DOCSLIB.ORG

Lewis Tappan, US, Abolitionist

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Lewis Tappan, US, Abolitionist Lewis Tappan, US, Abolitionist June 10. Lewis Tappan. Tappan knew what he believed and in whom he believed, and he wasn’t afraid to take a stand. Take one of hundreds of stands he made—in 1863, he held a Christian service to celebrate Emancipation Day and the freeing of slaves in the United States. It ended in a riot—hymnals and pews flew through the air—and a mob of men beat Black Americans. Tappan escaped and settled his wife and children across town. About four nights later, in the muggy dark, another mob battered their way into Tappan’s home, broke windows, and threw his furniture into the street. They piled sheets and blankets and paintings and chairs and anything they didn’t want to steal onto the heap and set it all on fire. When Tappan showed up the next day and saw the damage, he said he wouldn’t repair the home that summer. He would let it stand for a summer. It would be a “silent Anti-Slavery preacher to the crowds who will flock to see it.” Today’s story took place twenty-two years before this “saga of the preaching house.” In hard times, God brings us comfort so we can give it to others. Tuberculosis. Tappan listened to the diagnosis in silence. His world had been wrapped up in business, abolitionism, and social activism, and he had forgotten how short life really was. Now his daughter had tuberculosis. Growing up, he had watched his own mother face a similar situation when one of her children became critically ill and eventually died. She had put her full faith in the goodness of God and refused to let the unexpected tragedy shake her trust in Him. Now Tappan felt the same weight, a duty to love and comfort his little girl, but also to trust God fully. There was no way to know the best way to handle the situation. The doctors had not told eighteen-year-old Eliza the severity of her condition, and when Tappan tried to gently explain its seriousness, he was heartbroken to see his daughter break down in tears. “Eliza, does it distress you to hear this?” he asked her. “I had not thought I was so ill, and when we first hear of things we are apt to be affected,” she replied meekly. Desperate to comfort her, Tappan did the only thing he felt he could do in that moment: he prayed with her. Weeks passed, and the condition worsened as the family doctors tried remedy after remedy. Finally, Tappan had to approach Eliza with the painful truth once again: according to the doctors, she had only five or six weeks left to live. This time, a change was obvious. Eliza took the news calmly. Heartened by her response, Tappan encouraged her daily in prayer, reflection, and biblical reading. The outside demands on Tappan’s attention and energy never went away, but he refused to let the last bit of time he had to connect with his daughter on earth. And she fought on past the six-week mark, into seven weeks, ten weeks, fifteen weeks more of the horrible sickness. But inevitably, the last days arrived. Tappan received no official warning, no indication of which day would be Eliza’s last, but the two of them drew closer. One day while Tappan sat by his daughter’s bedside, she thanked him for giving her courage to face death and for telling her the truth even when the doctors had tiptoed around it. He read her some hymns to comfort her and lift her up to God, and he was prepared to leave until Eliza stopped him. “I want to talk with you before my voice fails me,” she told him. The request moved him, and he sat beside her in silence as she poured out her heart to him. The next day, she passed away. There was a time for mourning, but Tappan ultimately found comfort in God, comfort which had helped him encourage his daughter before her death, and it helped him stay encouraged after she died. In everything, he thanked a good and merciful God, who could use life and death to accomplish His all-good purposes. