Elihu Burritt
Encyclopedia
Biography
He was born December 8, 1810, in the town of New Britain, ConnecticutNew Britain, Connecticut
New Britain is a city in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is located approximately 9 miles southwest of Hartford. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 71,254....
.
He was active in many causes, namely opposing slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
, working for temperance
Temperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
, and trying to achieve world peace. These accomplishments caused President Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
to appoint him as a United States consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
He published over 37 books and articles, including Sparks from the Anvil and Ten Minute Talks. In 1847, his pamphlet Four Months in Skibbereen made residents of the United States more aware of the Potato Famine in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
He possessed an extraordinary aptitude for languages which allowed him to attain his marvelously rapid mastery of them. He first trained as, and followed the occupation of blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
. His remarkable mental traits in combination with his continued pursuit of the blacksmiths' craft (particularly when short of cash) earned for him the title "Learned Blacksmith."
During his time in Birmingham he lived in a modest house in the then still rural village of Harborne
Harborne
Harborne is an area three miles southwest from Birmingham city centre, England. It is a Birmingham City Council ward in the formal district and in the parliamentary constituency of Birmingham Edgbaston.- Geography :...
to the west of the town. The house which he named New Britain Villas still stands. He was actively involved the local community, taking part in the committee for the rebuilding of the nearby St. Peter's Church
St. Peter's Church, Harborne
-Background:There has been a church on the site since Saxon times and St Chad is even thought to have preached there. The base of an early preaching cross was found in the mid-1980s during work at the back of the church...
. He recorded his thoughts on the industrialization of communities in the nearby Black Country
Black Country
The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton. During the industrial revolution in the 19th century this area had become one of the most intensely industrialised in the nation...
in his book, Walks in the Black Country.
During a trip abroad in 1846–47, he was deeply touched by the suffering of the Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
peasantry. In 1848, he organized a precursive entity to the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
and the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
called the first international congress of the Friends of Peace
International Peace Congress
International Peace Congress, or International Congress of the Friends of Peace, was the name of a series of international meetings of representatives from peace societies from throughout the world held in various places in Europe from 1843 to 1853...
, which convened in Brussels in September, 1848. A second "Peace Congress" met in Paris in 1849 presided over by Victor Hugo. Burritt attended the "Peace Congresses" at Frankfort on the-Main
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
in 1850, London in 1851, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
in 1852, and Edinburgh in 1853.
The outbreak of the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jolted his senses. He realized that his conceptions of universal brotherhood and international arbitration were not making an impression on the leaders of nations.
Burritt advocated that Britain, (mother of Uniform Penny Post in 1840), should introduce an Ocean Penny Post. He urged the use of illustrated propaganda envelopes. Their objective was to reduce international mail rates from origin to destination to 3d instead of one shilling. Namely to 1/4 of what the maritime postal rates were, with the sea element reduced to 1d. He argued this would increase international correspondence, trade, and hence universal brotherhood. Postal rates were gradually reduced, but his objective was not entirely achieved in his lifetime.
Elihu Burritt died on March 6, 1879 in New Britain.
Sources
Each August the Town of New Marlborough, Massachusetts hosts an annual crafts and community fair in honor of Elihu Burrit. Elihu Burritt resided in the Berkshire County
Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Berkshire County is a non-governmental county located on the western edge of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2010 census, the population was 131,219. Its largest city and traditional county seat is Pittsfield...
Town in 1830.
External links
:-
- Journal of a Visit of Three Days to Skibbereen, and its Neighbourhood
- A Walk from London to John O'Groat's
- Elihu Burritt Bicentennial Events at Central Connecticut State University
- Twenty Reasons for Total Abstinence from Slave-Labour Produce (185-) - at the Antislavery Literature Project
- Contents of the Elihu Burritt Archives at the Elihu Burritt Library
- Walking with Elihu, poems on Elihu Burritt, the Learned Blacksmith by Taylor Graham on Amazon.com