A historical comparison has been made between President Donald Trump's recent executive order directing the U.S. Postal Service to limit mail-in voting and a 19th-century instance of postal censorship. In 1835, the American Anti-Slavery Society began sending pamphlets and abolitionist literature to Southern states to oppose the institution of slavery. When a shipment containing materials like "Human Rights" and "The Slave's Friend" arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, the local postmaster, Alfred Huger, refused to deliver them, citing concerns over potentially inflammatory content. A mob later stormed the warehouse, took the mailbags, and burned them in a public display. Huger sought advice from Postmaster General Amos Kendall and New York Postmaster Samuel Gouverneur. Gouverneur agreed to block the delivery of abolitionist mail until Kendall decided. Kendall, a supporter of President Andrew Jackson, ruled against delivering the materials, even though he admitted he had no legal authority to do so. Jackson, who owned slaves, backed the suppression, arguing that the literature aimed to incite slave revolts. He ordered Southern postmasters to record and publicize names of those who subscribed to abolitionist newspapers, hoping to intimidate them or encourage their relocation. Jackson proposed a law to ban the spread of "incendiary" publications in the South, but it failed in the Senate. Southern states continued to pass laws to block abolitionist material, claiming it threatened slave stability. This suppression continued throughout the years before the Civil War, with Southern postmasters withholding antislavery publications under the approval of Kendall, Jackson’s political ally. In 1857, Attorney General Caleb Cushing, appointed by President James Buchanan, argued that state laws could override federal postal rules to prevent "domestic violence" and "insurrection." This gave postmasters in states like Mississippi the power to refuse delivery of materials they deemed inciting unrest among enslaved people. Both Jackson’s and Trump’s actions rely on questionable justifications. Jackson’s belief was based on the racist idea that enslaved people were content and would not rebel unless provoked by Northern abolitionists. Trump, on the other hand, claims that mail-in ballots, which he himself uses, lead to election fraud. He has stated, "ELECTIONS CAN NEVER BE HONEST WITH MAIL IN BALLOTS." The suppression of abolitionist mail ended with the Civil War. Today, the Supreme Court has the power to address Trump's efforts to limit mail voting, potentially ending such practices much sooner than the end of the Civil War.