William Lloyd Garrison Argument Against Slavery
In his fight against slavery, William Lloyd Garrison said: “To kidnap children on the coast of Africa is a horrid crime, deservedly punishable with death; but he who steals them, in this country, as soon as they are born, performs not merely an innocent but a praiseworthy act.” Garrison made a very true and firm argument toward slavery and he was determined to the immediate change of abolition. William Lloyd Garrison worked hard for economic gain, learned journalism through various printing, co-edited the Quaker “Genius” with Benjamin Lundy and William Lloyd Garrison was shaped into the influential journalist that targeted slavery in his newspaper, The Liberator. With his use of harsh truth, commanding tone, and a staunch yet firm point of view against slavery, Garrison revealed the immoralities of slavery, developed a legacy of abolition and reform while being influenced and also criticized by other reformers, and
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brought power to the evolving press. The combination of the decline in Federalism and Garrison’s Christian beliefs emphasized his arguments to fight slavery. With the election of Thomas Jefferson as president, Federalist powers would decline; and “His father, Abijah, was a sailing master whose fortunes collapsed with the Embargo Act passed by Congress in1807.” The embargo damaged his father’s job, and caused him to desert his family. With Garrison’s father gone, the family was forced to make a living on their own, which was not an easy one. “These experiences left scars-and also compassion for outcasts.” Garrison started his apprenticeship in journalism with a man named Benjamin Lundy. He helped Lundy co-edit the paper The Genius of Universal Emancipation. “While assisting Lundy in Baltimore, Garrison boarded with free blacks and saw the horrors of slavery and the slave trade firsthand.” The decline of Federalism allowed for a more democratic government for the people, giving them a choice, to keep, or to go against slavery, in which Garrison did. Garrison’s Christian beliefs lead him to believe that the slavery was morally wrong in the eyes of God, all men are equal. Of course when coming up with a name for the newspaper Garrison began chose a very provocative name titled The Liberator. Coincidently his first issue dealt with black people defending themselves against their oppressors. “Garrison was opposed to violence, but he said repeatedly that American Revolution itself testified to the rightness of warfare for freedom. Garrison could never quite bring himself to say that violent resistance was correct in principle, even as he approved of it in specific cases. Was violence justified or not?” This was a question that would help Garrison’s argument of universal human equality, in defense of the black people as a race. The Liberator attacks all forms of slavery and expresses the idea that freedom and slavery cannot mix “elements which are eternally hostile. God has never made it possible for Liberty and Slavery to live together in partnership.” This showed how Garrison believed that if both the Northerners and Southerners that defending slavery would change their views, peace would come. If that wasn’t the case there would surely be rebellion, bloodshed and war. Garrison adopted Thomas Paine’s words as his own motto; “our country is the world- our countrymen are mankind.” Through his use of Thomas Paine’s words on the front page of The Liberator, he shows that all of the countrymen, including blacks are of equal mankind showing his belief in universal equality. With the issuing of the Liberator, Garrison promised to be “as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice,” for the purpose of a rhetorical tool, appealing to his reader’s attitudes and beliefs, in order to sway them towards abolitionism. Only the truth would provide enough evidence of the wrongness of slavery, and the people knowing such facts could perhaps lead them to fight for abolition. Garrison mocked key principles of the proslavery argument also hoping to lead more people to abolition. “Were the slaves, goaded to desperation, to rise against their masters, the free states are constitutionally bound to cut their throats! ‘The receiver is as bad as the thief.’ The free states receive and consume the productions of slave labor! The District of Columbia is national property: slavery exists in the district! Yet the free states are not involved in the guilt of slavery!” His attack on the free northern states for allowing this compact with the southern states for allowing slavery in a free nation shows a more truthful hypocrisy of the north. Garrison’s point of view towards the abolition of slavery was unyielding and uncompromising, as shown in many of his newspaper articles in The Liberator. Garrison, as a strict pacifist: “Rather than see men wearing their chains in a cowardly and servile spirit, I would, as an advocate of peace, much rather see them breaking the heads of the tyrants with their chains.” Garrison, even as an advocate of peace, would rather see the tyrannical gentry be crushed under slave rebellion, than to see the slaves work cowardly and lifelessly, shares his point of view. Garrison, in opposition to despotism said “resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.” The Southerners were a tyrannical oligarchy, and with Garrison’s relentless views towards this tyrannical society, he would like to see all tyrannical compromisers to perish, providing power to the oppressed. Garrison’s point of view on what should be done was: You do not understand the philosophy of reform. If you would make progress, you must create opposition; if you would promote peace on earth, array the father against the son, and the mother against the daughter; if you would save your reputation, lose it. It is a gospel paradox, but nevertheless true- the more peaceful a man becomes after the pattern of Christ, the more he is inclined to make a disturbance, to be aggressive, to “turn the world upside down.” (Liberator, Nov. 23, 1838)
Garrison’s determined point of view helped persuade the Americans to become abolitionists themselves, and to rid the nation from its most evil crime which is slavery as a whole. Garrison’s newspaper articles pursued other movements pertaining to society other than abolition. He believed that blacks should have as much rights as whites. He was now fighting for race equality as well as gender equality. “Garrisonians backed their words with actions.” They, “supported Negro attempts to secure equal political and legal rights with whites and to break down the segregation barrier in public places.” Garrison believed that the Bible spoke the truth and in it showed everyone was created equal. “We must find woman endowed with certain capabilities; we must accept her as nature has endowed her.” Garrison’s desire for universal human equality, as demonstrated in his paper, extends to black’s and women’s equality. Even after being called out, threatened and beaten, Garrison rose above and replied with courage for the public to receive him and organized the largest group for free press in a fight for immediate emancipation. His provocative position came out about slavery needing to end immediately and blacks needing to be treated fairly because this was their country too was very overwhelming for many. “As he said in his July 4, 1829 speech in Boston, Education and freedom will elevate our colored population to a rank with the white- making them useful, intelligent and peaceful citizens. ….A very large proportion of our colored population were born on our soil, and are therefore entitled to all the privileges of American citizens. This is their country by birth, not by adoption. Their children possess the same inherent and unalienable rights as our, and it is a crime of the blackest dye to load them with fetters.
