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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC02448.07 |
| From Archive Folder | Unassociated Civil War Documents 1861 |
| Title | Thomas Wentworth Higginson to unknown regarding an upcoming meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society |
| Date | 17 January 1861 |
| Author | Higginson, Thomas Wentworth (1823-1911) |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Higginson, a militant abolitionist, discusses an upcoming meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society: "About the defence of W. P. there is of course no question. All plans for the defence of the meeting must depend on the wish of the Society- they both may prefer to take non-resistant grounds, or rely on the police alone. And at any rate I am opposed to excusing the city & state authorities from the work which is their business. Only we should make such arrangements in advance as will protect the meeting if they do not." W. P. refers to abolitionist Wendell Phillips. |
| Subjects | African American History Slavery Transcendentalism Reform Movement Abolition Mobs and Riots Government and Civics Law |
| People | Higginson, Thomas Wentworth (1823-1911) Phillips, Wendell (1811-1884) |
| Place written | Worcester, Massachusetts |
| Theme | The American Civil War; Slavery & Abolition |
| Sub-collection | Papers and Images of the American Civil War |
| Additional Information | In the wake of violent mobs threatening Phillips - and a lackluster response from city and state officials Higginson had been called to Boston to arrange protection for the abolitionist at his next Music Hall speech. Higginson was made "commander-in chief" of a unit of supporters, some armed, who served as Phillips's bodyguard. Several days later, on 24 January, the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society meeting in Boston was disturbed by a large crowd of anti-abolitionism activists and some rioting occurred. [For additional information, see Higginson, Mary Potter Thacher. Thomas Wentworth Higginson (Houghton Mifflin, 1914), p. 203.] In addition to his abolitionism, Higginson was a Unitarian minister, reformer, and member of the Secret Six, the group of influential reformers who funded abolitionist John Brown. During the Civil War, he commanded the first federally authorized African-American regiment, the 1st South Carolina Volunteers. Wendell Phillips (1811-1884) was a prominent Massachusetts abolitionist and supporter of Native American rights. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |