Michigan and the Abolitionist Movement These plays are written from primary source documents and revolve around the issue of fugitive slaves and the abolition movement in Michigan. Each play has a critical thinking question at the end. Have students read the plays and discuss the question. Created by the Education Staff at the Michigan Historical Center A Different Voice The Detroit Free Press Actors: Narrator Three Detroit Free Press Writers Narrator: Like most newspapers of the time, the Detroit Daily Free Press was a strong supporter of one political party—the Democrats. As the 1860 election approached, it used language that is painful to hear today as it criticized the Republicans and the person expected to get the Republican nomination for president, William Seward: Writer 1: October 16, 1859 Black republicanism has thus far lived and flourished solely by having been able to inflame the northern public mind with the belief that the leading men of the South and the pubic sentiment of that section are ultra and aggressive with reference to the institution of slavery. The South has not asked for and does not want either a slave code for the Territories or the reopening of the slave trade. Writer 2: November 18, 1859 Negroes both slave and free have no enemies so bad as the whole abolition fraternity. We wonder what it is proposed shall be done with the Negroes when the abolitionists shall abolish slavery in all the States. That is a question we have never yet heard answered by anybody except persons who believe in the perfect equality of races. What does Mr. Seward propose to do with them at the end of his “irrepressible conflict?” Writer 3: February 4, 1860 In the endeavor to relieve the black republican party of the odium of the Harper’s Ferry affair some of the leaders and newspaper prints of that party have declared it never has been its purpose to interfere with slavery in the States where it exists by law. But Mr. Seward’s teachings in that direction are patent. This was his language: “Slavery can and must be abolished and you and I must do it.” If all this does not mean interference with slavery in the States where it exists by law, what does it mean? Narrator: Do you think there was any possible common ground between the abolitionists and those who held the views of this newspaper? Voices for Abolition Based on materials published in the Signal of Liberty. Actors Narrator Signal of Liberty Editors (Theodore Foster and Guy Beckley) Colored Vigilance Committee Leaders ( William C. Monroe and William Lambert) Narrator: Abolitionists used the press, public meetings, resolutions and reports to make their views known. In the 1840s, from a printing office on Broadway Avenue in Ann Arbor, Guy Beckley and Theodore Foster published a weekly newspaper dedicated to the abolition of slavery. Signal of Liberty Editors: Ann Arbor, May 30, 1846. Civilization must recede, or Slavery must fall. Of the powerful indirect influence of a steadfast minority, proclaiming a great principle, we already have evidence all around us. What drove the old parties of Massachusetts to reform the legislation of the State in regard to the colored man? What has compelled the Whig party in New York in favor of extending suffrage to colored persons? The indirect power of such a minority. Augment this minority—let Truth continue to multiply its converts—and the legislation and politics of the free States will be modified accordingly, until at last the Whigs and Democrats will be compelled to concede something and to continue making concessions. Narrator: In Detroit, the Colored Vigilance Committee opposed injustice and worked to help all members of the black community. Its “Annual Report” was published in The Signal of Liberty on January 23, 1843. Colored Vigilance Committee Leaders: It was first proposed to organize a Committee of Vigilance from among our own people, to watch over our interests—to draft our petitions to the Legislature praying that we may enjoy the elective franchise, in common with other men. The object of the committee was to lay the foundation for the triumph of the just principles of liberty, and the right of all men to enjoy an equal protection, under the government in which they live, and this to be done under the dominion of calm and deliberate reason. The Committee has learned that education is the principal means by which an enslaved and degraded people can be elevated. From 60 to 70 individuals, from our own people, the majority having no children of their own to educate, have resolved to contribute a portion of their daily earnings to support a day school, where all may be taught free of charge. Narrator: How important is it to you to have places where the things you believe in are published and preserved so that future generations can understand our lives and times? The Crosswhite Story A Four-­‐Person Re-­‐Enactment Based on Depositions Taken in the Case of Francis Giltner v. Charles Gorham et al Actors: Narrator Sarah Crosswhite Simon Harris David Giltner Narrator: Sarah and Adam Crosswhite and their four children escaped slavery in
Kentucky in 1843 and began building a new life in Marshall, Michigan. On
January 27, 1847, Kentuckians came to their door to take them back into
slavery. The Crosswhites escaped to Canada. The man who had enslaved
them, Francis Giltner, sued Charles Gorham and other people who had helped
them, saying they had violated federal law. Before the trial, the court gathered
testimony from many people, including Sarah Crosswhite, Simon Harris, a
black resident of Marshall and one of the Kentuckians, David Giltner.
