Spectres of L i b e r t y

Transcription

1 { Spectres of L i b e r t y {

2 { May 30th, 2008 The Raising of the Ghost of the Liberty Street Church Troy, NY { The Liberty Street Church The Liberty Street Presbyterian Church formed as a black church at the corner of Liberty and Franklin Streets in Troy, New York in Prior, congregants had worshipped in the meeting house of the white First Presbyterian Church of Troy. The people who formed the church, desiring self-organization and self-elevation, asked Henry Highland Garnet to be their pastor. He preached there until The church at this site burned down in 1941, at which time the congregation moved to the State Street Methodist Church (itself demolished in 1963 for urban renewal). The congregation then merged with the Oakwood Presbyterian Church which remains active today at the corner of Hoosick and 10th Streets. During the time that the church was on Liberty Street, it was an active node in the struggle to end institutionalized slavery in the United States, hosting Underground Railroad committees and conventions for people of color. Reverend Henry Highland Garnet Reverend Garnet moved to Troy in 1839 and began preaching at the newly formed Liberty Street Presbyterian Church in While in Troy, he also edited the weekly newspaper, The Clarion. In 1843 he became world famous for his speech entitled An Address to the Slaves of the United States which he delivered at the National Negro Convention in Buffalo, New York. He was part of a generation of abolitionists who shifted the movement away from moral persuasion toward direct political action. His writing, publishing and orations placed him as an important protagonist in the history of abolition and Black nationalism. The History of the Address In 1840 at the Albany Convention of Colored Citizens, it was resolved that a committee of three be appointed to draw up a human rights address aimed at Southern slaves. The chosen committee included Charles B. Ray, Theodore S. Wright, and Henry Highland Garnet. Garnet was chosen to write and deliver the controversial speech at the National Negro Convention in Buffalo, New York in The speech encouraged slaves to turn against their masters. The speech was rejected by the Buffalo assembly for being too militant and advocating for a slave uprising as a solution to end slavery. In 1848 Garnet published An Address to the Slaves of the United States along with David Walker s Appeal, a militant text from It is believed that the publication was at least partially funded by John Brown. By this time, the idea of direct action was becoming more acceptable as a strategy to end slavery. The Address marked a shift in the abolitionist movement s strategy, from attempting to appeal to slave masters morality to speaking directly to the slaves and urging them to take action to end their own enslavement. The speech is reprinted here in its entirety. We find his words quite relevant and applicable in today s world.

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6 { May 30th, 2008 The Raising of the Ghost of the Liberty Street Church Troy, NY { Spectres of Liberty is a project by Olivia Robinson, Josh MacPhee, and Dara Greenwald with Audio by Jesse Stiles We would like to thank: Jennifer Barton, Pete Barvoets, Seanna Biondillo, V. Owen Bush, Todd Chandler, C. Ryder Cooley, Ed Coolidge, Brandon Costelloe-Kuehn, Jim de Seve, Rocco DeFazio, Luann Ferris, Jim Finn, Emily Forman, Ross Goldstein, Amy Halloran, Chris Harvey, Niki Haynes, Lucas Heckman, Kathy High, Larry Kagan, Vickie Kereszi, Kismet Gallery, Penny Lane, Michael Lopez, Stephanie Loveless, Andrew Lynn, Jason Martin, Cat Mazza, EE Miller, Paolo Pedercini, Rich Pell, Trish Reifert, Chris Skinner, Steve Tyson, Igor Vamos, Vicki & Albie von Schaaf, Bart Woodstrup, Adam Zaretsky, Emily Zimmerman, Center For Land Use Interpretation, Devane s Flooring, 51 3rd Street, The Oakwood Presbyterian Church, Halfmoon Hall, IEAR at RPI, E. Stewart Jones Law Office, Rensselaer Historical Society, Sanctuary for Independent Media, The Times-Union, and the Underground Railroad Workshop. For more information: