Photo: Britanica
William Lloyd Garrison was a fearless abolitionist in the 1800’s. He was very passionate and outraged at the idea of slavery. He worked tirelessly for many years as an abolitionist as well as fighting for women’s rights later in his life. He was the creator of the publication the liberator which was a publication that published works about the injustice’s of slavery and politics. It was meant to educate others about how wrong slavery was, it was used as a way to have the voices of those who were fed up about the situation heard.
For example, the Liberator published works of other famous abolitionists like Fredric Douglas. At this time the fact that The Liberator was publishing the works of Black Abolitionists it was very unusual and it was just another thing that set the liberator apart from other publications. The publications main demographic was the freed slave population of that time because they would be the group of people who would have a main interest in the subject matter of the work that was published. Which is why contributions like Fredric Douglass’s made such an impact.
Photo: Wikipedia
Though all of this was really good and called a lot of attention to the injustices that were taking place at that time it made a lot of people angry. Especially since Garrison was a Caucasian man who was sticking up for the rights and lives of African American people at their time. Which helped to bridge the gape of trust between the Black and White population in someways.
Since African American people had few rights and slaves had no rights they were hardly seen as people. Garrison often had many threats against his life so much to the point that there were at times bounties on his head. This goes to show just how dedicated William Garrison was to the cause, because he was willing to possibly put his life on the line for what he believed in.
The paper ran for about 30 years and in that time they always pressed the issue about the detriment slavery had and how it was a terrible thing for the society. At the top of every issue was the papers Mantra which was “Our country is the world our countrymen are Mankind”. This mantra is talking about how we as people are responsible for each other and how we are all united and equal.
Photo: Encyclopedia Virginia
Another thing that set the paper apart was the fact that at the top of each issue there was an illustration that spoke to another issue about slavery. This was helpful because it allowed people to physically see what caring conditions would look like and show a different and more authentic side to what was going on at the time with slavery.
Photo: Mass Moments
The legacy and impact that the Liberator had surpasses the years that it was in print. When it finally did end Garrison published one final farewell. And after the liberator went down he still continued he work as an activists however, he had shifted his Main focus to women’s rights, however he cared a lot about equality.The liberator though it was just a publication was fighting a war on ideals. It challenged the status quo of thought which was that slavery was acceptable. Because of publications like the Liberator the writing world has forever been impacted.
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