Existing comment:
The Gag Rule on Petitions
Slavery was such a contentious issue in the 1830s that Congress simply didn't talk about it. The "gag rule" passed in the House of Representatives in 1836 automatically tabled (dismissed) all petitions regarding slavery. The House rescinded it in 1844 when Representative John Quincy Adams successfully argued that -- whatever one's view on slavery -- stifling the First Amendment right to petition was unconstitutional.
Resolution That All Petitions, Memorials, and Papers Relating to Slavery Be Laid Upon the Table without Being Debated, Printed, Read or Referred [Gag Rule], December 21, 1837, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives |