Illustration for page 7, The American
Anti-Slavery Almanac for 1839 (New York: Published for the
American Anti-Slavery Society, Vol. I, No. 4).
Courtesy The John Hay Library, Brown
University. Caption:
As the District of Columbia was set apart to promote the interests
and honor of the nation, its institutions should conform to the will
of the nation. THEY DO. It
is the nation's will that any colored man in the District should
be liable to arrest and imprisonment, without evidence, oath or
warrant against him, on the simple pretence
that he has been robbed of his liberty and even when this has been
virtually proved false, it is the nation's will
that he be sold to pay the cost of this
cruelty.
The following appeared in a Washington paper, July, 1834.
NOTICE. Was committed to the prison of
WASHINGTON Co., D. C. * * David Peck. He says
he is FREE. The owner or owners are requested,
&c., or he will be sold as the
LAW DIRECTS. James Williams,
Keeper of the Prison.
In 1831, a free colored coachman, whose wife was confined,
started to go for a midwife. He was seized and imprisoned by the
patrol, notwithstanding his tears and entreaties. In the morning
his wife was found dead,—a victim to the nation's
cruelty.—See Letter from Washington, in the
Genius of Universal Emancipation.
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