THE
DE CLARATION OF SENTIMENTS
AND.
C O N STITUTION
OF THE
AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY:
Togº.THER WITH ALL THOSE PARTS OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE
UNITED STATES WHICH ARE SUPPOSED TO HAVE ANY
RELATION TO SLAVERY.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable
rights; that among these are life, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happi-
mess.”—Declaration of American Independence.
NEW - YORK :
PU B LISHED BY THE AME Rican ANTI-SILAVERY SOCIETY:
144 NAssau street, NEw-york.
1835.

The American Anti-Slavery Society was organized by a Convention,
which met in Philadelphia on the 4th of December, 1833. The Decla-
ration of Sentiments, drawn up and signed by that Convention, and
the Constitution of the Society, formed by them, are here presented to
the public. That the reader may judge of the constitutionality of the
object and measures of this Society, quotations of all those passages
in the Constitution of the United States, which refer to slavery and the
freedom of speech, and of the press, are subjoined; also, an Address to
the Public from the Officers of the American Anti-Slavery Society,
published September 3d, 1835.
W. S. Dorr, Printer.

DECLARATION
of the Anti-Slavery Convention, assembled at Philadelphia,
December 4, 1833.
The Convention, assembled in the city of Philadelphia, to organize
a National Anti-Slavery Society, promptly seize the opportunity tº
promulgate the following DECLARATION OF SENTIMENTS, as
cherished by them in relation to the enslavement of one-sixth portion
of the American people. -
More than fifty-seven years have elapsed since a band of patriots
convened in this place, to devise measures for the deliverance of this
country from a foreign yoke. The corner stone upon which they
founded the Temple or FREEdom was broadly this—“that all men are
created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
inalienable rights; that among these are life, LIBERTY, and the pur-
suit of happiness.” At the sound of their trumpet-call three millions
of people rose up as from the sleep of death, and rushed to the strife of
blood; deeming it more glorious to die instantly as freemen, than desi-
rable to live one hour as slaves. They were few in number—poor in
resources; but the honest conviction that TRUTH, Justice, and RIGHT,
were on their side, made them invincible.
We have met together for the achievement of an enterprise, without
which that of our fathers is incomplete; and which, for its magnitude,
solemnity, and probable results upon the destiny of the world, as far
transcends theirs, as moral truth does physical force.
In purity of motive, in earnestness of zeal, in decision of purpose, in
intrepidity of action, in steadfastness of faith, in sincerity of spirit, we
would not be inferior to them.
Their principles led them to wage war against their oppressors, and
to spill human blood like water, in order to be free. Ours forbid the
doing of evil that good may come, and lead us to reject, and to entreat
the oppressed to reject, the use of all carnal weapons for deliverance
from bondage; relying solely upon those which are spiritual, and
mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.
Their measures were physical resistance—the marshaling in arms—
the hostile array—the mortal encounter. Ours shall be such only as
the opposition of moral purity to moral corruption—the destruction of
error by the potency of truth—the overthrow of prejudice by the power
of love—and the abolition of slavery by the spirit of repentance.
Their grievances, great as they were, were trifling in comparison
with the wrongs and sufferings of those for whom we plead. Our
4.
fathers were never slaves—never bought and sold like cattle—never
shut out from the light of knowledge and religion—never subjected to
the lash of brutal task-masters.
But those for whose emancipation we are striving, constituting at
the present time at least one-sixth part of our countrymen, are recog-
nized by the law, and treated by their fellow beings, as marketable
commodities, as goods and chattels, as brute beasts; are plundered
daily of the fruits of their toil without redress; really enjoying no con-
stitutional nor legal protection from licentious and murderous outrages
upon their persons; are ruthlessly torn asunder—the tender babe from
the arms of its frantic mother—the heart-broken wife from her weeping
husband—at the caprice or pleasure of irresponsible tyrants. For the
crime of having a dark complexion, they suffer the pangs of hunger, the
infliction of stripes, and the ignominy of brutal servitude. They are
kept in heathenish darkness by laws expressly enacted to make their
instruction a criminal offence. -
These are the prominent circumstances in the condition of more than
two millions of our people, the proof of which may be found in thou-
sands of indisputable facts, and in the laws of the slaveholding states.
