Alarming Disclosures! Political Power of Slavery.

“One of the most widely circulated and most influential documents employed by political abolitionists to form a party…”

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Known in only two copies, this rare Maine-printed collection of abolitionist speeches was written by Joshua Leavitt (1794–1873), a Yale-trained lawyer and preacher. A leading figure in the abolitionist movement, Leavitt edited The Emancipator, helped secure legal representation for the Amistad captives, and served as the Liberty Party’s chief spokesman.

Drawing from his speeches at the 1840 Ohio Anti-Slavery Convention, Joshua Leavitt’s remarks were edited into the pamphlet The Financial Power of Slavery, described as “one of the most widely circulated and most influential documents employed by political abolitionists to form a party.” His speeches were “grouped under two main headings, the ‘Political Power of Slavery’ and the ‘Financial Power of Slavery’. In the first of these he set out, with abundant illustration, the already accepted view of a slave power dominant in Congress and in other branches of the national government. The ‘Financial Power of Slavery’ dealt with the less well-recognized influence of slavery upon the material prosperity of the Northern states”—a powerful critique of slavery’s drain on the national economy. (J.P. Bretz)

This 16-page pamphlet, printed in small type at the “Advocate of Freedom Office,” was likely issued by the Maine Anti-Slavery Society. It may have been published for the National Liberty Convention in Albany in 1841. The pamphlet either preceded The Financial Power of Slavery or was later reissued under this more dramatic title.

Price: $750.00