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:3–4 ESV). Today can you share God’s comfort with someone who is facing hard times? In hard times, God brings us comfort so we can give it to others. Linder, Doug. “Stamped With Glory: Lewis Tappan and the Africans of the Amistad.” Famous Trials. UMKC School of Law. Accessed May 8, 2020. https://famous-trials.com/amistad/1204-tappanessay. Wyatt-Brown, Bertram. Lewis Tappan and the Evangelical War Against Slavery. Cleveland: Press of Case Western Reserve University, 1969. Do You Want to Learn More About This Man? Lewis Tappan crusaded to wipe out slavery in the United States. Twenty-five years before the start of the Civil War, Tappan helped to found the American Anti-Slavery Society. He and his brother Arthur provided the financial backing to establish Oberlin College in Ohio, where black and white students were educated together in an anti-slavery environment. Lewis Tappan is most famous for representing a group of slaves who had mutinied on the slave ship Amistad, and the case went to the Supreme Court. Here is a link to an essay that gives a colorful account of the mutiny. .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 1 Sumner, Charles. the Selected Letters of Charles Sumner. Edited
    Sumner, Charles. The Selected Letters of Charles Sumner. Edited by Beverly Wilson Palmer. 2 vols. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1990. Vol. 2 Lawyers and politicians, 20 Lincoln, Seward, Sumner, Chicago convention nomination, 23-24 Law, barbarism of slavery, Lewis Tappan, 26 Crime Against Kansas speech, 29-30 Fugitive slave law, 31-32 Election, Lincoln, secession threats, 34 Seward, 37 Secession, 37ff Secession and possible civil war, 38-39 Thurlow Weed, Lincoln, Winfield Scott, 40-41 Scott, Seward, 42 John A. Andrew, no compromise, 43, 47-48 Fears compromise and surrender, 44 Massachusetts men need to stand firm, 46 Massachusetts, Buchanan, Crittenden compromise, 50-51 Personal liberty laws, 51-52 Fort Sumter, forts, 53 Virginia secession election, 54 New Mexico compromise, 55-57 Lincoln, 59 Lincoln and office seekers, 64 Seward influence, 64 Lincoln and war, 65 Northern unity, Lincoln, 69 John Lothrop Motley, 70-71 Congressional session, legislation, 71-72 Blockade, 73 Bull Run defeat, Lincoln, 74 Cameron and contrabands, 75 Lincoln, duty of emancipation, 76 William Howard Russell, Bull Run, 76-78 Slavery, Frémont, Lincoln, 79 Frémont, 80 Wendell Phillips, Sumner speech on slavery, 80 Slavery, English opinion, emancipation, Cameron, contraband order, 81-87 War, slavery, tariff, 82 Trent affair, Mason and Slidell, 85-94 Charles Stone, 95 Lieber, Stanton, Trent affair, 98 Stanton, 99 Lincoln, Chase, 100 Davis and Lincoln, 101 1 Andrew, McClellan, Lincoln, 103 Establishing territorial governments in rebel states, 103-8 Fugitive
    [Show full text]
  • Abraham Lincoln, Kentucky African Americans and the Constitution
    Abraham Lincoln, Kentucky African Americans and the Constitution Kentucky African American Heritage Commission Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Collection of Essays Abraham Lincoln, Kentucky African Americans and the Constitution Kentucky African American Heritage Commission Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Collection of Essays Kentucky Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission Kentucky Heritage Council © Essays compiled by Alicestyne Turley, Director Underground Railroad Research Institute University of Louisville, Department of Pan African Studies for the Kentucky African American Heritage Commission, Frankfort, KY February 2010 Series Sponsors: Kentucky African American Heritage Commission Kentucky Historical Society Kentucky Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission Kentucky Heritage Council Underground Railroad Research Institute Kentucky State Parks Centre College Georgetown College Lincoln Memorial University University of Louisville Department of Pan African Studies Kentucky Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission The Kentucky Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission (KALBC) was established by executive order in 2004 to organize and coordinate the state's commemorative activities in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of President Abraham Lincoln. Its mission is to ensure that Lincoln's Kentucky story is an essential part of the national celebration, emphasizing Kentucky's contribution to his thoughts and ideals. The Commission also serves as coordinator of statewide efforts to convey Lincoln's Kentucky story and his legacy of freedom, democracy, and equal opportunity for all. Kentucky African American Heritage Commission [Enabling legislation KRS. 171.800] It is the mission of the Kentucky African American Heritage Commission to identify and promote awareness of significant African American history and influence upon the history and culture of Kentucky and to support and encourage the preservation of Kentucky African American heritage and historic sites.
