Henry G. Ludlow facts for kids

Henry G. Ludlow (1797-1867) was an American minister and an abolitionist. An abolitionist was someone who worked to end slavery. Ludlow was also part of the New York group that helped with the famous Amistad case.

Ludlow studied to become a minister at Yale University. He then served as a minister in Oswego, New York. From 1828 to 1837, he was the minister of the Spring Street Presbyterian Church in New York City.

Standing Up for What's Right

In July 1834, Ludlow's church and home were attacked. This happened during several nights of rioting by people who were against abolitionists. Rumors had spread that Ludlow had led a marriage ceremony for a couple of different races. At that time, many people did not approve of such marriages.

His son, Fitz Hugh Ludlow, later wrote about the damage:

my father, mother, and sister were driven from their house in New York by a furious mob. When they came cautiously back, their home was quiet as a fortress the day after it has been blown up. The front-parlor was full of paving-stones; the carpets were cut to pieces; the pictures, the furniture, and the chandelier lay in one common wreck; and the walls were covered with inscriptions of mingled insult and glory. Over the mantel-piece had been charcoaled 'Rascal'; over the pier-table, 'Abolitionist.'

This shows how dangerous it was to be an abolitionist. People who supported slavery often used violence against those who wanted to end it.

Helping Others to Freedom

Henry Ludlow faced other attacks too. He once wrote that he was "mobbed and egged" in public. Even town officials watched without helping him.

His son also shared that Henry Ludlow helped the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was a secret network. It helped enslaved people escape to freedom in the North or Canada. Ludlow acted as a "ticket-agency," meaning he helped arrange safe passage for those escaping.

His Beliefs and Actions

Henry Ludlow believed strongly in freedom and equality for all people. He showed this through his work as an abolitionist. He risked his safety to help others.

See also

• Grimké sisters — These sisters were also famous abolitionists. They stayed at Ludlow's home in the winter of 1836-1837. Ludlow helped promote their lectures, which spread their anti-slavery message.

Quotes

I cannot keep believing that all your sympathies are, irrespective of treaties, on the side of these men, who to secure their inalienable rights, breathed the very spirit and performed the very deeds of the Heroes of '76. May I not say that had God one hour before the deed blanched their skin, and straightened these woolly locks the united world would have applauded them, and our own Countrymen hailed their arrival here as the very men they delighted to honor. But I would ask your Excellency if these aspirations after liberty are more honorable when breathed from the image of God sculptured in ivory than from his image carved in ebony.

—From "Letter to Martin Van Buren" 28 November 1839

This quote is from a letter Ludlow wrote to Martin Van Buren, who was President at the time. Ludlow is arguing that the desire for freedom is just as noble for Black people as it was for the American "Heroes of '76" (who fought for American independence). He asks why people would praise freedom for white people but not for Black people.