Dear Father,

I am so distraught! As I am sure you have heard, poor Anthony Burns has been sent back into bondage; a fate far worse than death for he has now tasted the sweet nectar of freedom. Oh Father, I cannot understand how people who espouse the beauty and righteousness of liberty for all can be the same persons who would call it their duty to send a man back into the dreadful institution known as slavery. This all upsets me so. I often wonder why I am so fortunate to live as I do, while others who look just like me are forced to work from dusk to dawn for no other reason than that they are of a darker complexion. How can this be? How can a world where we were all created in the Good Lord’s image can our innocent race be demoralized and deemed inhuman? I do not understand why we must live like this, but this cannot remain the way it is.

Oh Father, I know not what to do. No one here seems to understand the depths of my sadness for they do not face the subjugation that comes with being born with color. As hard as I try, I find that I do not have the words to neither condemn nor forgive beloved home of Massachusetts for their part in this horrific situation. For as much as I would like to make my anger known, I must remember that this state is many others like myself have found refuge. Dearest Father, I must retire from writing now, I can feel my soul stir and I must return to a more soothing activity to comfort my disquieted soul. Please give Aunt Harriet my love, and I am counting the days until we reunite again.

With Love,
Charlotte