Black Abolitionist Archive

Title: Edward Wilmot Blyden

Speaker or author: Blyden, Edward Wilmot, 1832-1912.

Newspaper or publication: African Repository

Speech describing the geographical and cultural aspects of Ethiopia, Liberia and other explored areas of Africa. The speaker encouraged an evangelical approach to colonization of Africa.

Description of file(s): PDF 18 page, 7,230 word document (text and images)

Title: Edward Wilmot Blyden

Speaker or author: Blyden, Edward Wilmot, 1832-1912.

Newspaper or publication: African Repository

Inaugural speech given at the founding of the first college in West Africa. The speaker stressed the importance of education in the formation of Liberia.

Description of file(s): PDF 22 page, 8,619 word document (text and images)

Title: Edward Wilmot Blyden

Speaker or author: Blyden, Edward Wilmot, 1832-1912.

Newspaper or publication: African Repository

The speaker described life in Africa with the U.S. colonization efforts taking place there. He encouraged freed slaves to immigrate and participate in the colonization of Liberia and Ethiopia.

Description of file(s): PDF 4 page, 1,331 word document (text and images)

Title: Edward Wilmot Blyden

Speaker or author: Blyden, Edward Wilmot, 1832-1912.

Newspaper or publication: African Repository

Speech delivered on the 18th anniversary of Liberian Independence. The speaker stressed the accomplishments of the nation of Liberia and suggested amendments to its constitution.

Description of file(s): PDF 10 page, 4,406 word document (text and images)

Title: William Andrew Jackson

Speaker or author: Jackson, William Andrew, b. 1832

Newspaper or publication: Anti-Slavery Advocate

Brief overview of speech by the coachman of Jefferson Davis (who had recently escaped and settled in England) describing his experience with slavery. (See duplicate speech 26152.)

Description of file(s): PDF 1 page, 301 word document (text and image)

Title: John Sella Martin

Speaker or author: Martin, J. Sella (John Sella), b. 1832

Newspaper or publication: Anti-Slavery Advocate

Brief speech praising the work of William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, and John Brown. The speaker said that just because there is no news of discontent from the slaves in the South does not mean that they are happy with their situation.

Description of file(s): PDF 1 page, 134 word document (text and image)

Title: Edward Scott

Speaker or author: Scott, Edward, fl. 1857

Newspaper or publication: Christian News

Speech relating how southern slave owners use religion to encourage slaves to obey their masters. Religion was used as a means to justify cruelty for the slaveholder. The speaker related his own personal story of his life as a slave and his subsequent escape.

Description of file(s): PDF 3 page, 674 word document (text and images)

Title: James H. Harris

Speaker or author: Harris, James H., 1832-1891

Newspaper or publication: Christian Recorder (1852 - 1856)

Brief speech in which the speaker encouraged the newly freed slaves to stay in the southern states and not migrate to the north. The speaker felt that African American had more friends among the white population in the south than in the north.

Description of file(s): PDF 2 page, 412 word document (text and images)

Title: John Sella Martin

Speaker or author: Martin, J. Sella (John Sella), b. 1832

Newspaper or publication: Frederick Douglass' Monthly

Speech delivered before an English audience explaining in general terms the causes and possible outcome of the Civil War. The speaker placed emphasis on the injustice of laws like the Fugitive Slave Law that were being passed in the U.S. just before the war began.

Description of file(s): PDF 6 page, 1,285 word document (text and images)

Title: William Andrew Jackson

Speaker or author: Jackson, William Andrew, b. 1832

Newspaper or publication: Liberator

Brief overview of a speech by the former coachman of Jefferson Davis expressing his opinion about how to include the southern states into the union after the Civil War.

Description of file(s): PDF 1 page, 325 word document (text and image)

Title: John Sella Martin

Speaker or author: Martin, J. Sella (John Sella), b. 1832

Newspaper or publication: Liberator

Brief speech in which the speaker defended the African civilization project. He believed that immigrating to Africa, growing cotton there, then selling cotton to England was one of the best way to end slavery in the U.S.

