74 REFORM AND DEMOCRACY 



ways a base and lawless element in the South 

 ern population who were ready to take part in 

 the illicit operations through which small num 

 bers of negroes were often introduced. In 1820 

 a violent political contest arose in Congress 

 over an issue of internal policy respecting 

 slavery, and thenceforth the Southern politi 

 cians were very sensitive to any movements 

 affecting the institution. Abolitionism of a 

 vehement type made its appearance in the 

 North in the early thirties, almost simultane 

 ously with a barbarous insurrection of slaves 

 in Virginia. The two events combined to cause 

 deep alarm in the South, and the feeling made 

 the discussion of any phase of the slavery ques 

 tion highly inexpedient to politicians. Then 

 came the emancipation of the slaves of the 

 British West Indies. This action, hailed with 

 joy by the Abolitionists, confirmed the uneasi 

 ness in the Southern States of the Union. Re 

 sentment toward the British was increased by 

 a series of cases in which the colonial authorities 

 of the Bahamas and the Bermudas forcibly 

 liberated the slaves who happened to be on 

 American coasting vessels that came within 

 British jurisdiction through stress of weather, 

 wreck, and mutiny. That the feeling aroused 



