Antislavery Activism in Lowell
Document 36

Document 36: Anti-Fugitive Slave Act Petition, Lowell, 1851

This is one of many anti-Fugitive Slave Act petitions circulated in Massachusetts in 1851. Notice that the top part of the petition is type-written and that someone has cut the original document apart to add more space for signatures. This petition was signed primarily by men, but at least two signatures can be identified as those of women.

Vocabulary

Undersigned: One whose name is signed at the end of a document

Transcript

CIRCULAR

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts:

We, the undersigned, Inhabitants of Lowell, respectfully ask your Honorable Bodies to protest against the law passed at the last Session of Congress, in relation to the Surrender of Fugitive Slaves, in the name of the Commonwealth, and to instruct the Senators and request the Representatives of the State to make every effort for its immediate repeal.

Text-Dependent Questions

What are the petitioners asking for?
To whom was this petition sent?
The document has two columns for signatures: “Legal Voters” and “Other Persons.” Based on mid-19th-century voting laws, whom do you think would fall under each category? Why might the document differentiate between voters and non-voters?

Discussion Questions

What cause would you be willing to sign a petition for? Why?
Women weren’t given the right to vote until 1920. Before that, petitions and protest were the only means for women to be politically active. Discuss how and why women may have seen the ability to sign petitions or engage in protests as a way to be politically active in 1851?

Print document and transcript

Citation
Anti-Fugitive Slave Act Petition, Lowell, 1851.Massachusetts Anti-Slavery and Anti-Segregation Petitions, pg. 206, Harvard Library, Senate Unpassed 1851, Docket 13162, SC1/series 231, https://iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/view/drs:47344044$206i

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