wished
for complete abolition without payment. For a time he labored almost
alone. Then slowly others came to his aid, and the Antislavery Society
was founded.

[Sidenote: Anti-abolitionist sentiment in the North. _Higginson_, 268.]

[Sidenote: Disunion sentiment of abolitionists.]

[Sidenote: The Garrison riot, 1835. _Source-Book_, 248-251.]

325. Opposition to the Abolitionists.--It must not be thought that
the abolitionists were not opposed. They were most vigorously opposed.
Very few Northern men wished to have slavery reestablished in the North.
But very many Northern men objected to the antislavery agitation
because they thought it would injure business. Some persons even argued
that the antislavery movement would bring about the destruction of the
Union. In this idea there was a good deal of truth. For Garrison grew
more and more outspoken. He condemned the Union with slaveholders and
wished to break down the Constitution, because it permitted slavery.
There were anti-abolitionist riots in New York, New Jersey, and New
Hampshire. In Boston the rioters seized Garrison and dragged him about
the streets (1835).

[Sidenote: Nat Turner's Rebellion, 1831.]

[Sidenote: Incendiary publications in the mails. _McMaster_, 313-314.]

326. Slave Rebellion in Virginia, 1831.--At about the time that
Garrison established the _Liberator_ at Boston, a slave rebellion broke
out in Virginia. The rebels were led by a slave named Nat Turner, and
the rebellion is often called "Nat Turner's Rebellion." It was a small
affair and was easily put down. But the Southerners were alarmed,
because they felt that the Northern antislavery agitation would surely
lead to more rebellions. They called upon the government to forbid the
sending of the _Liberator_ and similar "incendiary publications" through
the mails.

[Sidenote: Right of petition.]

[Sidenote: J.Q. Adams and antislavery petitions, 1836. _Hero Tales_,
151-159.]

[Sidenote: The "gag-resolutions." _McMaster_, 314-315.]

327. The Right of Petition.--One of the most sacred rights of
freemen is the right to petition for redress of grievances. In the old
colonial days the British Parliament had refused even to listen to
petitions presented by the colonists. But the First Amendment to the
Constitution forbade Congress to make any law to prevent citizens of the
United States from petitioning. John Quincy Adams, once President, was
now a member of the House of Representatives. I