Transcribed Newspaper Articles--Franklin County: Slavery, Free Labor and Politics

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, April 20, 1859, p. 5, c. 2: "The March of Freedom." Editorial ties the success of the Republican Party to its stand against slavery and the Slave Power in the Democratic Party.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, April 20, 1859, p. 5, c. 2: "The Democracy and 'Niggers.'" Editorial turns Democratic insults against the South.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, April 27, 1859, p. 1, c. 2: "Great Speech of Hon. John Hickman." Independent Democratic Congressman pledges to hold the Democrats and the South to the concept of popular sovereignty and excoriates the Buchanan administration for scandals. This speech is a must-read--fiery, comprehensive, and cutting.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, May 4, 1859, p. 1, c. 4: "The Oberlin Trials." Report on personal liberty cases and use of the state government to protect citizens from an overreaching federal government.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, May 18, 1859, p. 4 c. 3: "A Mirror for Democrats." Asks Northern Democrats, "to look at the 'appalling list of surrenders of principle' they have made to retain party fellowship with slaveholders."

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, June 1, 1859, p. 8, c. 2: "Are There Fanatics in the South?" Editorial suggests that the slavery issue is just as heated and contested in the South as in the North.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, June 8, 1859, p. 4, c. 1: "Judge Taney." Criticizes the Valley Spirit for supporting Justice Taney's Dred Scot decision, calling it "unholy." The article further ridicules and maligns Taney's rise to power.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, August 10, 1859, p. 1, c. 1: "The Novel Compromise of Swaupping [sic] Rogues for Innocent." A tirade against a compromise court ruling in Ohio that allowed 4 men accused of kidnapping fugitive slaves and 15 people accused of aiding fugitives to go free. The author attacks this ruling as a corruption of state and federal rights, and the judge's action as "insolent defiance of God and Word."

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, August 31, 1859, p. 1, c. 1: "The Basis of Union." The New York Tribune criticizes the Philadelphia North American for suggesting that the Opposition drop the slavery issue in order to better unite and "attain the great good of a more perfect Union." The Tribune asserts that slavery is central to the presidential election and recommends that the Opposition select a candidate who "fairly reflects its views" on the slavery extension issue.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, September 14, 1859, p. 4, c. 2: "Becoming Africanized." Repeats the Republican claim that the effect of extending slavery is to eradicate the white population in slave states. The article uses South Carolina as an example--in the past five years, the white population has decreased while the number of slaves has increased. The Repository warns slaveholders that they are creating a very dangerous situation if the black population should vastly exceed the whites.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, September 14, 1859, p. 5, c. 3: "'The Bark James W. Page Has . . .'" Discusses the resettling of free blacks to Liberia, and includes one man's high praise for his new country.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, October 12, 1859, p. 4, c. 3: "Preference for Negro Labor." The Repository complains that, not only are the Democrats and the present Administration trying to prevent free whites from working and living in the territories, but they are also preventing them from working in Washington. Instead of hiring whites, they are having slaves work as messengers and doorkeepers in the offices of the government.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, November 2, 1859, p. 3, c. 2: "Fillibusterism." Criticizes William Walker's expeditions and efforts to acquire Nicaragua as another slave state. The Gazette also criticizes the administration for allowing the neutrality laws between countries to be violated.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, November 2, 1859, p. 4, c. 1: "Where is Judge Black!" Criticizes Judge Black for enforcing the Fugitive Slave Law while not also implementing the Act of Congress that forbids the import of slaves. The article suggests that Jerry Black will not prosecute these pirates because he wants the presidential nomination and, therefore, will need Southern support.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, November 9, 1859, p. 4, c. 6: "'Gentlemen:--Please Discontinue the Paper . . .'" The Repository prints a letter from a former subscriber who criticized the editor, A. N. Rankin, for supposedly favoring the Dred Scott decision. The Repository responds that Rankin is violently against it.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, November 30, 1859, p. 3, c. 2: "A New Version of an Old Song." To the tune of "One Little, Two Little, Three Little Indians" the Evening Post writes a new song that shows the increase of slavery (with the assistance of notable politicians), and after the election of a Republican president, the eventual disappearance of slavery.

• Valley Spirit, December 14, 1859, p. 8, c. 1: "A Woman's Appeal in Behalf of the Union and the Constitution." A Northern woman pleas with abolitionists to think about the consequences of their actions on the South. She justifies slavery by arguing that freedom would be a "curse" for blacks. She characterizes slavery as a benevolent patriarchy that treats its workers far better than Northern capitalism does.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, January 18, 1860, p. 4, c. 5: "Slavery in Nebraska." Discusses the controversy over the Nebraska Territory's law to prohibit slavery. Article condemns President James Buchanan's suggestion that the law is not binding.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, January 25, 1860, p. 8, c. 1: "The Testimony of American Churches against Slavery." Claims that there is a strong antislavery movement in the South in churches and missionaries.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, February 1, 1860, p. 1, c. 3: "Slavery in Nebraska." Condemns the Buchanan-appointed governor of Kansas for vetoing a bill to outlaw slavery in the territory and gives a full accounting of the slavery expansion issue from the Republican perspective.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, February 8, 1860, p. 4, c. 1: "The Organization." Now that a Speaker is elected and the House in order under Republican control, the editors suggest getting down to business with tariff revision to jumpstart the economy.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, March 7, 1860, p. 4, c. 1: "The Nigger Democracy." Editorial sharply criticizes the Valley Spirit and the Democratic party for their allegiance to Southern slaveowners.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, March 14, 1860, p. 1, c. 1: "The 'Irrepressible Conflict.'" Poem on slavery and the inherent conflict between it and freedom.

