American Biography – William Lloyd Garrison
William was born in Newburyport,
Massachusetts. His father was a sailor, who was
drunk whenever he was at home. Finally he
deserted the family when William was still a
child. William’s mother, Fanny, did the best she
could to raise him by taking menial jobs. But
William’s earliest years were beset by poverty.
A naturally articulate boy, with little formal
education, William was 13 when he was
apprenticed to a printer. In 1826, he
established his own newspaper but it soon
failed. He moved to Boston and, in 1928, found
a job on a newspaper called The National
Philanthropist. It was the first American
newspaper that advocated the end to the liquour
business (a position known as “abstinence”).
William also became an outspoken opponent of
slavery.
William moved to Baltimore and became
co-editor of an anti-slavery newspaper, The Genius of Universal Emancipation.
His attacks on slavery in the newspaper columns were outspoken and fiery. He was
accused of libel by a slave trader, found guilty, and imprisoned.
After his release he returned to Boston and established a new newspaper, The
Liberator. In the very first issue (January 1, 1831), he set the themes and tone that
were to characterize the newspaper for the next 35 years. He demanded immediate
abolition. There should be no money paid to compensate the slave-owners for the
loss of their property (that is, their slaves). Once freed, slaves should be allowed to
remain in the United States and live in equality with white Americans.
As for his tone, William wrote, “I am aware that many object to the severity of
my language; but is there not cause for severity: I WILL be as harsh as truth, and as
uncompromising as justice. On this subject I do not wish to think, or speak, or write,
with moderation. NO! NO! Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate
alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hand of the ravisher; tell the
mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; - but
urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest - I will
not equivocate – I will not excuse – I will not retreat a single inch – AND I WILL BE
HEARD…”
Over the years, he drew attention to his cause in dramatic ways. In one
speech he denounced the Constitution as a pact with the devil (meaning that the
South was in league with the Devil and full of sin because of its continuation of
slavery). On another occasion, he publicly burned the American flag.
Southern whites blamed Garrison and other abolitionists for causing the Nat
Turner Rebellion. Undaunted, Garrison joined other abolitionists to form the
American Anti-Slavery Society in 1832. Against these societies developed the Antiabolitionist forces, in the North as well as in the South. IN 1835, Garrison was seized
by a mob that dragged him through the streets of Boston and almost killed him. In
the South, a price was put on William’s head and generally, abolitionists were
declared as being no better than outlaws.
Meanwhile William and other
abolitionists submitted petitions against
slavery to Congress. President Jackson, a
slave owner, used all his power to stop them.
He denied them the use of the mail and
turned his supporters in Congress against
them. Other politicians, like former President
John Quincy Adams, rallied to their defense.
The more outspoken the abolitionists
were, the more they were persecuted, and
the more many Americans felt that the
abolitionists should not be denied freedom of
speech. Thousands came to support the
abolitionists, sometimes more because of the
freedom of speech issue than an opposition
to slavery. In 1835, there were 60
abolitionist societies; by 1838, 1300 Societies
had more than 100 000 members. In that
year an anti-slavery petition with more than
400 000 signatures reached Congress. In the
next year, another petition arrived with over
2 million signatures.
Despite the violence of his speech and
actions, Williams was a pacifist. He did not
believe that slavery should be ended by
violence.
When the Civil War broke out, William
continued to pressure President Lincoln to end slavery. Lincoln was reluctant to take
that step until he was forced to do so. In 1863, Lincoln announced his
“Emancipation Proclamation”. It ended slavery, but only in those regions still in
rebellion. Accordingly, William continued to hammer away at the Lincoln and
Congress. He stopped only when the Thirteenth Amendment was adopted by the
states in 1865. It finally abolished slavery. He had achieved his goal and was
satisfied.
William’s support of reform, however, was not stilled. Even while he advocated
the end of slavery, he supported women’s rights, Amerindian rights and temperance.
He continued to crusade on behalf of these causes until his death.
Many Americans, especially southerners, and some historians blame Garrison
and the abolitionists for causing the Civil War. They accused them of stirring up the
slaves, frightening and enflaming the South, and creating a general climate of
violence, irrationality, and excessive emotionalism. Compromise and peace could not
be nourished within this sort of climate.
Garrison welcomed the Civil War as a necessary step to purge the nation of
slavery. How important were the abolitionists in forcing a confrontation
between the North and the South?