This showed Garrison’s unnerving position because he was very straightforward and it would end up strengthening the power of the press. Garrison’s use of press as a tool to fight for slavery would soon lead to the First Amendment in the Constitution. The First Amendment states that: “Congress shall make no law representing an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Garrison’s attacks using the power of the press were very strong and influential to the development of this amendment. On his attack on colonization, “The fact is, it is time to repudiate all colonization schemes, as visionary and unprofitable; all those, we mean, which have for their design the entire separation of the blacks from the whites.” Through the use of the power of the press, Garrison is free to say anything that he pleases in attacking whatever the subject of the matter. Showing compassion for his cause, Garrison spoke directly from his heart and mind.
“I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I don not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation. No! No!” he knew people were taken back by his direct voice asks a series of rhetorical questions, “The question is not- what is true? but- what is popular? Not- what does God say? But- what says the Ultimately, Garrison’s Christian benevolence and New England Federalist background pushed him to write and publish the Liberator, where he atrociously attacked the injustice of slavery, discordantly, commandingly, and as harsh as truth itself, unrivaled in his devotion for complete emancipation, thus becoming the advocate of abolitionism and liberation, freeing slaves from tyranny, influencing other movements and reformers, and empowering the rights of the press. One biblical association that Garrison heavily relied on was, “’Thou shalt[sic] love thy neighbor as thyself’” to compel his motivations for liberation of the slaves
(7).
brought power to the evolving press. The combination of the decline in Federalism and Garrison’s Christian beliefs emphasized his arguments to fight slavery. With the election of Thomas Jefferson as president, Federalist powers would decline; and “His father, Abijah, was a sailing master whose fortunes collapsed with the Embargo Act passed by Congress in1807.” The embargo damaged his father’s job, and caused him to desert his family. With Garrison’s father gone, the family was forced to make a living on their own, which was not an easy one. “These experiences left scars-and also compassion for outcasts.” Garrison started his apprenticeship in journalism with a man named Benjamin Lundy. He helped Lundy co-edit the paper The Genius of Universal Emancipation. “While assisting Lundy in Baltimore, Garrison boarded with free blacks and saw the horrors of slavery and the slave trade firsthand.” The decline of Federalism allowed for a more democratic government for the people, giving them a choice, to keep, or to go against slavery, in which Garrison did. Garrison’s Christian beliefs lead him to believe that the slavery was morally wrong in the eyes of God, all men are equal. Of course when coming up with a name for the newspaper Garrison began chose a very provocative name titled The Liberator. Coincidently his first issue dealt with black people defending themselves against their oppressors. “Garrison was opposed to violence, but he said repeatedly that American Revolution itself testified to the rightness of warfare for freedom. Garrison could never quite bring himself to say that violent resistance was correct in principle, even as he approved of it in specific cases. Was violence justified or not?” This was a question that would help Garrison’s argument of universal human equality, in defense of the black people as a race. The Liberator attacks all forms of slavery and expresses the idea that freedom and slavery cannot mix “elements which are eternally hostile. God has never made it possible for Liberty and Slavery to live together in partnership.” This showed how Garrison believed that if both the Northerners and Southerners that defending slavery would change their views, peace would come. If that wasn’t the case there would surely be rebellion, bloodshed and war. Garrison adopted Thomas Paine’s words as his own motto; “our country is the world- our countrymen are mankind.” Through his use of Thomas Paine’s words on the front page of The Liberator, he shows that all of the countrymen, including blacks are of equal mankind showing his belief in universal equality. With the issuing of the Liberator, Garrison promised to be “as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice,” for the purpose of a rhetorical tool, appealing to his reader’s attitudes and beliefs, in order to sway them towards abolitionism. Only the truth would provide enough evidence of the wrongness of slavery, and the people knowing such facts could perhaps lead them to fight for abolition. Garrison mocked key principles of the proslavery argument also hoping to lead more people to abolition. “Were the slaves, goaded to desperation, to rise against their masters, the free states are constitutionally bound to cut their throats! ‘The receiver is as bad as the thief.’ The free states receive and consume the productions of slave labor! The District of Columbia is national property: slavery exists in the district! Yet the free states are not involved in the guilt of slavery!” His attack on the free northern states for allowing this compact with the southern states for allowing slavery in a free nation shows a more truthful hypocrisy of the north. Garrison’s point of view towards the abolition of slavery was unyielding and uncompromising, as shown in many of his newspaper articles in The Liberator. Garrison, as a strict pacifist: “Rather than see men wearing their chains in a cowardly and servile spirit, I would, as an advocate of peace, much rather see them breaking the heads of the tyrants with their chains.” Garrison, even as an advocate of peace, would rather see the tyrannical gentry be crushed under slave rebellion, than to see the slaves work cowardly and lifelessly, shares his point of view. Garrison, in opposition to despotism said “resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.” The Southerners were a tyrannical oligarchy, and with Garrison’s relentless views towards this tyrannical society, he would like to see all tyrannical compromisers to perish, providing power to the oppressed. Garrison’s point of view on what should be done was: You do not understand the philosophy of reform. If you would make progress, you must create opposition; if you would promote peace on earth, array the father against the son, and the mother against the daughter; if you would save your reputation, lose it. It is a gospel paradox, but nevertheless true- the more peaceful a man becomes after the pattern of Christ, the more he is inclined to make a disturbance, to be aggressive, to “turn the world upside down.” (Liberator, Nov. 23, 1838)
Garrison’s determined point of view helped persuade the Americans to become abolitionists themselves, and to rid the nation from its most evil crime which is slavery as a whole. Garrison’s newspaper articles pursued other movements pertaining to society other than abolition. He believed that blacks should have as much rights as whites. He was now fighting for race equality as well as gender equality. “Garrisonians backed their words with actions.” They, “supported Negro attempts to secure equal political and legal rights with whites and to break down the segregation barrier in public places.” Garrison believed that the Bible spoke the truth and in it showed everyone was created equal. “We must find woman endowed with certain capabilities; we must accept her as nature has endowed her.” Garrison’s desire for universal human equality, as demonstrated in his paper, extends to black’s and women’s equality. Even after being called out, threatened and beaten, Garrison rose above and replied with courage for the public to receive him and organized the largest group for free press in a fight for immediate emancipation. His provocative position came out about slavery needing to end immediately and blacks needing to be treated fairly because this was their country too was very overwhelming for many. “As he said in his July 4, 1829 speech in Boston, Education and freedom will elevate our colored population to a rank with the white- making them useful, intelligent and peaceful citizens. ….A very large proportion of our colored population were born on our soil, and are therefore entitled to all the privileges of American citizens. This is their country by birth, not by adoption. Their children possess the same inherent and unalienable rights as our, and it is a crime of the blackest dye to load them with fetters.
This showed Garrison’s unnerving position because he was very straightforward and it would end up strengthening the power of the press. Garrison’s use of press as a tool to fight for slavery would soon lead to the First Amendment in the Constitution. The First Amendment states that: “Congress shall make no law representing an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Garrison’s attacks using the power of the press were very strong and influential to the development of this amendment. On his attack on colonization, “The fact is, it is time to repudiate all colonization schemes, as visionary and unprofitable; all those, we mean, which have for their design the entire separation of the blacks from the whites.” Through the use of the power of the press, Garrison is free to say anything that he pleases in attacking whatever the subject of the matter. Showing compassion for his cause, Garrison spoke directly from his heart and mind.
“I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I don not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation. No! No!” he knew people were taken back by his direct voice asks a series of rhetorical questions, “The question is not- what is true? but- what is popular? Not- what does God say? But- what says the Ultimately, Garrison’s Christian benevolence and New England Federalist background pushed him to write and publish the Liberator, where he atrociously attacked the injustice of slavery, discordantly, commandingly, and as harsh as truth itself, unrivaled in his devotion for complete emancipation, thus becoming the advocate of abolitionism and liberation, freeing slaves from tyranny, influencing other movements and reformers, and empowering the rights of the press. One biblical association that Garrison heavily relied on was, “’Thou shalt[sic] love thy neighbor as thyself’” to compel his motivations for liberation of the slaves
(7).