"Proceedings of the Colored Citizens of Lansingburgh" (1850)
Proceedings of the Colored Citizens of Lansingburgh in relation to the Fugitive Slave Law.At a meeting of the colored citizens of Lansingburgh, held at the African Methodist Episcopal Church, in Pitt street, Oct 8th, 1850, FRISBY WAY was called to the chair, and JAMES HALL appointed Secretary. The meeting was held to consult together for their own safety, since the passage of the man catching law has taken place. The meeting was called to order by James Hall. Prayer was offered up by Rev. Mr. [Philip] Owens. The meeting being organized, the Chairman stated the object. There was a committee of three appointed, consisting of E. [Emory] Tillman, John See and Columbus Jones, to draft the resolutions.—After the committee had retired, Mr. [William] Rich of Troy addressed the meeting, in a warm and impressive manner. He was followed by Mr. [William] Mead of Waterford, Mr. Owens of Troy, and many others. The committee returned after an absence of some time with the following resolutions, which were adopted.Resolved, That we will repudiate any law that has for its object the oppression of any human being, or seeks to assign us to degrading positions.Whereas, we hold to the declaration of the poet, that "Who would be free, himself must strike the blow, and that, "resistance to tyrants is obedience to God," therefore,Resolved, That we welcome to our doors every one who claims for himself the position of a man, and has broken away from the Southern house of bondage, and feel ourselves justified in using every means which the God of love has put in our power to sustain our position.And whereas active vigilance is the price of liberty, we therefore resolve ourselves into a vigilant association, to look out for our brothers, and also for the oppressor when he shall make his approach, and that measures be taken forthwith, to organize a committee to carry out the object of the association.Resolved, That should the master, or his minion, presume to enter any of our dwellings, and attempt to rescue any of our brethren whom he may call his slaves, we feel prepared to resist his pretension.Resolved, That the colored man who will not stand by the side of his brother who has escaped from the land of Human Chattleship in the hour of peril, and in the defence of his God-given rights to Liberty and the pursuit of happiness, whatever may be the consequences to himself, even if it be death, is unworthy of the name of a man, and a vile recreant to the cause of Humanity and God.Resolved, That our watchword is and ever shall be, give us liberty or give us death.Resolved, That the passage of the Fugitive Slave Bill is an encroachment upon the sovereign rights of the Free States, and as the soil of the State of New York is thereby made Slave Hunting ground, and the citizens Slave Hunters, it behooves her a free and sovereign state, to exercise her authority against being made a participant in so disgraceful an act, and we call upon the citizens to give us protection.FRISBY WAY, Chairman.JAMES HALL, Secretary.Lansingburgh Democrat. October 31, 1850: 2 col 5.
POLITICAL MAP.—Mr. W. C. Reynolds, of New York city has published one of the most effective electioneering documents of the campaign—and the cheapest, too, as it retails for only twenty-five cents. We refer to a political map so colored as to show, at a glance, the slave States, the free States, the Territories, and the Missouri Compromise Line; the margin containing an immense amount of invaluable statistical information on the subject of slavery, and the other political questions of the day. We presume it may be obtained at the Bookstores.Lansingburgh Democrat. August 14, 1856: 2 col 2.Reynolds, William C, and J. C Jones. Reynolds's political map of the United States, designed to exhibit the comparative area of the free and slave states and the territory open to slavery or freedom by the repeal of the Missouri Compromise with a comparison of the principal statistics of the free and slave states, from the census of 1850. New York: Wm. C. Reynolds and J.C. Jones, 1856. Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <https://www.loc.gov/item/2003627003/>.