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to Peter DeWitt re: slave trade

Robert Livingston, Jr. describes the multiple deaths of enslaved people on a trading vessel, and expresses disappointment at the financial loss.

GLC03107.04449

to Peter DeWitt re: orders for trade

John Livingston asks DeWitt to sell the remainder of his enslaved people, and also orders some cattle and pigs. Docketed on address leaf.

GLC03107.04451

To: Augustus E. Silliman.

Regarding threats to the government, including slavery: "The dangers to the duration of our Government are all within control of the people. We have nothing to fear from without upcoming elections, which magnify differences."

GLC07960

to Mr. White

Letterpress copy. Discusses his concerns about the navy, and mentions a "few ships of War, and the french [sic] have a few, would in a few days convey an army of ten thousand blacks and people of color in Vessels seized from our own citizens."...

GLC02437.07154

to Mary Hughes

More details of Judge Thompson's deception; requesting ten dollars in greenbacks or Ohio bills; news from Mr. Staub that he is quartered near 20,000 contrabands, 20 of whom are infected with smallpox.

GLC02166.085

Speeches of Gerrits Smith. In Congress, 1853-'4.

Published by Buell and Blanchard. Includes speeches by Smith on war, the homestead bill, the Nebraska bill, the Pacific Railroad, the postal system, the reciprocity treaty, and the sale of intoxicating drinks in Washington, D.C., among other topics...

GLC04717.02

Speech of Gerrit Smith in the Kansas meeting, at the capitol in Albany, March 13th 1856.

At the Capitol in Albany. Criticizes Missouri aid societies that offer large bounties to proslavery inhabitants of Kansas. Deplores the allowance of slavery in Missouri, referring to the Missouri Compromise as liberty bargaining with slavery. Also...

GLC04717.25

Letter of Gerrit Smith to S.P. Chase, on the unconstitutionality of every part of American slavery

Published by S. W. Green, Patriot Office. Letter was written at Peterboro, New York 1 November 1847. Chase recently disagreed with Smith's resolution at the National Convention of the Liberty party that slavery is unconstitutional. Argues that the...

GLC04717.01

Controversy between New-York Tribune and Gerrit Smith.

Printed by John A. Gray. Correspondence covers the Tribune's report that Smith was absent from the House of Representatives on the evening of the passage of the Nebraska Bill. The Tribune recently acknowledged Smith was present, and voted against...

GLC04717.04

Religion of reason, no. 4. The one test of character. A discourse by Gerrit Smith, in Peterboro, July twenty-second, 1860.

Published in New York City by Ross & Tousey. In closing, Smith writes, "The morals and manners of a church should be such, as to realize our highest conceptions of human dignity... Church of Peterboro! Be true to your own God at the approaching...

GLC04717.07

Report From the County of Madison.

Smith inspires Madison County abolitionists following a recent election: "We have 'kept' the whole antislavery 'faith.' We have stood up for all its righteous and glorious principles; and have stood by each other. We have pursued slavery, hotly and...

GLC04717.11

to William H. Seward

Informs Seward why he did not support Henry Clay, the Whig Candidate, in the Presidential election of 1844. Presents an argument as to why the Liberty Party did not support Clay: "Mr. Clay would not have been defeated, had he done his duty. If he...

GLC04717.12

To the Editors of the Emancipator, Boston

Discusses an extract of a letter he wrote in 1843 printed in a recent issue of the Emancipator. Pertains to Smith's views of the Liberty Party.

GLC04717.13

To J. K. Ingalls, editor of the Landmark, New-York

Smith writes, "I hardly need say, that I am deeply interested in the present movement against the extension of slavery; and that I infinitely prefer the election of the candidates, who are identified with it, to the election of the Whig and...

GLC04717.14

to Chancellor Walworth

Smith responds to a paper Walworth signed as chairman of an unspecified committee. Attacks Walworth's claim "that democracy and slavery may be in full fellowship with each other." Reuben Hyde Walworth served as Chancellor of the State of New York...

GLC04717.15

Gerrit Smith's reply to the colored citizens of Albany.

Smith writes: "Would, gentlemen, that the following mottos, which antislavery Conventions, in different parts of the State, are cordially adopting, were engraven on every heart: 'No slaveholder for civil office; and no person, who thinks a...

GLC04717.17

to William Goodell

Expresses his opinion that the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 will benefit the Whig party.

GLC04717.20

to William Henry Seward

Smith writes to Seward, a United States Senator from New York. Praises Seward's intellectualism and philanthropic spirit. Notes that Seward's recent speech on the Fugitive Slave Act "does not, in all respects, come up to my expectation of what...

GLC04717.21

Abolition documents. Number one. Principles and measures.

Created at the convention from 26-28 June in Syracuse. The abolitionists declare, "We...maintain that there can be no legitimate civil government, rightfully claiming support and allegiance as such, that is not authorized, nay, that is not morally...

GLC04717.22

To the New York Tribune

Smith discusses the Tribune's former claim that he was absent from the House of Representatives on the night of the Kansas-Nebraska Act's passage in 1854. Thanks the Tribune for finally admitting he was present in the House, and voted against the...

GLC04717.23

to Governor Chase, Ohio

Smith writes to Salmon Portland Chase, Governor of Ohio, also an abolitionist. Expresses his disappointment in Chase's Inaugural Address: "The habit of the whole country is to justify the pretensions of slavery, and, therefore, to adopt the...

GLC04717.24

Address reported by Gerrit Smith to the Jerry Rescue Convention, held in Syracuse October 1, 1857.

Regarding William "Jerry" Henry, who had been arrested under the Fugitive Slave Law in Syracuse in 1851, and rescued by local citizens. Smith commends the rescue, claiming no Christian can disapprove of the rescue. Discusses his disappointment in...

GLC04717.26

Personal Liberty Bill

Begins with a list of the foremost duties of the New York Legislature: to close the dramshops, to prevent withholding suffrage from Black men, and to protect the "weary and heart-broken fugitive slaves" within State limits. Includes an excerpt of a...

GLC04717.27

Compensated emancipation: a speech by Gerrit Smith, in the National Compensation Convention, held in Cleveland, Ohio, August 25, 26 and 27, 1857.

Smith declares, "We are here for the purpose of making a public and formal, and, as we hope, an impressive confession, that the North ought to share with the South in the temporary losses that will result from the abolition of Slavery. Indeed, such...

GLC04717.28

to John Thomas, Esq.

Smith declines Thomas's invitation to preside at the anniversary of the Rescue of Jerry, who had been arrested in Syracuse under the Fugitive Slave Law and freed by local citizens in 1851. Informs Thomas, Chairman of Jerry Rescue Committee: "The...

GLC04717.29