finally the champion of the right of petition took the floor in
his own defense. His language cut to the quick. His calumniators
were made to feel the force of his biting sarcasm. They were
convicted of injustice, and all their resolutions of censure were
withdrawn. The victory was complete.

After the year 1838 John Quincy Adams had the effective support
of Joshua R. Giddings from the Western Reserve, Ohio--who also
fought a pitched battle of his own which illustrates another
phase of the crusade against liberty. The ship Creole had sailed
from Baltimore to New Orleans in 1841 with a cargo of slaves. The
negroes mutinied on the high seas, slew one man, gained
possession of the vessel, sailed to Nassau, and were there set
free by the British Government. Prolonged diplomatic negotiations
followed in which our Government held that, as slaves were
property in the United States, they continued to be such on the
high seas. In the midst of the controversy, Giddings introduced a
resolution into the House, declaring that slavery, being an
abridgment of liberty, could exist only under local rules, and
that on the high seas there can be no slavery. For this act
Giddings was arraigned and censured by the House. He at once
resigned, but was reelected with instructions to continue the
fight for freedom of debate in the House.

In the campaign against the rights of freemen mob violence was
first employed, but in the South the weapon of repressive
legislation was soon substituted, and this was powerfully
supplemented by social and religious ostracism. Except in a few
districts in the border States, these measures were successful.
Public profession of abolitionism was suppressed. The violence of