Abolitionism in America

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William Lloyd Garrison. Engraving
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William Lloyd Garrison
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William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879), the lightning rod of the abolitionist movement, promoted “moral suasion,” or nonviolent and non-political resistance, to achieve emancipation. Although he initially supported colonization, Garrison later gave his support to programs that focused on immediate emancipation without repatriation. In 1831, he began publishing The Liberator, the single most important abolitionist publication, and later led the American Anti-Slavery Society. His vociferous language and his very presence outraged anti-abolitionist Northerners who attacked him, sometimes physically, with mob-driven violence. His avid support for a woman’s right to participate in the movement and his attack on the American Constitution as a pro-slavery document created irretrievable divisions in the abolitionist movement. However, his unflagging conviction and his influence in promoting “immediatism” shaped the course of abolitionism in America.

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Cornell University Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections Cornell University Library