The Ram's Horn (approximately 1847-1849) had not been published in Lansingburgh, or even in Troy (as the United States Clarion and the National Watchman had been). Nevertheless, as a black-owned New York abolitionist newspaper it would have found some readers among Lansingburgh and Troy residents, and the editor visited the latter in 1848. It was published by Willis Augustus Hodges and Thomas Van Rensselaer.In 1847 the newspaper had proposed Gerrit Smith for United States President and Frederick Douglass for Vice President. In fact Smith would become the Liberty Party's candidate in 1848 and at the nominating convention Douglass had received one vote out of eighty-four for Vice President, Rev. Charles C. Foote winning with forty-four votes. A Smith/Douglass ticket would again be under discussion to varying degrees in 1856 and 1860.Sometime between 1847 and 1849 The Ram's Horn is believed to have run a piece by the radical abolitionist John Brown titled "Sambo Mistakes" or "Sambo's Mistakes," which survives not from the newspaper but in manuscript form. Written as if from the perspective of a black man, it poses challenges for the reader for that very deceit:
It might be awkward, or even racist, for a white man to write an allegorical confessional with the voice of a fictional black man bearing a derogatory name. However, John Brown is one of the few, if not the only, man in nineteenth-century America who appeared to be almost devoid of racism. Furthermore, Sambo's follies were many of Brown's own. "Sambo" had an unlikely feud with Masons like Brown did in his days at Randolph. [...]And "Sambo's greatest mistakes were his efforts to mimic the most ridiculous and grotesque white behaviors. Depending on one's interpretive inclinations, Brown's essay was all at once a self-excoriating confessional, an indictment of white—and particularly Southern—American culture, and an exposition of common humanity.Daigh, Michael.
John Brown in Memory and Myth. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2015. 52.It was criticism and exhortation from one who presumed to know better than the ones he was addressing. It not only slipped into paternalism but also relied on caricature and stereotype to form its list of mistakes. It then put on a black identity to give the charges additional authority.Smith, Ted A.
Weird John Brown: Divine Violence and the Limits of Ethics. Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 2015. 133.
Scarcely any issues of the newspaper survive. The New York State Newspaper Project and the Library of Congress recorded Syracuse University as possessing a March 10, 1847 issue - though a recent inquiry suggests they may have erred, or else the issue may be lost. The Library of Congress also indicates that a November 5, 1847 issue exists on microfilm in a number of locations, but they did not indicate where the original is held.Mentions of the newspaper, or content reproduced from it, do survive in other newspapers, however. One thing that is revealed by such items is that a man in Baltimore, Maryland was in danger of ten to twenty years of imprisonment for having received
The Ram's Horn!
THE RAMSHORN.—Not a very euphonious name for a newspaper, certainly but the publication is none the worse on that account.—It is issued weekly in New York city, by Van Rensselaer and Hodges, and devoted to the interests of the colored people. The first number—the only one we have received—presents a neat appearance. The price to mail subscribers is $1 per year. The following article will give our readers some idea of the character of the paper.
OUR PAPER.The design of this journal is to harmonize all classes among us for our mutual improvement. Hitherto we have had no medium of communication; hence in our judgment a necessity is created, and we feel that help is laid upon
us—and we therefore send forth "THE RAM'S HORN" to the world, regardless of consequences. With regard to our learning and talents, we have but one word to say, and that is,—we have none to spare. We do not wish to give the impression that this is Van Rensselaer and Hodges' paper, but we wish every colored person in the world to feel that this is
his paper—and YOU, reader, especially, that this is YOUR paper; and to this end, we invite colored men, who are in the habit of writing, to send us
short articles for insertion in our columns, that will contribute to the interest of the paper. We intend, as far as possible, to be impartial: the only consideration with
us shall be
merit: the only aristocracy that we shall delight to boast of is, that class of our brethren who are cultivating their
own soil. "THE RAM'S HORN" will take a decided stand against kidnapping [i.e. the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793]. Our private opinion is, that it is the highest duty of the colored people to protect themselves against this practice, at all hazards.—We may as well begin as we intend to hold out. It is well known that there is no law either State or National, that can protect a man (no matter what his color) when claimed by one of these kidnappers. Under such circumstances it is easy to determine what is
duty. We live in a country of law—and yet our persons are
without protection.
What must we do in such cases?
Nature answers, "
Self-defense is my
first law." We think, if a firm and decided stand is taken by the colored people, that kidnapping will be "among the things that were."
Anti-Slavery Bugle [New Lisbon, OH]. January 15, 1847: 4 cols 4-5.
THE RAM'S HORN.The fifth number of this new weekly anti-slavery journal, edited by our enterprising friend Thomas Van Rensselaer, and published in the city of New York, at $1.50 per annum, has been received. It is conducted with spirit and ability, and very neatly printed, and we hope will be extensively patronised by our free colored fellow-citizens, for whose elevation it is specially intended. Subscriptions will be cheerfully received for it at our office.
The Liberator [Boston, MA]. February 12, 1847: 27 col 5.
