Sentence:  Resolved that his wrongs and bereavements in Kansas , occasioned by the violence and brutality of those who <WSD>were</WSD> intent on the propagation of slavery in that territory , call for a charitable judgment upon his recent efforts in Virginia to undermine the despotism from which he had suffered , and commend his family to the special sympathy and aid of all who pity suffering and reverence justice . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)