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Story
June 29, 1838
The Liberator
Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts
What is this article about?
An opinion piece argues that anti-slavery measures improve slaves' conditions by shaming slaveholders, using the anecdote of Dr. Morse's Geography book exposing gouging in North Carolina, which led to severe laws against the practice.
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Effects of Anti Slavery Effort upon the Slaves.
It is often alleged that the measures of abolitionists, by exasperating the slaveholders, render the condition of the slaves far more wretched than it otherwise would be. This assertion is not only contrary to all sound philosophy, but may be shown to be false by a hundred examples. A gentleman in New Haven, who has resided some years in North Carolina, is stated by a correspondent of the 'Charter Oak' to have related recently the following anecdote of Dr. Morse.
'In the first edition of his Geography he put in print that the people of North Carolina were so addicted to gouging that it was a rare thing to find a man with more than one eye. This exasperated the Carolinians so much that they threatened the author with a coat of tar and feathers, if they could lay hands on him. But it also shamed them so much that they immediately enacted severe laws against the practice, so severe that now it is as uncommon to find a one-eyed man from that state as from any other. He says that the exposure of the treatment of the slaves is producing a like effect.'
It is often alleged that the measures of abolitionists, by exasperating the slaveholders, render the condition of the slaves far more wretched than it otherwise would be. This assertion is not only contrary to all sound philosophy, but may be shown to be false by a hundred examples. A gentleman in New Haven, who has resided some years in North Carolina, is stated by a correspondent of the 'Charter Oak' to have related recently the following anecdote of Dr. Morse.
'In the first edition of his Geography he put in print that the people of North Carolina were so addicted to gouging that it was a rare thing to find a man with more than one eye. This exasperated the Carolinians so much that they threatened the author with a coat of tar and feathers, if they could lay hands on him. But it also shamed them so much that they immediately enacted severe laws against the practice, so severe that now it is as uncommon to find a one-eyed man from that state as from any other. He says that the exposure of the treatment of the slaves is producing a like effect.'
What sub-type of article is it?
Historical Event
Curiosity
What themes does it cover?
Moral Virtue
Justice
Social Manners
What keywords are associated?
Anti Slavery Efforts
Slave Treatment
Dr Morse Geography
North Carolina Gouging
Social Reform
What entities or persons were involved?
Dr. Morse
Where did it happen?
North Carolina
Story Details
Key Persons
Dr. Morse
Location
North Carolina
Story Details
Exposure of vices like gouging in Dr. Morse's Geography shamed North Carolinians into enacting severe laws against it, similarly improving slave treatment through anti-slavery efforts.