The Trial of Reuben Crandall, M.D Part 1

The Trial of Reuben Crandall, M.D. Charged with Publis.h.i.+ng and Circulating Seditious and Incendiary Papers, &c. in the District of Columbia, with the Intent of Exciting Servile Insurrection.

by Unknown.

NOTICE.

THE TRIAL OF CRANDALL presents the first case of a man charged with endeavoring to excite insurrection among slaves and the free colored population that was ever brought before a judicial tribunal. It lasted ten days before the whole Court, and was as closely contested as any trial on record, by the counsel on both sides. Every point of law was fully and strenuously argued, and carefully considered by the Court; and where no statutes have been enacted, this case may be considered as settling the legal questions touching the rights of the slaveholding population, on the one hand, to protect themselves from foreign influence; and the circ.u.mstances, on the other hand, which may bring people from the nonslaveholding States into danger of the law, by having in their possession, showing, or circulating, papers and tracts which advocate the abolition of slavery in such a way as to excite slaves and free people of color to revolt and violate the existing laws and customs of the slaveholding States. No trial has ever occurred more important to travellers from the North, or to the domestic peace of the inhabitants of the Southern States.

THE TRIAL

OF

REUBEN CRANDALL, M. D.

ON A CHARGE OF

CIRCULATING INCENDIARY PAPERS.

UNITED STATES' CIRCUIT COURT,

_District of Columbia, Friday, April 15th, 1836._

PRESENT:

CRANCH, chief justice, THRUSTON and MORSELL, justices.

F. S. KEY, district attorney, and J. M. CARLISLE, for the prosecution.

R. S. c.o.xE and J. H. BRADLEY, for the defence.

John H. King, Nicholas Callan, James Kennedy, Walter Clarke, George Crandall, William Waters, Thomas Hyde, Thomas Fenwick, Samuel Lowe, George Simmes, Wesley Stevenson, and Jacob Gideon, jr., were empannelled and sworn as jurors to try the issue.

This was an indictment charging, in five counts and in various forms, the offence under the common law of libels, of publis.h.i.+ng malicious and wicked libels, with the intent to excite sedition and insurrection among the slaves and free colored people of this District. The three first counts only having been relied upon, and no evidence having been offered under the others, an abstract, omitting the mere formal part, will be sufficient to show the nature of the libels charged.

1st. The first count charged the defendant with publis.h.i.+ng a libel, containing in one part thereof these words: "Then we are not to meddle with the subject of slavery in any manner; neither by appeals to the patriotism, by exhortation to humanity, by application of truth to the conscience. No; even to propose, in Congress, that the seat of our republican Government may be purified from this crying abomination, under penalty of a dissolution of the Union."

And in another part thereof, in an article ent.i.tled "Reply to Mr. Gurley's letter, addressed to the Rev. R. R. Gurley, Secretary of the American Colonization Society, Was.h.i.+ngton city," signed by Arthur Tappan and others, the following words: "We will not insult your understanding, sir, with any labored attempt to prove to you that the descendants of African parents, born in this country, have as good a claim to a residence in it, as the descendants of English, German, Danish, Scotch, or Irish parents.

You will not attempt to prove that every native colored person you meet in the streets, has not the same right to remain in this his native land, that you and we have. a.s.suming this as an incontrovertable truth, we hold it self-evident that they have as good right to deport us to Europe, under the pretext that there we shall be prosperous and happy, as we have to deport them to Africa on a similar plea."

And in another part thereof, in the said reply, the following words: "In what language could the unrighteous principles of denying freedom to colored people in this country, (which amounts to the same thing as demanding the expulsion of those already free,) be more effectually and yet more plausibly inculcated than in those very words of Gen. Harper you have, with so much approbation, quoted to us."

And in another part thereof, in the said reply, the following words: "Against this doctrine of suspending emanc.i.p.ation upon the contingency or condition of expatriation we feel bound to protest; because we believe that every man has a right to reside in his native country if he chooses, and that every man's native country is the country in which he was born--that no man's right to freedom is suspended upon, or taken away by his desire to remain in his native country--that to make a removal from one's own native country a _sine qua non_ of setting him free when held in involuntary bondage, is the climax of moral absurdity."

And in another part thereof, in a certain other article, ent.i.tled "Three months' residence, or seven weeks on a sugar plantation, by Henry Whitby," containing the most shocking and disgusting details of cruel, inhuman, and immoral treatment of slaves by the owners and overseers, and attorneys or agents of proprietors, according to the tenor and effect following--that is to say: "On this and other occasions, I thought it my duty to acquaint the attorney with my observations and feelings in regard to the cruel floggings and severe treatment generally which I have witnessed at New Ground. He admitted the facts, but said that plantation work could not be carried on without the cart-whip. He moreover labored hard to convince me that the flogging did not injure the health of the negroes. I also told him of the exceeding immorality and licentiousness which I had witnessed; mentioning, in substance, the facts previously detailed. He replied that "that was a thing which they must wink at." If a man in manners so much the gentleman, and in other respects so estimable, was necessarily led to countenance or wink at the enormities I have feebly attempted to describe, what, I ask, is to be expected from its subordinate administrators who are continually exposed to the demoralizing influences of slavery? what, indeed, but the frightful wickedness and cruelty which are its actual fruits?"--in contempt of the laws, to the disturbance of the public peace, to the evil example of all others, and against the peace and government of the United States.

