THERE IS DEATH IN THE POT - The University of Texas at Arlington

female delegates to the convention included Abby Kimber, Mary Grew, Elizabeth Neall,
and Emily Winslow. Sources differ, however, about the identity of the seventh female
delegate. Some name Ann Phillips while others list Abby Southwick. Most likely,
Phillips did not obtain official papers from the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society
though she did attend the convention. Mott and Phillips were accompanied by their
husbands; Winslow and Grew by their fathers. Pugh, Kimber, Neall, and Southwick
traveled alone. 2
Though organized by the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, the idea for an
international conference of abolitionists originated with Joshua Leavitt, editor of the
Emancipator, who had suggested a general anti-slavery meeting in London. Leavitt
believed such a meeting would better coordinate the British and American movements.
When the BFASS began planning for the meeting, they cited Leavitt’s suggestion.
American abolitionists, particularly Garrisonians, enthusiastically embraced the idea of
an international meeting of abolitionists. Garrisonians had long described themselves as
citizens of the world, most visibly on the Liberator’s masthead: “Our Country is the
World — Our Countrymen are all Mankind.” Many Garrisonians were non-resistants,
which reinforced this notion of human rather than national community. British
abolitionists, however, had a more parochial conception of the general anti-slavery
conference, viewing it as primarily a meeting of British and American abolitionists — a
British abolitionist meeting on a broader Anglo-American scale. This is particularly
2 Kennon, “‘An Apple of Discord,’” 240; Sklar, “The World Anti-Slavery Convention,” 332-333;
Minute of the Association of Friends for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and Improving the Condition
of Free People of Colour, May 1, 1840, Mott Manuscripts, FHL; Minutes, October 20, 1840, AFPA, HSP.
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