"THE PEARL HARBOR OF THE SLAVERY CONTROVERSY": RARE FIRST EDITION OF THE FEBRUARY 8, 1836 REMARKS OF THE HON. H. L. PINCKNEY

(CONSTITUTION) PINCKNEY, H(enry) L(aurens). Remarks of the Hon. H. L. Pinckney, of South Carolina, On the Resolution Offered by Him Relative to the Abolition of Slavery: Delivered in the House of Representatives, Monday, February 8, 1836. Washington: Gales and Seaton, 1836. Slim octavo, original tan self-wrappers; pp. (1-3), 4-7 (1). $1800.

First edition of a seminal work on the infamous 1836 Gag Rule, its chief author H.L. Pinckney here triggering outrage in many Americans by calling the First Amendment's "right of petition… a false issue," exceedingly rare in original wrappers.

In 1836 congressional debate over the "notorious gag rule" became a "prime example in American political history of the suppression of civil liberty at the center of the national government itself" (Miller, Arguing About Slavery, 144-46). The contest focused on the First Amendment's declaration: "Congress shall make no law respecting… the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Pivotal to the debate were Southern objections over antislavery petitions arriving in Congress, and Henry Laurens Pinckney, son of Charles Pinckney, one of the framers of the Constitution. When Pinckney stood in the House on February 4, 1836, he proposed that now all "antislavery petitions should be referred to a specially select committee,… [which] should be instructed to report back 'that Congress ought not to interfere in any way with slavery in the District of Columbia'… [and] would not interfere with slavery in the South'" (Freehling, Dreaded Encounter, 286). This rare first official edition of Pinckney's Remarks in Congress, captures the fury of the "stormy day" the House ultimately advanced Pinckney's proposition (Ludlum, Antislavery "Gag Rule," 207).

Here Pinckney defends himself against charges of treason, and declares his aim is to cease arguments over "the right of petition… a false issue." He reiterates his resolution asserting "Congress possesses no authority over slavery, here or elsewhere," and declares, "I go for the suppression of abolition… [and] to obtain a direct vote upon the whole subject of the abolition of slavery, without being involved in constitutional contests upon any other points" (original emphasis). On successfully calling for a select committee, Pinckney became its chairman. Three months later his "Committee recommended to the House that antislavery petitions be tabled 'without being printed or referred,'" and the House voted to adopt this as "a standing rule." To historian Freehling, in these crucial months, "the slavery issue momentarily showed its potential to wrench everything national out of shape. The moment passed. But the momentary scare prefigured all reasons why slavery contentions were so dangerous"—in Congress, in the consequences of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act, the 1857 Dred Scott decision and in war itself. The 1836 Gag Rule "was the Pearl Harbor of the slavery controversy" (Road to Disunion, 334, 308). Before its enactment, "antislavery crusaders were a tiny minority… but refusing a constituent's right to have his request duly considered by Congress—in addition to censoring the mails and demanding the North repress the antislavery movement—was bound to alarm even northerners who detested the abolitionists… [and] abolitionism acquired a respectability it never had before" (Freehling, Dreaded Encounter, 289). First edition. Trace of bookseller ticket removal above title page.

Text generally fresh with a bit of wear and edge-toning. Quite rare.