kidnapped and sold as slaves or imprisoned for minor debts. All black people in the District of Columbia were assumed to be slaves unless they could provide proof for their freedom, so free men were often mistaken for runaways, arrested, and sold into slavery. In Miner's final speech, he recalled the cruelty he witnessed, exposing the House to the brutal reality of the slave trade. Miner and his supporters also cited Article I, Section 8, which justified Congress's power over the District of Columbia. At the end of the speech, he offered a series of resolutions that asked the House to investigate the injustices of the slave trade (particularly the arrests of free men, the District's prison systems, and the splitting apart of slave families) and consider the gradual abolition plan. A large majority voted to inquire into Miner's resolutions. Miner's resolutions won the vote, but the House never acted on his plans. The House eventually abolished slavery in the District of Columbia in 1862, long after Miner's proposal. Still, Miner's efforts laid a foundation for the early abolitionist movement. He brought the question of slavery to the House and sparked conversation about abolition. Miner was not the first legislator to challenge slavery, but he was the first to persistently advocate anti-slavery proposals over a long period. Other accomplishments Miner was an early investor in anthracite coal mining in Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, and promoted the coal trade years before it became a major industry. He was also an avid writer who composed poems and moralistic essays. Most notably, he published a series of ethical stories titled From the Desk of Poor Robert the Scribe, which he composed while editing the Luzerne Federalist. The essay “Who’ll Turn Grindstone?” gained national popularity, in which Miner allegedly coined the phrase “to have an ax to grind,” although the saying is commonly attributed to Benjamin Franklin. Miner also had an interest in history, and wrote History of Wyoming in a Series of Letters from Charles Miner, to his son William Penn Miner, which outlined major events in the Wyoming Valley. Later life After completing his second term in Congress, Miner decided not to run again because he was growing deaf and could not fully participate in the sessions. Miner died on October 26, 1865, in present-day Plains Township, Pennsylvania. References Sources Richardson, Charles Francis, and Elizabeth Miner (Thomas) Richardson. Charles Miner, A Pennsylvania Pioneer.