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Resisting the Slavocracy: the Boston Vigilance Committee's Role in the Creation of the Republican Party, 1846-1860

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Resisting the Slavocracy: the Boston Vigilance Committee's Role in the Creation of the Republican Party, 1846-1860 RESISTING THE SLAVOCRACY: THE BOSTON VIGILANCE COMMITTEE’S ROLE IN THE CREATION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, 1846-1860 by Yasmin K. McGee A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL May 2020 Copyright 2020 by Yasmin K. McGee ii RESISTING THE SLAVOCRACY: THE BOSTON VIGILANCE COMMITTEE'S ROLE IN THE CREATION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, 1846-1860 April 16th, 2020 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I’d like to put a spin on the familiar proverb “it takes a village,” for me it “took a village” to write this thesis. The village chief, Dr. Stephen Engle, guided me throughout the MA program and as my thesis advisor, with great leadership, insight, understanding, and impressive, yet humble, expertise. I thank Dr. Engle for introducing me to the Boston Vigilance Committee and for encouraging me to undertake this work. Dr. Engle’s love for 19th century American history, depicted through his enthusiasm for teaching, has inspired me to continuously improve my writing and understanding of history. His inspiration and confidence in my work has fostered clear convictions about my own capabilities, yet he has set an example of how to remain modest and strive for further knowledge. My gratitude to Dr. Engle goes beyond words and I am grateful for having been able to learn from him. Dr. Norman has been especially positive and helpful throughout my time in the program. While taking her graduate seminar, she introduced me to the wonders of public and oral history and encouraged me to obtain valuable experience as an intern in a local South Florida museum. Although I did not have the pleasure of being in one of Dr. Bennett’s graduate courses, I was fortunate to be a Teaching Assistant under his supervision. Dr. Bennett has taught me a great deal about lesson planning and leading discussion and I will continue to emulate his lecture style and organization when teaching American History. I thank both Dr. Norman and Dr. Bennett for their positive energy, sharing their knowledge, and direction while serving on my thesis committee. iv To my parents, Habeeb and Mooniah, my village King and Queen, thank you for your vision and eternal love and support. More than fifty years ago, you decided to make a new life in America and although it was no easy task, you have accomplished what many consider the American Dream. Your remarkable life stories are what sparked my interest in history. I thank you for your foresight and providing me endless opportunities. You have taught and encouraged me to stay driven through life’s many ups and downs and I’ve completed this work in part because of your resolve. My love and reverence for you both is irrefutable. I’d like to thank my brothers, my rocks, Sean and Omar, for always taking care of their little sister. I am grateful for you both and will forever cherish our special bond. Selima, Amani, and Zayn, I count my lucky stars for you all being lights in my life. To my mother and father-in-law, Mom and Papa, you have always treated me like a daughter and have showered me with endless love and support. Thank you for who you are and all that you do. Uncle Joe, I thank you for housing my writing space and for all of your love. Rab, my girl since I was two, thank you for being my confidante and my sister. To my family and friends, near and far, I am grateful for the endless encouragement, assistance, and much needed laughter you have provided along the way. The support I received from all have made the completion of this thesis a reality. Last, but surely not least, thank you to my husband, David, and our boys, Zak, and Noah. You have been closest to me while on this journey and have accepted changes in your life so that I may follow my dreams. I love you all very much and feel very blessed and grateful for our family. Thank you for encouraging Mom and Min to spread her wings and accomplish this achievement that means so much. I love you. v ABSTRACT Author: Yasmin K. McGee Title: Resisting the Slavocracy: The Boston Vigilance Committee’s Role in the Creation of the Republican Party, 1846-1860 Institution: Florida Atlantic University Thesis Advisor: Dr. Stephen Engle Degree: Master of Arts Year: 2020 Republicanism, a long-standing ideology, which embodied political liberty, virtue, and constitutional law, shaped America’s political culture from the country’s inception. The Republican Party’s formation in the 1850s was no exception to this rule. Paying close attention to the social and political climate in Massachusetts, this