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In September 2008 the Project inaugurated a new Legacies collection to explore the continuing influence of abolitionist ideas and culture in US society from the Civil War to the early twentieth century.  The Legacies collection, which features original texts, historical introductions, and video, is co-edited by Holly Kent, Joe Lockard, and Zoe Trodd.
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An Essay on Slavery, with a Reasonable Proposition Made How to Dispense with It

by Antislavery Webmaster — last modified 2006-08-16 03:02 2006 by the Antislavery Literature Project

A self-published tract proposing a solution to the problem of slavery; possibly published in Philadelphia in 1859. Digitized by the Antislavery Literature Project.


 

The conflict over American slavery brought many pamphleteers to the fore with poorly-conceived ideas for resolution of the problem. This brief tract by Andrew Caffrey, an otherwise unknown author, exemplifies this sub-class of marginal reform tracts. Caffrey’s idea, after noting that free labor was more productive, was to end slavery by exporting unemployed whites and free people of color from the northern states as a substitute wage labor force. The author lays particular emphasis on the necessity for both workers and plantation owners to remain sober and efficient, suggesting that he was involved in the temperance movement. 
 
This self-published tract possibly appeared in Philadelphia in 1859. The only other known writing by Caffrey was a short story, The Adventures of a Lodger (Boston, 1868).  
 
- Joe Lockard