Transcribed Newspaper Articles--Augusta County: Slavery and Politics

• The Spectator, January 10, 1860, p. 2, c. 5: "Hostile Legislation." The New York Times argues that relatively few Northern states have adopted personal liberty laws.

• The Vindicator, January 15, 1859, p. 2, c. 3: "The Case of the 'Wanderer.'" A vessel named the Wanderer was captured while landing a cargo of slaves in Georgia and South Carolina. Many planters support the reopening of the slave trade because they believe that there is a need for more slave labor in the South and in the new western territories. According to the Vindicator, "The most potent argument in its favor is, that we need negro labor."

• The Vindicator, July 22, 1859, p. 2. c. 1: "The Slave Trade." Argues that it's silly for one to support slavery in the South but denounce the slave trade. The Vindicator believes that the Christianization of Africans is the best thing for them. According to the paper, "...the change in the sentiment of the people has been so sure and speedy, that now, the world, with the exception of a few fanatics, has come to look upon the institution with leniency, and the people of the Southern States with affection and reverence."

• The Vindicator, July 22, 1859, p. 2, c. 2: "Abstractions." Slavery is not an abstraction, the article argues, and the issues arising from it should be taken very seriously.

• The Vindicator, August 26, 1859, p. 2, c. 2: "The Staunton Vindicator and the African Slave Trade." The Vindicator reprints an article that criticizes the paper as a rag sheet that won't stand up to defend the African slave trade.

• The Spectator, September 13, 1859, p. 1, c. 6: "For the Spectator: Thoughts on the Renewal of the African Slave Trade." Part one of a lengthy essay opposing reopening the African slave trade, which the writer argues is just a plot to split the Union. He blames non-slaveholders who wish to acquire slaves cheaply. He believes Virginia should oppose the reopening of the trade, especially since it would greatly lessen the value of the slaves already owned by Virginians.

• The Spectator, September 20, 1859, p. 1, c. 6: "For the Spectator: Thoughts on the Renewal of the African Slave Trade." Conclusion of the essay on the reopening of the slave trade.

• The Spectator, October 11, 1859, p. 2, c. 1: "Export of Slaves from Virginia." Discusses the drain of slaves from Virginia and North Carolina to the cotton South. The editorial argues that this process is harmful to the border states because it is likely that each slave sold will be replaced by a white man, probably from the North and probably anti-slavery.

• The Spectator, November 1, 1859, p. 2, c. 4: "For the Spectator." Excerpt of a letter sent from Charlestown to the Baltimore American describing the faithfulness of the slaves even in the face of the Harper's Ferry insurrection.

• The Spectator, November 29, 1859, p. 2, c. 2: "Danger of Insurrection." Mocks Northern press coverage of Southern fears of insurrection. Author claims that Southerners sleep soundly, secure in the knowledge that their slaves would not rise up against them. Also expresses confidence that slavery was ordained by God.

• The Spectator, December 6, 1859, p. 2, c. 1: "Freedom and Slavery." The Spectator claims that slavery is good for blacks, and that they actually prefer it to freedom in the North. The article cites anecdotes, including a quote from Henry Ward Beecher, about the poor treatment freed slaves receive in the North. The paper argues that a slaveholder is the "best friend of the negro," because slaveowners and slaves are bound by "ties of genuine friendship and affection between whites and blacks."

• The Spectator, December 13, 1859, p. 2, c. 3: "The Slavery Debates." Report on congressional debates over slavery, inspired by both Harper's Ferry and Hinton Helper's Impending Crisis.

• The Spectator, January 17, 1860, p. 2, c. 2: "Northern Free Negroes and Southern Slaves." Compares the conditions of free blacks and slaves and claims that slaves receive better treatment in the South than free blacks do in the North.

• The Vindicator, January 20, 1860, p. 1, c. 7: "The Lesson of the Lawrence Massacre." Reprinted article from the New York Herald that criticizes the factory owners of Lawrence, Massachusetts, for their callous disregard for the welfare of their workers, who they treat as "white slaves," even as these owners support abolitionism. The Herald argues that these workers are hardly "free."

• The Vindicator, February 3, 1860, p. 2, c. 2: "Nullification of the Fugitive Slave Law." Complains that three Northern states have passed personal liberty bills that virtually nullify the fugitive slave law. The Vindicator argues that such laws are a "flagrant violation of the Constitution."

• The Spectator, April 17, 1860, p. 1, c. 6: "The Negro Fever." Reports that, in Georgia, slaves are being sold quickly. In the Southwest, the demand is outstripping the supply, thus driving up prices and potentially producing a crisis situation.

• The Vindicator, April 20, 1860, p. 2, c. 2: "Slavery in the Territories." Discusses the pro-slavery laws passed by the New Mexico legislature. Writer argues that territorial legislatures have the power to pass laws either supporting or opposing slavery. The action of the legislature "was a practical declaration of 'Popular Sovereignty'--not 'Squatter Sovereignty'--and an illustration of the doctrine of non-intervention by Congress."