From the Ram's Horn.PROPOSAL TO GIVE THE BIBLE TO SLAVES.Why is all this outcry,
just now, about giving the Bible to the slaves? Is it to ameliorate their condition? or what is the object? Will the slave be more likely to save his soul, and get to heaven? But,
what is the object of E. N. Kirk and others, in introducing this subject now for the consideration of the
professed Christians of the country? Is it because they consider the condition of the slave, as he is now placed, susceptible of improvement? We are the more indignant at this hypocritical scheme, because we happen to know the men engaged in it; and these men know, that they do not design to benefit the slaves, spiritually or temporally. These men know, that slaves are not permitted to have books of any kind. We ourselves had painful experience on this subject, when we were under the cruel taskmaster. We remember that a Christian man gave us a book, called the 'Methodist Pocket Hymn Book,' and a small pocket Bible;
but these books were the means of introducing new causes of punishment—for when we had them, we would try to read them. This brings punishment upon the slave—first, because he reads in his master's time, (and remember, reader, that
American slaveholders lawfully claim ALL the time of their slaves!)—secondly, the slave is told that learning is not for him—that
it unfits him for a good servant. This much we have experienced.Another objection to this
unnatural philanthropy is, that it is a scheme to get the little money the poor slaves have saved to make them comfortable in time of sickness. We remember, a few years back, in the State of Virginia, just previous to Nat. Turner's insurrection, this same kind of sympathy to furnish the slaves with Bibles was manifested—and Bibles were procured, and the slaves called together—and these Bibles, instead of being presented to the slaves, we sold to them at an average of 75 cents a copy! Not long after this, Nat's insurrection broke out—and, strange to tell, the authorities, in connection with these same Bible distributors, went and plundered every colored person's house, bond and free, throughout the Commonwealth, of these very Bibles, and have retained them unto this day!Another objection to this wicked scheme is, that it is an attempt to reconcile the slave to his condition, as such. I believe in the American sentiment, that 'Resistance to tyrants is obedience to GOD.'A few years ago, when a number of Americans were detained in
Algiers, not as
slaves, but as
prisoners, whoever dreamed of sending Bibles to
them, to better their condition?
The Liberator [Boston, MA]. March 26, 1847: 50 col 1.The
Ramshorn, of New York, a paper edited by a colored man, facetiously hopes that the other political parties will be neighborly, and let the Liberty party have the next President, if they run a good man. The
Ramshorn says it belongs to no political party, but shall go for Gerrit Smith for President, and Frederick Douglass, the famous fugitive slave and orator from the South, for Vice President."Scraps."
Washington National Era. April 29, 1847: 3 col 1.A violent abolition print of somewhere, called the "Ram's Horn," has had the taste and decency to nominate, as its candidates for the presidency and vice presidency, Gerrit Smith and Fred. Douglas, the "colored fugitive." The blasts of such a "Ram's Horn" would never have thrown down Jericho's walls, nor will they dissolve the Union.
Daily Union [Washington, DC}. April 30, 1847: 2 col 6.
Semi-Weekly Union [Washington, DC]. May 4, 1847: 1 col 2.RAM'S HORN NOMINATION.—The "Ram's Horn," N. Y. City, a paper devoted to the colored population, has nominated Gerritt Smith and Frederick Douglass for President and Vice President, at the next election.
New York Sun. May 3, 1847: 2 col 6.In the People's Journal of the present month, we find the following article:
AN 'ALBION' PRESS FOR FREDERICK DOUGLASS.The proposition to raise a fund to present F. Douglass with a press, type &c., originated with an esteemed lady of Newcastle-on-Tyne, the same benevolent individual who proposed and accompanied F. D.'s ransom from the despotic grasp of the slaveholder. [...]It seems to be the impression of our trans-atlantic coajutors, that there is not a single newspaper either published or edited by any colored person in the United States; and hence their laudable desire to see one established, under one so gifted as Mr. Douglass. But they labor under a mistake. Already, there are not less than four such papers, devoted to the interests of the colored population, and exclusively conducted by intelligent colored men—viz: 'The Disfranchised American,' published in Cincinnati; 'The Mystery,' in Pittsburgh; 'The Ram's Horn,' in the city of New York; and the 'National Watchman,' in Troy. Three of these have been commenced during the present year, and all of whom are conducted with sufficient talent to reflect credit on their enterprising projectors. They fully demonstrate the capacity of the colored population for freedom, and are probably quite as numerous as can secure a living patronage at present.
Anti-Slavery Bugle [Salem, OH]. July 9, 1847: 2 col 1. [
The Disfranchised American and
The Mystery appear to have begun publishing in 1843-1844, not 1847.]
