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"Colored National Press." North Star, 14 Jan. 1848: n.p. 19th Century U.S. Newspapers. Web. 6 Jan. 2017.
A look through the pages of the North Star reveals that the paper was in tune with a number of other issues raised at the convention, even if the connection was not specifically stated. For example, Nell’s article describes the anger delegates expressed over the decision in Connecticut to refuse Black men the vote. The same issue of the North Star contains a reprint of a scathing article from The Liberator criticizing the citizens of Connecticut for their “pro-slavery” vote.[3]
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"Colored National Press." North star [Rochester, New York] 14 Jan. 1848: n.p. 19th Century U.S. Newspapers. Web. 6 Jan. 2017.
In the next few weeks’ issues, the North Star continued to publish content about the convention. It reprinted reports given at the convention, including the Report of the Committee on Abolition and the Report of the Committee on Education. In a testy article in the January 14, 1848 issue, Douglass complained that those responsible for printing the convention minutes had been guilty of dragging their feet:
We have waited patiently for a full official record of the doings of the National Convention….We think, as a member of that convention, we were entitled to a copy of the report, and we would respectfully suggest to those into whose hands was committed the publication of those Minutes, that promptitude is essential to the confidence which is necessary to carry forward a great cause like that in which we are the engaged. [4]
Douglass certainly made his dissatisfaction clear.
Why cover the convention months after it had already ended? Despite the convention's conclusion, conversations continued. By including the coverage of the 1847 convention in the inaugural issues of the North Star, Douglass, Nell, andother writers made a statement that the Convention was valuable—even for those who could not physically attend. By dedicating space for the Convention in newspapers, the meetings became news. Those news were then linked to other important national and international events because it was printed alongside them.
References
Christy Hutcheson and Melanie Berry. Taught by: Benjamin Fagan, Auburn University, Fall, 2016.
Edited by Sarah Patterson.