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Letter to Editor
March 14, 1854
Alexandria Gazette
Alexandria, Alexandria County, District Of Columbia
What is this article about?
A letter to the Alexandria Gazette uses 1850 census data to challenge abolitionist claims that slave states oppress free blacks, noting Maryland and Virginia have more free blacks (129,056) than New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio combined (127,974), suggesting preference for slave states despite efforts to remove them.
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[COMMUNICATED.]
To the Editor of the Alexandria Gazette:
It is I believe, (if one can now-a-days, venture to believe anything) universally conceded that "a man in selecting a permanent location for himself and family, will always prefer a neighborhood where he expects to be treated with justice, hospitality, and kindness, in preference to one, where he knows that his just rights will be trampled upon, and where both himself and family may be subjected to injury and insult." If this be true, and if the abolitionists also speak the truth, when they say that "the Slaveholding States are the oppressors of the Black Man, and the Free States are the places of his refuge from tyranny and persecution," why is it that each of the States of Maryland and Virginia, according to the 7th Census, contain, not only, a larger number of Free Blacks, than either New York, Pennsylvania, or Ohio, but the aggregate of whose Free Black population, actually exceeds that of those three States. The Census Tables exhibit the following facts:-Free Black population of Maryland 74,723-of Virginia 54,333-aggregate 129,056-per contra, Pennsylvania 53,626, New York 49,069, Ohio 25,279-aggregate 127,974 excess in favor of Slave States 1,082-and this too, notwithstanding the strenuous exertions they have made, and are still making, to get rid of this class of their population. Every man can draw his own inference.
LOUDOUN.
To the Editor of the Alexandria Gazette:
It is I believe, (if one can now-a-days, venture to believe anything) universally conceded that "a man in selecting a permanent location for himself and family, will always prefer a neighborhood where he expects to be treated with justice, hospitality, and kindness, in preference to one, where he knows that his just rights will be trampled upon, and where both himself and family may be subjected to injury and insult." If this be true, and if the abolitionists also speak the truth, when they say that "the Slaveholding States are the oppressors of the Black Man, and the Free States are the places of his refuge from tyranny and persecution," why is it that each of the States of Maryland and Virginia, according to the 7th Census, contain, not only, a larger number of Free Blacks, than either New York, Pennsylvania, or Ohio, but the aggregate of whose Free Black population, actually exceeds that of those three States. The Census Tables exhibit the following facts:-Free Black population of Maryland 74,723-of Virginia 54,333-aggregate 129,056-per contra, Pennsylvania 53,626, New York 49,069, Ohio 25,279-aggregate 127,974 excess in favor of Slave States 1,082-and this too, notwithstanding the strenuous exertions they have made, and are still making, to get rid of this class of their population. Every man can draw his own inference.
LOUDOUN.
What sub-type of article is it?
Persuasive
Informative
Political
What themes does it cover?
Slavery Abolition
Politics
What keywords are associated?
Free Blacks
1850 Census
Abolitionists
Slave States
Maryland
Virginia
Northern States
What entities or persons were involved?
Loudoun.
To The Editor Of The Alexandria Gazette
Letter to Editor Details
Author
Loudoun.
Recipient
To The Editor Of The Alexandria Gazette
Main Argument
challenges abolitionist portrayal of slave states as oppressive by citing 1850 census data showing more free blacks in maryland and virginia than in new york, pennsylvania, and ohio combined, implying free blacks prefer slave states.
Notable Details
Quotes On Preference For Just Neighborhoods
Cites 7th Census (1850) Figures: Maryland 74,723 Free Blacks, Virginia 54,333, Total 129,056 Vs. Pa 53,626, Ny 49,069, Oh 25,279, Total 127,974
Notes Slave States' Efforts To Remove Free Black Population