LOCAL MATTERS.Reported for the American.Serious Charge.—An examination took place yesterday before Justice Selby, in the case of John C. Pulley, a free colored man, who was arrested a few days since by officers Zell & Ridgely, and held to bail for a further examination on the charge of receiving and having in his possession abolition publications, in violation of the first section of the Act of 1811, chapter 272, relative to free negroes and mulattoes, which provides as follows:"Be it enacted, if any free negro or mulatto shall knowingly call for or demand or receive any abolition handbill, pamphlet, newspaper or pictorial representation, or other paper, of an inflammatory character, having a tendency to create discontent amongst, or stir up to insurrection the people of color of this State, at or from any post office situated within this State, or shall knowingly receive or have in his possession any such handbill, pamphlet, newspaper or pictorial representation, or other paper, he or she shall be deemed guilty of felony, and upon conviction shall be sentenced to undergo a confinement in the Penitentiary of this State for a period not less than ten years nor more than twenty."It was in evidence in this case that the accused had for several months past been receiving through the Post Office in this city, the numbers of an abolition paper, called "The Ram's Horn," published in the city of New York, by two colored men. The numbers of the paper, one of them having the direction of the accused, were shown in evidence. They appeared to belong to the most violent class of abolition publications, bearing at their head the name of Gerritt Smith, as a candidate for the office of President, and that of Frederick Douglass, the runaway slave, for the office of Vice President; each number also contained a call for a national convention of the colored people, both slaves and free, and other articles of an inflammatory nature.On the part of the defence it was alleged that the papers had been sent to him, without any solicitation on his part by a friend living in New York; that he received them merely as a matter of compliment, and that he was scarcely able to read and hardly aware of the nature of the publication which he was receiving.After hearing the evidence in the case Justice Selby ordered the accused to give bail in the sum of $500 or his appearance to answer the charge at the next Term of the Baltimore City Court. The required bail was immediately entered, and he departed. Frederick Pinckney, Esq., the deputy Attorney General, appeared on the part of the State, and D. C. Barnett, Esq. on the part of the defence.
American and Commercial Daily Advertiser [Baltimore, MD]. August 7, 1847: 3 col 4.☞ There is a law of Maryland forbidding negroes to receive at the Post Office Abolition publications on pain of ten or twenty years imprisonment in the Penitentiary. John C. Pulley, a negro man, was yesterday arrested in Baltimore for a violation of this law and held to bail.
National Whig [Washington, DC]. August 7, 1847: 3 col 3.BALTIMORE, August 7, 1847.ARREST FOR RECEIVING ABOLITION PAPERS.—An arrest under a law passed some years since, making it a felony for a free colored person to receive from the post office an abolition paper or document, calculated to incite discontent and insubordination among the slaves of the States. A free colored man named John C. Pulley, had several times called at the post office, and received copies of a paper published in New York called the Ram's Horn, having at its head the names of Garrett [sic] Smith and Frank [sic] Douglass, as candidates for the Presidency and Vice Presidency—two [sic] colored men. He was carried before Justice Selby, and on examination was held to bail in the sum of $500 to answer at court. He plead in defence that he could not read, but merely took them from the post office as a compliment to the friend who had sent them to him.
Albany Evening Journal [NY]. August 9, 1847: 2.☞ A free colored man named John C. Pulley has been arrested in Baltimore, and held to bail in the sum of $500, for taking abolition papers out of the Post Office.
Syracuse Daily Star. August 12, 1847: 3 col 2.HAIL COLUMBIA?—John C. Pulley, a free colored man, has been held to bail in Baltimore for receiving through the Postoffice an Abolition paper published in New-York!
Voice of Industry [Lowell, MA]. August 14, 1847: 2 col 3.The “Ram’s Horn” has nominated Gerrit Smith for President and Frederick Douglass for Vice President.
Oakland Gazette [MI]. August 14, 1847: 1 col 4.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS.In the last RAM'S HORN it is announced that Mr. Douglass has become interested in that paper, and is the assistant editor. He suggests a change of its name, to that of Fugitive American. Under whatever name he may content, (although we believe there is much in a name, especially if it be a good one,) we are sure our brother Douglass will speak and write manfully and effectually against the slavery of this nation; and we need not say he has our heartiest sympathy and good wishes.From the following article it will be seen that Mr. Douglass has also engaged to become a regular contributor to the Anti-Slavery Standard. This will be a most welcome announcement to all the friends of that paper. May he be strong to bear all the labors and responsibilities which are laid upon him.—M.
The Liberator [Boston, MA]. August 20, 1847: 135 col 2.What has the Federal Government to do with Slavery?—The Baltimore correspondent of the National Era, writes in regard to the colored man arrested for taking the "Ram's Horn:"The arrest of Pulley was made at the instance of [Baltimore] Postmaster [James Madison] Buchanan pointed out the
State law to him, and alarmed him into the step of this prosecution!That is beautiful business for a United States officer! We wonder if Mr. Cave Johnson [United States Postmaster General] could not make a good thing in the free states, by letting out his officials to smell out fugitives. The slaveholders think there is no use of being in the ascendant unless they can make it beneficial to the peculiar institution.—
Chronotype.
Christian Contributor. August 25, 1847: 3 col 5.
