A Border Community’s Unfulfilled Appeals: The Rise and Fall of the 1840s Anti-Abolitionist Movement in Cincinnati

A Border Community' s Unfulfilled Appeals Ybe Rise and Fall oftbe 1840s AntiAbolitionist Mo, uement in Cincinnati Julie A. Mujic n Friday,September 4, 1841, the fourth d·ay of an intense raci·al riot in Cincinnati,Ohio,a mob of angry voung white men pursued a group of blacks into the predominantly black section of town. There,the black residents desperately tried to defend themselves,their businesses ,homes, and families. According to the Cincinnati Daily Gazette,at approximately one o' clock in the afternoon,a portion of the mob procured an iron six pounder from ne·ar the river,loaded with boiler punchings, Bcc. and hauled it to the ground, against the exhort·ations ofthe Mayor · and others . It was posted on Broadway and pointed down Sixth street. During an attack that lasted well into the night, the mob proceeded to open fire with the cannon several times on African American homes. Two days later, the Queen City appeared calm. However,reverberations from the outburst continued in the months to come, oil the streets,in meeting halls,and in the newspapers of the divided city,as antiabolitionists blamed Underground Railroad activists for provoking the incident.1 This essay explores the nature of antiabolition sentiment in Cincinnati, Ohio,in the early 1840s through an analysis of a shortlived antiabolition organization and newspaper. ' Ihe two institutions developed in response to Cincinnati In 1840. CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER AT-UNION TERMINAL, CINCINNATI HISTORICAL SOCIETY LIBRARY SUMMER 2007 4 41} 11$ 11 53 A BORDER COMMUNITY' S UNFULFILLED APPEALS the race riot of 1841 and attempted to address the social and economic concerns of certain Cincinnati citizens. White and black residents struggled to cope with the challenges posed by difficult race relations.The racial discord of 1841 was but one example ofsimilar events that had occurred in Cincinnati since its settlement. Located on the Ohio River between the North and the South and peopled by a mixture of Protestant New Englanders, southerners ,and immigrant settlers, Cincinnati possessed a complex culture. Rarely did Cincinnatians agree on topics such as slavery and the Union. For example ,residents witnessed deepening racial debates during negotiations at the Ohio Constitutional Convention and at many subsequent legislative sessions ,during which members debated the rights of free blacks in the new state. By 1841, Cincinnati was home to an increasingly popular antislavery movement,which in turn sparked sporadic race riots and consistent resentment from the city's antiabolitionist inhabitants.2 Prior to the 1840s, Cincinnati was an important destination for both migrating settlers and immigrants. Its population increased from 24,900 in 1830 to 46,000 ten years later, making it the sixth largest city in the nation. In 1840, blacks represented slightly more than 5 percent of the total population, and threefourths of the free blacks who settled in Ohio during the first half of the nineteenth century resided in Cincinnati. The city's geooraphic position on Ohio' s border with the slave st·ates created a dilemma for the many residents who derived much of their wealth from southern markets. White citizens who moved to Cincinnati with antislavery beliefs often had to choose between maintaining their ideological stance and increasing their economic livelihood. A significant influx of European immigrants enhanced the ethnic diversity of the city in the earlynine teenth century,with Germans comprising the largest incoming population. By 1840, Germans represented 28 percent of Cincinnati's population, with Irish and English immigrants constituting another 16 percent. Many of these young immigrants arrived without families and few skills germane to an urban environment. ' They often made their homes along the riverfront and earned a living working on the docks. The city' s free black population competed for the same jobs,and friction between the groups increased.3 Many immigrants who arrived in Cincinnati in the late 18305 and early 1840s stumbled into a turbulent economy. In late 1836,land sales declined significantly and markets began to falter. The interest rate in Cincinnati rose to 24 percent and by March 1837, Cincinnati' s banks faced a critical situation. The resulting Panic of 1837 led to an unprecedented curtailment in activity and employment" in Cincinnati and much of the Midwest. ' Ihe...