[Imprisonment of Passmore Williamson:] “The Sun. Philadelphia, Saturday, Sept. 22. The following speaks for itself and needs no comment…” [opening lines of handbill]

Rare abolitionist handbill mocking Judge Kane and defending Passmore Williamson…

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The imprisonment of Passmore Williamson (1822–1895) under Judge Kane’s order provoked a rare outpouring of support from leading Philadelphians. An important Philadelphia abolitionist, Williamson was serving a 90-day sentence for a contempt charge related to a violation of the Fugitive Slave Law.

As Secretary of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, Williamson had aided the self-liberation of Jane Johnson and her two children, who were brought into the free state of Pennsylvania by their enslaver. His detention tested the limits of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and the contested authority of federal versus state power over habeas corpus.

Borrowing from text published in The Sun on September 22, 1855, this rare and unrecorded handbill publicly defends Williamson’s “truthfulness and upright character” against accusations of evading a writ of habeas corpus. Thirty citizens—including Quaker merchants, abolitionists, and physicians—attest to his integrity, arguing that no fair trial would have reached Judge Kane’s conclusion. The text ends with a satirical poem titled “A Pas-Kane-ade,” mocking Kane’s supposed tyranny by casting him as a would-be entrant to Hell. The juxtaposition of legal testimony and dark satire underscores how publicly Kane’s judgment was ridiculed.

Printed on very thin paper, this is a truly ephemeral piece of Philadelphia anti-slavery activity. Larger-sized abolitionist broadsides tend to survive in greater numbers because of their format. By contrast, anti-slavery handbills, smaller, did not and are markedly rarer.

Price: $1,500.00