Worcester (MA) Spy, "Slavery Passing Away in Missouri and Kentucky," September 9, 1863

SLAVERY PASSING AWAY IN MISSOURI AND KENTUCKY. – The St. Joseph (Mo.) Herald contains the following: — “Capt. Woods, sheriff of Platte county, was in the city a few days since, and from him we learned something of the negro stampede now going on in the lower counties. During the last two months the darkies have been leaving Platte county at the rate of about thirty or forty per day. By the census of 1860 Platte county had a slave population of three thousand three hundred and thirteen, and our informant thinks that there are but two or three hundred left now. From all portions of North Missouri we have like information. The slaves are leaving by day and by night. Very few owners pretend to stay the exodus. Many pack up their duds and walk boldly off in broad day, while other quietly retire in the night. Should the flight continue at the present rate, by the time 1866 rolls round the slaves of the state will hardly be worth counting.”

            Upon this Nashville Union remarks: — “The same thing is going on in much less degree, in Kentucky. The slaves as a mass are determined to be free: they have caught the spirit of freedom, and they will not remain in bondage. Nothing but the establishment of a strong military police, a standing army for the slaveholders, will suffice, hence forward, to check the absconding of negroes. The fugitive slave law is dead, and will no longer return a bondman. Let Tennesseans recognize these facets and adapt themselves to the imperative demands of the times. Our peace and prosperity depend upon the speedy removal of slavery from our midst.”