Fugitive Slaves Part 35

=6. Slave autobiographies.=

Out of the great variety of original sources containing descriptions of slave life and escapes, the autobiographies of the slaves themselves are the most interesting, and often the saddest. The Rev. James Freeman Clarke says, in his Antislavery Days: "Even now, when it is all over, the flesh creeps and the blood curdles in the veins at the accounts of the dreadful cruelties practised on slaves in many parts of the South. I would advise no one to read such histories to-day unless his nerves are very well strung." _Frederick Dougla.s.s_ has given us two books, one written before slavery was abolished, and a fuller account afterward, when it was no longer imprudent to reveal the whole story of his escape.

Many of these lives were published by antislavery people, who wished by such means to rouse the North. Such are the stories of _Box Brown_, _Peter Still_, _Archy Moore_, _Solomon Northrup_, _Lunsford Lane_, and others, most of which have been quoted above.

=7. Records of trials.=

Much descriptive detail can often be found in the published reports of trials. A volume is devoted to the Oberlin-Wellington case, and several volumes have been published on the Burns trial. For the Prigg and Hanway cases, and others of importance, the records of the Supreme Court and lower courts have been consulted. Most of the important cases were tried in State courts or before commissioners, and the only reports are fugitive pamphlets, of which many have been consulted and cited.

=8. Speeches.=

In the study of public sentiment and for the weighing of argument the speeches of _Phillips_, _Sumner_, _Seward_, _Giddings_, _Webster_, _Mann_, _Rantoul_, _Loring_, and others, are of the greatest value. They often throw light upon obscure cases, and the fugitive slave stories brought in as ill.u.s.trations have sometimes led to the discovery of interesting and forgotten cases.

=9. Reminiscences.=

A valuable aid in reconstructing in the mind the conditions of the slavery struggle are the reminiscences of partic.i.p.ants. _Rev. James Freeman Clarke's Antislavery Days_ and _Mr. Parker Pillsbury's_ book have been helpful in these chapters. A pamphlet by _Mr. Austin Bea.r.s.e_ describes the Fugitive Slave Laws in Boston, and relates the work of the Vigilance Committee in protecting escaped negroes. The books of _Still_, _Smedley_, and _Coffin_, on the workings of the Underground Railroad, are composed chiefly of reminiscences, and have furnished many essential facts.

=10. Reports of societies.=

The reports of the various antislavery societies, especially of those of Ma.s.sachusetts and Pennsylvania, have also been examined with profit as to the work among the refugees in Canada, etc. For the colonial period the publications of the Ma.s.sachusetts and New York Historical Societies are exceedingly important, and have been freely drawn upon.

=11. Periodicals and newspapers.=

Not much has been gathered from periodicals. _Poole's Index_ was used and occasionally something of importance was discovered. Thus _The Freedman's Story_ in the _Atlantic Monthly_ has furnished one of the most striking of the stories about resistance to escapes. Such articles are few, and occur long after the slavery period, when such disclosures were no longer unpopular. _The Magazine of American History_ contains Several articles.

Among newspapers, the _Liberator_ is without doubt the most complete record of the extreme antislavery sentiment toward the fugitive slave laws and their workings. Each case as it occurs is fully commented upon, and in addition there is each week a column or two of atrocities, and among them stories of fugitives are often given. The Harvard College Library contains a complete file, which I have examined; and references to the Liberator are therefore frequent throughout the work. The colonial newspapers are of little value, except for the conclusions which may be drawn from the advertis.e.m.e.nts for runaways. Newspapers of that time were so limited in scope, that an affair so unimportant to them as a fugitive slave case would scarcely appear.

