Fugitive Slave Convention

New York was the safest state for fugitive slaves, according to Gerrit Smith, the richest man in New York State and organizer of the convention. He made of Madison County in particular a place where slave catchers did not dare show their faces. "The vicinity of Cazenovia and Syracuse was such a locality where the enforcement of the fugitive slave enactments was vigorously and violently opposed." He helped every fugitive that reached his home in neighboring Peterboro—feeding them, sheltering them, and helping them get to Syracuse, also safe,{{cite news A visitor in 1841 described Peterboro thus: Between 1840 and 1843 three different abolitionist weeklies were published in Cazenovia: the Cazenovia Abolitionist, Onondaga and Madison Abolitionist, and Madison County Abolitionist. There was a colored conventions movement, but these were free blacks that were meeting. The Convention in Cazenovia—Peterboro was a "tiny hamlet", too small for the number of visitors expected—is the only "Convention of Slaves" ever held in the United States, as it was called by Douglass in The North Star.{{cite news Peterboro is since about 2005 the site of the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum. ==Call for the convention==

The following announcement appeared in the August 1, 1850, issue of the National Anti-Slavery Standard: :Fugitives from the prison-house of Southern despotism with their friends and protectors in council! :Such persons as have escaped from Slavery, and those who are resolved to stand by them, are invited to meet for mutual counsel and encouragement at Cazenovia, Madison County, New York, on Wednesday, 21st of August, 1850. The assembling will take place at 10 o'clock A. M. in the Independent Church, and the meeting will continue through two days. The object aimed at on the occasion will not be simply an exchange of congratulations and an expression of sympathy, but an earnest consideration of such subjects as are pertinent to the present condition and prospects of the slave and free colored population of the country, and to the relations, which good and true men sustain to the cause of impartial freedom and justice. Friends! shall not this be made a grand event? Shall not the channels of former sympathies be opened anew? Will not they of the "old guard" delight to look each other in the face once more, and renew their vows upon a common altar? Let them come from every quarter—freemen, free women, and fugitives! They are bid a most cordial welcome by the good people of Cazenovia. There are friends, hospitalities, meeting houses, and beautiful groves there! Let all come, who have a heart and can! :In befalf of the New York State Vigilance Committee, Gerrit Smith, PresidentCharles B. Ray, Secretary It was promptly reprinted in Frederick Douglass's North Star, William Garrison's Liberator, and other anti-slavery papers. It was also reprinted, with outrage, in a number of Southern and pro-slavery Northern newspapers.{{cite news == Venues ==

The convention opened at what the announcement called "the Independent Church", later the Free Congregational Church of Cazenovia and then (2022) Cazenovia College's theater building. The capacity was 400, and there were hundreds who could not get in. There was an unsuccessful attempt to move the meeting to the Methodist church, and a resolution by Gerrit Smith to move the meeting to nearby Peterboro was defeated. As no other church would host the meeting, it moved the next day to "the orchard of Grace Wilson's School, located on Sullivan Street." Although there were in 1850s no railroads in Cazenovia, it was said to have had 2,000 to 3,000 participants. In the 1850 census the population of Cazenovia was 4,800. == Convention activities ==

Two newspapers, the Madison Daily Whig and the Utica Daily Gazette (also Whig) sent reporters, who with the Cazenovia weekly provided detailed, session-by-session accounts. The Gazette's reports were reprinted nationally, although the New York Tribune got much of the credit. ==First day activities==

Morning session The meeting was called to order at 10 a.m. "at the Free Church" by James C. Jackson. Samuel Joseph May was chosen President pro tem and temporary secretary Samuel Thomas Jr. May then appointed Samuel Wells, J.W. Loguen, and Charles B. Ray to a committee to nominate official officers. Later in the convention, official officers were appointed by this committee to major positions. Frederick Douglass was appointed to president. Joseph C. Hathaway, Rev. Francis Hawley (a woman, pastor of the Free Church), Charles B. Ray, and Charles A. Wheaton were appointed for vice presidents. Charles D. Miller and Anne V. Adams were appointed for secretaries. Joseph C. Hathaway, William R. Smith, Eleazer Seymour, and James C. Jackson were appointed to nominate people for the "Chaplin Committee", "whose business it shall be to adaopt such measures, as they shall judge fit to effect his liberation," which might well "require the expenditure of large sums of money."{{cite book This committee ended up consisting of around 19 people. Some of the committee members included James C. Jackson, Joseph C. Hathaway, William R. Smith, and George W. Lawson. A group of women including Mrs. F. Rice, Phebe Hathaway, and Louisa Burnett were appointed to nominate a committee of females. This committee would obtain a silver pitcher and two silver goblets to present them to William C. Chaplin, in honor of "his distinguished services in the cause of humanity." Afternoon session The meeting was called to order by C. B. Ray, prayer by Rev. Mr. Snow. During the first part of the afternoon session, the Chaplin affair was addressed, with a lengthy oral report by Joseph Hathaway, who had visited Chaplin in jail. On the conclusion, the Address Committee reported on two proposals: one "to the slaves of the South from the fugitives of the North," and one to "the Abolition party" (the Liberty Party), recommending Chaplin be chosen as their candidate for governor. The convention got down to the main item of business, the letter to the slaves. The Committee on Resolutions presented a report, and a committee of 23 was appointed to raise money to aid in Chaplin's defense. Since no larger church would allow the meeting, Gerrit Smith moved that they meet the next day in his home town, Peterboro, 10 miles away, which motion failed. A grove was obtained for use the next day. It was 10 pm when the convention adjourned. The main item of business, the Letter to the Slaves, had been adopted after hard and protacted debate. Much of it was telegraphed to the New York papers that night. Evening session Prayer by the Rev. Mr. Snow, after which the evening was spent on the address and resolutions. ==Second day activities (August 22)==