Description of file(s): PDF 1 page, 191 word document (text and image)

Title: John Sella Martin

Speaker or author: Martin, J. Sella (John Sella), b. 1832

Newspaper or publication: Liberator

Impassioned and emotional speech given the day of John Brown's death. The speaker praised John Brown and compared the trails and convictions of his life with those of Jesus and John the Baptist. The speaker saw John Brown's death as more a crucifixion than an execution. This event marked a turning point in the efforts to find a peaceful solution to the issue of slavery.

Description of file(s): PDF 10 page, 2,873 word document (text and images)

Title: John Sella Martin

Speaker or author: Martin, J. Sella (John Sella), b. 1832

Newspaper or publication: Liberator

The speaker praised George Thompson for his accomplishments on behalf of African Americans. He compared the treatment of the slave in the northern states with the treatment of the slave in the southern states and concluded that African Americans were treated better in the south.

Description of file(s): PDF 3 page, 711 word document (text and images)

Title: John Sella Martin

Speaker or author: Martin, J. Sella (John Sella), b. 1832

Newspaper or publication: Liberator

Speech delivered before an English audience recognizing the efforts of the National Anti-Slavery League and its members in the fight for universal abolition of slavery.

Description of file(s): PDF 4 page, 949 word document (text and images)

Title: John Sella Martin

Speaker or author: Martin, J. Sella (John Sella), b. 1832

Newspaper or publication: Liberator

Sermon delivered during a celebration of the anniversary of the emancipation of the British West Indies. The speaker emphasized the error in moral judgment made by a country that condoned laws like the Fugitive Slave Law. He compared the plight of the slaves in the U.S. with that of slaves in ancient Egypt. He noted that the poor whites were not treated any better than the slaves were regardless of their skin color. The war for freedom was, to the speaker, a holy war for human liberty.

Description of file(s): PDF 15 page, 4,523 word document (text and images)

Title: John Sella Martin

Speaker or author: Martin, J. Sella (John Sella), b. 1832

Newspaper or publication: Liberator

Speech delivered before an English audience requesting that the British government refuse aid and assistance to the Confederacy.

Description of file(s): PDF 1 page, 289 word document (text and image)

Title: John Sella Martin

Speaker or author: Martin, J. Sella (John Sella), b. 1832

Newspaper or publication: Liberator

The speaker appealed to the people of Great Britain for their support in the fight for emancipation in the U.S. He explained a bit of what was happening in the U.S. regarding the war, and focused on the issue of slavery and the strides being made by the anti-slavery movements there.

Description of file(s): PDF 14 page, 4,006 word document (text and images)

Title: John Sella Martin

Speaker or author: Martin, J. Sella (John Sella), b. 1832

Newspaper or publication: Liberator

Speech given before an English audience asking for their support in the process of emancipation that was now in effect in the U.S. The speaker expressed his idea that immediate emancipation was better than the gradual emancipation that some promoted.

Description of file(s): PDF 6 page, 1,641 word document (text and images)

Title: Peter Osborne

Speaker or author: Osborne, Peter, fl. 1832

Newspaper or publication: Liberator

Address delivered on July 5th, the date celebrated to call attention to the "lack of independence" for slaves and as a form of protest to the July 4th celebration.

Description of file(s): PDF 2 page, 534 word document (text and images)

Title: Edward V. Clark

Speaker or author: Clark, Edward V.

Newspaper or publication: National Anti-Slavery Standard

Overview of speech offered in protest of the Fugitive Slave Bill that was contributing to the kidnapping of nominally free black citizens of New York. The speaker suggested not opposing the law violently (as had been suggested by other speakers that day) but by being secret about activities to assist fugitives.

Description of file(s): PDF 1 page, 263 word document (text and image)