New Bedford, March 22, 1848[9].

Frederick Douglass: — I became a subscriber to the North Star when it was first established. I was introduced to do so, because its prospectus met my views. I shall continue to take it as long as it continues to attack slavery in all its forms, and aims to hasten the day of emancipation.

I believe there are various means by which the bondman's liberation may be brought about, and the condition of the nominally free colored people materially bettered. It becomes you and me, and all others who feel for the oppressed, with whom we are identified, to use all moral energies to wipe out the foul stain of American slavery. Though our means are various, let our aims be the same. Let us not fall out by the way, as did the Israelites in the desert, lest our selfish dissensions bring down upon us like sufferings.

In looking over the North Star of Dec. 22d, I saw a communication, headed "New Settlement." I read it with deep interest, and at once entered into the spirit of the communication. I was glad to see such an enterprise as the Florence Association started, as announced in that communication. I was also glad to see your name, with the names of many other leading colored men of this country, associated with the enterprise, as approvers of it. I was not acquainted with several of these gentlemen, except by reputation. Their names were sufficient to secure for the Florence enterprise my confidence.

In the North Star of March 16th, I was surprised and sorry to see a letter of yours, in which you request your name to be erased as one of the inspectors of public works, as desiring to have nothing more to do with the enterprise, and this in consequence of reports that have been put in circulation. I wish you had told us what those reports were.

Now, friend Douglass, I believe the Florence enterprise to be sound, inside and out—thoroughly anti-slavery in its spirit and tendency. And so do I believe the gift of three thousand deeds to the colored inhabitants of the State of New York, is a great anti-slavery act, characteristic of that noble man, Gerrit SmithSmith, Gerrit

Gerrit Smith (1797– 1874), a New York businessman and land speculator, became best known for his philanthropic work for such reform causes as temperance and abolition. Between 1828 and 1835, he donated large sums of money to the American Colonization Society, but abandoned that movement in 1835 when his sympathies shifted to the immediate abolitionists. In the 1840s, he gave approximately 140,000 acres of land in upstate New York to three thousand black settlers, thus qualifying them to vote. Smith was a founder and frequent candidate of the Liberty party, running for governor of New York on that ticket in 1840 and winning a seat in Congress in 1852. When the Free Soil merger with moderate antislavery Democrats and Whigs lured away many Liberty party supporters, Smith helped bankroll that organization until 1860. Smith befriended Douglass when the latter moved to Rochester, and Smith frequently helped finance Frederick Douglass’ Paper. Like Douglass, Smith supported John Brown, but psychological stress caused by the failure at Harpers Ferry brought on the first of a series of bipolar episodes that greatly reduced his subsequent reform activities. Ralph Volney Harlow, Gerrit Smith: Philanthropist and Reformer (1939; New York, 1972); Gerald Sorin, The New York Abolitionists: A Case Study of Political Radicalism (Westport, Conn., 1971), 269– 87; Lewis Perry, Radical Abolitionism: Anarchy and the Government of God in Antislavery Thought (Ithaca, N.Y., 1973), 170– 80; John R. McKivigan and Madeleine Leveille, “The ‘Black Dream’ of Gerrit Smith, New York Abolitionist,” Syracuse University Library Associates Courier, 20:61– 76 (Fall 1985); NCAB , 2:322– 23; DAB, 17:270– 71. . It will long be cherished in the hearts of the colored people of this country, and particularly by those living in the State of New York. You will see that persons living in other States could not participate in that rich gift, though they rejoiced at it. When the Florence enterprise was started by our friend, Stephen Myers, and others, put before the public under such favorable auspices, many very respectable colored people, living in the surrounding States, were induced to make purchases. They knew that if they went to the Smith lands they must purchase them.

I do not pretend to be well acquainted with the geography of the State of New York: but in looking over the map of that State, I see that Florence and Oneida county are situated in the central part of the State, while Franklin and Essex are in the North-eastern part—Franklin extending to Canada on the North. Franklin and Essex counties appear to be comparatively isolated, thinly populated, and out of the great highways and facilities for transporting products or persons to and from the State difficult. According to the map before me of the State of New York in 1840, Franklin county contained 16,580 inhabitants, and Essex county contained 23,634. Since 1840, the number has no doubt increased; nor is there any doubt that the same is true of Oneida county.

According to the same map, Oneida county is near the centre of the State. Both the Erie Canal and Railroad pass through this county. Facilities for the transportation of produce or persons are superior. It is a populous county. In 1840, it contained a population of 85,310, more than double the number contained in both Franklin and Essex counties. Then look at its large and flourishing towns, such as Utica, Rome, Clinton, Whitesboro, &c. Florence, the proposed settlement, is in this county. In view of the considerations presented, it seems to me that the lands in Florence, Oneida county, are the most valuable—that they are preferable to those who wish to purchase.

Our friend Stephen Myers informed us that Gerrit Smith had given to several colored people lands in Florence; that he was one of those persons. He felt desirous of doing something to better the condition of his people. Accordingly, himself and several other gentlemen, Grantees of the Smith land in Florence, agreed to put their lands together. Other lands were purchased from Gerrit Smith's agent, by Mr. Myers, in behalf of this company of gentlemen. This company now propose to establish a settlement at Florence, for the purpose of farming, dealing in lumber, manufacturing potash, and practising the various trades, and thus raising themselves in public estimation.

If Mr. Myers has purchased these lands, and met his contrats, and I believe he has, (in testimony of which, Mr. Gerrit Smith informed me in a note, that he had received a letter from Mr. Myers, stating that he [Mr. Myers] had depositied in bank $73,00 to the credit of the Florence land purchased of his [Mr. Smith's] agent,) why should those who are not disposed to favor the Florence enterprise, throw obstacles in its way? It seems to me something more than mere suspicion. Unauthenticated reports are required to justify such a course; and yet these are all that (it would seem) can be put forth by those who are unfriendly to the Florence enterprise.

It is said that the country is a wilderness; that its settlement will be attended with difficulties; that colored people are not accustomed to hardships, &c., &c. Our forefathers, have made this country, once a wilderness, a delightful home for their oppressors, the Anglo-Saxon race. We, their offspring, to this day are "hewers of wood and drawers of water," degraded, crushed beneath public sentiment and popular religion.
Henry ClayClay, Henry

Henry Clay (1777-1852), a native Virginian, entered politics during the 1790s in his adopted state of Kentucky and rose quickly to national prominence. As a congressman, senator, secretary of state, founder of the Whig party, and regular presidential candidate, Clay espoused broadly nationalistic programs designed to avoid sectional antagonism caused by the issue of slavery. He figured prominently in the debates that led to the passage of the Missouri Compromise, and he was a leading architect of the Compromise of 1850. His support of the American Colonization Society earned him the lasting hostility of Garrisonian abolitionists. In Congress, Clay vigorously opposed abolitionist petitions against slavery in the District of Columbia. Robert V. Remini, Henry Clay: Statesman for the Union (New York, 1991); Richard H. Sewell, Ballots for Freedom: Antislavery Politics in the United States, 1837-1860 (New York, 1976), 109; DAB, 4:73-79. and his coadjutors, who are looked up to as the giants in this nation, are still using their power to keep us down, still determined to drive us out of this country—still determined to colonize us to Africa. But this is our country, the soil on which we were born. Here are our homes. Let us build ourselves up by all righteous means. Let us cherish no divisions among ourselves. United we stand, divided we fall.

Yours for the good cause of the Elevation and Improvement of our people.

Leven TilmanTilmon, Levin

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