Ill will soon began to surface on all sides, for American Catholic leaders began to question the authenticity of the petition, and the bishop of New York declared that people in Ireland had no business telling Irish Americans what reform movements to join. O’Connell, a keen politician, responded by backtracking, and abolitionists began to accuse him of cowardice. By the end of 1843 the Irish American-abolitionist alliance had collapsed.25 When O’Connell refused to vouch for the petition, Phillips’ optimism sank.
