Irish nationalists used internal abolitionist disputes to distance themselves from antislavery

Evidence

O’Connell’s efforts to maneuver in a tight situation led him not to withdraw his opposition to slavery as an institution—that was impossible—but to attempt to place some distance between himself and the abolitionists. He did this by publicly rebuking Garrison for his view of the sabbath—Garrison insisted that every day was sacred—and by insisting that he had not advocated support for any particular abolitionist organization, nor did he countenance breaking the law in any way. The dispute over the sabbath was a replay of an earlier one between Garrison and some associates, who reproached him for burdening the movement with his extreme views on women’s rights, antisabbatarianism, etc. Garrison replied that these were his personal views and he was not ascribing them to the abolitionist movement. The conflict came to a head over women speaking publicly before mixed audiences. In response to critics who accused him of dragging the issue of women’s rights into the antislavery movement by sponsoring women as speakers, Garrison insisted that he was merely providing a platform to anyone who wished to speak on behalf of antislavery, and that it was those who denied that right to women who were dragging in extraneous issues. The dispute reflected differences in both tactics and principle. It led to a split in antislavery ranks, and the formation of separate organizations with diverging positions on a whole number of questions, including electoral activity and rights for free Negroes. Now, in making Garrison’s views an issue, O’Connell was, in effect, siding with Garrison’s opponents, Gerrit Smith and Lewis Tappan. — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 90

Categorization

• XREF: Feeds directly into the reader’s comparison of category-reclamation drivers — here a leader (O’Connell) hedges the anti-slavery commitment that would otherwise block Irish ascent into whiteness. — connects to: Pro-slavery Irish Americans argued Irish peasants were worse off than American slaves — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 87; Irish nationalists sought proslavery credentials to enter the American mainstream — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 81; Northern antislavery leaders split between principled abolition and free-labor politics against slavery. — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning: The…, 548 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Northern antislavery leaders split between principled abolition and free-labor politics against slavery. #expands (0.75) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 548
• Irish nationalists sought proslavery credentials to enter the American mainstream #complicates (0.72) — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 81