When William Lloyd Garrison published the first issue of the
Liberator in 1830, he completely
altered the debate about abolition in the United States. Where previously the
focus was on the American Colonization Association’s desire to promote
voluntary freeing of slaves and their relocation to Liberia in Africa and the
gradual abolition of slavery over fifty years to provide for an organized
transition from slavery into freedom, Garrison called for the immediate end of
slavery and granting of civil right to freed people. The American Anti-Slavery
Society provided Garrison an outlet to vocalize his view to audiences in New
England. As divisions over the role of women and African-Americans in the
movement appeared, the AASS split. However, the organization had already
created a powerful, if small following around the country where organizations
looked for the newest anti-slavery and abolitionist publications. Always a
minority, the organizers had to overcome widespread northern racism and
anti-equality attitudes. As a reform movement, the leaders and followers also
played a role in temperance, prison reform, and nativist organizations.
Image: Issue No.1, The Liberator, 1831. Library Company of Philadelphia.