A Strategy to End Slavery

In response to the flood of anti-slavery petitions (130,000 between 1836-37 alone) arriving in D.C., Congress placed a complete ban on any discussion of slavery-related petitions. Lasting between 1837–1844, the “Gag Rule” clearly demonstrated the tremendous political power of the slave states in Congress. In response, anti-slavery activists added additional emphasis to their work at the state level, focused on containing and eventually eliminating slavery. Among other tactics, this strategy included fighting the admission of new slave states into the union and banning slavery on Federal lands. (1) Wampanoag anti-slavery activists participated in this work, petitioning their state representatives to vote against the annexation of Texas and Florida, and to take action to end slavery in the District of Columbia—the seat of national government (2,3,4).