RHYDDID MEWN CAETH DALAETH.John C. Pulley, dyn du
rhydd, a gymerwyd i fynu yn Baltimore yn ddiweddar ar y cyhuddiad o dderbyn Papyrau Gwrthgaethiwol ac yntau yn gwybod eu bod yn gyfryw, yn groes i Weithred a basiwyd yn 1841, yr hon sydd yn sefydlu, os bydd i un
negro neu
mulato rhydd gymeryd o'r Bost Swyddfa yn y dalaeth hono, neu os bydd yn ei feddiant, unrhyw ddalen, cylchgrawn neu newyddiadur gwrthgaethiwol, neu arluniau o ansawdd cyffrous, yn tueddu i beri anesmwythder neu i godi terfysg ymhlith y bobl lliw yn y dalaeth hono, yr ystyrir ef yn euog o ddrwgweithred, a phan y profer hyny yn ei erbyn, y dyfernir ef i garchariad yn y Carchar Talaethol (
State Penitentiary) am ddim llai na deg na mwy nag ugain mlynedd.Y cyhuddiad yn erbyn y cyhuddedig ar yr achlysur hwn ydoedd, ei fod yn derbyn, trwy y Postswyddfa, newyddiadur a gyhoeddir gan ddau ddyn lliw yn ninas Caerefrog Newydd, o'r enw “
Ram's Horn.”Cafwyd ar yr ymchwiliad ei fod wedi bod yn derbyn y newyddiadur hwn am gryn amser ; ond dangoswyd ar yr amddiffyniad nas gallai ddarllen ond ychydig, a bod y Papyr yn cael ei anfon iddo yn rhodd gan gyfaill iddo yn New York. Ar ol gwrando y cwyn, y Barnydd a osododd y cyhuddedig dan feichniaeth o $500 i ymddangos ger bron Llys Dinas Baltimore (
Baltimore City Court) i ateb i'r cyhuddiad yn eu heisteddfa nesaf.
N. Y. Evangelist.Canfyddir oddiwrth yr hanesyn uchod,1. Fod yr hen drefn felldigedig o ddal dynion fel caethweision, eu gorthrymu yn barhaus, a masnachu ynddynt fel anifeiliaid y maes, yn peri ofnau ac anesmwythder mawr a pharhaus ar feddyliau eu gorthrymwyr ; yr hyn sydd yn peri iddynt ffurfio deddfau ag y byddai yn gywilydd ganddynt feddwl am danynt dan amgylchiadau gwahanol.2. Fod y caethiwed yn ein gwlad yn faich trwm ar wyr rhyddion a ddygwyddant berthyn i'r un genedl. Peth naturiol iawn i'r dyn du neu i'r dyn melyn (yr hwn efallai sydd ganddo berthynasau agos iddo yn y caethiwed) ydyw darllen Papyrau Gwrthgaethiwol, fel y caffo weled a oes rhyw wawr o obaith yn debyg o dori ar yr achos hwn. Ond: am wneuthur hyn—am dderbyn Newyddiadur o'r Bostswyddfa gyhoeddus—heb uu cyhuddiad arall yn ei erbyn-dyma: ddinasydd rhydd yn America yn agored i ddeng mlynedd, ac o hyny i ugain mlynedd o garchariad, fel drwgweithredwr ymhlith lladron o llofruddion, yn y carchar Talaethol! Ah ! pa hyd y goddefir y fath-bethau a hyn yn America, uchel ei breintiau !
Y Cenhadwr Americanaidd 8(93). September 1847. 275. [Google Translate offers for a portion of the last paragraph: "It's a very natural thing for the black man or the yellow man (who may have close relationships in the slavery) is reading Anti-Territorial Papers, so I can see if there is some dawn of hope likely to hurt this case . But: for doing this-for receiving a Newspaper from the Public Repository [Post Office]-without having another charge against it-here is: a free American citizen exposed to ten years, and from that time to twenty years imprisonment, as a robbery among thieves of murderers, in the Talaethol prison! Ah! how long these same-things are tolerated in America, its high privileges!"]COLORPHOBIA.—The editor of the Ram's Horn is guilty of a colored skin, and for this reason has been denied the privilege of going on board
the Chinese Junk at New York. He mentions this fact in his paper. His people are not allowed the right of suffrage; are shut out of omnibusses; are limited to certain places on steamboats and in railroad cars; are excluded from places of amusement, not even being admitted to visit a museum of natural curiosities; are not permitted to avail themselves of the benefits of bathing establishments; and sometimes have to prove their title to freedom. And while the colored folks have to labor under all these disadvantages, they are upbraided for not being advanced and improved like the whites! Truly a hard punishment for an offence which is only skin deep.—
Sandwich Observer.—A free colored man named JNO. C. Pullen has been arrested and put under bail in Baltimore, for receiving an abolition paper through the mail. This is, in plain words, tyranny. We are no fanatic, but such arbitrary invasions of the natural independence of a human being pain, as well as provoke us.—
Exchange paper.The Liberator [Boston, MA]. September 3, 1847: 2 col 6.FREE AMERICA!—The Ram's Horn, of which Mr. Douglass is assistant-editor, having been sent through the post-office, by a friend in New York, to John C. Pulley, a free coloured man in Baltimore, he was recently arrested, under a statute of 1841, by which a penalty, of not less than ten, or more than twenty years' imprisonment, is attached to the possession of an abolition newspaper, book, or picture, tending to make the slaves of the State discontented. He was held to bail in 500 dollars, to appear before the City Court at the next term.