2d. The second count charges the publication of another libel, containing among other things, in one part thereof, the following words, viz: "Our plan of emanc.i.p.ation is simply this--to promulgate the doctrine of human rights in high places and low places, and all places where there are human beings--to whisper it in chimney corners, and to proclaim it from the house tops, yea, from the mountain tops--to pour it out like water from the pulpit and the press--to raise it up with all the force of the inner man from infancy to grey hairs--to give line upon line, precept upon precept, till it forms one of the foundation principles and parts indestructible of the public soul."

And in another part thereof, the following, viz: "I (meaning the said Crandall) am not unaware that my remarks may be regarded by many as dangerous and exceptionable; that I may be regarded as a fanatic for quoting the language of eternal truth; and denounced as an incendiary for maintaining in the spirit, as well as the letter, the doctrines of American Independence. But if such are the consequences of a simple performance of duty, I shall not regard them. If my feeble appeal but reaches the hearts of any who are now slumbering in iniquity; if it shall have power given it to shake down one stone from that foul temple where the blood of human victims is offered to the moloch of slavery; if, under Providence, it can break one fetter from off the image of G.o.d, and enable one suffering African

------------To feel The weight of human misery less, and glide Ungroaning to the tomb--

I shall not have written in vain; my conscience will be satisfied. Far be it from me to cast new bitters in the gall and wormwood waters of sectional prejudice. No, I desire peace--the peace of universal love--of catholic sympathy--the peace of common interest--a common feeling--a common humanity. But so long as slavery is tolerated, no such peace can exist. Liberty and slavery cannot dwell in harmony together. There will be a perpetual war in the members of the political _Mezentius_--between the living and the dead. G.o.d and man have placed between them an everlasting barrier--an eternal separation. No matter under what law or compact their union is attempted, the ordination of Providence has forbidden it--and it cannot stand. Peace! there can be no peace between justice and oppression--between robbery and righteousness--truth and falsehood--freedom and slavery. The slaveholding States are not free.

The name of Liberty is there, but the spirit is wanting. They do not partake of its invaluable blessings.

"Wherever slavery exists to any considerable extent, with the exception of some recently settled portions of the country, and which have not yet felt, in a great degree, the baneful and deteriorating influence of slave labor--we hear, at this moment, the cry of suffering. We are told of gra.s.s-grown streets--of crumbling mansions--of beggared planters, and barren plantations--of fear from without--of terror within. The once fertile fields are wasted and tenantless: for the curse of slavery--the improvidence of that laborer whose hire has been kept back by fraud--has been there, poisoning the very earth, beyond the reviving influence of the early and the latter rain. A moral mildew mingles with, and blasts the economy of nature. It is as if the finger of the everlasting G.o.d had written upon the soil of the slaveholder the language of his displeasure.

"Let then the slaveholding States consult their present interest by beginning, without delay, the work of emanc.i.p.ation. If they fear not, and mock at the fiery indignation of Him to whom vengeance belongeth, let temporal interest persuade them. They know, they must know, that the present state of things cannot long continue. Mind is the same every where, no matter what may be the complexion of the frame which it animates; there is a love of liberty which the scourge cannot eradicate. A hatred of oppression which centuries of degradation cannot extinguish. The slave will become conscious, sooner or later, of his strength--his physical superiority--and will exert it. His torch will be at the threshold, and his knife at the throat of the planter. Horrible and indiscriminate will be the vengeance. Where then will be the pride, the beauty, and the chivalry of the South. The smoke of her torment will rise upward, like a thick cloud, visible over the whole earth."

3d. The third count charged the defendant with publis.h.i.+ng twelve other libels, in which are represented and exhibited "several disgusting prints and pictures of white men in the act of inflicting, with whips, cruel and inhuman beatings and stripes upon young and helpless and unresisting black children; and inflicting with other instruments, cruel and inhuman violence upon slaves, and in a manner not fit and proper to be seen and represented; calculated and intended to excite the good people of the United States in said county to violence against the holder of slaves in said county as aforesaid, and calculated and intended to excite the said slaves in said county, to violence and rebellion against their said masters in said county; in contempt of the laws, to the disturbance of the public peace, to the evil example of all others, and against the peace and government of the United States."