Hence we maintain, that in view of the civil and religious privi-
leges of this nation, the guilt of its oppression is unequalled by any
-
other on the face of the earth; and, therefore,
That it is bound to repent instantly, to undo the heavy burden, to
break every yoke, and to let the oppressed go free.
We further maintain, that no man has a right to enslave orimbrute
his brother—to hold or acknowledge him, for one moment, as a piece of
merchandise—to keep back his hire by fraud—or to brutalize his mind
by denying him the means of intellectual, social, and moral improve-
ment.
The right to enjoy liberty is inalienable. To invade it, is to usurp
the prerogative of Jehovah. Every man has a right to his own body—
to the products of his own labor—to the protection of law, and to the
common advantages of society. It is piracy to buy or steal a native
African, and subject him to servitude. Surely the sin is as great to
enslave an AMERICAN as an AFRICAN. -- -
Therefore we believe and affirm—That there is no difference, in prin-
ciple, between the African slave trade and American slavery:
That every American citizen who retains a human being in involun-
tary bondage as his property, is [according to scriptureºlamAN-stEALER:
That the slaves ought instantly to be set free, and brought under the
protection of law:
* Ex. xxi. 16.


5.
That if they had lived from the time of Pharaoh down to the present
period, and had been entailed through successive generations, their right
to be free could never have been alienated, but their claims would have
constantly risen in solemnity:
That all those laws which are now in force, admitting the right of
slavery, are therefore before God utterly null and void; being an auda-
cious usurpation of the Divine prerogative, a daring infringement on the
law of nature, a base overthrow of the very foundations of the social
compact, a complete extinction of all the relations, endearments, and
obligations of mankind, and a presumptuous transgression of all the
holy commandments—and that therefore they ought to be instantly
abrogated. -
We further believe and affirm—That all persons of color who possess
the qualifications which are demanded of others, ought to be admitted
forthwith to the enjoyment of the same privileges, and the exercise of
the same prerogatives, as others; and that the paths of preferment,
of wealth, and of intelligence, should be opened as widely to them as to
persons of a white complexion.
We maintain that no compensation should be given to the planters
emancipating their slaves,
Because it would be a surrender of the great fundamental principle,
that man cannot hold property in man;
Because slav ERY Is A crime, AND THEREFoRE IT is Not AN ARTIcLE
To BE SOLD: -
Because the holders of slaves are not the just proprietors of what they
claim; freeing the slavesis not depriving them of property, but restoring
it to its right owners; it is not wronging the master, but righting the
slave—restoring him to himself;
Because immediate and general emancipation would only destroy
nominal, not real property: it would not amputate a limb or break a
bone of the slaves, but by infusing motives into their breasts, would
make them doubly valuable to the masters as free laborers; and
Because, if compensation is to be given at all, it should be given to
the outraged and guiltless slaves, and not to those who have plundered
and abused them.
We regard as delusive, cruel, and dangerous, any scheme of expatria-
tion which pretends to aid, either directly or indirectly, in the emanci-
pation of the slaves, or to be a substitute for the immediate and total
abolition of slavery. - -
We fully and unanimously recognize the sovereignty of each state, to
legislate exclusively on the subject of slavery which is tolerated within
its limits; we concede that Congress, under the present national com-
1*

6
pact, has no right to interfere with any of the slave states, in relation
to this momentous subject:
But we maintain that Congress has a right, and is solemnly bound,
to suppress the domestic slave trade between the several states, and to
abolish slavery in those portions of our territory which the Constitution
has placed under its exclusive jurisdiction.
We also maintain that there are, at the present time, the highest
obligations resting upon the people of the free states, to remove slavery
by moral and political action, as prescribed in the Constitution of the
United States. They are now living under a pledge of their tremendous
physical force, to fasten the galling ſetters of tyranny upon the limbs of
millions in the southern states; they are liable to be called at any mo-
ment to suppress a general insurrection of the slaves; they authorize
the slave owner to vote for three-fifths of his slaves as property, and
thus enable him to perpetuate his oppression; they support a standing
army at the south for its protection; and they seize the slave who has
escaped into their territories, and send him back to be tortured by an
enraged master or a brutal driver. This relation to slavery is criminal
and full of danger: IT Must BE BRokEN UP.
These are our views and principles—these, our designs and measures.
