The Cazenovia Fugitive Slave Law Convention of 1850

The Cazenovia Fugitive Slave Law Convention of 1850. "Lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh!". This site was an apple orchard when, on August 22, 1850, the Fugitive Slave Law Convention was held here., CAZENOVIA AND SLAVERY , The orchard was owned by Grace Wilson, who had earlier maintained a school on the property, and was a member of the Cazenovia Ladies Antislavery Society. Slavery had been abolished in New York State as of 1827, and Wilson was among many Cazenovians and residents of other Central New York towns and cities who adamantly opposed it. Some, such as Gerrit Smith of nearby Peterboro, were prominent in the national abolitionist movement. In 1850 Congress was considering the Fugitive Slave Law, which, among other provisions, required federal marshals to assist in the capture and return of escaped slaves even in states where slavery was forbidden. It also established significant fines and penalties for people who helped escaped slaves, and provided that ordinary citizens could be pressed into service in support of the law. Abolitionists were alarmed and outraged. In the summer of that year, some weeks before the Law's September passage, Gerrit Smith had begun to organize a two-day convention in protest., THE CONVENTION , The Fugitive Slave Law Convention took place August 21 and 22 in Cazenovia and drew more than 2,000 people (Cazenovia was then a village of just over that number), among them many well-known abolitionists including Frederick Douglass, the famed escaped slave, orator, and author, who was now a freeman; an estimated 50 fugitive slaves also attended. The first day's proceedings took place at the Free Church, whose members supported abolitionism. The church was located on Lincklaen Street where a theater now stands. The building could not accommodate all who wished to attend, so Grace Wilson offered her orchard, and the Convention continued here., A FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPH , A Cazenovia photographer, Ezra Greenleaf Weld, took the now-famous Daguerreotype photograph, seen on this marker, of the Convention in process in the orchard, in which Douglass, Smith, and other prominent abolitionists appear. The Convention's official proceedings included a Letter to the American Slaves from those who have fled from American Slavery, which took an uncompromising stand on slavery and condoned the use of violence if necessary to escape. While some supported the Convention and its goals, the Convention, and particularly the Letter drew vitriolic condemnation in speeches and newspaper editorials from both Southern and Northern critics, including many in Central New York. Even some abolitionists decried the Convention's proceedings and pronouncements, fearing they were too radical, The Letter ended with the Biblical quotation, "Lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh." The Civil War was to begin eleven years later.", This memorial plaque, dedicated on August 20, 2010, was created by the Committee for the 160th Anniversary of the Cazenovia Fugitive Slave Law Convention and was made possible through the generosity of Sparky and Patti Christakos, the Madison County Historical Society of Oneida, New York, and many other donors.