USA > New York > New York City > History of New York City : embracing an outline sketch of events from 1609 to 1830, and a full account of its development from 1830 to 1884, Volume I > Part 35
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sented, received with gratitude, and acknowledged in pleasing terms by the recipient.
This superb medal was made of solid gold from the mines of North Carolina ; those of California were then unsuspected. It weighed one hundred and fifty-seven pennyweights. In the centre of a rich frame- work were medallions bearing the portraits of Washington and Lafayette inclosed in a wreath of olive and laurel leaves. Above the medallions was a Roman lictor's axe inclosed in fasces, and below these an escutcheon containing the coat-of-arms of the National Guard. The whole was surmounted by a spread-eagle standing upon a globe, on which were the words " America and France." On each side were the flags of America and France combined. On a scroll at the base of the medal were the words "Pro Patria et Gloria." This medal was furnished by Marquand & Brother, then the leading jewellers of New York, who employed Bowler & Ward, of Poughkeepsie, to execute the work. The die was cut by Ward. The writer watched the progress of the work with great interest. An engraving of the medal, the natural size, appeared in the New York Mirror in 1832, and in the American Historical Record in 1874.
Under the title of Twenty-seventh Regiment National Guard the corps performed its duty faithfully in military drills and as defenders of public order in the city of New York on several occasions, until 1847, when the governor of the State ordered that the regiment, then under the command of Colonel Bremmer, " be thereafter called and known as the Seventh Regiment National Guard." Such is the genesis and early history of this yet famous regiment. We shall meet it on important fields of duty hereafter.
In the summer of 1834 the peace of the city of New York was fear- fully disturbed by riotous proceedings directed against the advocates of the freedom of the slaves in our country. From the foundation of our national government the public mind had been much agitated from time to time by discussions concerning the slavery of negroes in our land. Indeed before the Revolution their emancipation was strongly urged by benevolent and enlightened men, not only from humane considerations, but as a wise measure of political economy.
In the midst of the political excitement in Massachusetts in 1766, growing out of the Stamp Aet quarrel, this topic was the cause of a warm controversy, in which Nathaniel Appleton and James Swan, merchants of Boston, distinguished themselves as writers on the side of human freedom. This controversy was renewed from time to time until 1773, when it became so warm that it was the subject of disputa-
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tions at Harvard College. The Colonial Assembly made efforts to restrict the further importation of negroes into the province, and a test suit was carried into the Supreme Court. on the question whether any person could be held as a slave in Massachusetts. It took the form of a suit by a negro to recover wages from his alleged master. The court decided in favor of the slave.
During the old war for independence the consciences of many prom- inent slaveholders made them question the righteousness of holding their fellow-men in bondage. Henry Laurens expressed his conviction that men fighting for their own freedom could hardly expect the favor of God in their undertaking while they held other human beings in slavery. Societies were formed to create public opinion in favor of the emancipation of the blacks. One established in Philadelphia had Dr. Franklin for its president and Dr. Rush for its secretary.
After the war these humane efforts were continued. In 1785 the Manumission Society of New York was established, of which John Jay was president. The society of Friends or Quakers always formed a permanent anti-slavery society, and were ever active. They presented the first petition to the National Congress for the abolition of slavery. In 1815 an abolition society was formed in Ohio. During the debate in Congress and out of it, on the admission of Missouri into the Union as a State (1820-21). the country was fearfully agitated by the discus- sion of the slavery question. The subject was vehemently revived in 1831 by the utterances of the Liberator, an anti-slavery newspaper published in Boston by William Lloyd Garrison, which denounced slavery as "a sin against God and a crime against humanity." On the basis of such sentiments an anti-slavery society was formed in Boston in 1832, and the next year the American Anti-Slavery Society was organized in Philadelphia, which existed until the institution of slavery was destroyed by the fires of the great Civil War in 1861-65.