    [Show full text]
  • Slavery and Antislavery Literature
    SLAVERY AND ANTISLAVERY LITERATURE: In the centennial year of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation (issued January 1, 1863), it is appropriate to survey the literature on slavery and the antislavery crusade deposited in the Uni- versity Library. Although by no means approaching in breadth the great collections at, for ex- ample, Cornell, Oberlin, and the New York Public Library, this literature is still both rich and varied; it stretches over a period of three centuries, encompasses three continents, and in- cludes the great name·s in the antislavery movements of Great Britain and the United States. It is fitting that a state whose inception-is inextricably linked with the slavery issue should possess such a collection. Watson Library and its branches house upward of 750 volumes devoted to the subject of chattel slavery and its abolition. Only a fraction of the periodical literature and state papers is includ- ed in this total. A little more than half of these volumes is contemporaneous with the institution of slavery in the Western world, falling chiefly in the period prior to 1865. Of this contempo- rary literature, approximately two-thirds concerns the United States, and one-third the British Empire. There are also works on slavery in the Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch and Ger- man languages. To a very great extent Europeans exploited the resources of the New World with slave labor. American Indians, rather than Africans, were initially employed on Spanish plantations and mines, so much so in fact that their rapid decimation was viewed with alarm. Bartolome' de las Casas, known to posterity as the "Apostle of the Indians," attacked Indian servitude and achieved some success in persuading Spanish authorities to substitute Africans for Indians.
    [Show full text]
  • Handout 3 - Café Conversation Activity
    Handout 3 - Café Conversation Activity Instructions: 1. Spread out the following eight pages on a desk, face down, and have every member of the group choose one page at random (it’s ok if there are pages remaining). 2. Each group member has 8-10 minutes to read about the person on the page they chose. Try to memorize the person’s name, their biography, and their major accomplishments. 3. After everyone is done reading, hold a conversation, as if you were meeting each person in the group for the first time at a party. Role play as the historical figure featured on the page chosen. Introduce yourself to the others in the group, and try to hold a conversation while considering how the historical figure you are representing might talk and respond. 4. Be prepared to share what you learned about one person you talked to during the café conversa- tion with the rest of the class. Name: Lyman Beecher Profession: Presbyterian Minister Dates: 1775-1863 Bio: Lyman Beecher was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He was raised by his uncle, who worked as a blacksmith and farmer. Beecher was an intellec- tually curious adolescent, and entered Yale University in 1793. After grad- uating, he studied at Yale Divinity School, and soon became an ordained minister. From there, Beecher worked in churches throughout New England before settling in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1832. While Beecher did not participate in the camp meetings characteristic of the Second Great Awakening, he was involved in many of the social causes related to the revivals.
    [Show full text]
  • Arthur Tappan
    ARTHUR TAPPAN Lewis Tappan and Arthur Tappan were descendants of Benjamin Franklin (which is perhaps why their father, and another brother, happened to be named Benjamin Tappan). Arthur received a common-school education and then served a 7- year apprenticeship in the hardware business in Boston, before establishing himself in Portland, Maine, and subsequently in Montreal, Canada, where he would remain until the beginning of the war of 1812. In 1814 he would engage with his brother Lewis in importing British dry-goods into New-York City, and after that partnership was dissolved he successfully continued the business alone. He was known for his public spirit and philanthropy. He was a founder of the American tract society, the largest donor for the erection of its 1st building, and was identified with many charitable and religious bodies. He was a founder of Oberlin College, also erecting Tappan Hall there, and endowed Lane Seminary in Cincinnati, and a professorship at Auburn Theological Seminary. With his brother Lewis he founded the New-York Journal of Commerce in 1828, and established The Emancipator in 1833, paying the salary of the editor and all the expenses of its publication. He was an ardent abolitionist, and as the interest in the anti-slavery cause deepened he formed, at his own rooms, the nucleus of the New-York antislavery society, which was publicly organized under his presidency at Clinton Hall on October 2, 1833. He was also president of the American Anti-Slavery Society, to which for several years he contributed $1,000 per month, but withdrew in 1840 on account of the aggressive spirit that many members manifested toward the churches and the Union.
