Thoreau, Henry David / 2008-06-25 00:00:00
1854
SLAVERY IN MASSACHUSETTS
by Henry David Thoreau
I LATELY ATTENDED a meeting of the citizens of Concord, expecting,
as one among many, to speak on the subject of slavery in
Massachusetts; but I was surprised and disappointed to find that
what had called my townsmen together was the destiny of Nebraska,
and not of Massachusetts, and that what I had to say would be entirely
out of order. I had thought that the house was on fire, and not the
prairie; but though several of the citizens of Massachusetts are now
in prison for attempting to rescue a slave from her own clutches,
not one of the speakers at that meeting expressed regret for it, not
one even referred to it. It was only the disposition of some wild
lands a thousand miles off which appeared to concern them. The
inhabitants of Concord are not prepared to stand by one of their own
bridges, but talk only of taking up a position on the highlands beyond
the Yellowstone River. Our Buttricks and Davises and Hosmers are
retreating thither, and I fear that they will leave no Lexington
Common between them and the enemy. There is not one slave in Nebraska;
there are perhaps a million slaves in Massachusetts.
They who have been bred in the school of politics fail now and
always to face the facts. Their measures are half measures and
makeshifts merely.
Read more
Parts:
1
2