Among the opponents of slavery in this decade the Friends or Quakers were the most earnest, the most prudent, and the most prac- tical. They warred against the institution, not against its supporters. . They condemned the system of slavery as unjust and unrighteous, but did not denounce slaveholders. They did not stand behind their safe position in a Northern State and abuse the Southern people, but they went among the Southern people themselves and tried to persuade them to renounce their unrighteous labor system.
One of the boldest and truest of these preachers of righteousness was Elias Hicks, of Long Island. In Virginia and the Carolinas he preached more vigorously against slavery than in New York and
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Pennsylvania. As a rule he was listened to with interest and kindly treated. Sometimes, however, he aroused indignation, but always met it boldly. On one occasion a hearer left the meeting in flaming anger, and swore he would "shoot that fellow" if he came near his planta- tion. Hicks heard of the threat, and after meeting put on his hat and went straight to the planter's house. The man was at dinner. In a little while he appeared, when Hicks, in a calin and dignified manner. said :
"I understand thou hast threatened to blow out the brains of Elias Ilicks if he comes upon thy plantation. I am Elias Hicks."
The Virginian said he thought he would be justified in doing such a deed when a man came to preach rebellion to his slaves.
" I came to preach the Gospel, " said the Quaker, " which inculcates forgiveness of injuries upon slaves as well as upon other men. But tell me, if thou canst, how this Gospel can be truly preached, without showing the slaves that they are injured, and thus making a man of thy sentiments feel as if they were encouraged in rebellion."
A long and friendly argument ensued. At parting the slaveholder shook hands with the preacher, and invited him to come again. Hicks repeated the visit, and six months afterward this Virginian emanci- pated his slaves .*
So early as the autumn of 1833 there were abundant symptoms of a riotous spirit among the ignorant and dangerous classes in the city of New York, directed against the " abolitionists, " as the anti-slavery people were now called. The vigorous and aggressive onslaughts upon the institution of slavery which the Anti-Slavery Society was then making had created a feeling of intense opposition among all classes, especially business men in the city of New York connected with the Southern trade, and the champions of a holy cause soon found they were breasting an almost irresistible current. The lofty motives which animated the philanthropists were not comprehended or given sufficient weight by the general public, and the anti-slavery people were re- garded as pragmatical fanaties. Nor were the methods of the aboli- tionists always judicious or wise.
The avowed object of the anti-slavery societies had created alarm and indignation and chronic irritation among the people of the slave- labor States, and very soon the muttering thunder of threats of disunion were heard. This ominous sound disturbed the nerves of commerce at the North. New York City especially was intimately
* " Life of Isaac T. Hopper," by Lydin Maria Child.
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connected in interest with all the business centres in the South, and when her merchants and other business men observed their Southern customers becoming suspicious and less cordial, and disposed more and more to halt at Baltimore, they naturally regarded the abolitionists a; the enemies of the Union-at least enemies of a unity of feeling be- tween the people of the two sections of the Republic.
The opposition to the abolitionists everywhere was intensified by the course pursued by William Lloyd Garrison, who was in England in 1833. He joined the anti-slavery men of that country in fierce denun- ciations of his own land before the world, as inconsistent in its policy, false in its high pretensions as the guardian of free institutions. and criminal in a high degree. The patriotism of our people was shocked. and the old prejudices against the " Britishers" was aroused. As Garrison was regarded as the embodiment of the principles and designs of the Anti-Slavery Society, there was a general feeling that the aboli- tionists must be put down. When, therefore, in the fall of 1839 Garrison returned, and a notice appeared of a meeting of the anti- slavery champions in the city of New York to be held in Clinton Hall, some of the most respectable men in the city resolved to attend the meeting, and by the weight of numbers and character crush what the: deemed the head of the dangerous serpent of disunion. A more excit- able, less scrupulous, and more disreputable class of citizens determined to accomplish that object in another way. Accordingly on the 2d of October they posted a placard, in large letters, all over the city, con- ยท taining these words :
" NOTICE. " TO ALL PERSONS FROM THE SOUTH ! " All persons interested in the subject of the meeting called by
J. LEAVITT, W. GREEN, LEWIS TAPPAN, at Clinton Hall this evening at 7 o'clock, are requested to at- tend at the same hour and place. " MANY SOUTHERNERS. "New York, October 2d, 1833.
