Elihu Burritt of New Britain, Connecticut, was a noted social advocate. Among his causes were temperance, world peace, and the abolition of slavery. It took many years of devoted lobbying before he was able to call for a national emancipation convention, which is what this broadside advertises. The lists are names of men who pledged themselves to support the Convention.
Burritt was an advocate of the concept of Compensated Emancipation in which the Southern slave owners would be paid for their slaves from the proceeds of the sale of public lands. He saw this as not only freeing the slaves but removing the sectional tension that threatened the Union. The convention was held in August 1856. Burritt continued to push his cause and was beginning to make headway when John Brown’s Raid “closed the door against all overtures or efforts for the peaceful extinction of slavery” (The American Advocate of Peace and Arbitration, Vol. 53, No. 1 January 1891, p.8).
The Research Center has a number of printed works and manuscripts related to Burritt. You can see the list of materials by clicking here. We also have materials related to antislavery, emancipation, and slavery itself. You can search our online catalog for more information. This particular broadside can be studied by requesting Broadsides Small 1857 C156b in the Research Center.
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