''The Liberator'' (1831–1865) was a weekly abolitionist newspaper, printed and published in Boston by William Lloyd Garrison and, through 1839, by Isaac Knapp. Religious rather than political, it appealed to the moral conscience of its readers, urging them to demand immediate freeing of the slaves ("immediatism"). It also promoted women's rights, an issue that split the American abolitionist movement. Despite its modest circulation of 3,000, it had prominent and influential readers, including

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

Beriah Green Beriah Green Jr. (March 24, 1795May 4, 1874) was an American reformer, abolitionist, temperance advocate, college professor, minister, and head of the Oneida Institute. He was "consumed totally by his abolitionist views". He has been described as ...

and Alfred Niger. It frequently printed or reprinted letters, reports, sermons, and news stories relating to American slavery, becoming a sort of community bulletin board for the new abolitionist movement that Garrison helped foster.

History

Garrison co-published weekly issues of ''The Liberator'' from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

continuously for 35 years, from January 1, 1831, to the final issue of December 29, 1865. Although its circulation was only about 3,000, and three-quarters of subscribers (in 1834) were

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

s, the newspaper earned nationwide notoriety for its uncompromising advocacy of "immediate and complete emancipation of all slaves" in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Garrison set the tone for the paper in his famous open lette
"To the Public"
in the first issue: Appeal by William Garrison

Rather than looking to politics to create change, Garrison utilized nonviolent means, such as

moral suasion Moral suasion is an appeal to morality, in order to influence or change behavior. A famous example is the attempt by William Lloyd Garrison and his American Anti-Slavery Society to end slavery in the United States by using moral suasion. In ...

, as his message throughout the newspaper. Garrison felt that slavery was a moral issue and used his way of writing to appeal to the morality of his readers as an attempt to influence them into changing their morally questionable ways. For example, "No Union with Slave-Holders" was a slogan utilized for weeks at a time throughout the newspaper's publication, advocating that the North should leave the Union. The Final

''The Liberator'' continued for three decades from its founding through the end of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

. It had black columnists and reporters. Garrison ended the newspaper's run with a valedictory column at the end of 1865, when the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery throughout the United States. It was succeeded by ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...

''.

Women's rights advocacy

The ''Liberator'' also became an avowed women's rights newspaper when the prospectus for its 1838 issue declared that as the paper's objective was "to redeem woman as well as man from a servile to an equal condition," it would support "the rights of woman to their utmost extent." In January and February 1838, the ''Liberator'' published

Sarah Grimké Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a ...

's "Letters on the Province of Woman", and later that year published them as a book, using the reprint to call attention to another of Garrison and Knapp's projects, the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society. During the following decades, the ''Liberator'' promoted women's rights by publishing editorials, petitions, convention calls and proceedings, speeches, legislative action, and other material advocating women's suffrage, equal property rights, and women's educational and professional equality. The ''Liberator''s printers, Isaac Knapp, James Brown Yerrinton (1800–1866) and James Manning Winchell Yerrinton (1825–1893), and Robert Folger Wallcut (1797–1884), printed many of the women's rights tracts of the 1850s.

Inspiration among abolitionists

The ''Liberator'' inspired abolitionist Angelina Grimké to publicly join the abolitionist movement. She sent a letter to William Lloyd Garrison recalling her experiences as a member of an upper class, white, slaveholding family
Angelina Grimké's letter to William Lloyd Garrison
was soon after published in ''The Liberator''. Frederick Douglass was inspired by ''The Liberator.'' As he commented upon in his first issue of ''The North Star,'' Frederick Douglass felt that it was necessary for African-Americans, such as himself, to speak out about their own experiences with injustice. He claimed that those that experienced injustice were the ones that must demand justice. Soon after, Douglass began writing his own abolitionist newspaper, '' The North Star.'' in 1836, five years after he agreed to be ''The Liberator'''s agent in

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

, Alfred Niger helped to found the Rhode Island Anti-Slavery Society, one of only two Black men in the entire organization.