Sarah Crosswhite: My name is Sarah Crosswhite. I now live in Chatham, Upper
Canada.
Early in the morning on a Wednesday the door of our house was violently
broken open by Frances Troutman and David Giltner, who then came in the
house with Mr. Dixon, the Deputy Sheriff, and two other men who tried to
take all of us. I said I would not go with them or allow my children to go, for I
would die first. After a good deal of conversation, Giltner sat down and cried
and said if I would give up the children, they would not take me and my
husband away. I refused to give up the children, saying to Giltner that the
Giltners had the best part of my life at their service, and I intended keeping
my children to take care of me in my old days.
Simon Harris: My name is Simon D. Harris. I have lived in Marshall for nearly four
years.
I heard of the affair on that morning while I was at breakfast. I went
immediately up to Crosswhites. When I got there I saw four strangers whom I
found afterwards to be Kentuckians. The door was off the hinges and open.
Deputy Sheriff Dixon and the grey-eyed man were trying to induce
Crosswhite to go with him to the Justice's office, and threatened to bind him if
he would not go. Crosswhite expressed an unwillingness to go at first, and
afterwards consented to go if they would get a carriage and give him a chance
to get counsel to defend his rights. They consented.
A wagon came to the door with a driver. Troutman urged the family to get
aboard and they declined and said they would not go. Some coloured persons
had arrived in the meantime and persuaded them not to go. None of the white
defendants were on the ground at this time.
David Giltner: My name is David Giltner. I live in the house of Francis Giltner in
Carroll County Kentucky.
In January 1847 I was employed by Francis Giltner to go to Marshall to meet
with and to aid Francis Troutman in reclaiming the fugitive slaves. While we
were trying to take the slaves to the justice’s office, a large number of persons
came to the house and interfered to prevent our taking them away. I saw
Gorham and heard him tell Troutman, "You can't have the Crosswhite family.
We can’t let you take them. We regard them as free citizens and this is a free
country. We don't know slavery.” Before Gorham said this, Troutman
publicly informed the crowd that he was the agent and attorney of Francis
Giltner and authorized to seize and arrest the Crosswhite family as fugitives
from labour and the property of Giltner.
Narrator: By helping the Crosswhites escape, Charles Gorham and their neighbors
clearly violated federal law. What would you have done?
Perry Sanford’s Story Remembering the 1847 Kentucky Raid of Cass County Adapted from The Sunday Morning Call, Battle Creek, August 8, 1884 Actors: Narrator Perry Sanford Reporter Narrator: In August 1847 a band of Kentuckians came to Young’s Prairie in Cass County to capture and return as many fugitives as possible to slavery. Perry Sanford was one the fugitives. In 1884, a reporter for Battle Creek’s Sunday Morning Call newspaper interviewed Sanford. Sanford: The colored people have good reason for respecting and honoring Quakers. Reporter: Why so? Sanford: Because they were the first people to take up the anti slavery cause, and did practical work by starting and helping carry on the underground railway system. Reporter: Did you escape from slavery by the underground railway? Sanford: I did. Reporter: How did you get across the Ohio River? Sanford: We left at 10 o’clock at night and did not arrive at the river until 4 o’clock in the morning. The man who was to meet us there had got tired of waiting and gone home. We started down the bank of the Ohio River and found a boat. Into that boat eleven of us crowded. The sides came to within an inch of the water. How we ever got across I don’t know. But it was life or death, so we made the attempt and reached Cincinnati in safety. Reporter: How did you get out of Cincinnati? Sanford: By the underground railway. We were ordered to be ready one night. Carriages were bought up and we were driven to Hamilton, Ohio, then to Jonesborough, Indiana, and so forth from one station to the other. We only traveled nights. It took us one month to reach Cass County. Reporter: You said that your first permanent stopping place was in Cass County. Sanford: Yes, we stopped with the Quakers on Young’s Prairie, about three miles from Cassopolis. It was here that slave dealers swooped down on the fugitives early one morning and captured them. Reporter: Did they capture you? Sanford: No. I got away. Our cabin roof was what is known as a shake roof. I pushed aside the shakes, crawled out and then jumped to the ground. If you ever saw lively running I did it then. I reached a corn field and got away from them. I alarmed Stephen Bogue and he mounted his horse and went to Cassopolis to alarm the people there. Mrs. Bogue hid me upstairs in their house. Reporter: Where did you go after this affair? Sanford: In company with many others I took the underground railway to Battle Creek. We got here in the night and were put in the care of Erastus Hussey. I have been here ever since. Reporter: Did you have any more excitement? Sanford: We were in a constant state of alarm, and when Millard Fillmore was elected President and the fugitive slave law was passed, every colored person left Battle Creek for Canada, except William Casey and myself. Casey sent his wife and family. Reporter: Did you ever expect to live to see the slaves emancipated? Sanford: No. I could not believe such a thing possible. The Quakers had great faith in a time coming when slavery would be abolished, and always told us so. But I could not imagine such a thing. Thank God, it is now a reality. Narrtor: Thanks to the efforts of the Quakers, the people from Kentucky were arrested and held long enough for everyone who was captured to get away. Do you think you would have had the courage to try to escape slavery? Anti-­‐Slavery Forces Turn to the Law Michigan’s Personal Liberty Laws Actors: Narrator Detroit Free Press Writer Governor Austin Blair Narrator: The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 provided stiff penalties for federal marshals who allowed a fugitive to escape. It also said that anyone found guilty of helping a fugitive could be fined and jailed. In 1855, the Republican led Michigan legislature responded with state Personal Liberty Laws. Act 162 said, “It shall be the duty of the prosecuting attorneys within their respective counties, whenever any inhabitant of this State is arrested or claimed as a fugitive slave diligently and faithfully to use all lawful means to protect and defend every such person.” Act 163 said, “Every sheriff or other officer or keeper of a prison is hereby peremptorily prohibited from receiving or detaining or permitting to be received or detained in any such jails or other public buildings any such fugitive slave.” The Detroit Free Press, a supporter of the Democratic Party responded: Writer: Nullification in Michigan The “act to protect the rights and liberties of the people of this State” is as arrant nullification as was ever conceived in South Carolina, or hatched in the abolition and infidel conventions over which GARRISON is wont to preside. Congress has enacted a law prescribing the manner in which fugitives from service or labor may be reclaimed, which act has been declared by the Supreme Court of the United States to be valid. The act just passed by the Legislature is in direct contravention of the law of Congress. Narrator: The personal liberty laws were still an issue when Governor Austin Blair presented his first message to the legislature in 1861: Blair: Our personal liberty laws were enacted for the protection and safety of free citizens of the State against kidnappers, and with no view to defeating the reclamation of actual fugitive slaves, under the law of Congress. That law is so entirely wanting in the usual safe guards against abuse of its provisions, that there is constant danger of its being used as a cover for the most nefarious practices. Michigan is a sovereign and independent State, and her first and highest duty is to guard the rights and liberties of her people. Narrator: What options do you think a state should have if it disagrees with a law passed by Congress?