteration of the Constitution be brought about? Of course, as long as we assert that it is good enough already, we shall not wish to change it; therefore we must first be convinced of its wicked character, which we hope all our readers are convinced of by this time; but as some of them may not be, we will dwell awhile on this point. No intelligent man will deny that it was the intention of our fathers to sustain Slavery. Mr. Lysander Spooner himself admits it. Sufficient proof exists of this fact to satisfy every reasonable mind. Almost all politicians admit it, certainly all honest ones. No one doubts that our fathers meant to uphold Slavery, when they adopted the Constitution; and the question now with us is, not so much the technical meaning of the Constitution, as its real import. We know that honesty always leads us to decide upon the meaning of an author, by understanding the circumstances under which he wrote. For instance, if an editor speaks of "fighting earnestly" in the approaching campaign; he would be deemed a very dishonest man, who should assert from the authority of this language, that the editor recommended physical fighting, and was in favor of bloodshed; but he would be no more so, it seems to us, than one who knowing what our fathers were debating about, should contend that they did not mean Slaves, because they said "persons held to service." Of course, being partners in the guilt of the transaction, they did not wish to brand themselves with infamy, by inserting the word Slaves, any more than the duellist is willing to term himself a murderer, instead of "a gentleman of honor;" or a lewd woman a harlot, instead of "a lady of pleasure."

Intoxication is alluded to, by its victims, in various genteel terms, instead of the plain one--drunkenness; and robbing and stealing on the ocean in time of war is termed by the mild name of privateering. So with all villany. Robbers are only lightening the pockets of their victims; thieves only picking up the crumbs of the rich; and slave-holders are only masters; Slaves, "persons held to service," or "other persons," or something else, to hide the shame of the guilty ones. Go to the South, and you will never hear the word Slave spoken; but it is "my people," "my boy," "my girl," &c. If you go so strictly by names, you might never know by living at the South, that they consider their servants Slaves.

What, then, did our fathers mean, by "other persons?" The clause reads as follows:

But a few words from the original adopters of the Constitution will settle this whole difficulty. Says Alexander Hamilton in the New York convention:

In Virginia, Mr. Madison said:

Gen. Pinkney in the South Carolina convention, observed:

"We have obtained a right to recover our Slaves in whatever part of America they may take refuge, which is a right we had not before."

But thanks to a few in her borders, even her proud heart begins to grow faint; her limbs tremble slightly, and like the mariners in a storm, who rush to the bottle to drink their fill for the last time, she is growing desperate, and drinking more deeply than ever of the cup of Slavery, as the last draught she can obtain from its noisome fountain.

Courage, friends of your race! Let the breath of the Almighty inspire you, let his fiat strengthen you! Clothe yourselves in the panoply of truth afresh; gird on the gospel armor anew, and make a bolder attack than ever upon the Bastile of Slavery. This gloomy castle, which has so long frowned upon our liberties, shall be razed to the ground, and its pining inmates set free, to breathe the pure air of liberty.

Onward, friends of reform! Remember that "the battle is not to the strong, nor the race to the swift only, but that stronger is the armor of the Almighty, than all the weapons of your enemies." Gird on, not the clumsy armor of King Saul, but the "breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit," the weapons which are not "carnal, but mighty through God, to the pulling down the strong holds of Satan."

One enquiry more remains for us to answer, which is, how shall we dissolve the Union? It was asserted that if the Constitution could be altered without dissolution, such a step would be unnecessary; but be it remembered, that this event can never take place, until the South is partly Anti-Slavery. The consent of the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, is necessary to accomplish this, and we leave it to all candid persons to judge whether there is any hope of such consent ever being given. The only remedy plainly is for us to abjure the Constitution, proclaim ourselves free and independent of the South, and organize a new and separate government at the North.

The steps necessary are briefly these. Let a convention of the people of the Free States in favor of this movement be called; let the legislatures of the several States withdraw their Representatives and Senators from Congress, and let them meet together, and send delegates to this general convention, as our fathers did to the convention where the Declaration of Independence was adopted. Let them meet, and adopt a Constitution, fix upon some conspicuous place for a seat of government, Buffalo for instance, send home the constitution to be ratified by the several northern States, and having thus formed their own government, let them withdraw their portion of the Army and Navy from the South, refuse to pay duties to the general government, and send a minister to the southern government for the adjustment of all claims between the two. Of course the South would be too busy in settling their own affairs to disturb us for awhile; and if war come at last, it is easy to see who would be victorious; the North with all her resources, or the South with her 3,000,000 of Slaves in her borders. The whole territory north of Mason and Dixon's line would then be open to the fleeing fugitive. No Slave hunter would dare to venture on our soil, to recover his lost victim. Thus Slave property would be useless in Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri, and probably those States would soon knock at our doors for admission to our union. That would destroy the value of Slaves still farther South, and eventually the whole country would become free. But there is another view of it. The Slaves could then arise and demand their freedom, and nought could prevent them from attaining it. "At the first tap of the drum, there are 10,000 northern bayonets, ready to be thrust into the bosoms of the Slaves, should they attempt an insurrection," says Mr. Underwood of Kentucky, on the floor of Congress. This danger would have vanished. No northern foe could then be ready to strike down the Slave fighting for liberty, but millions would sympathize with and assist him. Of course the people of the North must be converted before this change can take place, but come it must. It is the only remedy for Slavery that we have any confidence in, and there is no time to be lost.

If the faces of the southerners and their allies were elongated then, what will be their length when the news of such a convention shall reach their ears? We repeat it, the people are nearly ready for this change; and only need the word of command from their leaders, to adopt as their watchword, "No more union with slave-holders." But unprincipled leaders never will be converted only by the people advancing before them; therefore our work lies with the people.

Men and women of America, descendants of those pioneers of freedom, who braved the vicissitudes of fortune in a new and wilderness land, that liberty might be bestowed upon their children; sons and daughters of the warriors of Lexington and Bunker Hill; children of the patriots of the revolution; is there none of that spirit of liberty which actuated your fathers, remaining within your hearts? Have the fires of freedom become so nearly extinct in your breasts, as to leave no spark of liberty there, which can be made to ignite the hearts of cotton which surround you? Burns there no flame of indignation in your souls, at the remembrance of the insults you have received at the hands of the South? Say, ye children of proud and tyranny-hating parents, are ye sunk in such abject submission to your oppressors, that no trampling under foot your own and the Slave's rights, can arouse ye from your stupor? O, is there no portion of that hatred of tyranny, which prompted your fathers to say, "resistance to tyrants is obedience to God," left within your bosoms? Then, indeed, are you recreant to the principles your fathers struggled with adversity's power to establish, the base and degenerate sons of noble and energetic sires.

One word more, and our task is finished. What is the South, that ye should cling so closely to her? Is she not a polluting harlot, deceiving you by her gay attire, and attempting to seduce you from the path of virtue by her blandishments? Yea, has she not already beguiled your simple hearts, and now that she has bewitched you, and obtained power over you, seeking but to insult and cast contempt upon you? O, let us break away from her polluting embraces, and return to virtue and integrity. "Come out from her, my people, and be not partakers of her sins, that ye receive not of her plagues."

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