According to an accompanying text, the illustration depicts an incident that occurred in New Bedford, Massachusetts, c. 1818-23. The scene is set in a New Bedford "victualling cellar" kept by the black man at the left. In the company of a local constable (right), a visiting Virginian (center), has seized a pair of tongs and is assaulting the man. As the text explains, the Virginian, "who coveted his neighbor's body and soul," ordered the man to be arrested on a fictitious debt charge. The action was dismissed, and the Virginia was ultimately arrested for assaulting the black inn-keeper., Illustration in the American Anti-Slavery Almanac, for 1838 (Boston: Published by D.K. Hitchcock, 1837), p. 27., Caption underneath the image reads: "Many of the northern States have refused to grant to their own citizens a trial by jury, lest slaveholders should have too much trouble in stealing men. Massachusetts, and New Jersey are the only exceptions.", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
Date
[1837]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1837 Ame Ant 52047.D.2 p 27, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2757
