From 1836 till 1844 the House of Representatives barred the discussion of anti-slavery petitions by Congress by means of a gag rule. A gag rule prevents the consideration of a particular topic, and pro-slavery members of Congress hoped this would be an effective way of silencing abolitionists. However, anti-slavery campaigners became even more determined in the face of opposition and argued that the gag rule was a violation of the First Amendment. The gag was lifted in December 1844.
Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.
76 words