All these counts contained averments that at the time of the publication of these libels, the citizens of the United States residing in the county of Was.h.i.+ngton, in the District of Columbia, were lawfully authorized to hold slaves as property, and many of them did so hold them--and that many free persons of color also reside in the District; and that the defendant, unlawfully, maliciously, and seditiously, contriving and intending to traduce, vilify, and bring into hatred and contempt, among the citizens of the United States, the laws and government of the United States in the county of Was.h.i.+ngton as duly established and in force, and to inflame and excite the people of the United States to resist and oppose and disregard the laws and Government aforesaid, and the rights of the proprietors of slaves in the said county, and to inflame and excite to violence, against the said proprietors of the said slaves, not only the ignorant and ill disposed among the free people of the United States and the free persons of color in the said county, but also the slaves; and to produce among the said slaves and free persons of color, insubordination, violence, and rebellion, and to stir up war and insurrection between the said slaves and their said masters, published the said libels, containing among other things divers false, malicious and seditious matters, of and concerning the laws and Government of the United States in the said District, and of and concerning the citizens of the United States holding slaves in the said District, and of and concerning the said slaves and free persons of color, and their labor, services, and treatment, and the state of slavery in the said District.

The defendant pleaded not guilty.

_The District Attorney_ opened the case for the Government. He said this was a serious and important charge of publis.h.i.+ng inflammatory and seditious libels, which was always an indictable offence. In this particular case, situated as the population of the District is, it was peculiarly dangerous and atrocious. In point of law, it would be necessary to prove a publication; that the prisoner did in some way or other exhibit or circulate one or more of the libels; and with that view he should connect evidence that he was found with many similar libels of a most dangerous and inflammatory tendency, with the words "_read and circulate_" upon them, in writing which Crandall admitted to be his own handwriting; and that he gave different and contradictory accounts of how he came by them, and how they came here in his possession. Also, that similar libels were dropped into the post-office, and sent by n.o.body could tell whom, to almost every body in the District. After proving these facts, he said he should carry the libels before the jury, and let them judge whether the prisoner could have been here with any good motive, or have such a ma.s.s of obnoxious papers with any good purpose.

_Mr. c.o.xe_ wished to state, at the outset, what he understood to be the law. The libels charged were not upon individuals, nor the Government, but were said to be designed to excite the whole community; and therefore publication or circulation with the intent charged, would be necessary to sustain the prosecution. Possession, however bad or dangerous the libels might be, was no crime; any man might have and keep the worst libels with entire innocence; and in this case, it would be no evidence of malicious or dangerous intent that he loaned or gave one to respectable individuals, who would not be injured and would not do any injury to others.

_Henry King_ testified that about last June or July, he knew Crandall in Georgetown, where he came and took an office as a botanist, and followed that business.

_Key_ handed him a pamphlet, and asked if he had seen any like it; stating, upon objection being made by c.o.xe, that his object was to show that Crandall gave the witness such a paper to read.

_c.o.xe_ objected to the testimony, as furnis.h.i.+ng no ground of inference that the act of publication by giving the paper to a respectable white free man, was intended to create excitement, or was the result of a malicious intent.

_Key_ said he would connect this with other circ.u.mstances to show the intent. It was proper evidence to go to the jury, and they must judge what the intent really was.

_The Court_ ruled that the evidence was admissible; and,

_Henry King_ went on to testify: He was in Crandall's office in Georgetown, some time in July last. Received from Dr. Crandall a pamphlet similar to the one now shown him, called the "Anti-Slavery Reporter." There was something written on it, but can't say what it was. He left it at Linthic.u.m's store. Some one took it away from the store and it was lost.

_Judge Morsell._ Did Crandall make any remark, when you took the pamphlet?

_Witness._ No. Witness was looking at the botanical preparations in the office, and seeing this and other tracts on the subject of abolition lying about, he took up one and remarked, "the lat.i.tude is too far south for these things;" "they won't do here;" but, "by your leave, I will take this and read it over." Crandall was at the time engaged in taking out preparations of plants from a large trunk. There were three of these pamphlets on the table, but don't know whether they were taken from the trunk or not. Crandall used newspapers, or something like them, as wrappers for the preserved plants. Witness is not a slaveholder himself.

Witness after looking over the pamphlet threw it on the desk in Linthic.u.m's store, and afterwards threw it under the counter. When the excitement arose, looked for it and could not find it. Had thought nothing about it till then. Did not remember what words were written on the pamphlet. Crandall did not call his attention to the tracts.

He asked Crandall for the pamphlet, as a loan, and took it away with Crandall's leave. Crandall never asked for it afterwards. He saw something written on the pamphlet, and recollects that Crandall at his examination in the jail, admitted the words, "please read and circulate"

to have been written by himself. He saw in Crandall's shop two or three of them, not more than three. The plants were enveloped in large newspapers. Crandall had been in Georgetown about three weeks or a month, at this time. Witness was frequently in the shop. Crandall was much engaged in gathering and preserving plants.

_Key_ proposed to read from the pamphlet.

_c.o.xe_ objected that the publication, with the malicious intent charged, had not been proved, and that it was necessary before going into any other evidence to make out the fact of publication. The paper could not be read to show the intent, when no evidence of publication is offered to show such a publication as is charged; and he cited various authorities of no interest to the general reader.