    [Show full text]
  • Lincoln and the Abolitionists Allen C
    History Faculty Publications History Fall 2000 Lincoln and the Abolitionists Allen C. Guelzo Gettysburg College Follow this and additional works at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/histfac Part of the United States History Commons Share feedback about the accessibility of this item. The definitive version was published as Guelzo, Allen C. "Lincoln and the Abolitionists," The iW lson Quarterly, 8(2000), 58-70. This is the authors's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution. Cupola permanent link: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/histfac/1 This open access article is brought to you by The uC pola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College. It has been accepted for inclusion by an authorized administrator of The uC pola. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Lincoln and the Abolitionists Abstract It has always been one of the ironies of the era of the Civil War and the end of slavery in the United States that the man who played the role of Great Emancipator of the slaves was so hugely mistrusted and so energetically vilified by the party of abolition. Abraham Lincoln, whatever his larger reputation as the liberator of more than three million black slaves in the Emancipation Proclamation, has never entirely shaken off the er putation of being something of a half-heart about it. [excerpt] Disciplines History | United States History This article is available at The uC pola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/histfac/1 5. "FIENDS...FACING ZIONWARDS": ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S RELUCTANT EMBRACE OF THE ABOLITIONISTS It has always been one of the ironies of the era of the Civil War and the end of slavery in the United States that the man who played the role of Great Emancipator of the slaves was so hugely mistrusted and so energetically vilified by the party of abolition.
    [Show full text]
  • Abolitionists Were Bullied from a Case Study Christian Philanthropists in Britain the Moment They First Stuck Their and America Got Deeply Involved Heads Up
    here have been principled Leaders of the charity brilliantly objections to slavery for orchestrated massive shifts in Tas long as there has been public sentiment. slavery—which is to say, from the first days of human history. Organizing culture change But hatred of enslavement didn’t Culture change is not for cowards, become a mass conviction until and abolitionists were bullied from A case study Christian philanthropists in Britain the moment they first stuck their and America got deeply involved heads up. Changing Society through Civil Action in popular campaigns to expose As part of their broader effort to slavery as an ugly, immoral, and refine Americans through worship, sinful activity, utterly incompatible education, discussion, and service, with life in a free land. This was Arthur and Lewis Tappan had in demanding and dangerous work 1832 leased a tatterdemalion old that required guile, endurance, theater in lower Manhattan and commitment, courage, managerial converted it into a church. The genius, and money. The movement building “squatted in the midst 64 got all of these things from leaders of the slums” next to Five Points, Abolition like Arthur and Lewis Tappan. a neighborhood notorious for Fired by their deep evangelical its gangs and grog shops. During Christian convictions, the Tappan recent years the theater had been brothers were leading providers of home to a circus, and with his strategy and funding to the cause sharp nose for drama and public of abolishing slavery. (They also interest, Lewis noted that “the powered many other important sensation produced by converting social reforms. For some biography the place with slight alterations on the men, see the last third of into a church will be very great, the case study on the Second Great and curiousity will be excited.” Awakening.) Arthur was the lead The Tappans placed their funder and visionary, and Lewis the Chatham Street Chapel at the vital organizer, behind creation of disposal of Charles Grandison the American Anti-Slavery Society.
