Detailed Summary - Henry David Thoreau: Slavery in Massachusetts

 Henry David Thoreau: Slavery in Massachusetts 

[alert-success] SLAVERY IN MASSACHUSETTS  [/alert-success]

[alert-primary] DETAILED SUMMARY [/alert-primary]

    Slavery in Massachusetts by Henry David Thoreau is an address, delivered at the Anti-Slavery Celebration at Framingham, Massachusetts on July 4th, 1854. This powerful speech to a crowd of abolitionists in Framingham took place because of an event that happened a month before. Anthony Burns ran away on a ship to Boston after escaping slavery in Richmond, where he attempted to begin a new life working at a clothing store. Burns' freedom, however, was short-lived because Charles Suttle, his owner, discovered his whereabouts and demanded his return in accordance with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Despite the best efforts of Burns' attorneys, Judge Edward Greely Loring decided that Burns should be given back to his owner.  

     To raise the voice against it, transcendentalist author Henry David Thoreau, gave this speech in Framingham, Massachusetts, on July 4, 1854. Following his speech, Thoreau wrote an essay titled "Slavery in Massachusetts" in the weeks that followed. Within a year of his return to Richmond, Burns was freed after being bought with money raised by a black church in Boston.

      Henry David Thoreau begins his speech by expressing his disappointment with the citizens of Concord. He attended a meeting of Concord citizens where he was astonished and disheartened to see that his townsmen were pulled by Nebraska's destiny, not Massachusetts'. The home was on fire, not the plains, but numerous Massachusetts citizens are now in prison for trying to rescue a slave from her own clutches, and none of the speakers at the conference showed regret or even mentioned it. They seemed solely concerned about some wild countries a thousand kilometres away. Thoreau condemns this by saying that Nebraska has no slaves but Massachusetts has a million.

     Politicians always deny reality. They use half-measures and makeshifts. They delay settlement indefinitely, accumulating debt. But the compromise contract of 1820 had been renounced and therefore the Fugitive Slave Law must be repealed. This does not justify repealing an unjust legislation. The politician faces the truth that thieves have less honour than expected, not that they are thieves. The decision of the Judge Mr. Loring to bring back the slaves is an act of disrespect and against the law.

     Thoreau says that he listens to Massachusetts' Governor and Commander-in-Chief. He compares them to creaking of crickets and the hum of insects. The Governor hides when freedom is most threatened. The military is pointless because its members are educated to bring runaway slaves back to their owners and to commit armed robbery in Mexico, but "not a single soldier is offered to save a citizen of Massachusetts from being kidnapped!" He asks the use of Governor who cannot prevent a kidnap. Thoreau declares, “he was no Governor of mine. He did not govern me”.

     Thoreau recalls carrying an innocent man from Boston three years prior; at the time, the rulers were very at ease, while the rules were very hard hit. Although Concord's residents celebrated their freedom, they did not actually possess it. He says that because they are partially buried, the Pride events are believed to have occurred on April 19, 1775, and April 12, 1851. The Massachusetts trail was the one who treated people unfairly the least. The laws were trampled underfoot.

     Whatever the rules of human law may be, neither a person nor a country can ever commit even the smallest act of injustice against even the most obscure person without suffering the consequences. A government that intentionally commits injustice and maintains it will become the target of ridicule worldwide. He claims that men will never be freed by the law but the law needs to be made free by men.

     The judge among humans whose words determine a man's fate into eternity is not the one who merely announces the law's conclusion, but rather the one, who utters an accurate opinion or sentence concerning him. It should not be up to the judicial system to determine whether or not a person is free.

     Thoreau believes that the Farmers Association's discussion is much superior to the Congress that is currently in session in the United States. Two parties, the party of the city and the party of the country, are becoming more distinct in the Commonwealth.

    Thoreau claims that while the church has made significant improvements, the press is nearly tainted. He claims that in response to the city's meanness, newspapers like the Liberator and Commonwealth created themselves. No newspapers will mention the fugitive slave laws or the slaves being brought home. As Congress is not for the common people with Liberty, the majority of men won't vote to send people there. He accuses the judges and attorneys of acting as the worst kinds of men's servants rather than as representatives of humanity. Only the minority, he claims, will be able to survive by abiding by the law. Who will abide by the higher law than the Constitution or the will of the majority, he wonders.

     Thoreau wanted to remind his countrymen that they should prioritise being men before becoming Americans until a suitable time. If the law does not keep a man and humanity together, it does not matter how valuable it may be to protect your property or even to keep your soul and body together.

     Henry accuses that Massachusetts is more concerned with its own slaveholding and civility than it is with the Nebraska bill or the fugitive slave bill. He appeals to the state to end its affiliation with slave owners. Since the state is covered with disgrace, because of its inability to serve the law, it must withdraw, and this would be called as Justice. Truth pleads guilty with the champion of liberty, the governor, the mayor, and the Commonwealth officials. Justice is sweet and musical; but injustice is harsh and discordant. With complete freedom, Thoreau pursues justice for the common people. Since every man in Massachusetts feels patriotic, the government must increase the value of life.

    Thoreau says that he had lived for the last month with a sense of vast and indefinite loss. He was not able to find his ailment. But at last, he found out that what he had lost was a country. He cannot manage to live and mind his private affairs without forgetting the event. But he is very much surprised to see his countrymen to go about their business as if nothing had happened. He would say to himself, “–Unfortunates!”. No prudent man will build a stone-house under these circumstances, or engage in any peaceful enterprise which requires a long time to accomplish. Art is as long but life is less available. All our inherited freedom is lost. If we would save our lives, we must fight for them.

    Slavery and servitude have no real life. They are merely a decaying and a death. They have never produced a sweet-scented flower each year to charm men's senses. We do not lament their survival, but rather the fact that they are not yet buried. Even the living should bury them because they make good manure.