The Kansas Conflict

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER I. SLAVERY AND ANTI-SLAVERY. COLONIZATION SOCIETY.? AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. LIBERTY AND FREE- SOIL PARTIES. On Kansas soil was gained the first decisive victory against the slave power of this nation. Had her pioneers failed to make Kansas a free State, slavery to-day would have been...
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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER I. SLAVERY AND ANTI-SLAVERY. COLONIZATION SOCIETY.? AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. LIBERTY AND FREE- SOIL PARTIES. On Kansas soil was gained the first decisive victory against the slave power of this nation. Had her pioneers failed to make Kansas a free State, slavery to-day would have been national and freedom sectional. From the year 1820 to 1854 the triumphal march of the slave power had been uninterrupted, and the time seemed at hand when the defiant threat of a Southern planter, that he would call the roll of his slaves under the shadow of Bunker Hill Monument, would be fulfilled. This may seem an extravagant claim, but it is susceptible of proof. Before this nation was born, while the Pilgrim Fathers were fleeing from the oppression of the Old World, and seeking liberty on the rock-bound coast of New England, a cargo of twenty African slaves was landed in Virginia, in the month of August, 1619. From this seed thus planted sprung the upas tree that overshadowed the land. At first no Mason and Dixon's line divided the country, but nearly all the Colonies had more or less slaves, not excepting New York and Massachusetts. The slave trade, carried on in Spanish, English, and Dutch ships, was very lucrative, and plied with energy till the question of holding slaves became one of public consideration. Good men from the first deplored the existence of slavery, and hoped for its early disappearance. Among them were Washington, Jefferson, Rush, Franklin, Jay, Hamilton, Hopkins, Wesley, Whitefield, Edwards, and others. As early as 1688 l the Quakers of Pennsylvania protested against the buying, selling, and holding men in slavery. In 1696 the yearly meeting advised that the members should discourage the introduction of slavery, and be careful of the moral and i...