On the record
He is terrified by the echo of his own threats, and the very proposal to dissolve the Union and leave him to his fate, throws him into paroxysms.
Said by
Lewis Tappan
Source
gutenberg.orgLewis Tappan: “He is terrified by the echo of his own threats, and the very proposal to dissolve the Union and leave him to his fate…”
Editor's note · Context
He describes the fear and desperation of those who support slavery in the face of abolitionist pressure.
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More from Lewis Tappan
But what a commentary on slavery and slaveholders is afforded by the gross ignorance prevailing in the old States of South Carolina, Virginia, and North Carolina!
We ask your attention to the injuries inflicted upon you and your children, by an institution which lives by your sufferance, and will die at your mandate.
Or the People--for they will be THE PEOPLE--may resolve to be free, and you and all you hold dear may be sacrificed in the contest.
In 1837, Governor Clarke, in his message to the Kentucky Legislature, remarked, "By the computation of those most familiar with the subject, ONE THIRD OF THE ADULT POPULATION OF THE STATE ARE UNABLE TO WRITE THEIR NAMES.