Economic and Political Connections between
Lowell and Southern States
Document 6

Document 6: Letter from Amos Adams Lawrence to William Lloyd Garrison on Fugitive Slave Act, February 16, 1851

In 1848 the Whig political party split into two factions. “Cotton Whigs” believed that slavery was constitutionally protected, even if it was morally evil, and advocated compromise to preserve the Union. “Conscious Whigs” demanded federal action to end slavery.

In this letter to the famous abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, Amos Adams Lawrence, son of mill investor Amos Lawrence, defends “Cotton Whig” and Massachusetts Congressman Samuel Eliot’s decision to vote in favor of the Fugitive Slave Act.

Vocabulary

Fugitive Bill: A reference to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 which required law enforcement officials – at any level – to arrest people suspected of escaping enslavement based on as little evidence as sworn testimony from a white man.
Henson: Born into slavery in 1789 in Maryland, Josiah Henson fled to Canada where he founded the Dawn Institute, a settlement house which taught job skills to freedom seekers. A Methodist preacher, Henson traveled throughout the United States and Great Britain lecturing against slavery. As part of the Underground Railroad, he assisted over 200 enslaved people in their flight to Canada.

“You will hardly excuse me for the opinion [which] I will now express, & yet as it is only an opinion, the expression of it can do no harm, and that is, that Mr. Eliot’s motives in voting for the ‘fugitive bill’ were as pure as in any act of his life. He loves the black man more than most men; he has shown it in many instances because his attachment to Henson. But he loves the perpetuity of this government & the Union of these states (even under the present system) – better. In that vote I believe he endeavored to do his duty without regard to his own, or the feelings of others …”

Text-Dependent Questions

How does Lawrence explain Eliot’s motivation to vote in support of the Fugitive Slave Act?

Discussion Questions

Lawrence describes Eliot as putting his love of the Union above a moral decision for abolition. Have you ever been in a situation where you decided to do something against your moral judgement because you strongly believed that was the right decision?

Print document and transcript

CitationAmos Adams Lawrence Letter to William Lloyd Garrison, February 16, 1851Massachusetts Historical Society, Amos Adams Lawrence Papers, call number Ms.N-1559, Box 37, Vol. 3, pages 267-8.

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