According to the Madison County Whig, on the 2nd day, at the point of greatest attendance there were 700 present. A circular from the Chaplin Fund Committee was issued, dated the 22nd.{{cite news On the last afternoon, the question of free produce was examined. Mr. Smith declared himself an abstainer from slave produce. ==Resolutions and letters passed==

"A Letter to the American Slaves from those who have fled from American Slavery" What distinguished this convention from other anti-slavery meetings was the open letter titled "To American Slaves from those who have fled from American Slavery", written, "it is said", by Gerrit Smith, who introduced it to the attendees;{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Site of Fugitive Slave Law Convention It was reprinted in part in many papers, especially the passage endorsing violence, and in full in the abolition newspapers. This—not the meeting itself—was national news. Letter to the Liberty Party Text of the Letter to the Liberty Party, from The North Star, September 5, 1850, p. 3. The body recommended to the Liberty Party that at its upcoming convention in Oswego, they nominate Chaplin for president. Resolutions Text of the Resolutions, from The North Star, September 5, 1850, p. 3. Impact of the statements The statements published "exceed in atrocity the most sanguinary edicts of the most sanguinary club which sat during the French revolution."{{cite news ==Attendees and their roles==

Compared with previous abolitionist meetings, the people at Cazenovia were extraordinarily diverse. Not only were there both Black and white participants, there were many women, who were welcomed. A correspondent wrote, "A large number of persons of every sect in religion, of every party in politics, and every shade of complexion, met in this magnificent temple of nature" [the grove]. ==Reaction==

Many negative reports on the convention were published by pro-slavery newspapers.{{cite news The convention was mentioned in the U.S. Senate the next day, August 23, during debate on the 1850 Fugitive Slave Bill: {{blockquote|During the debate upon the bill, Mr. Yulee read from the New York Journal of Commerce a report of an amalgamated ["racially" mixed] Convention at Cazenovia, commenting on its incendiary address, and calling the attention of the people of the [S]outh to it as a sample of the opinions and feelings of the North in relation to the rights of the South...{{cite news Senator Daniel Dickinson, of New York, responded that Mr. Yulee "would never have alluded to it if he knew the scorn and contempt with which all such proceedings were looked upon by the great mass of people of all parties, in the North." == Subsequent meetings ==

Further meetings were announced in Canastota (October 23), Cazenovia (October 25), Hamilton (October 30), and Peterboro (November 1). Many of the participants of this convention were also involved in a later anti-fugitive slave law meeting in Syracuse, New York, on Tuesday, January 7, 1851, presided over by Frederick Douglass; 17 resolutions and an address were adopted.{{cite news ==The daguerreotype==

There is one and only one visual image of the meeting, in the daguerreotype held by the Madison County Historical Society, with a smaller copy (image flipped) in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. It was taken by Ezra Greenleaf Weld, Theodore's brother, who owned a daguerrotype studio in Cazenovia. Daguerrotypes could not be taken casually, as those being photographed had to hold themselves immobile for some seconds. That of the Cazenovia Convention is a formal group picture, outdoors because of the sunlight. It was intended for the eyes of William L. Chaplin, in jail in Washington for having assisted two slaves in an unsuccessful escape attempt. Chaplin's future wife, Theodosia Gilbert Chaplin, is seated at the table with pen and paper in hand, documenting through the picture that "the document" was indeed prepared by the group. To her left is Frederick Douglass; to her right, also with pen, is Joseph Hathaway; behind her stands Gerrit Smith, flanked by the Edmonson sisters. One of the sisters, probably Mary, addressed the crowd. One audience member described her as a "young and noble-hearted girl", using "words of simple and touching eloquence". == Reenactment ==

On February 24, 2023, students at Broome Community College (SUNY Broome) presented "an original reenactment of the events at The Cazenovia Convention."{{citation == See also ==