W. GOODELL, . J. RANKIN,
" N.B. All citizens who may feel disposed to manifest the true feeling of the State on this subject are requested to at- tend."
This deceptive notice-this false assignment of the authorship of it -- was calculated to enlist the sympathies of a large class of citizens, and the wicked hint given in the nota bene was evidently intended to mar- shal a host of the dangerous class in the city.
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Soon after six o'clock a crowd began to gather in front of Clinton Hlall. It was soon ascertained that there was a notice on the door that no meeting would be held. Many citizens immediately went home, but still the crowd swelled until it numbered thousands and filled the air with tumultuous shouts and execrations. Hundreds rushed into the hall until the audience-room was densely packed. A meeting was organized, and at a quarter past seven o'clock it adjourned to Tam- many Hall, where it was reorganized. A man was about to address the assembled people when a person suddenly entered the room, and going to the chairman informed him that the abolition meeting an- nounced to be held at Clinton Hall was at that moment in progress at the Chatham Street Chapel.
"To the chapel ! To the chapel ! Let us go and disperse them !" shouted several voices, and the crowd surged with excitement. The chairman, who was an order-loving citizen, told them they had met to pass certain resolutions, and when that business was ended they might act as they pleased. The resolutions condemnatory of the abolitionists and containing assurances of support to the Constitution and laws were passed, when a large proportion of the meeting rushed for the Chatham Street Chapel. The few persons gathered there, apprised of their danger, had left, and the crowd found the room empty, with the doors open and the lights all burning.
An expected tragedy was now changed into a farce. The passions of the crowd had subsided, and they were in good Inmunor. They took possession of the deserted room and appointed a jolly colored man who had taken part with them chairman of the meeting. He was addressed by the name of one of the leading abolitionists. After passing some absurd resolutions and receiving the solemn thanks of the chairman for the honor they had conferred upon him. the crowd dispersed with laughter, songs, and hilarious shouts as they passed into the street and went home. The champions of freedom who had assembled at the chapel had stolen a march on the crowd at Clinton and Tammany halls. They had quietly formed the " New York City Anti-Slavery Society."
In the anti-slavery movements up to this period (and afterward to the period of his death) one of the most zealous, active, and judicious of the friends of the slave was the Hon. William Jay. The slaves in the State of New York were emancipated by law on the 4th of July. 1827. In September following, in his charge to the grand jury of Westchester County. Judge Jay said, in allusion to the grost ast :
" I cannot forbear to congratulate you on that event. so auspicious
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to the character and happiness of the community. Within a few months more than ten thousand of our fellow-citizens have been restored to those rights which our fathers in the Declaration of Ind ... pendence pronounced to be inalienable. and to have been granted to all men by their Creator. As yet we have no reason to suppose that crimes have multiplied or the public peace disturbed by the emancipa tion of our slaves ; nor can we fear that He who commanded us to do justice and love mercy will permit us to suffer by obeying His injune- tions."
The city of New York became the headquarters of the American Anti-Slavery Society, which was formed at Philadelphia December 30. 1833. At the suggestion of Judge Jay, they explicitly defined their political principles in the constitution of the society by declaring : 1. That each State in which slavery exists has, by the Constitution of the United States, the exclusive right to legislate in regard to abolition in that State ; 2. That they would endeavor, in a constitutional way, to influence Congress to put an end to the domestic slave trade and to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, and likewise to prevent the extension of slavery to any State that might thereafter be admitted to the Union ; 3. That the society and its auxiliaries will never, in any way, countenance the oppressed in vindicating their rights by resorting to physical force.
These declarations formed an essential part of the work of Judge Jay # in the fashioning of the constitution of the society, for it was at
* William Jay, LL.D., second son of Chief Justice Jay, was born at Bedford, West- chester County, N. Y., June 16, 1798. He graduated at Yale College in 1808, and entered upon the duties of the legal profession. At the age of twenty-three he married Miss Augusta Me Vickar, of New York City. During his mature life he was continually engaged in philanthropic efforts for the elevation, well-being, and happiness of mankind. earnestly advocating temperance, peace, and freedom from slavery of every kind. So early as 1815 he founded a temperance society.