Patriot [London, UK]. October 14, 1847: 6 col 1."Varieties."
Latter-Day Saints' Millennial Star 9(21). November 1, 1847 335.A COMMON CAUSE. The 'Ram's Horn' at New York, calls upon the colored people to take the anti-slavery cause into their own hands. This cannot be done. It is not an exclusive, but a common cause, in which all classes in the land are deeply concerned. Slavery can be put down only by a combination of all classes against it. it is too late in the day to make anti-slavery a merely
complexioned affair. 'A man's a man, for a' that.'
The Liberator [Boston, MA]. January 18, 1848: 26 col 5.Forty families of colored people are to leave New York city, the coming spring, to occupy the lands given to them by Gerrit Smith in Franklin and Essex counties in the state of New York. If they succeed as well as many who have settled in the woods of Ohio and turned it into fruitful fields, they and their children after them will heap blessings on Gerrit Smith.
Brooklyn Daily Eagle and Kings County Democrat. March 10, 1848: 2 col 1.GERRIT SMITH'S GRANTS.—George B. Wilson, who has just returned from the settlement made by several colored families on lands generously given them by Gerrit SMith, informs us that Wm. A. Smith, one of the settlers, has already erected a spacious dwelling on Lime Lake, in township No. 9, Franklin County, on the main turnpike from Lake Champlain to Ogdensburgh. The site is a beautiful one, and several of the granted locations lie near it in various directions, and settlements may soon be effected thereon by the combined exertions of the grantees, among whom an energetic spirit prevails.
New York Semi-Weekly Tribune. June 3, 1848: 1 col 4.LIBERTY MEETING.—There will be a Grand Rally of the Friends of Freedom at the Liberty-st. Church, this evening at 7 1/2 o'clock. CHARLES LENOX REDMOND, of Salem Mass., and THOMAS VAN RENSSELAER, Editor of the Ram's Horn, and H. H. GARNETT, will address the meeting. The friends of Freedom, male and female, without respect to party, are invited to attend.
Troy Budget. June 5, 1848: 2 col 6.
RAM'S HORN.—We wish to inform the patrons to the Ram's Horn that in consequence of the difficulty of securing longer the services of a suitable person (during our absence to secure subscribers), the publication of the paper will be deferred until our return to the City, where we hope to arrive in about three weeks from now.THOS. VAN RENSSELAER.Rochester, N. Y. June 27, 1848 je30 1t
New York Tribune. June 27, 1848: col 4.
Movements of the Grantees of the City of Troy.At a special meeting of the Grantees of the city of Troy, held in the M. E. Church, Wednesday evening, Nov. 1, 1848, to ascertain as near as possible, the feeling and disposition of the people in reference to occupying their lands in the approaching spring.The meeting was called to order at 8 o'clock, and the following gentlemen were appointed officers for the evening:—Rev. Mr. Wells, President; Patrick Firman, James H. Davis, and Abraham Stanley, Vice Presidents with a number of other gentlemen, and T. J. Rice, acting as Secretary. Mr. Wells being called for, came forward and proceeded to make some remarks in reference to the subject that was to be brought before the meeting; after which the following named gentlemen were appointed a committee on resolutions: T. J. Rice, William Meads, and Littleton Becket. In the absence of the committee, Mr. Jefferson of Essex County, addressed the meeting in a very able manner.—Mr. Jefferson had but lately arrived from Essex, where he located last spring. he gave a very interesting history of that county, and recommends all those that have land there, not to part with it under any consideration.—A letter from Mr. Brown of Springfield, Mass. was read; after which the committee on resolutions reported the following:
The North Star [Rochester, NY]. November 10, 1848: 3.
Gerrit Smith's Land.—The Grantees of the city of Rochester were addressed on Monday evening, the 4th inst., by Wait J. Lewis, Surveyor to the Gerrit Smith Farmer's Association, of New York City. The meeting was an all important one, as many individuals have long ben desirous of obtaining the information which no one was better qualified to impart than Mr. Lewis; he having resided for fifteen years in Essex county, being a competent land surveyor, and moreover pledged to aid in carrying out the design of Mr. Smith, by whom, he has been furnished with the names, residences, township lots, &c., of three thousand grantees.The various disparaging rumors relative to the taxation and value of said lands, were disposed of in a manner that left no doubt upon the meeting that the donation of the distinguished philanthropist is one deserving of greatful hearts.Mr. Lewis details in a familiar manner the features of each township, reiterating that none of the lots were worthless, but the greater portion excellent—an assertion which has been confirmed by persons of unquestionable judgment and veracity. His remarks were amply illustrated diagrams.While the grantees were contracting for a surveyor of lots, Frederick Douglass alluded prominently to his recent interview with Mr. John Brown of Springfield, who recently returned from the Lands, and pronounced them good. A tribute was also awarded to the donor for his munificent gift of homestead to so large a number of colored Americans. Speakers and hearers seemed impressed with the importance of an early occupation of the lands. Two mechanics—a wheelright and a blacksmith, expressed a hope of soon locating themselves in the Freeman's Home.—North star.