• The Spectator, May 1, 1860, p. 2, c. 4: "The Lemmon Slave Case." Report of a lawsuit settled in New York, in which a Mrs. Lemmon of Virginia brought her slaves to New York en route to Texas. While in New York, the slaves were freed on the grounds that slavery is prohibited in New York. Mrs. Lemmon sued, arguing that she was entitled to her privileges and immunities as a citizen of Virginia even in other states. The New York court of appeals decided against Mrs. Lemmon and maintained that her slaves were indeed free.

• The Spectator, May 8, 1860, p. 2, c. 1: "The Trouble at C[h]arleston." Report of the proceedings at the Democratic convention in Charleston, at which the party split over the question of slavery in the Territories. The Spectator hopes that the difficulty of the question can be settled without disrupting the Union.

• The Vindicator, May 11, 1860, p. 2, c. 5: "The Territorial Question." Provides a brief history of the key legislation dealing with slavery and the territories. The Vindicator expresses its hope that fanaticism on the question of slavery in the territories can be stamped out in both the North and the South, and the Union thus preserved.

• The Vindicator, May 18, 1860, p. 2, c. 4: "Methodist General Conference." Discusses the recently adopted policy of the Methodist Episcopal Church on slavery. The Vindicator opposes the Church's intrusion into politics.

• The Vindicator, June 22, 1860, p. 2, c. 2: "The Romney (Va.) Intelligencer Tells . . . Reprints a collection of several newspapers' reactions to a white man being beaten by a "party of negroes" while he pursued runaway slaves in Pennsylvania.

• The Spectator, August 7, 1860, p. 2, c. 5: "Abolition." Author criticizes those slave masters who allow their slaves to act as freemen and hire themselves out, or who allow their slaves to live in separate houses and work for themselves. The author calls on public officials to ferret out such masters and prosecute them for evading the slave laws.

• The Vindicator, September 7, 1860, p. 3, c. 2: "For the Vindicator: Middlebrook, Va., Sept. 4th, '60." A Breckinridge supporter explains his stand on slavery in the territories and argues that Douglas and his supporters have misrepresented Breckinridge's position on the issue.

• The Vindicator, December 21, 1860, p. 1, c. 4: "Letter from South Carolina. Columbia, S. C., Dec. 3d, 1860." Discusses life in South Carolina, including the need for slave labor. The author insists that few South Carolinians support the reopening of the slave trade.

• The Vindicator, January 4, 1861, p. 2, c. 1: "A Few Negro Women . . ." Information about the hiring out of female slaves in Staunton.

• The Vindicator, January 11, 1861, p. 2, c. 3: "Desperate Negro Woman." A slave woman belonging to Joseph Cline, who lives four miles from Staunton, chopped off three of her fingers to prevent her master from selling her.

• The Spectator, January 22, 1861, p. 1, c. 5: "For the Spectator." Writer advocates remaining in the Union as long as guarantees of Southern property rights can be granted by the federal government. If war comes, however, the writer feels that Virginia should join the Southern states.

• The Vindicator, January 25, 1861, p. 2, c. 4: "We Notice in the Amelia County Correspondence . . ." Mr. Berry of Augusta county was recently requested to leave Amelia County, where he was acting as a daguerreotypist. He was suspected of being "too familiar with slaves." The Vindicator claims that Berry is "sound on the negro question."

• The Vindicator, February 22, 1861, p. 2, c. 2: "Look at the Figures." Rejects the assertion of Mr. Moore, a delegate to the state secession convention from Rockbridge, that the Southern Confederacy wants to reopen the slave trade.

• The Vindicator, March 29, 1861, p. 2, c. 5: "'Mr. Bennet, One of the Financial . . .'" One of the financial officers of the state has called for a 20 cent per hundred dollar increase in taxes. According to the Vindicator, " If the policy of the submissionists is adopted, and Virginia becomes a part of the Northern Confederacy, her negroes will be transported South. This will remove one source of revenue, and then the taxes on lands, &c., will be doubled!"

• The Vindicator, March 29, 1861, p. 2, c. 6: "'Col. Baldwin . . .'" The Vindicator claims that Col. Baldwin made a fine speech, but his position is untenable. The paper argues that Virginia must decide whether it will go with the North or the South. If it goes with the North, Virginia must decide "what are we to do with our Negroes? Converted into pests and vampyres as they soon must be in such connexion, they will suck out the very lifeblood of the Commonwealth."

• The Vindicator, March 29, 1861, p. 3, c. 4: "Land and Negroes for Sale." Advertisement for nine slaves and a farm near Staunton.

• The Spectator, April 2, 1861, p. 1, c. 6: "Policy of the Border States." The article states that the interests of the border states are best served in the Union. It is in the Union that such issues as the return of fugitive slaves can best be addressed. Furthermore, the border states have concerns that the gulf states do not share, being disproportionately affected by such problems as fugitive slaves and the threat of war with the North.

• The Vindicator, April 12, 1861, p. 1, c. 4: "Submission Is Ruin." Reprinted article from the Richmond Dispatch that seeks to prove that slavery is an economically productive system for the South. The Dispatch argues that cheap immigrant labor serves the same purpose for the North that slave labor does for the South.

• The Vindicator, April 12, 1861, p. 2, c. 3: "The Alternative--North or South." Argues that, if Virginia stays in the Union, slavery would ultimately be destroyed, with disastrous consequences for the "industrious white man" of Virginia.

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