With entire confidence in the overruling justice of God, we plant our-
selves upon the Declaration of our Independence and the truths of
divine revelation as upon the Everlasting Rock.
We shall organize Anti-Slavery Societies, if possible, in every city,
town and village, in our land.
We shall send forth agents to lift up the voice of remonstrance, of
warning, of entreaty, and rebuke. -
We shall circulate, unsparingly and extensively, anti-slavery tracts
and periodicals.
We shall enlist the pulpit and the press in the cause of the suffering
and the dumb.
We shall aim at a purification of the churches from all participation
in the guilt of slavery.
We shall encourage the labor of freemen rather than that of slaves,
by giving a preference to their productions; and
We shall spare no exertions nor means to bring the whole nation to
speedy repentance.
Our trust for victory is solely in GOD. We may be personally de-
feated, but our principles never, Tºuth, Justice, REAsos, HuMAsity,
must and will gloriously triumph. Already a host is coming up to the
help of the Lord against the mighty, and the prospect before us is full
of encouragement.

7.
submitting this DECLARATION to the candid examination of the
people of this country, and of the friends of liberty throughout the
world, we hereby affix our signatures to it; pledging ourselves that,
under the guidance and by the help of Almighty God, we will do all
that in us lies, consistently with this Declaration of our principles, to
overthrow the most execrable system of slavery that has ever been
witnessed upon earth—to deliver our land from its deadliest curse—to
wipe out the foulest stain which rests upon our national escutcheon-
and to secure to the colored population of the United States all the
rights and privileges which belong to them as men, and as Americans—
come what may to our persons, our interests, or our reputation-
whether we live to witness the triumph of LIBERTY, Justice, and hu-
Masury, or perish untimely as martyrs in this great, benevolent, and
holy cause.
Done in Philadelphia, this sixth day of December, A. D. 1833.
CONSTITUTION
or Tile
AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY.
PREAMBLE.
WHEREAs the Most High God “hath made of one blood all nations
of men to dwell on all the face of the earth,” and hath commanded
them to love their neighbors as themselves; and whereas our national
existence is based upon this principle, as recognized in the Declaration
of Independence, “that all mankind are created equal, and that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among
which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;” and whereas,
after the lapse of nearly sixty years, since the faith and honor of the
American people were pledged to this avowal, before Almighty God,
and the world, nearly one-sixth part of the nation are held in bondage
by their fellow-citizens; and whereas slavery is contrary to the princi-
ples of natural justice, of our republican form of government, and of the
Christian religion, and is destructive of the prosperity of the country
while it is endangering the peace, union and liberties of the States; .
whereas We believe it the duty and interest of the masters, immediately
to emancipate their slaves, and that no scheme of expatriation, either

8
voluntary or by compulsion, can remove this great and increasing evil;
and whereas we believe that it is practicable, by appeals to the con-
sciences, hearts, and interests of the people, to awaken a public senti-
ment throughout the nation, that will be opposed to the continuance of
slavery in any part of the republic, and by effecting the speedy abo.
lition of slavery, prevent a general convulsion; and whereas we believe
we owe it to the oppressed, to our fellow-citizens who hold slaves, to our
whole country, to posterity, and to God, to do all that is lawfully in
our power to bring about the extinction of slavery, we do hereby agree
with a prayerful reliance on the Divine aid, to form ourselves into a
society, to be governed by the following
CONSTITUTION.
Ant. I.
This Society shall be called the AMERICAN ANTI-Slavºny Society.
ART. II.
The object of this Society is the entire abolition of slavery in the
United States. While it admits that each State in which slavery ex-
ists, has, by the Constitution of the United States, the exclusive right
to legislate in regard to its abolition in said State, it shall aim to con-
vince all our fellow-citizens, by arguments addressed to their under-
standings and consciences, that slaveholding is a heinous crime in the
sight of God, and that the duty, safety, and best interests of all con-
cerned, require its immediate abandonment, without expatriation. The
Society will also endeavor, in a constitutional way, to influence Con-
gress to put an end to the domestic slave trade, and to abolish slavery
in all those portions of our common country which come under its con-
trol, especially in the District of Columbia, and likewise to prevent
the extension of it to any state that may be hereafter admitted to the
Union.
ART. III.