Ovid Bee. December 20, 1848: 2 col 6."THE GERRIT SMITH FARMERS' ASSOCIATION." We should have noticed in connexion with Mr. Rice, at the Troy House, the agents for the disposal of lots, the name of Patrick Tiernan at the Atheneum buildings.
Troy Daily Whig. December 27, 1848: 2 col 5.EDITORIAL CHANGE.—We have been informed that Wm. Henry Leonard, Esq. has become associated in the editorial department of the
Ram's Horn, the organ of the colored people, Thomas Van Rensselaer, of course, remaining at his old post."City Items."
New-York Daily Tribune. March 23, 1849: 1 col 3.
Anniversary of the Anti-Slavery Society—Adjourned Meeting at the Abyssinian Church.The meeting was opened at a late hour, by a prayer made by Mr. John T. Remond, pastor of the Abyssinian church of colored persons, in Anthony street. Mr. Thomas Downing was then called to the chair, and Mr. Jackson appointed Secretary. Mr. Van Rensselaer, editor of the Ram's Horn, for whom the pastor prayed in his prayer that his subscription list might be augmented, was present on the platform, and being called upon, arose to state to the meeting the object of the assembly.Mr. H. H. GARNET then addressed the meeting in support of the resolutions, and particularly advocated the necessity of supporting the press which was devoted to their cause, especially the
Ram's Horn, whose able and talented editor was present among them.
New York Herald. May 8, 1849: 1 cols 2-3.
THE ANNIVERSARIES.—American Anti-Slavery Society.THIRD DAY.Yesterday morning at ten o'clock, this body again met pursuant to adjournment, at the Minerva Rooms, Broadway. [...]Mr. VAN RENNSSALEAR [sic], of the
Ram's Horn justified himself as a colored abolitionist, for voting with the free soil party at the last election.
New York Herald. May 11, 1849: 1 col 3.
Abolitionism in New England.The meeting of the New England Anti-Slavery Convention at Boston on Tuesday last must have been a refreshing season to these abolitionists who, since the trasfer to the Barn Burners last summer, have mourned the drooping spirit of the Abolition Zion. [...]When this skirmish was over, (says the Herald,) one Van Rensselaer, a negro, formerly editor of the
Ram's Horn, published near the Ram's Head in Fulton st., N. Y., rose and said that he thought the object of the abolition party was to free the slave, and not to fight among themselves.
New York Herald. June 2, 1849: 2 col 3.THE RAM'S HORN.—Looking brighter and fresher than usual, even for that paper. Its leader is ably written, and will, no doubt, do much to enlighten its colored readers on the causes of their degradation. It has rather a severe cut at the multitude of newspapers which have recently spring up in New York. It terms them "Tracts," and presumes that the object of the one started by Mr. Gloucester, is to defend himself against the charges brought against him in the Police Gazette, a few weeks since.—F. D.
The North Star [Rochester, NY]. June 29, 1849: 2.☞ One of the best hits we have seen is the following, from the Ram's Horn, a paper edited by a colored man:"The Corporation of New York have very properly reciprocated the honors bestowed upon Mr. Frederick Douglass by the Corporation of Dublin, by their warm reception of the Rev. Mr. Mathews, the distinguished Irish philanthropist and promoter of the cause of temperance. This is truly gratifying, to see our authorities recognize the hospitalities thus bestowed by a foreign corporation upon an American citizen (colored though he was.")
Cortland County Express [McGrawville, NY]. August 2, 1849: 9 col 4.SLAVES OF THE SOUTH, NOW IS YOUR TIME! Strike for your freedom
now, at the suggestion of your enslavers. Governor Johnson, one of the largest slaveholders in Louisiana, encourages you to strike at once. You may be sure of his sympathy for your success in a physical struggle for liberty. What have you to gain by procrastination in a manly struggle for liberty? You have nothing to lose, but every thing to gain. God is with you for liberty. Good men will sympathize for your success, and even slaveholders are ready (according to the spirit of the following resolution) to cheer you on in the holy cause of freedom. [These resolutions have been already published in the Liberator.] Men will respect you in proportion to the physical efforts you put forth in resisting tyranny and slavery.We do not tell you to murder the slaveholder; but we do advise you to refuse longer to work without pay. Make up you [sic] minds to die, rather than bequeath a state of slavery to your posterity.Remember that thousands of your friends in the free States, both colored and white, are anxiously waiting for you to make a demonstration of your desire for freedom. The first thing for you to do is to make up your minds deliberately, that you will work no longer, for any living man, without wages. Let this determination be general, and well understood. In the second place, select out your bravest men to go and tell the slaveholders your determination, and make up your minds, as Christians, to die rather than submit. By such a course, you will throw the responsibility on them of a resort to physical violence. And in case of a struggle, you will stand justified before the world in your noble struggle for freedom, and will transmit your example to generations yet unborn.We appeal to you, then, as men, as philanthropists, and as Christians, to act promptly in this glorious cause, while the world is anxiously looking on to see the glorious result, of Liberty and Equality, triumph over Slavery and oppression; and may God prosper on the right.—
New York Ram's Horn.☞ The Ram's Horn annexes to its 'patriotic' remarks the flaming proceedings of a recent meeting in New Orleans, in behalf of Hungary and Rome.