Mr. Jay was one of the founders and able defenders of the American Bible Society. In 1818 Governor Tompkins appointed him judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Westchester County. He continued on the bench until 1842, when he was relieved of the office by Governor Bonek, at the demand of the Southern wing of the Democratic party, on account of his anti-slavery opinions.
In 1826 a free colored man named Horton, living in Westchester County, went to Washington, where he was arrested and imprisoned as a fugitive slave. The sheriff advertised in the National Intelligencer that unless his owner called for him he would be sold to " pay jail fees and other expenses." A copy of the paper containing this adver- tisement accidentally fell into the hands of a resident of Westchester, who laid the mat- ter before Judge Jay. The latter at once asked Governor De Witt Clinton to demand from the authorities at Washington the instant release of the victim as a " free citizen of the State of New York." It was done, and Horton was released. This prompt action
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onee a declaration of its objects and an explanation of its designs. They were so judicious and sound in principle that auxiliary societies rapidly increased. So early as 1839, sixteen hundred and fifty auxil- iary societies had adopted the political principles of this constitution, which in 1855 were made the basis of the Republican party.
The winter of 1833-34 passed without any occasion for public dis- turbance. In the spring of 1834 occurred the fearful election riot, already described, which aroused the passions of the lower orders of society. This riot was followed by seizures and carrying away to the South of several colored people in the city on the pretence that they were fugitive slaves.
These outrages excited the indignation and stimulated the zeal of the members of the Anti-Slavery Society. They became more vigilant, active, and determined than ever, and there were accessions of good and brave men to their ranks. But the tide of opposition to their cause rose rapidly as their zeal bore fruit. Some of the newspapers of
on the part of Judge Jay and its results initiated movements from time to time for the repeal of the laws authorizing such arrests and for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia.
When, in 1835, President Jackson in his annual message to Congress called the atten- tion of that body to the doings of the anti-slavery societies as " repugnant to the princi- ples of our national compact and to the dictates of humanity and religion," and sug- gested to Congress the passage of a law to prohibit "the circulation in the Southern States through the mails of incendiary publications intended to instigate the slaves to insurrection"-denouncing the sending of these publications as " unconstitutional and wicked attempts" to do mischief-the executive committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society at New York, to whose members and auxiliaries the President's language was intended to apply, promptly met this attack by an elaborate, dignified, and powerful protest against the accusation. It was written by Judge Jay.
That protest suggested to the President the propriety of ascertaining the real designs of the abolitionists before his misapprehension should lead him to sanction any more trifling with the liberties of the press (which postmasters had already done by refusing to send anti-slavery publications through the mails). He was reminded that there were then (1835) 350 anti-slavery societies, with thousands of members , and the executive committee invited Congress to appoint a committee of investigation to visit their office at New York, pledging themselves to put in possession of such committee their publica- tions and correspondence, and to answer, under oath, all interrogations.
" To repel your charges and to disabuse the public, " said the protest, " was a duty we owed to ourselves, our children, and above all to the great and holy cause in which we are engaged. That cause is, we believe, approved by our Maker ; and while we retain this belief it is our intention, trusting to his direction and protection, to persevere in our endeavors to impress upon the minds and hearts of our countrymen the sinfulness of claiming property in human beings, and the duty and wisdom of immediately relinquish- ing it. When convinced that our endeavors are wrong, we shall abandon them, but such convictions must be produced by other arguments than vituperation, popular violence, or penal enactments."
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the city pandered to the evil passions of the lower and the dangerous classes. They even suggested a course of open hostility to the aboli- tionists, and acts of violence, with a view to crush the " pestilent fac- tion." This reprehensible cultivation of a mob spirit soon produced bitter fruit.