• Valley Spirit, April 11, 1860, p. 5, c. 2: "Music." Black musicians from Maryland visited recently, and editors claim that they returned to Maryland more satisfied with their condition than that of their free black brethren in Pennsylvania.

• Valley Spirit, April 18, 1860, p. 4, c. 5: "Epistle No. 4." Letter from nephew on tour in North to uncle in South. Once an abolitionist, the nephew now writes that he opposes abolition unless blacks are removed to some colony. Writes of a Northern mill accident and compares Northern industrialism unfavorably to Southern slavery.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, April 25, 1860, p. 4, c. 2: "The 'Nigger' Again." Editorial criticizes the Democratic Party for disregarding the "interests of the poor of their own race" while being overly concerned with African-Americans.

• Valley Spirit, May 2, 1860, p. 4, c. 1: "The Abolition of Slavery." Argues that freeing slaves would actually hurt the North.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, June 20, 1860, p. 8, c. 3: "Lincoln on Snakes." Lincoln uses the image of a snake to illustrate his position on slavery.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, June 20, 1860, p. 3, c. 1: "Mr. Lincoln's Opinions." The New York Tribune asked Lincoln for his opinions on the Fugitive Slave Law and the admission of new slave states. The article reprints the responses Lincoln gave to these questions in the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, June 20, 1860, p. 4, c. 1: "The Tariff." The Repository advocates raising tariffs to curb the import of foreign goods and thus help protect the American working man. The Democrats, however, favor slave labor and therefore have no need for the tariff.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, June 20, 1860, p. 4, c. 2: "Who It Is That Suffers." Points out that the tax burden is heaviest on the individual working man's earnings while the slaveholder pays little in respect to the property tax on his "stock" of human flesh.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, June 27, 1860, p. 4, c. 3: "Poor Men Haters." Criticizes the Democrat's opposition to the Homestead Act, which would give poor men land in the western territories.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, June 27, 1860, p. 6, c. 1: "Pro-Slavery Tyranny." Argues that the South forces Republicanism to be sectional by preventing and harassing any expression favoring Republican political views among Southern people.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, June 27, 1860, p. 4, c. 1: "Just the Man." Accuses Douglas, the recently nominated Democratic presidential candidate, of playing a large role in promulgating slavery in the territories. Article argues that he is the perfect representative for the "slavocrats."

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, July 11, 1860, p. 8, c. 2: "$50 Reward." The Repository editors post an ad for a runaway slave, as was requested by the owner, but they angrily question how the thirty-seven-year-old slave "Boy" received so many scars. They suggest that perhaps the owner should be handed over to the runaway as a fugitive from justice, instead of the runaway slave being handed over to the owner as a fugitive from labor.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, July 18, 1860, p. 1, c. 3: "'Equal Rights' in the Territories." Compares the different interpretations of "equal rights" as applied to the territories by Republicans, Douglas Democrats, and Breckinridge Democrats.

• Valley Spirit, July 25, 1860, p. 4, c. 1: "The Transcript on the 'Nigger Question.'" Includes an excerpt from the Transcript on what it terms "Nigger Democracy," which aims to crush free white labor with slave labor. The Spirit criticizes this view and says that the Republicans care more for slaves than for poor laboring white men.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, August 1, 1860, p. 4, c. 1: "Douglasism Waning." Northern Democrats and others are choosing to support Breckinridge instead of Douglas, because Breckinridge claims the slave issue has been validated by the Supreme Court, whereas Douglas says that it has yet to be decided. Douglas lost many Northern supporters during his battles with the Buchanan administration.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, August 8, 1860, p. 2, c. 5: "How Slaves Drive Out Free Labor." The Missouri Republican State Central Committee states that there are 50,000 men who cannot get full-time work, and 100,000 slaves occupying lucrative mechanical and agricultural positions. The committee demands that slavery leave and make room for free, white labor.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, August 8, 1860, p. 3, c. 1: "Douglas Deprecating Agitation." A response to Douglas' complaint that Congress spends too much time grappling with the slavery issue, instead of dealing with the tariff, the Pacific Railroad, and mail service. The Tribune reminds us that Douglas himself has constantly brought up the slavery issue.

• Franklin Repository and Transcript, September 5, 1860, p. 4, c. 3: "'Disreputable.'" Criticizes Democrats for belittling white labor and criminalizing white poverty. The Repository lauds free white labor and supports the policies that will help white laboring men, including the tariff and the Homestead Act.

• Valley Spirit, September 12, 1860, p. 4, c. 1: "The Northern Disunionists." Argues that the Republicans should not blame Southerners for disunion since so many Republicans have long sought to break up the Union. The abolitionists realize that it is impossible to abolish slavery under the current system of government. Instead, they hope to drive the South to secession and then blame Southerners for destroying the Union.

• Valley Spirit, December 26, 1860, p. 2, c. 3: "The Union Dissolved." The Spirit bemoans the fact that the Union is dissolving. The crux of the disagreement is that the Democrats "maintain that our government was formed by white men to be controlled by white men for the prosperity and happiness of their race." However, the Republicans, according to the Spirit, "contend that the negro is entitled to equality with the white man."

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