Addenda
Spectator. "A crusade against slavery and counterfeit Christianity" (Boston, ca. 1850) |
This striking two-toned broadside was published in Boston in the wake of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which required Northerners to assist in hunting down suspected fugitives or face a fine of $1,000 and six-months' imprisonment. Slavery, having silenced the pulpit and press, is cast as "the seven-headed monster" of Greek mythology and Revelation. The poster eloquently urges Bostonians to appeal to the "higher law" of God over federal laws that sanction slavery, in order to resist slavery's "abominations," which "has turned men into monsters, Christians into infidels, and human beings into beasts of burden." US 102.8*PF – Gift of Charles Sumner, 1860. |