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

Lucretia Mott’s diary entry of the free-produce debate provides an important
counterpoint to the official Proceedings published by the British and Foreign Anti-
Slavery Society. She wrote approvingly of William Adam’s comments on British India,
though she lamented that “the convention [was] not disposed to entertain the question,
altho’ many had something to say on it.” However, it was Nathaniel Colver, the stout
Baptist minister from Tremont Temple in Boston who received the harshest criticism
from Mott. Colver, she wrote, “told how tender he was once on the subject, how he
gathered his little ones about him, and explained to them the cruelty & wickedness of
such participancy” but he discovered that “self-denial was not easy & gave it up & [gave]
his children full latitude in robbery & spoil & the gain of oppression.” After giving his
speech against free produce, Colver “sallied forth to our bar” challenging Mott to speak
out, “if the spirit moves you . . . say on — you’ll be allowed to say what you wish.”
Instead, Mott sat in silent protest. Later she noted, “Our Free Produce society will have
to double their diligence & do their own work — and so will American Abolitionists
generally — & especially women.” 19
The failure of the free-produce resolution, like the rejection of the female
delegates, marked a watershed moment for many American abolitionists. Mott and other
American abstainers had looked to British abolitionists as models for abstention and
abolition. Yet, British delegates to the convention had failed to challenge Colver’s rude
dismissal of free produce. Indeed, Colver’s remarks revealed the depth of some
19
Tolles, Slavery and “The Woman Question”, 39-40. Emphasis in original. See also Faulkner,
“The Root of the Evil,” 393-394.
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