Josiah Quincy III Quotes
I...distinctly stated to you that...I held it an incumbent duty of every officer of the Institution to abstain from any act tending to bring within its walls discussions upon questions on which the passions and interests of the community are divided, and warmly engaged
Written when he was the President of Harvard. Harvard and most of the established schools, though pretending to free inquiry in all academic matters, could not handle the abolition question. Princeton, was so racist that they not only were silent about slavery but did not admit a Black student until the Second World War.There were exceptions. Oberlin College was a critical stop on the Underground Railroad, and that institution alone graduated more than one third of all the Negro college graduates in America for the entire 19th century. In 1790, the top student of Brown University gave a commencement address that was a searing indictment of slavery {622025} despite the fact that the school’s namesake was an active slave trader.
Josiah Quincy III, President of Harvard University, U. S. Congressman (Massachusetts), Reprimand to a faculty member who had discussed the abolition question in a class
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
This is a particularly memorable quotation for several reasons. First the address was given by a young senior student who would later be a member of Congress, a effective abolitionist, and the author of various pieces of legislation that vexed the South. What is even more memorable is that the oration was given at an Ivy League College Official Graduation. The Ivy league schools, despite their reputation for intellectual freedom, generally were very adverse to any discussion about the slavery issue as it would cause too much passionate contention. See {621346} for an example at Harvard. In addition, Brown University was in Providence RI, where the economy depended in substantial part on slavery. The Co-Founder of Brown was himself a slave trader {622028}. This was one of the early American anti-slavery orations.
In September of 2005 a Danish Newspaper published some political cartoons showing the hypocrisy of some Muslims who use Islam to justify murder of innocents and terrorism. Months later, many in the Middle East protested vehemently and Muslim riots broke out because the Prophet Muhammad's visage was depicted against Islamic tradition. Many Muslim leaders claimed that insulting religion was an “abuse” of freedom of speech including those from nations which regularly publish material that is virulent against Christians and Jews.
- Born: February 4, 1772
- Died: July 1, 1864
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Josiah Quincy III was a U.S. educator and political figure. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1805–1813), Mayor of Boston (1823–1828), and President of Harvard University (1829–1845). The historic Quincy Market in downtown Boston is named in his honor.
