325.  Opposition to the Abolitionists.—­It must not be thought that the abolitionists were not opposed.  They were most vigorously opposed.  Very few Northern men wished to have slavery reestablished in the North.  But very many Northern men objected to the antislavery agitation because they thought it would injure business.  Some persons even argued that the antislavery movement would bring about the destruction of the Union.  In this idea there was a good deal of truth.  For Garrison grew more and more outspoken.  He condemned the Union with slaveholders and wished to break down the Constitution, because it permitted slavery.  There were anti-abolitionist riots in New York, New Jersey, and New Hampshire.  In Boston the rioters seized Garrison and dragged him about the streets (1835).

[Sidenote:  Nat Turner’s Rebellion, 1831.]

[Sidenote:  Incendiary publications in the mails. McMaster, 313-314.]

326.  Slave Rebellion in Virginia, 1831.—­At about the time that Garrison established the Liberator at Boston, a slave rebellion broke out in Virginia.  The rebels were led by a slave named Nat Turner, and the rebellion is often called “Nat Turner’s Rebellion.”  It was a small affair and was easily put down.  But the Southerners were alarmed, because they felt that the Northern antislavery agitation would surely lead to more rebellions.  They called upon the government to forbid the sending of the Liberator and similar “incendiary publications” through the mails.

[Sidenote:  Right of petition.]

[Sidenote:  J.Q.  Adams and antislavery petitions, 1836. Hero Tales, 151-159.]

[Sidenote:  The “gag-resolutions.” McMaster, 314-315.]

327.  The Right of Petition.—­One of the most sacred rights of freemen is the right to petition for redress of grievances.  In the old colonial days the British Parliament had refused even to listen to petitions presented by the colonists.  But the First Amendment to the Constitution forbade Congress to make any law to prevent citizens of the United States from petitioning.  John Quincy Adams, once President, was now a member of the House of Representatives.  In 1836 he presented petition after petition, praying Congress to forbid slavery in the District of Columbia.  Southerners, like Calhoun, thought these petitions were insulting to Southern slaveholders.  Congress could not prevent the antislavery people petitioning.  They could prevent the petitions being read when presented.  This they did by passing “gag-resolutions.”  Adams protested against these resolutions as an infringement on the rights of his constituents.  But the resolutions were passed.  Petitions now came pouring into Congress.  Adams even presented one from some negro slaves.

[Sidenote:  Growth of antislavery feeling in the North.]