    [Show full text]
  • "I Began to Realize That I Had Some Friends:" Hardship, Resistance, Cooperation, and Unity in Hartford's African American Community, 1833-1841
    Trinity College Trinity College Digital Repository Senior Theses and Projects Student Scholarship Spring 2016 "I Began To Realize That I Had Some Friends:" Hardship, Resistance, Cooperation, and Unity in Hartford's African American Community, 1833-1841 Evan Turiano Trinity College, Hartford Connecticut, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/theses Part of the African American Studies Commons, American Studies Commons, and the History Commons Recommended Citation Turiano, Evan, ""I Began To Realize That I Had Some Friends:" Hardship, Resistance, Cooperation, and Unity in Hartford's African American Community, 1833-1841". Senior Theses, Trinity College, Hartford, CT 2016. Trinity College Digital Repository, https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/theses/594 “I Began To Realize That I Had Some Friends:” Hardship, Resistance, Cooperation, and Unity in Hartford’s African American Community, 1833-1841 Evan A. Turiano 25 April 2016 American Studies Trinity College Hartford, CT Advisor: Scott Gac Second Reader: Cheryl Greenberg Turiano 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgements………………………...……………………………………………………………………3 Maps and Illustrations. ………………………………………………………………………………………...4 Introduction...………………………………………………………………………………………………………9 Chapter One: HARDSHIP….…………………………………………………………………………………16 Chapter Two: RESISTANCE…………………………………………………………………………………32 Chapter Three: COOPERATION…………………………………………………………………………...45 Chapter Four: UNITY………………………………………………………………………………………….60 Epilogue: SACRIFICE…………………………………………………………………………………………..77
    [Show full text]
  • Lesson 8: Abolitionist Sisterhood
    Section ii Abolitionism in Black and White (1831-1840) Lesson 8 Grade Level: High School Abolitionist Sisterhood Objectives: Students will • Brainstorm gender expectations of women during the 19th century. • Understand the role women played in the abolitionist movement. • Participate in a simulated national women’s anti-slavery organization. Time: Two 50-minute class periods Materials: • Audio: Mary White Ovington • Worksheet 1: First Person Account, Mary White Ovington • Worksheet 2: Ladies’ New-York Anti-Slavery Society Annual Report Background: A number of women across various northern cities gained prominence as abolitionists and women’s rights activists. Lucretia Mott, Maria Stewart, Angelina and Sarah Grimké, Lydia Maria Child, and Susan Paul emerged as influential writers, educators, lecturers, activists, and moral reformers. These women, black and white, redefined the roles that society expected of them as mothers, wives, and daughters and became central to the anti-slavery movement. Daughter of Brooklyn Heights resident and prominent abolitionist Lewis Tappan, 21-year-old Julianna Tappan was central to the women’s abolition movement in Manhattan. She worked with the Ladies’ New-York Anti-Slavery Society, founded in 1835. Julianna regularly communicated with like-minded activists in New England and Philadelphia. She organized a highly sophisticated petition drive intended to collect over one-million signatures from women protesting slavery. She was also a central figure at the Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women that met
    [Show full text]
  • James G. Birney™S Anti-Slavery Activities in Cincinnati
    JAMES GILLESPIE BIRNEY (Courtesy of the American Historical Association) BULLETIN of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio October, 1951 CINCINNATI Vol. 9, No. 4 JAMES G. BIRNEY'S ANTI-SLAVERY ACTIVITIES IN CINCINNATI 1835-1837* By BETTY L. FLADELAND James G. Birney came to Cincinnati in the autumn of 1835 a full-fledged abolitionist. He had served as an agent of the Colonization Society in Alabama; and had advocated gradual emancipation in Kentucky. He was now convinced (1) that slavery was a sin, of which men must repent, and which they must renounce; and (2) that slavery was the an- tithesis of republican government and incompatible with the principles of the Declaration of Independence. We were "living down the foundation-principle" of our institutions.1 Slavery for the negroes was destroying the liberties of all men in the slave states. It would, unless checked, stifle liberty in the free states also. *Miss Fladeland read this paper before the Mississippi Valley Historical Association at the spring meeting in 'Cincinnati, April 20, 1951. Seo bio- graphical note on page 249. 1Manuscript memorandum, Birney Papers, William L. Clements Li- brary, Ann Arbor. Hereinafter cited as Birney Papers. Also, James G. Birney, Letter on Colonization Addressed to the Rev. Thornton /. Mills, Corresponding Secretary of the Kentucky Colonization Society (New York, 1834). 252 The Quarterly Bulletin Having been threatened with physical violence should he establish an anti-slavery paper in his home town of Dan- ville, Kentucky,2 having had his mail censored and anti-slavery publications withheld by the postmaster,3 and having been refused a professorship at Centre College because of his aboli- tionist opinions,4 Birney wrote to Gerrit Smith, "It is as much as all the patriotism in our country can do, to keep alive the spirit of liberty in the free states.