Resistance

''The Liberator'' faced harsh resistance from several state legislatures and local groups: for example, North Carolina indicted Garrison for felonious acts, and the Vigilance Association of

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the cit ...

, offered a reward of $1,500 () to those who identified distributors of the paper. Garrison also faced resistance, even to the point of violence. In 1835, a Boston mob formed with support from local newspapers in resistance to the announcement that George Thompson would speak at the first anniversary meeting of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society. The mob, unable to find Thompson, redirected their aggression towards Garrison who was in the society's meeting hall. Eventually escalation of the situation led to destruction of the society's antislavery sign, and even calls to

lynch Lynch may refer to: Places Australia * Lynch Island, South Orkney Islands, Antarctica * Lynch Point, Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica * Lynch's Crater, Queensland, Australia England * River Lynch, Hertfordshire * The Lynch, an island in the Rive ...

Garrison, around whose neck a piece of rope made into a noose was put. Garrison eventually managed a narrow escape; the mayor put him in the city jail for his protection.

Contents online

''The Liberator'' full online archives
at Fair Use Repository, including archives of full-page scans of all issues from 1831–1865 (Vols. I–XXXV).
The Liberator Complete Archives
at the Digital Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Original copy owned by Garrison and served as the copy of reference at ''The Liberator Offices''''.'' * Internet Archive: ** ''Liberator'' v. 28
no. 30
1858 ** ''Liberator'' v. 31
no. 1no. 15

no. 16no. 27
1861 ** ''Liberator'' v. 32
no.1no. 27
1862
''The Liberator Files''
searchable (basic search only) collection maintained by Horace Seldon, which says on its home page that it contains "only a tiny portion of what appeared in the 1,803 editions of the paper".

Garrison's articles

Garrison wrote much of the content. He wrote while typesetting; that is to say, most was not written out on paper first. The following are examples of articles and editorials written by him:

Garrison's introductory column, January 1, 1831.
Truisms
January 8, 1831.
Walker's Appeal
January 8, 1831.
The Insurrection
Garrison's reaction to the news of

Nat Turner's slave rebellion Nat Turner's Rebellion, historically known as the Southampton Insurrection, was a rebellion of enslaved Virginians that took place in Southampton County, Virginia, in August 1831.Schwarz, Frederic D.1831 Nat Turner's Rebellion" ''American He ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

, September 3, 1831.
The Great Crisis!
December 29, 1832, one of Garrison's first explicit condemnation
of the Constitution and the Union

Declaration of Sentiments
adopted by the Boston Peace Convention September 18, 1838, reprinted in ''The Liberator'', September 28, 1838.
Abolition at the Ballot Box
June 28, 1839.
The American Union
January 10, 1845.
American Colorphobia
June 11, 1847.
On the Dissolution of the Union
June 15, 1855.
The Tragedy at Harper's Ferry
Garrison's first public comments on John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, October 28, 1859.
John Brown and the Principle of Nonresistance
a speech given at a meeting in the Tremont Temple, Boston, on December 2, 1859, the day that John Brown was hanged, printed December 16, 1859.
The War – Its Cause and Cure
May 3, 1861.
Valedictory: The Final Number of ''The Liberator''
Garrison's closing column, December 29, 1865.

References

Bibliography

* * non-searchable PDFs of every issue. * * * (searchable; subscription required) *

External links

* The story of ''The Liberator'' is retold in the radio drama
The Liberators (Part I)
, a presentation from '' Destination Freedom'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Liberator, The African-American newspapers Abolitionist newspapers published in the United States Defunct newspapers published in Massachusetts Newspapers published in Boston 19th century in Boston African-American history in Boston United States documents Publications established in 1831 Publications disestablished in 1866 1831 establishments in Massachusetts 1866 disestablishments in Massachusetts