The Liberator [Boston, MA]. August 3, 1849: 122 col 3.The following article which we copy from the Ram's Horn, we recommend to the attention of abolitionists. Most of the reasons which the writer urges, why colored people should not ransom slaves, by purchase, are equally good in their application to other persons. The painful necessity for refusing frequent applications for such aid, should make us more diligent and zealous in our efforts to overthrow the system of which it is a legitimate result.COLORED PEOPLE BUYING SLAVES.—This is a subject upon which we are called to make a passing remark, and we shall do so modestly, lest we should wound the feelings of some of our warm friends. Scarcely a day has past since we came to this city, that we have not been solicited by colored persons for money to enable them to purchase some relative or friend out of slavery, and if we had permitted our sympathy to govern our action in every instance, we would have emptied our pickets to gratify those friends in distress; but we have long since been convinced that we must act upon principle on this as well as on other subjects that are presented before us. Our position is this, that holding or dealing in slaves, under all circumstances, is a violation of the laws of God, and therefore no one can innocently participate in it. Now, if, with this principle as our basis, we consent to pay the man who is holding our brother, and offers to release him if we give him his price, do we not encourage that thief, and furnish him the means to place some other brother in the same position? if so, what better is my brother than another man's brother to be in slavery? But the evil does not stop here: if I succeed in releasing my friend while others are in the same condition, it lessens my interest for those that remain. Seeing that the slaves cannot all be purchased, if we admit the expediency of purchasing, because it would require two thousand millions of dollars to pay for all the slaves in the United States at this time. Therefore, we hold it to be wrong to appeal to the colored people who are already poor, to give large sums of money into the slaveholders' hands, and thereby encourage them to enslave their kind. We are aware that it is natural to sympathize with relations and friends in such cases, but we should not take advantage of the peculiar situations in which the colored people are placed, and make these appeals to them; if we cannot resist, when these peculiar cases (and every case is a peculiar one) comes up, let the friends make their appeals to white people who are our oppressors and enslavers.These remarks are made in all kindness, but consistency requires that they should be made, in order to enlighten our friends on this important subject, if the premises we have assumed are correct, our conclusions follow as a matter of course; but more at another time.
Pennsylvania Freeman [Philadelphia, PA]. December 6, 1849: 3.☞ THE 'FLORENCE TELEGRAPH' is a weekly paper printed at Albany by S. MYERS for and in behalf of a band of colored people who have united to form a settlement in the township of Florence, Oneida Co.—we believe on lands given them by Gerrit Smith. The paper is well in its way, but we like the settlement much better. If our people of African blood had a little more true self-respect they would abandon the cities and villages where they now herd as menials and go back into the new country, form settlements there by themselves and show the world their fitness for freedom by becoming true freemen. They might club their means and buy a whole County in Iowa or Michigan, each man owning what he paid for, but under a general agreement to sell only to men of their own race, and to those at just prices (not land speculators,) so as to have the County settled entirely by colored men and freeholders, who must then of course fill its offices and divide its honors. Such a colony would do more for the Race than any amount of ill-directed philanthropy.
New-York Daily Tribune. January 30, 1850: 1 col 3.For Frederick Douglass' Paper.
LIBERTY PARTY STATE CONVENTION.—A Convention of the Liberty Party of the State of New York was held in Utica, September 12, 1855. [...]The following nominations were made unanimously:FREDERICK DOUGLASS, of Monroe, for Secretary of State.
Frederick Douglass' Paper. September 21, 1855: 3.☞ "The Albany
Atlas says the Frederick Douglass ticket got two votes in Troy! These are all the votes heard of as yet in the State.—As Fred. can't be Secretary of State, we advise him to adopt Greeley's suggestion, and run for Congress."—
N. Y. Day Book.Well; if Mr. Douglass should see fit "to adopt Greeley's suggestion, and run for Congress," no doubt he would reach it, as soon, if not sooner, than Mr. "HYBRID" STIMSON, of the
Day Book. Mr. S. is looked upon in this quarter as a tool of the Slave Power, more to be pitied than condemned; and finding that his call for "Democratic" help, remains unanswered, his "gold watch and chain proposal" not yet accepted, "his sheet reduced to its original size," &c., we "advise him" to give up his vile, unprofitable business, or "run for" that portion of our "free Republic" for which the late John Mitchell panted, "the state of Alabama,"—where his services in behalf of "twenty-five millions of white men" will be more fully appreciated. And should this "bright, particular, Star," wander from its present orbit, in accordance with the writer's suggestion, he will doubtless be as ready to give a similar reason for a change of climate as did Cato, who, when the question was propounded, "what do you suppose is the reason the Sun goes towards the South in winter?" replied
"Well, dun'o, massa, unless he no stan' de clemency of the Norf, and so he am obliged to go to de Souf where he 'sperience warmer longiture."Frederick Douglass' Paper. November 30, 1855: 2.
