Year: 1864




The following document was published in
an auti-slavery paper in Greene county my
gears ago, and expressed the sentiments of
the great body Of the people of East Ten
nessee then, They are the honest senti-
ments of the great body Of the people of
East Tennessee now. Take the counties of
Knox and Greene, two largest counties, as
samples Of the other thirty counties In
these two countess as the census Of 1860
will show, the white population is more than
ten to one over those of colored persons
consequently not every tenth man 0UnS q
Stare, and yet they are called upon to wran-
gle over slavery, quarrel and contend, and
U0te for what they have no interest in, and
what has laid the country in ruin, sent their
fathers, brothers and sons into the army.
and from the battle-felds to graves among
strangers This is to benefit a few aristo-
Gratis in the towns and villages who own
slaves and whose families point the finger
of scorn at the honest, virtuous, and indus
trious sons and daughters Of the country
people when they come into market to dis
pose Of what they have produced by their
own labor. The truth is, the real people.
and the long abused masses, are awake to
the importance of this subject, and will
meet it hereafter at the ballot box, as it
deserves to be met


1t a meeting Of Delegates from tie Inflammation So
ofT EgIT 81


md 20th Of the I'm month, 1916.


We the undersigned being appointed commit
tee to address the religious denominations of Chris
tians, throughout the Union in regard to the object
OF the society, namely The gradual abolition of
the slavery of the people Of color in our nation
with due Difference we beg leave to call your seri-
Ous consideration to the situation of this unhappy
race of beings, which are held in the most degraded
state of servitude. When we consider the vast num-
bers who are the subjects of it, the complicated mis-
cries many of them undergo, the prvations they
suffer- and TO crown the climax, their offsprings
doomed to drink the same cup unless the friends of
philanthropy with whom we hope our country
abounds) should step forward and plead their cause
and lend them constitutional aid. We would re-
spectully submit to your serious consideration the
propriety of calling the attention of the general
government and State Legislatures to this subject
which trust will not in this day of general light
be considered of too trivial nature for Legislative
delberatlon, and by your embracing the object of
this society in such memorial, you would unite your
influence with the benevolent endeavors thereof
which is to abolish slavery gradually by having
laws passed declaring all those born after some fixed
period to DC Tree at some reasonable age and d rs
the Holy Scriptures, and taught some occupation
by which they might get an honest living; and, if
thought best that colony be laid off for their re-
cepton as they become free and that owners of
slaves be allowed the liberty Of emancipating them
without being in any way liable, provided they be
younU and able to ppt their living. and thot laws
be made that the ties Of nature and affection be so
far respected as to prevent that grevous separation
Of the most endeared connections to which this peo-
pie are daily exposed and by calling for the most
serious attention of the legislative authorities to use
their utmost endeavors to do away the train of in
Vulnerable evils interviewer with slavery showing
its glaring inconsistency with the Christian religion
and the rights of man.


We believe that the time is at hand that if all
those who profess the benign religion of Jesus Christ
would individually and collectively, use their best
endeavors with the government TO do away this
evil that it is completely within their power in cor
roboraton with the well-meanng, of such as are of
particular religious denomination, to have laws
passed which would gradually abolish it, which APP
pears from the late treaty between this nation and
Great Britain to be the duty Of every personwithin
the United States to their best endeavors to eff
feet. Therefore feel q necessity to impress it, in
a particular manner, upon professors of every re-
ligious denomination TO throw their mite and inAu-
OO INV 0 'No at 'iis 'llilci " each society Ior-
warding their petitions, a body of concerned
Christians, from their respective associations, con-
fereneos presbyteres, synods and yearly meetings,
and other large collections of your societies partcu
larly named from what society and what branch of
such society they are. And we hope that as this
benevolent society is made up of all the religious
societies in country and that the object of every
religious society," amongst other things, is the good
Of civil society that all of every denomination may
cordially unite their efforts il that Of abolishing
slavery seeing it is in this day almost unanimously
acknowledged to be great national evil and repug-
nant and inconsistent with our national and relig-
ious professions and if continued will call down ma
tional judgments.


THOMAS DoAN,


A NRON CoppCgE