The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1888-09-17
AnoLLrIoNLSM IN TENNESSEE.

ul tue lninni much less INC 'p"'H'i"
states until after the adoption Of the Fourteenth
Amendment oi the Federal Constitution; nor did
know that any attempt had ever been made to
educate negroes anywhere, until very recently Do
ilrr the civil War In tho Northern States Ana
can hardly credit as Mr Keuing tells rs m, cir
cums,antially, that the lrst school Tor the oluoa'
ton OF the negro ever heard Of IN the United states
was established here In Nomphls Can this be w.,
aud that the South his never had credit TOT such
stretch Of philanthropy Iour5
II il all true ~ stated by our correspond
ent. Abolitonism was as common Mt the
time Of the adoption Of the Federal Con-
s,ilution ut the South as the North, and
up to 1884, especially in North Carolina
and Tennessee. Free negroes voted in
both these States up TO the latter year,
aud no effort Mt the public education OF
the negro was made until the much
rcviled Fanny Wrigh, opened her negro
school Mt Nashobn, near Germantown in
1924. A few years ago a controversy was
conducted in the now defunct International
Rcrjlr, by Mr.. Oliver Johnson, IN
authority on Abolitionism aud Adolf
tionists, and Mr.. George Julian, formerly
member Of Congress from Indiana,
in which the former attempted 70 maintain
that William Lloyd Garrison was tho
father of American Abolilonisis, but
Mr.. Julian maintained, with unden,ablc
proofs. that Mr.. Charles Osborne, a
Quaker and native OF North Carolina
and long resident Of East Tennessee,
was entitled TO that distinction. lie was
the father Of modern abolitOnism and lead
all the movements in North Carolina and
Tennessee looking TO unconditional nbo'
lition." This Mr.. johnson claimed loI
Mr. William lloyd Garrison, asserting
that Mr. Osborne gradually approached
aud only reached this ultra position
hitter hc had left tho South and set
up in the Northwest as propa.
gnndist Of anti-slavcry sentiments. Mr..
Julian clmbats this and rcirrs 10 the exist
cncc Of anti.slavory societies In North Car
olinn aud Tennessee established by Mr..
Osboro long before 1880 when Garrison
fn,t ycniurod on unconditional cmanci-
pauon," phrase which he narrowed from
the English Quakcrs, who in the agta-
tons that preceded he abolition oi slavery
IN lS3O-32 in British West India insisted
on that extreme Of correction Vi what they,
~ well ~ thc East Tennessee abolitiouists,
condemned as n crime. An this was
lost sight OF in the agi,htons that
followed the admission Of Texas, the
repeal Of the Missouri compromise and
the admission OF California aud sub
scqucntly Of Kansas. Aud while the
civil war lasted the press and the public
lists, "a well ~ politicians Of the North,
having the car Of tho civilized world,
made an almost enduring impression o.
historic aboliuunism iur their States and
OF unanimous aud uninterrupted pro
slavery sentiment Tor tho Southern lCon
federated States. The record Of the South
~ 10 slavery l. IN oycry srnsc a crcditabl,
, one, ~ immense Investment Of money II
. b. considered. There were times in ia,
history Of Virginia, North Carolina, Ken
, lucky and Tennessee when II would hay,
been a comparatively easy matter to hav
abolished tho evil which all the carl,
. statesmen dcplorcl and condemned. |
) was tho impudont and soli-aSortiyc prop
. aslulism anl tho fierce assaults Of IA
, North upon slavery aud the efforts Of th
, South 10 maintain the balance OF powc
! between the States, that forced the issu
which nothing could prevent after the al
mission II California. Some day N
, whole story Of slavery at the South wi
, be written, aud the people will be set RICH
a ~ 10 II la the estimation OF the world I
/. such a work Fanny Wright's school In lhI
county, thc protest of the aboIitionisls
=. E1st Tennessee read In the Constitution
Convention II 1894, and with accompany
ing resolutions carefully considered 1
81 boy That body, and the abolition socictics q
he tahlishcl in that section Of the State, b
% Charles Osborne, will bo among the mo
10 interesting aud simngcsi ra,orlt