This society shall aim to elevate the character and condition of the
people of color, by encouraging their intellectual, moral, and religious
improvement, and by removing public prejudice, that thus they may,
according to their intellectual and moral worth, share an equality with
the whites, of civil and religious privileges; but this Society will never,
in any way, countenance the oppressed in vindicating their rights by
resorting to physical force.
Arºr. IV.
Any person who consents to the principles of this Constitution, who

9
contributes to the funds of this Society, and is not a slaveholder, may be
a member of this society, and shall be entitled to vote at the meetings.
ART. V.
The officers of this Society shall be a President, Vice Presidents, a
secretary of Foreign Correspondence, a Secretary of Domestic Corres-
pondence, a Recording Secretary, a Treasurer, and a Board of Mana-
gers, composed of the above, and not less than ten other members of the
society. They shall be annually elected by the members of the Society,
and five shall constitute a quorum.
ART. VI.
The Board of Managers shall annually elect an Executive Commit-
tee, to consist of not less than five, nor more than twelve members,
which shall be located in New-York, who shall have power to enact
their own by-laws, fill any vacancy in their body, employ agents, de-
termine what compensation shall be paid to agents, and to the Cor-
responding Secretaries, direct the Treasurer in the application of all
moneys, and call special meetings of the Society. They shall make
arrangements for all meetings of the Society, make an annual written
report of their doings, the income, expenditures, and funds of the So-
ciety, and shall hold stated meetings, and adopt the most energetic
measures in their power to advance the objects of the Society.
ART. VII.
The President shall preside at all meetings of the Society, or in his
absence one of the Vice Presidents, or, in their absence, a President
pro tem. The Corresponding Secretaries shall conduct the correspon-
dence of the Society. The Recording Secretary shall notify all meet-
ings of the Society, and of the Executive Committee, and shall keep
records of the same in separate books. The Treasurer shall collect the
subscriptions, make payments at the direction of the Executive Com-
mittee, and present a written and audited account to accompany the
annual report.
ART. VIII.
The annual meeting of the Society shall be held each year at such time
and place as the Executive Committee may direct, when the accounts of
the Treasurer shall be presented, the annual report read, appropriate ad-
dresses delivered, the Officers chosen, and such other business transacted
as shall be deemed expedient. A special meeting shall always be held
on the Tuesday immediately preceding the second Thursday in May, in
the city of New-York, atten o'clock, A.M., provided the annual meeting
be not held there at that time,

10
ART. IX.
Any Anti-Slavery Society, or association, founded on the same prim-
ciples, may become auxiliary to this Society. The Officers of each
Auxiliary Society shall be ex-officio members of the parent Institution,
and shall be entitled to deliberate and vote in the transaction of its con-
cerns.
ART. X.
This Constitution may be amended, at any annual meeting of the
Society, by a vote of two thirds of the members present, provided the
amendments proposed have been previously submitted, in writing, to the
Executive Committee.
ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC.
In behalf of the American Anti-Slavery Society, we solicit the candid
attention of the public to the following declaration of our principles and
objects. Were the charges which are brought against us, made only by
individuals who are interested in the continuance of Slavery, and by
such as are influenced solely by unworthy motives, this address would
be unnecessary; but there are those who merit and possess our esteem,
who would not voluntarily do us injustice, and who have been led by
gross misrepresentations to believe that we are pursuing measures at
variance not only with the constitutional rights of the South, but with
the precepts of humanity and religion. To such we offer the following
explanations and assurances.
1st. We hold that Congress has no more right to abolish Slavery in the
Southern States than in the French West India Islands. Of course
we desire no national legislation on the subject.
2d. We hold that Slavery can only be lawfully abolished by the Legis-
latures of the several statesin which it prevails, and that the exercise of any
other than moral influence, to induce such abolition, is unconstitutional.
3d. We believe that Congress has the same right to abolish Slavery in
the District of Columbia, that the State governments have within their
respective jurisdictions, and that it is their duty to efface so foul a blot
from the national escutcheon.
4th. We believe that American citizens have the right to express and
publish their opinions of the Constitutions, Laws, and Institutions of any
and every State and Nation under Heaven; and we mean never tº sº.
render the liberty of speech, of the press, or of conscience-blessings we
have inherited from our fathers, and which we intend, as far as we are
able, to transmit unimpaired to our children.
