William Lloyd Garrison

William Lloyd Garrison (December 12, 1805, Newburyport, Massachusetts - May 24, 1879, New York City) was a United States Abolitionist and reformer.

Related Topics:
December 12 - 1805 - Newburyport, Massachusetts - May 24 - 1879 - New York City - United States - Abolitionist

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Garrison was known as an immediatist, not a gradualist, as he favored an immediate end to slavery.

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Garrison worked as a compositor for his hometown newspaper in his teens, then began writing articles as well, often under the pseudonym Aristides. He soon became involved with the opposition to slavery, writing for and then becoming co-editor with Benjamin Lundy of the Quaker Genius of Universal Emancipation newspaper.

Related Topics:
Slavery - Benjamin Lundy - Quaker - Genius of Universal Emancipation

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Garrison made a name for himself as one of the most articulate, as well as most radical, opponents of slavery. While some other abolitionists of the time favored gradual emancipation, Garrison argued for "immediate and complete emancipation of all slaves". When someone attending one of Garrison's speeches objected that slavery was protected by the United States Constitution, Garrison replied that if this was true, then the Constitution should be burnt.

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Garrison worked closely with Frederick Douglass but the two men eventually had differences regarding the value of the United States Constitution, which he called a "covenant with death and an agreement with Hell," and parted company. Douglass believed, along with Lysander Spooner and Gerrit Smith, that the Constitution mandated emancipation while Garrison burned copies of it publicly, calling it a pro-slavery document.

Related Topics:
Frederick Douglass - United States Constitution - Lysander Spooner - Gerrit Smith

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His outspoken views repeatedly brought him into trouble; he was imprisoned for libel when he called a slave trader a robber and murderer, in an article in the Genius of Universal Emancipation; the government of the State of Georgia offered a reward of $5,000 for his arrest, and he received numerous and frequent death threats.

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In 1831 he founded an anti-slavery newspaper of his own, The Liberator, which he continued to publish and edit for 35 years.

Related Topics:
1831 - The Liberator

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In 1832, Garrison founded the New-England Anti-Slavery Society. One year later, he founded the American Anti-Slavery Society.

Related Topics:
1832 - New-England Anti-Slavery Society - American Anti-Slavery Society

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In 1833, he visited the United Kingdom and assisted in the anti-slavery movement there.

Related Topics:
1833 - United Kingdom

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In 1853, Garrison called Reverend John Rankin of Ohio his "anti-slavery father" saying that Rankin's "book on slavery was the cause of my entering the anti-slavery conflict." (Hagedorn, p. 58)

Related Topics:
1853 - Reverend John Rankin - Ohio

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After the abolition of slavery in the United States, Garrison continued working on other reform movements, including favoring the right of women to vote, but quit the anti-slavery society which ran for five more years.

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William Lloyd Garrison passed away in 1879 and was interred in the Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.

Related Topics:
Forest Hills Cemetery - Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts

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Marking Garrison's 200th birthday in August 2005, his descendants gathered in Boston for the first family reunion in about a century; where they discussed the legacy and impact of their most notable family member.

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