On the evening of July 9th quite a large assembly of colored persons of both sexes occupied the Chatham Street Chapel for the purpose of listening to a sermon by a negro preacher. The New York Sacred Music Society had leased the building for use on certain evenings each week. They claimed that the evening of the 9th was one of them. At that time Police-Justice Lowndes was president of the society, and Dr. Rockwell was vice-president. They repaired to the chapel during the evening with some of the members of the society, and insisted that the colored people should immediately leave the building. The latter, having hired and paid for it, refused to leave. High words ensued. which were speedily exchanged for blows. In the fracas loaded canes were freely used, lamps and chairs were broken, and two or three per-
The previous year (1834) Judge Jay had completed and published the life and corre- spondence of his father, in two volumes, also " An Inquiry into the Character of the American Colonization and Anti-Slavery Societies." The next year, when the Legisla- ture of the State of New York had under consideration a law restricting the freedom of speech, he said to the grand jury of Westchester County : " Any law that may be passed to abridge in the slightest degree the freedom of speech or of the press, or to shield any one subject for discussion, will be utterly null and void, and it will be the duty of every good citizen to resist, with energy and decision, so palpable a violation of the Constitu. tion."
In 1835 the American Anti-Slavery Society issued an official manifesto of their princi- ples, to remove false impressions as to their views and methods, addressed " To the Public." It was written by Judge Jay, and signed by Arthur Tappan, as president, and John Rankin, William Jay, Elizur Wright, Abraham L. Cox, Lewis Tappan, S. S. Cornish. S. S. Jocelyn, and Theodore S. Dwight. It denounced the unconstitutional usurpation of the government to protect slavery, and to prevent free discussion and the freedom of the mails, and closed with these words of warning : "Surely we need not remind you that if you submit to such an encroachment on your liberties the days of our Republic are numbered, and that although abolitionists may be the first, they will not be the last victims offered at the shrine of arbitrary power." This manifesto attracted great atten- tion at home and abroad, being widely translated and commented upon in Europe.
After 1835 Judge Jay published many papers on the subjects largely filling his mind and heart-the condition of the slaves, the relations of the National Government to slavery, the violation by Congress of the right of petition, an address to the non-slave- holders in the slave-labor States, etc.
Soon after leaving the bench Judge Jay visited Europe and extended his tour to Egypt, where, with Sir Gardiner Wilkinson, he investigated the subject of slavery in Egypt. He was for many years president of the American Peace Society. In 1848 he was visited by an earnest champion of peace, Joseph Sturge, an English Friend or Quaker, and showed his guest some pages of a work which was printed soon afterward, entitled " War
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sons were quite seriously injured. A large crowd gathered around the door and a serious riot was threatened, but the police in strong num- bers soon appeared and drove the whole crowd, white and black, from the building. But the fracas continued for some time in the street. Lewis Tappan, being recognized as one of the listeners to the colored preacher, was followed to his house in Rose Street by a portion of the crowd, who greeted him with vells and execrations, and pelted his house with stones after he entered it.
A crowd gathered in front of the chapel the next evenmg (July 10). They found it closed and its portals locked. They were burst open, the crowd rushed in, and an anti-abolition meeting was organized, with W. W. Wilder in the chair. In a speech he denounced the aboli- tion movement as dangerous, and proposed to adjourn until the next meeting of the Anti-Slavery Society. It was agreed to, but the more excitable and evil-disposed portion of the crowd were not satisfied. A voice cried out :
" To the Bowery Theatre !"
and Peace : the Evils of the First, with a Plan for Preserving the Last." It advocated international treaties stipulating to refer future international differences to arbitration, as was done in 1871-72 in the Alabama cases. Mr. Sturge published it in England, and it was received with great favor. This plan, after being indersed by peace conventions at Brussels, Paris, and London, led to the adoption of the famous protocol by the con- gress at Paris, after the Crimean war in 1854, by seven European states, including Prus. sia, which declared their wish to resort to arbitration before appealing to arms. " It is an act important to civilization, " said Lord Malmesbury ; and " worthy of immortal re- nown," said Lord Derby.
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