5th. We have uniformly deprecated all forcible attempts on the part of
º

11
the slaves to recover their liberty. And were it in our power to address
them, we would exhort them to observe a quiet and peaceful demeanor,
and would assure them that no insurrectionary movement on their part,
would receive from us the slightest aid or countenance.
5th, we would deplore any servile insurrection, both on account of the
calamities which would attendit, and on account of the occasion which
it might furnish of increased severity and oppression.
7th. We are charged with sending incendiary publications to the South.
If by the term incendiary is meant publications containing arguments
and facts to prove Slavery to be a moral and political evil, and that duty
and policy require its immediate abolition, the charge is true. But if this
termisused to imply publications encouraging insurrection, and designed
to excite the Slaves to break their fetters, the charge is utterly and une-
quivocally false. We beg our fellow-citizens to notice, that this charge
is made without proof, and by many who confess that they have never
read our publications, and that those who make it, offer to the public no
evidence from our writings in support of it. -
8th. We are accused of sending our publications to the Slaves, and it is
asserted that their tendency is to excite insurrections. Both the charges
are false. These publications are not intended for the Slaves; and were
they able to read them, they would find in them no encouragement to
insurrection. - -
9th. We are accused of employing Agents in the Slave States to dis-
tribute our publications. We have never had one such Agent. We have
sent no packages of our papers to any person in those States for distribu-
tion, except to five respectable resident citizens, at their own request. But
we have sent, by mail, single papers addressed to public officers, editors
of newspapers, clergymen, and others. If therefore, our object is to
excite the Slaves to insurrection, the MASTERs are our Agents:
10th. We believe Slavery to be sinful, injurious to this, and to every
other country in which it prevails; we believe immediate emancipation
to be the duty of every slaveholder, and that the immediate abolition
of slavery, by those who have the right to abolish it, would be safe and
wise. These opinions we have freely expressed, and we certainly have
nointention to refrain from expressing them in future, and urging them
upon the consciences and hearts of our fellow-citizens who hold slaves
or apologize for slavery.
11th. We believe that the education of the poor is required by duty,
and by a regard for the permanency of our republican institutions.—
There are thousands and tens of thousa
in the free States,
complexion,
- nds of our fellow-citizens, even
* sunk in abject poverty, and who, on account of their
*Virtually kept in ignorance, and whose instruction in cer.
12
tain cases is actually prohibited by law! We are anxious to protect the
rights, and to promote the virtue and happiness of the colored portion of
our population, and on this account we have been charged with a design
to encourage intermarriages between the whites and blacks. This charge
has been repeatedly, and is now again denied; while we repeat that the
tendency of our sentiments is to put an end to the criminal amalgamation
that prevails wherever slavery exists.
12th. We are accused of acts that tend to a dissolution of the Union,
and even of wishing to dissolve it. We have never “calculated the value
of the Union,” because we believe it to be inestimable; and that the
abolition of slavery will remove the chief danger of its dissolution; and
one of the many reasons why we cherish, and will endeavor to preserve
the Constitution, is, that it restrains Congress from making any law
“abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.”
| Such, fellow-citizens, are our principles. Are they unworthy of Repub-
licans and of Christians? Or are they in truth so atrocious, that in order
to prevent their diffusion, you are yourselves willing to surrender, at the
dictation of others, the invaluable privilege of free discussion, the very
birthright of Americans? Will you, in order that the abominations of
slavery may be concealed from public view, and that the capital of your
Republic may continue to be, as it now is, under the sanction of Con-
gress, the great slave mart of the American continent, consent that the
general government, in acknowledged defiance of the Constitution and
laws, shall appoint, throughout the length and breadth of your land,
ten thousand censors of the press, each of whom shall have the right to
inspect every document you may commit to the Post Office, and to sup-
press every pamphlet and newspaper, whether religious or political, which
in his sovereign pleasure he may adjudge to contain an incendiary article?
Surely we need not remind you, that if you submit to such an encroach-
ment 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 ef arbitrary power. -
ARTHUR TAPPAN, President.
John RANKIN, Treasurer.
WILLIAM Jay, Secry of Foreign Correspondence.
ELIzun WRIGHT, JR. Secry of Domes. Cor.
