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At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Weld, Theodore Dwight (1803-1895) American slavery as it is: testimony of a thousand witnesses.

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05119 Author/Creator: Weld, Theodore Dwight (1803-1895) Place Written: New York, New York Type: Book Date: 1839 Pagination: 1 v. : 224 p. ; 22.4 x 14.6 cm. Order a Copy

Possibly a first edition. Published by the American Anti-Slavery Society. Weld asserts, "A majority of the facts and testimony contained in this work rests upon the authority of slaveholders, whose names and residences are given to the public, as vouchers for the truth of their statements... Their testimony is taken, mainly, from recent newspapers, published in slave states." Includes contents and thorough index of privations, punishments, cruelties and objections to abolition.

Below are excerpts from the following people:
The Rev. John H. Curtiss
Angelina Grimke
Sarah M. Grimke

Rev. John H. Curtiss, a native of Deep Creek, Norfolk county, Virginia, now a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Portage co., Ohio, testifies as follows:--
"In 1829 or 30, one of my father's slaves was accused of taking the key to the office and stealing four or five dollars; he denied it. A constable by the name of Hull was called; he took the negro, very deliberately tied his hands, and whipped him till the blood ran freely down his legs. By this time Hull appeared tired, and stopped; he then took a rope, put a sleep noose around his neck, and told the negro he was going to kill him, at the same time drew the rope and began whipping: the negro fell; his cheeks looked as though they would burst with strangulation. Hull whipped and kicked him, till I really thought he was going to kill him; when he ceased, the negro was in a complete gore of blood from head to foot."
Most of our readers are familiar with the horrible atrocities perpetrated in New Orleans, in 1834, by a certain Madame La Laurie, upon her slaves.... The New Orleans Mercantile Advertiser says: "Seven poor unfortunate slaves were found--some chained to the floor, others with chains around their necks, fastened to the ceiling; and one poor man, upwards of sixty years of age, chained hand and foot, and made fast to the floor, in a kneeling position. His head bore the appearance of having been beaten until it was broken, and the worms were actually to be seen making a feast of his brains!! A woman had her back literally cooked (if the expression may be used) with the lash; the very bones might be seen projecting through the skin."

Weld, Theodore Dwight, 1803-1895

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