=12. Materials bearing on legislation.=

The materials for the study of colonial legislation must be gathered from many sources. The best collection of them in Boston may be found at the State Library. In some colonies there are carefully edited series of volumes chronologically arranged, but in others the records have been but irregularly printed. The laws of New Netherlands and of early New York are easily accessible in well printed volumes of a recent date. For the Southern States, the Hening edition of the Virginia Statutes at Large is clear, and covers a long period. There is also the Cooper collection for South Carolina, Bacon's series for Maryland, Iredell's edition of South Carolina Statutes, and Leaming and Spicer for New Jersey. There are of course many others, but these comprise the most important.

From the beginning of the Const.i.tutional period, the proceedings of Congress may be followed as minutely as desired. An outline of the proceedings is given in the Journals of the Senate and House, while for a fuller account and reports of speeches the Annals of Congress and Congressional Debates to 1837, and the Congressional Globes from 1833 to 1863, furnish ample material. Information in regard to the number and personnel of the House is most readily gathered from Poore's Congressional Directory.

=13. Alphabetical list of works.=

This list includes all the books and articles which have been of service in preparing the monograph, except a few of the general histories.

=Adams, Charles Francis, Jr.= Richard Henry Dana: a Biography. 2 vols.

Boston, 1890.

=Allen, H. W.= Trial of U. S. Deputy Marshal for Kidnapping, etc.

Syracuse, 1852.

=Amherstburg Quarterly Mission Journal=, Amherstburg, Canada West.

=Antislavery Almanacs=, miscellaneous collection of, in the Library of Harvard College.

=Antislavery Pamphlets=, miscellaneous collection of, unsuitable for binding, in the Library of Harvard College.

=Antislavery Societies=, Annual Reports of.

=Ball, J. P.= Mammoth Pictorial Tour of the United States, compiled for a Panorama. Cincinnati, 1855.

=Bayard, James.= A Brief Exposition of the Const.i.tution of the United States. Philadelphia, 1845.

=Bea.r.s.e, Anthony.= Remembrances of Fugitive Slave Law Days in Boston.

Boston, 1880. pp. 41.

=Birney, J. G.= Examination of the Decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the Case of Strader, Gorman, and Armstrong _vs._ Christopher Graham, 1850. Cincinnati, 1851. pp. 47.

=Bledsoe, Albert T.= An Essay on Liberty and Slavery. Philadelphia, 1887. pp. 383.

=Boston Slave Riot and Trial of Anthony Burns.= Boston, 1854.

=Bowditch, H. I.= To the Public. [Defence of his conduct in the case of Latimer against the charges of J. B. Gray.] Boston, 1842. pp. 11.

=Bowditch, W. I.= The Rendition of Anthony Burns. Boston, 1854. pp. 40.

=----.= The United States Const.i.tution a Pro-slavery Instrument. New York, 1855. pp. 12.

=Bowen, C. W.= Arthur and Lewis Tappan, a Paper read at the Fiftieth Anniversary of the New York City Antislavery Society, Oct. 2, 1883. New York, 1883. (?) pp. 116.

=Bowen, F.= Fugitive Slaves. In _North American Review_, LXXI. 252.

(July, 1850.)

=Brown, W. W.= Narrative of a Fugitive Slave. Boston, 1848. pp. 144.

=b.u.mp, O. F.= Notes of Const.i.tutional Decisions, being the Digest of the Provincial Interpretations of the Const.i.tution of the United States, etc. New York, 1878.

=Canada Mission=, 7th Annual Report of. Rochester, N. Y.

=Case of William R. Chaplin=, etc. Boston, 1851. pp. 54.

=Chambers, William.= American Slavery and Color. London, 1857.

=Chase, S. P.= Reclamation of Fugitive Slaves from Service, an Argument for the Defendant, submitted to the Supreme Court of the United States at December Term, 1840, in Case of W. Jones _vs._ John Van Zandt.

Cincinnati, 1847. pp. 108.

=Child, Lydia Maria.= The Duty of Disobedience to the Fugitive Slave Act (an Appeal to the Legislators of Ma.s.s.). Boston, 1860. pp. 36.

=----.= Isaac T. Hopper (a True Life). Boston, 1853. pp. 120.