The+Liberator

=__THE LIBERATOR__=

January 1, 1831-December, 1865

 * I am in earnest - I will not equivocate - I will not excuse - I will not retreat a single inch - and I WILL BE HEARD!**

William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879)


"The Liberator," the Abolition newspaper authored by William Lloyd Harrison, to advocate the end of slavery. This would be fully disadvantageous for Southern slave states, where slaves are essential to the agricultural economy.The first issue ran on January 1, 1831, ending two years after the Emancipation Proclamation and following the Thirteenth Amendment.  William Lloyd Garrison grew up in a rough childhood. His father deserted he and his mother despite his young age. From there on, Garrison worked hard even in his earliest years to fill the financial gap left by his father. He then gained his literary merit and skill through editing and working with the Newburyport Herald and other subsequent newspapers.  In 1831, publishing "The Liberator" brought Garrison the title of one of the most vehement anti-slavery advocates. In the more than 1800 consecutive (he didn't miss one!) issues following of the newspaper, Garrison proposed immediate end of slavery. Following the newspaper, Garrison formed the New England Anti-Slavery Society, which became the American Anti-Slavery Society two years later. From then, Garrison was the "most radical" advocator of anti-slavery: "The Liberator" was truly a strong Abolitionist newspaper, raising the tensions between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery due to the anti-slavery group's containing such a radical individual. Furthermore, the other radical actions that Garrison committed could easily give a worse view of the anti-slavery group's goal for the pro-slavery group.
 * The American Anti-Slavery Society mercilessly lashed at slave-owners and even the moderate opponents to his cause.
 * Garrison became a negative critic of the Church, even during this age of the Second Great Awakening. He accused the Church of its light-hearted actions against slavery.
 * Garrison publicly burned a copy of the Constitution in an anti-slavery rally in Framingham, Massachusetts. Garrison said that the Constitution was a "covenant with hell" because he thought the Constitution was pro-slavery.
 * Garrison supported Abraham Lincoln in the Abolitionist movement that Lincoln led with his presidency, but Garrison also advocated the preservation of the Union after the ending of slavery against Lincoln.
 * Through "The Liberator," Garrison denounced the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the Dred-Scott decision, supporting John Brown's raid.

The preservation of the Union was at stake with the American Anti-Slavery Society. Its number of members was increasing, along with its influence. The Society, led by Garrison, called for abolition disregarding the Union's standpoint in stability. "The Society pledged to end slavery," says Ruchames in the third link provided below. This would create tensions between slavery supporters and the American Anti-Slavery Society. A number of later factors for the Civil War were then started because of the Society. The Liberty Party, a faction of the Society became a political party that sought to display the anti-slavery promotion within the Constitution, unlike the Society that sought to display the opposite. It is speculated that the Liberty Party turned the tables on Henry Clay in the Presidential Election of 1844. The Liberty Party took the votes that would have made Clay president. Instead, the presidency went to James K. Polk, who accomplished a large amount in his single term, and some of which, regarding slavery, became a major factor in the Civil War. Without the Liberty Party, which stemmed from the American Anti-Slavery Society, Polk's actions would not have occurred, leading to decisive factors in the spark of the Civil War.

Garrison's "The Liberator" and American Anti-Slavery Society were the most radical and most prominent anti-slavery oppositions to the pro-slavery group. Without the view of anti-slavery generated with both of these groups, and their indirect causes of the Civil War, the Civil War could not have happened at all. "The Liberator" gave certain events their identity as even a small factor to the Civil War, and the American Anti-Slavery Society gave way to the political differences that instigated that war between the Confederate States of America and the Union. Therefore, Garrison's products WERE THE REAL CAUSE of the Civil War.

~Jeffrey Tsai

Primary Source: An issue of "The Liberator"  []

Secondary Sources: One of the Internet's biographies on Garrison http://www.biography.com/people/william-lloyd-garrison-9307251?page=1 and a small passage on the Liberty Party http://www.tulane.edu/~latner/LibertyParty.html

Both: A background on the American Anti-Slavery Society and the Declaration of Sentiments (1833) http://usinfo.org/docs/democracy/18.htm