Gag Rule
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The initial Gag Rule was enacted in 1835. The United States House of Representatives and Senate ruled that all petitions to Congress about bringing slavery to an end would be tabled without consideration. The right to petition the Government is a First Amendment right. Gag rules permitted Congress to abridge its own First Amendment right to petition the Government. Senator (and former President) John Quincy Adams was famous for his annual opposition to the Gag rules.
The first heated debate over the First Amendment right to petition the Government occurred in 1792. A former slaveowner named Warner Mifflin had contacted members of the United States Congress and suggested that they consider ending slavery. Warner Mifflin was a Quaker from Virginia who had freed his slaves in 1774 and thereafter spoke out on many occasions to his fellow Quakers about the wrongness of slavery. He was a cousin of Thomas Mifflin, the Governor of Pennsylvania, the Quaker State.
In May, 1835, the House passed the "Pinckney Resolutions," then in December, 1837, the House passed the "Patton Resolutions." The "Atherton Gag" was enacted in December of 1838, and the "Twenty-first Rule" passed in January, 1840. It was rescinded in December, 1844. During those years when Gag rules were enacted, Pro-slavery Democrats Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren were Presidents of the United States, therefore, the Executive branch of the Government was in agreement with the Legislative branch.
Albert Gallatin and Henry Clay had led the contingent of Americans who negotiated the Treaty of Ghent in 1814. Article X of the Treaty of Ghent calls for the end of slavery through the diligent efforts of both nations. By abridging its own First Amendment right to petition the Government, the Congress countermanded the specifications contained within Article X of the Treaty of Ghent requiring that both nations attempt to end slavery. Great Britain had abolished slavery throughout the British Empire by 1835.
The 21st rule
Since it prohibited petitions calling for the end of slavery from entering the entranceway to the House of Representatives (US), the Twenty-first rule was the harshest gag rule. It was one of the dozens of standing rules by which the Congressmen are guided. Ground rules are the same as standing rules.
External Links
The Library of Congress (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/)