ABRAHAM L. Cox, M. D., Recording Secry.
Lewis TAPPAN, |
Joshua LEAvitt, Members of
SAMUEL E. Consish, the
SIMEON S. Jocely N. Erecºtive Committee.
TheopoRE S. WRight.
New-York, September 3d, 1835.


13
Expº ACT's FROM THE CONSTITUTION OF THE
UNITED STATES.
Aar. I. Sec. 2. Third clause—“Representatives and direct tº shall
be ...i. among the several states which may be included º
this Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be .
mined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those
bound to service for a term of yºars, and excluding Indians not taxed,
three-fifths of all other persons. - -
gº º: the 4.d powers of Congress is the following,
which gives it fuſi authority to abolish slavery in the District of º
bia, viz — The Congress shall have power to exercise exclusive legisla-
tion, in all cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten º:
square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the aggeptºe 9
Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States. V
A similar power also extends to the territories, as appears frºm Art. I li
Sec. 3–"The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make a
needful rules and regulations respecting the territory and other property
belonging to the United States,” &c. -
Art IV. sec. 2, ºrd ºse No person held to service or labor
in one state, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in con-
sequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such, set-
vice or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom
such service or labor may be due.”
It certainly admits of a doubt, whether this clause gives Congress a
right to prescribe the mode of trial in the case of any person claimed as
a fugitive from slavery. Every state has a right to protect its own citi-
zens; and till the contrary is proved, it is to be presumed that the person
arrested is a citizen of the state in which he is found. It is granted that
the Constitution requires the delivering up of a slave; but the question is,
whether the person arrested as such, is a slave. The Constitution does
not require the delivery of a person who does not owe “service or labor.”
The case of the fugitive from slavery differs materially from that of the
fugitive from justice. The latter is to be delivered up ſon demand of the
executive authority of the state from which he fled, to be removed to the
state having jurisdiction ºf the crime;”—there he is to be tried, on
principles of law and evidence common to all the states. On the con-
trary, a man may be claimed as a fugitive from slavery by an individual;
no trial whatever, after removal, being contemplated, or possible. It is
plain, therefore, that the states cannot protect their own citizens, unless
the claimants of fugitive slaves are compelled to substantiate their claims
before a jury by due process of law. But Congress has thought fit to
legislate on this subject, and to yield to the claimant any person he may
please to arrest as property, provided proºf be made to the satisfaction
of any magistrate whom the claimant may select. The law is as follows:
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That when a person held to labor in
any of the United States, or in either of the territories on the northwest

14
or south ºf the river Ohio, under the laws thereof shall escape into any
other of the said states or territory, the person to whom such labor of
service may be due, his agent, or attorney, is hereby empowered to seize
or arrest such fugitive from labor, and to take him or her before any judge
of the circuitor district courts of the United States, residing, or being º
in the state, or before any magistrate of a county, city, or tºwn corporate,
wherein such seizure or arrest shall be made, and upon proofto the satis-
faction of such ſº ºr magistrate, either by oral testimony or affidavit,
taken before and certified by a magistrate of any such state or territory,
that the person so seized or arrested, doth, under the laws of the state ºf
territory from which he or she fled, owe service or labor to the person
claiming him or her, it shall be the duty of such judge or magistrate, to
give a certificate thereof to such claimānt, his º or attorney, which
shall be sufficient warrant for removing the said fugitive from labor, to
the state or territory from which he or she fled.”
When this act of Congressis compared with the Constitution, (Art IX.
Amendments,) it will be seen to be clearly unconstitutional, as well as
directly subversive of state rights-"In suits at common law, where the
value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by
jury shall be preserved; and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise
re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to th
rules of the common law.” -
If there be in the Constitution of the United States any guarantee or
compact that the citizens of the northern states shall not speak, write, or
print against the practice of holding men as property, it must be in some
of the clauses above quoted; for there is no other relating to the subject.
There is, however, one clause which is claimed by the members and
friends of the American Anti-Slavery Society, as a full justification of
their publications and proceedings.
Art. III. Amendments—"Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
abridging the freedom of speech, or ºf the press; or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress
of grievances.”
FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND OF THE PRESS,
GUARANTIED BY THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS:
The following extracts from the Constitutions of the several states
show that the freedom of speech and of the press lies at the foundation
of all American liberty, and that any citizen has a right to speak and
- print as he pleases, responsible only to the law for the abuse of his liberty.
MAINE. - -
Every citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his sentiments on
any subject, being responsible for the abuse of this liberty. No laws
shall be passed regulating or restraining the freedom of the press.
MASSACHUSETTS.
The liberty of the press is essential to security of freedom in a state;
it ought not, therefore, to be restrained in this commonwealth.

15
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
The liberty of the press is essential to the security of freedomina state;
it ought, therefore, to be inviolably preserved.
VERMONT.
The people have a right to a freedom of speech, and of writing and
publishing their sentiments concerning the transactions of government,
and therefore the freedom of the press ought not to be restrained.
CONNECTICUT.
Every citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his sentiments on
all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty.
No law shall ever be passed to curtail or restrain the liberty of speech
or of the press.
NEW - YORK-
Every citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his sentiments on
all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that º t; and no law
shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech, or of the press.
In all prosecutions, or indictments for libels, the truth may be given in
evidence to the jury: and if it shall appear to the jury, that the matter
charged as º is true, and was published with good motives, and
for justifiable ends, the party shall be acquitted; and the jury shall have
the right to determine the law and ſhe fact.
PENINSYLVANIA.
The printing presses shall be free to every person who undertakes
to examine the proceedings of the Legislature, or any branch of govern-
ment; and no law shall ever be made to restrain the right thereof. The
free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the invaluable
rights of man; and every citizen may freely speak, write, and print on
any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty.
DELAWARE.
The press shall be free to every citizen who undertakes to examine the
official conduct of men acting in a public capacity; and any citizen may
print on any such subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty.
MARYLAND.
The liberty of the press ought to be inviolably preserved.
VIIRGIN.I.A.
The freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty, and
can never be restrained but by despotic governments.
NORTH CAROLINA.
The freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty, and
therefore ought never to be restrained.
SOUTH CAROLINA.
The trial by jury, as heretofore used in this state, and the liberty of the
press, shall be for ever inviolably preserved.
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GEORGIA.
Freedom of the press, and trial by jury, as heretofore used in this state,
shall remain inviolate; and no ex facto law shall be passed.
KENTUCKY, TENNESSEE, INDIANA, LOUISIANA, AND
ILLINOIS. -
The printing presses shall be free to every person who undertakes to
examine the proceedings of the legislature, or any branch of government;
and no law shall ever be made to restrain the right thereof. The free
communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the invaluable rights
of man; and every citizen may freely speak, write, and print on any sub-
- ject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty.
OHIO.
The printing presses shall be open and free to every citizen who
wishes to examine the proceedings of any branch of government, or the
conduct of any public ºfficer; and no lºw shall ever restrain the right
thereof. Every citizen has an indisputable º to speak, write, or print
#. any subject, as he thinks proper, being liable for the abuse of that
lberty.
MISSISSIPPI. -
* Every citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his sentiments on
all subjects, being responsible for the use of that liberty.
9 law shall ever be passed to curtail or restrain the liberty of speech
or of the press. - -
ALABAM.A. -
Every citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his sentiments on
all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty.
MISSOUR.I.
The free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the invalu-
able rights of man; and every person may freely speak, write, and print
on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty.
THE SLAVE TRADE DECLARED TO BE PIRACY BY
THE LAW OF THE UNITED STATES.
If any citizen of the United States, being of the crew or ship's com-
pany of any foreign ship or vessel enga ed in the slave trade, or any
person whatever, being of the crew or ship's company of any ship or
vessel owned in the whole or part, or º for, or in behalf of any
citizen or citizens of the United States, shall land, from any such ship or
vessel, and on any foreign shore seize any negro or mulatio, not held to
service or labor by theiaws of either of the states or territories of the
United states, with intent to make such negro, or mulatto a slave, or
shall decoy, or forcibly bring or carry, or shall receive such nºgro ºr
mulatto on board any such ship or vessel, with intent as aforesaid, such -
citizen or person º adjudged a PIRATE, and on conviction thereof,
before the circuit court of the United States, for the district wherein he
may be brought or found, shall suffer DEATH.
3ºo
Fººd
_ -
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