To the disastrous effects upon public sentiment of this tragic event which occurred in August, 1831, must be added the reactionary influence of the Abolitionists, who now began their work of agitation and their arraignment, not simply of slavery nor of slaveholders, but of the morality and civilization of every community in which the institution existed. The failure, too, of the General Assembly of Virginia at its session of 1832 to adopt any plan for the gradual abolition of slavery or for the removal beyond the state of the free negroes then within her borders was also strongly reactionary. Despite the ability and influence of the anti-slavery leaders in that body no remedial legislation was adopted and thousands of the people accepted the result as proof of the fact that the practical difficulties in the way of emancipation were such as to shut out the hope of its accomplishment.
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[48]
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Hening's Statutes, Vol. IV, p. 132.
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[49]
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Hening's Statutes, Vol. XI, p. 39.
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[50]
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Hening's Statutes, Vol. XII, p. 182.
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[51]
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Hening's Statutes, Vol. XII, pp. 611 and 613.
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[53]
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History of Slavery in Virginia, Ballagh, p. 123.
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[54]
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History of Slavery in Virginia, Ballagh, p. 121.
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