thesis will journey through the United States’ turbulent antebellum years and examine how the abolitionist organization known as the Boston Vigilance Committee (BVC) fashioned the contours of this anti-slavery party. Although scholars debate the committee’s origins, by 1846 members increased and expanded their activism in protecting escaped slaves from being returned to slavery and in assisting fugitives to freedom. By standing on moral, economic, and legal ground, Vigilance Committee members transformed Boston’s political culture and helped mobilize Northern support for an anti-slavery agenda that founded the Republican party and ultimately culminated in slavery’s eventual demise. vi RESISTING THE SLAVOCRACY: THE BOSTON VIGILANCE COMMITTEE’S ROLE IN THE CREATION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, 1846-1860 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 1. EVERLASTING PRINCIPLES .................................................................. 8 CHAPTER 2. SHADES OF DEEPER MEANING .......................................................... 30 CHAPTER 3. A ROPE OF SAND OR A BAND OF STEEL ......................................... 49 CHAPTER 4. MOLDING A NEW REALITY ................................................................ 65 EPILOGUE ....................................................................................................................... 80 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................. 85 vii INTRODUCTION Situated along the North African coast, the territories of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, once known as the Barbary States, bore distinct resemblance to America’s Southern states. Positioned between vast seas and like parallels, the regions, similar in climate, land mass, and fertile grounds equally shared the institution of slavery. In White Slavery in the Barbary States, Charles Sumner, noted Boston abolitionist and soon to be a distinguished Massachusetts senator, revealed that Algiers, considered the most loathsome and “chief seat” of slavery in the region occupied the parallel 36° 30’ north latitude, the same line as the Missouri Compromise, or the barrier that designated slavery in the Union west of the Mississippi.1 Sumner deemed slavery in Morocco, Algiers, Tripoli, and Tunis equivalent to the peculiar institution in Virginia, the Carolinas, Mississippi, and Texas. “Breeding indolence, lassitude, and selfishness,” Sumner explained, “[accounted] for the insensibility for the claims of justice and humanity which [seemed] to have characterized both nations.”2 For centuries, western leaders and their subjects, repulsed by white European enslavement in the Barbary States, triumphantly and at times, unsuccessfully, attempted rescue missions, paid ransoms, and even exchanged goods to eradicate their citizens’ bondage. Despite the unease with white 1 Charles Sumner, White Slavery in the Barbary States (Boston: William D. Ticknor and Company, 1847), 6. 2 Sumner, White Slavery, 6-7. 1 enslavement, however, black slavery in the young republic continued and sustained further in the Union South.3 It was no surprise that Sumner’s lecture compared white slavery in the Barbary States to southern slavery in the United States. Less than a year prior to his White Slaves address, Sumner confirmed his stance against Southern slave powers when a fugitive slave who had arrived in Massachusetts had been wrongfully carried back to bondage in the slave South. The incident, though a national affair, nonetheless, aroused anger among enraged Bostonians who called for a meeting at Faneuil Hall on September 24, 1846 to protest the fugitive’s return. Sumner and like-minded abolitionists supported the resolutions of the newly created Committee of Vigilance, otherwise known as the Boston Vigilance Committee (BVC), that vowed to ensure the safety of all persons and safeguard the lawful protection to anyone who set foot on Massachusetts’ soil. Boston Vigilance Committee members resolved that other states’ laws or institutions, notably those that endorsed and protected slavery, remained null and void when Massachusetts’ decrees had been infringed upon. Judged “supreme and inviolable” Massachusetts’ laws, considered violated if any person was in danger of seizure from the Commonwealth, extended to all individuals.4 At the initial BVC meeting, Sumner proclaimed slavery’s evils immoral and that the capture of an ill-fated fugitive slave, which had caused such outrage in a free state, should “rouse the citizens of Massachusetts and the Northern states to call for the abolition for [the] institution.”5 This meeting was a turning point, not only for 3 Ibid., 19. 4 Address of the Committee Appointed by a Public Meeting, Held at Faneuil Hall, September 24, 1846, for the purpose of considering the recent case of kidnapping
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