The Voice of Duty: an Address Delivered at the Anti-Slavery Pic Nic at Westminster, Mass., July 4, 1843.
This Independence Day address was delivered by Adin Ballou, an advocate of Christian nonresistance and founder of the Hopedale utopian community. By 1843, abolitionists had seized on the theme of liberty that had long been celebrated by July 4th to fight against the institution of slavery. As Ballou states in his opening paragraph, “Man is man wherever he may exist. Liberty is liberty, and slavery is slavery wherever found. Justice is justice, and wrong is wrong, between men of all countries, complexions and conditions— alike.” What had started as a day dedicated to remembering the signing of the Declaration of Independence had grown to encompass the broader concept of liberty and to point out where and for whom that ideal was unfulfilled. Ballou’s utopian community, which was founded the same year this address was given, ultimately failed, but his work was influential in the development of the philosophy behind non-violent resistance.
Adin Ballou (1803-1890).
The Voice of Duty: an Address Delivered at the Anti-Slavery Pic Nic at Westminster, Mass., July 4, 1843. Hopedale, Milford, MA: Community Press, 1843.
Lehigh University Catalog Record:https://asa.lib.lehigh.edu/asa/Record/298693
A version of this text has been digitized and is available through the Internet Archive.