Document 11.13 Liberty Party Platform, 1844

Liberty Party Platform, 1844

The Liberty Party tried to end slavery by running candidates and electing officials who supported its cause. The following document is an excerpt of its official platform for the 1844 elections. Liberty Party presidential candidate James G. Birney of New York received 2.3 percent of the popular vote, enough to help Democratic candidate James K. Polk defeat Whig candidate Henry Clay.

Liberty Platform.

  1. Resolved, That human brotherhood is a cardinal principle of true democracy, as well as pure Christianity, which spurns all inconsistent limitations; and neither the political party which repudiates it, nor the political system which is not based upon it, can be truly democratic or permanent.
  2. Resolved, That the Liberty party, placing itself upon this broad principle, will demand the absolute and unqualified divorce of the General Government from slavery, and also the restoration of equality of rights among men, in every State where the party exists, or may exist. . . .
  3. Resolved, That the Liberty party has not been organized merely for the overthrow of slavery; its first decided effort must, indeed, be directed against slave-holding as the grossest and most revolting manifestation of despotism, but it will also carry out the principle of equal rights into all its practical consequences and applications, and support every just measure conducive to individual and social freedom.
  4. Resolved, That the Liberty party is not a sectional party but a national party; was not originated in a desire to accomplish a single object, but in a comprehensive regard to the great interests of the whole country; is not a new party, nor a third party, but is the party of 1776, reviving the principles of that memorable era, and striving to carry them into practical application.
  5. Resolved, That it was understood in the times of the Declaration and the Constitution, that the existence of slavery in some of the States was in derogation of the principles of American liberty, and a deep stain upon the character of the country, and the implied faith of the States and the Nation was pledged that slavery should never be extended beyond its then existing limits, but should be gradually, and yet, at no distant day, wholly abolished by State authority. . . .
  6. Resolved, That the faith of the States and the Nation thus pledged, has been shamefully violated by the omission, on the part of many of the States, to take any measures whatever for the abolition of slavery within their respective limits; by the continuance of slavery in the District of Columbia, and in the Territories of Louisiana and Florida; by the legislation of Congress; by the protection afforded by national legislation and negotiation to slaveholding in American vessels, on the high seas, employed in the coastwise slave traffic; and by the extension of slavery far beyond its original limits, by acts of Congress admitting new slave States into the Union.
  7. Resolved, That the fundamental truths of the Declaration of Independence, that all men are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, was made the fundamental law of our National Government, by that amendment of the Constitution which declares that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. . . .
  8. Resolved, That the General Government has under the Constitution no power to establish or continue slavery anywhere, and therefore that all treaties and acts of Congress establishing, continuing or favoring slavery in the District of Columbia, in the Territory of Florida, or on the high seas, are unconstitutional, and all attempts to hold men as property within the limits of exclusive national jurisdiction ought to be prohibited by law.
  9. Resolved, That the provision of the Constitution of the United States which confers extraordinary political powers on the owners of slaves, and thereby constituting the two hundred and fifty thousand slaveholders in the slave States a privileged aristocracy; and the provisions for the reclamation of fugitive slaves from service, are anti-republican in their character, dangerous to the liberties of the people and ought to be abrogated. . . .
  10. Resolved, That the practice of the General Government, which prevails in the slave States, of employing slaves upon the public works instead of free laborers and paying aristocratic masters, with a view to secure or reward political services, is utterly indefensible and ought to be abandoned.
  11. Resolved, That freedom of speech and of the press and the right of petition and the right of trial by jury are sacred and inviolable, and that all rules, regulations and laws in derogation of either are oppressive, unconstitutional and not to be endured by a free people.
  12. Resolved, That we regard voting in an eminent degree as a moral and religious duty, which, when exercised, should be by voting for those who will do all in their power for immediate emancipation. . . .
  13. Resolved, That we hereby give it to be distinctly understood by this Nation and the world that, as Abolitionists, considering that the strength of our cause lies in its righteousness, and our hope for it, in our conformity to the laws of God and our respect for the rights of man, we owe it to the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe, as a proof of our allegiance to Him, in all our civil relations and offices, whether as private citizens or public functionaries sworn to support the Constitution of the United States, to regard and to treat the third clause of the fourth article of that instrument, whenever applied to the case of a fugitive slave, as utterly null and void, and consequently as forming no part of the Constitution of the United States whenever we are called upon or sworn to support it.

Source: J. M. H. Frederick, ed., National Party Platforms of the United States Presidential Candidates Electoral and Popular Votes (Akron, OH: J. M. H. Frederick, 1896), 14–16.