    [Show full text]
  • Ten Years of Political Abolitionism, the Liberty Party, 1839-1848
    THEY TOOK THE VAN1 TEN YEARS OF POLITICAL ABOLITIONISM, THE LIBERTY PARTY, 18.39-1848 A Thesis Presented to the F~culty of the School of Social Science Morehead State University In Partial }'ulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in History by Doris Lynn Koch May 1969 Accepted by the faculty of.the School of Social Scienoe, Morehead State University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts in History .degree. ) 'I I Director Master's Chairman ... TABLE OF CONTENTS . PAGE INTRODUCTION I I I I O I I I I I .._, .. • . .. · •·. • . 1 CHAPTER I. PETITIONING AND QUESTIONING FAI~ • • • • • • 5 II. UNITY FRml DIVISION • , , , • • , , , • • • , 17 III, EARLY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE LIBERTY PAR~Y • • 101 IV, A TRIO OF CArlDIDATES: THE ELECTION OF 1844 135 V. THE PARTY IN TRANSITION • •. , • • , , • • • . 158 . VI, THE LIBERTY PARTY IN DECLINE, , , , , • , , 181 ASSESSMENT OF THE LIBERTY PARTY , , , , , . , , , , , 213 BIBLIOGRAPHY . - . • • • .• . 220 ·- INTRODUCTION Panaticsl Disunionistsl Foolsl Such epithets were bailed at the men who from 1830 to 1860'labored tor the emancipation of the American Negro, The history of the Liberty party forms a chapter in the lengthy narrative of abolitionism, Throughout the history of civilization, men have found that by banding together and promoting their particular cause in the bounds of fellowship, their chances for success are greatly enhanced, Abolitionists did not form a coherent group until December 4, 1833, when deliberations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
    [Show full text]
  • The Abolitionists' Postal Campaign of 1835
    THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY VOL. L-OCTOBER, 1965-No. 4 THE ABOLITIONISTS' POSTAL CAMPAIGN OF 1835 Abolitionism in 1835 had reached a crisis. The American Anti-Slavery Society had been founded in 1833, but its aims were still unknown to most Americans. Hampered by inade- quate funds, the New York headquarters had not yet under- taken a large-scale missionary campaign nor had it issued an impressive number of pamphlets and journals. The society's Emancipator was a dull paper, whose bland editorials re- flected the timidity of the New York abolitionists. Moreover, antislavery leadership had nearly divided over William Lloyd Garrison's outspoken radicalism. Arthur Tappan, President of the Society, and his merchant associates on the executive committee suspected that Garrison, the Boston firebrand, was earning more enemies for the cause than friends. For a time in early 1835 Arthur Tappan's dissatisfaction with the Gar- risonians nearly caused him to leave the movement.1 It was essential for the antislavery society to reorganize its publications, to raise more funds, and to resolve internal bickerings in common effort. Above all, by the spring of 1835 the time had come to make the country aware of abolitionism. In response to the need for publicity, the New York leaders decided to flood the country with antislavery literature. The 1Liberator (Boston), December 27, 1834, January 17, 24, 31, February 7, 1835; Arthur Tappan to Amos A. Phelps, January 17, 1836; Elizur Wright to Amos A. Phelps, January 22, 1835, Amos A. Phelps MSS, Boston Public Library; Lewis Tappan to William Lloyd Garrison, February 5, 1835, William Lloyd Gar- rison MSS, Boston Public Library; Elizur Wright to Theodore Weld, March 16, 1835, Gilbert Hobbes Barnes and Dwight L.
    [Show full text]