OFFICIAL CANVASS.—1855.State of New York —Statement of the whole number of votes given for SECRETARY OF STATE [...]
SCATTERING VOTES.ALBANY—[...] Frederick Douglass received 2 votes. [...]BROOME—[...] Frederick Douglass received 2 votes. [...]CAYUGA—[...] Gerrit Smith received 1 vote. [...]CLINTON—[...] Frederick Douglass received 17 votes. [...]CORTLAND—[...] Frederick Douglass received 6 votes. [...]DELAWARE—[...] Frederick Douglass received 1 vote. [...]ERIE—[...] Douglass received 2 votes. [...]ESSEX—[...] Frederick Douglass received 1 vote. [...]FULTON and HAMILTON—[...] Frederick Douglass received 2 votes. [...]HERKIMER—[...] Frederick Douglass received 6 votes. [...]JEFFERSON—[...] Frederick Douglass received 9 votes. [...]KINGS—[...] Frederick Douglass received 3 votes. [...]LIVINGSTON—[...] Frederick Douglass received 2 votes. [...]MADISON—[...] Frederick Douglass received 24 votes. [...]MONROE—[...] Frederick Douglass received 4 votes. [...]NEW YORK—Scattering 49.NIAGARA—[...] Frederick Douglass received 1 vote. [...]ONEIDA—[...] Frederick Douglass received 16 votes. [...]ONONDAGA—[...] Frederick Douglass received 4 votes. [...]ONTARIO—[...] Frederick Douglass received 3 votes. [...]ORANGE—[...] Frederick A. Douglass received 1 vote. [...]ORLEANS—[...] Frederick Douglass received 1 vote. [...]OSWEGO—[...] Frederick Douglass received 17 votes. [...]OTEGO—[...] Frederick Douglass received 3 votes. [...]RENSSELAER—[...] Fred Douglass received 1 vote. [...]ST. LAWRENCE—[...] Frederick Douglass received 4 votes. [...]SCHUYLER—[...] Frederick Douglass 1. [...]SENECA—[...] Frederick Douglass received 3 votes. [...]SUFFOLK—[...] Frederick Douglass received 1 vote. [...]TOMPKINS—[...] Fred Douglass received 1 vote. [...]WARREN—[...] Frederick Douglass received 1 vote. [...]WASHINGTON—[...] Frederick Douglass received 4 votes. [...]WAYNE—[...] Frederick Douglass received 2 votes. Gerrit Smith received 1 vote. [...]
Albany Evening Journal. December 22, 1855: 1 col 1.the substitution of Fred. Douglass might be conceded in order to conciliate the support of H. G. [Horace Greeley] and the other brethren.
New York Morning Express. May 30, 1856: 2 col 7.Under a call issued by the Radical Abolition State Committee, about a hundred persons, including several women, assembled at Convention Hall at 11 o'clock this forenoon. The object of the Convention, as stated in the call, is to nominate Radical Abolition and Temperance candidates for President and Vice President, an Electoral ticket for this State, and a ticket for State officers. [...]The nomination of GERRIT SMITH as the Radical Abolition and Temperance candidate for President of the United States, was then made unanimous.As candidates for the nomination for Vice President, the names of Frederick Douglass, of Rochester, N. Y., John Pierpont, of Massachusetts, and Samuel McFarland, of Pennsylvania, were presented, and their merits quite freely discussed.During the discussion, several members of the Convention strongly urged that a colored man should have this nomination, both as likely to strengthen the ticket, and to exhibit the consistency of the party.Several members opposed Fred. Douglass, because he was a "Black Republican," and proposed to vote for Lincoln.Fred. Douglass, in response, denied that he had ever declared his intention to vote for Lincoln, or that he entertained any such inclination.A vote was then taken by rising as the candidates were named, and Mr. McFarland received a large majority (about 50) of the votes cast.Whereupon, it was resolved that SAMUEL MCFARLAND, of Pennsylvania, be the Radical-Abolition and Temperance candidate for Vice President.A National Executive Committee was then appointed, consisting of Messrs. W. W. Chapman, of New York; Stephen S. Foster, of Massachusetts; Frederick Douglass, of New York; C. C. Foote, of Michigan; and T. B. McCormick, of Ohio.
State League [Syracuse, NY]. September 1, 1860: cols 3-4.