Chatham Convention
© Boyd B. Stutler Collection, West Virginia State Archives
John Brown organized the Chatham convention in Ontario to discuss his “Provisional
Constitution.” The convention began on May 8, 1858 with white and black anti-slavery
activists attending. It was held at a black schoolhouse to avoid interference by curious,
white Chatham residents. At the convention Brown spoke about his plan to establish a
military stronghold in the mountains that runaway slaves could use as a haven and
choose to join his militant cause. Brown’s Provisional Constitution also mentioned his
plans for an insurrection—his attack on Harpers Ferry. Though invited, national
figures like Frederick Douglass and Jermain Wesley Loguen did not attend.
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Prior to his raid on Harpers Ferry, John Brown sent out invitations to what he called
a “quiet convention” for “true friends of freedom” (Landon 174). Conflicting reports
indicate that between 44 and 46 delegates attended the meeting, which took place
over a two-day period in a single story black schoolhouse in Chatham, Ontario. The
majority of the attendees were black leaders who had been wrestling with the
emigration question as a solution to racism in the United States. Among the more
notable delegates were Martin Delany (who had fled the U.S. for Chatham in 1856)
and William C. Monroe. Emigration proponent Monroe apparently served as
President over the meeting; he came from Detroit with William Lambert, who had
also been active in the Michigan Anti-Slavery Society and the Colored Vigilant
Committee of Detroit. Several secondary sources suggest that Harriet Tubman was
in attendance, but no primary evidence confirms this rumor; all of the known
signatories of the “Provisional Constitution” were men, which Brown himself
apparently insisted upon (Quarles 41, 44; Landon 174, Hamilton 132). Thirteen of
the attendees were white members of Brown’s motley militia.
According to historian Benjamin Quarles, the Chatham Convention was supposed to
be a secret. Apparently attendees were instructed to tell anyone who asked that
they were meeting to discuss the formation of a Masonic lodge. However, when
rumors began to spread in Chatham that a mixed-race group of men were going to
be forming a lodge, locals began gathering around the school in hopes that they
could catch a glimpse of the famed conspiratorial activities of this strange black and
white Masonic group. Despite the attention, the meeting continued as planned but
was moved to an all-black fire house down the street (Quarles 46).
Brown was said to have given a speech at the Convention wherein he outlined his
plans to establish a military stronghold in the mountains—the rumored
“Subterranean Pass Way”—that would act as a safe haven for runaway slaves who
wanted to join his militant fight against slavery (Rollin 87-88). He assured his
listeners that his plan would be successful because he had been studying
insurrectionary warfare, particularly the history of the Haitian Revolution and the
military strategy of Toussaint L’Ouverture (Quarles 46, Landon 132). Although his
speech and Provisional Constitution indicate that Brown’s audience was clearly
aware that he was planning an insurrection, it is not clear that he revealed to them
that his plan was to sack Harpers Ferry, the only armory in the nation outside of
Massachusetts.
Brown invited several key leaders who decided not to attend, including Frederick
Douglass, Jermain Wesley Loguen, and Charles Lenox Remond. After the Harpers
Ferry raid failed, Delany distanced himself from the Chatham Convention, later
claiming in his biography that he was misled about Brown’s true intentions (Rollin
93).
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Works Cited & Further Reading
Anderson, Osborne P. A Voice from Harper's Ferry. Boston: Printed for the author,
1861.
Hamilton, John Cleland. “John Brown in Canada.” Canadian Magazine of Politics,
Science, Art, & Literature 4 (1894): 132-140.
Landon, Fred. “Canadian Negroes and the John Brown Raid.” The Journal of Negro
History 6, no. 2 (1921): 174-182.
Mason, J. M., and Jacob Collamer. Report of the Select Committee of the Senate
Appointed to Inquire into the Late Invasion and Seizure of the Public Property
at Harper's Ferry. Washington D.C.: 36th Congress, 1860.
Quarles, Benjamin. Allies for Freedom & Blacks and John Brown. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1974.
Rollin, Frank A. Life and Public Services of Martin R. Delany. Boston: Lee and Shepard,
1868.
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