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J“ u t “4‘ mm WWI/W It 329:5)0 996 This is to certify that the thesis entitled (A Study of nor-icon Anti-Slavery Journals presented by I” Joseph Do]: Porto has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Pho "11Uh 1,. degree in Major prdfessor Date July me 1953 0-169 PLACE IN RETURN BOX to remove this checkout from your record. TO AVOID FINES return on or before date due. DATE DUE DATE DUE DATE DUE .JnUiL c:\cir:\de:odue meJ A STUDY OF AMERY. .1} MVII-SMVEBY J OMALS by J QSEPH ARTE-31."! LET. FORTE) A THESIS Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Michigan State College of.Agricu1ture and Applied Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DDC’FOE OF PHI 1.0831”de Department of English 19 53 _/‘b f/IJ- 9" ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to eXpress his sincere thanks to Dr. Russel E. Nye. Head of the Department of English. Michigan State College. to whom the results of this study are herewith dedicated. In considerau tion of the writer's interest in journalism, Er. Nye was kind enough to suggest the subject of this study, and has been a constant source of inspiration throughout the investigation. Grateful acknowledgment is also due to Dr. Harry HOppe, and to Dr. E. P. Lawrence, for helpful suggestions and assistance in the writ- ing of the thesis. and to other members of the Michigan State College faculty whose courses he has had the privilege to attend. He is especially indebted to Julian S. Fowler, Librarian of the Oberlin College Library. for permission to use its valuable collection of anti-slavery Journals and other source material, and to members of the Library staff for helpful assistance in research. Acknowledgment is also due to members of the Michigan State Col- lege Library staff, for numerous kindnesses during the writer's asso» ciation with the College. 317299 11 Joseph Anthony Del Porto candidate for the degree of Doctor of’PhilosOphy Final Examination: July 30, 2 P. M.. 212 Merrill Hall Dissertation: A Study of American Anti-Slavery Journals Outline of Studies: Major subject: American Literature Minor subjects: English Literature Linguistics Biographical Items: Born, February 13, 1913, Erie, Pennsylvania undergraduate Studies. University of Pennsylvania. 1931-35 Graduate Studies, University of Chicago, 1935~36. Michigan State College, 19M7-53. Experience: Advertising, New York American, 1937; Chicago Dailz News, 19140—141; Detroit 333393, m8. Editorial, Chicago paily Tribune, 19h2—u3; Chicago Cit News Bureau, lghj-MN; Erie, Pennsylvania, Edgpatch, l9h6- 7. Teaching, teacher of English. Harvard School, Chicago, 1939-40; instructor in English. University of the South Pacific, New Caledonia, 19MB; assistant professor of Journalism. Michigan State College, 19h7- . Member. United States Army.Air Forces. l9hh-h6. Member. Sigma Delta Chi, Alpha Delta Sigma. 111 A-STUZY OF AMERICAN ANTI—SLA?ERY JOURNALS by Joseph Anthony Del Porto AN ABSIRACT Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of English Year 1953 Approved ’/:g%f:;7azlz r J. A. Del Porto A STULY O? AMERTCAN ANTI-SLA’ERY JOURNALS America. in the early decades of the nineteenth century. was stirred by a general reform movement consisting of numerous individual crusades against social evils. a movement carried on through prepaganda in the form of pamphlets. books. periodicals. and weekly journals die” seminated usually by reform societies, whose officials in addition hired agents and lecturers to aid in the work of public information. The movement, a mixture of humanitarianism and liberalism related to and growing out of eighteenth-century patterns of thonght. involved practical application of the principles of individual rights and so“ cial responsibility to the evils of slavery, intemperance. war, and others. Of the crusades. the struggle to abolish slavery in time took precedence. and was responsible for a major test of the rights of indie viduals to such traditional civil liberties as freedom of speech and freedom of the press. As the result of attacks by abolitionist papers on slavery and those who supported slavery. a crisis concerning free— dom of the press arose in the North and was resolved in favor of the abolitionists when they convinced the American public that any threat to freedom of expression was a threat to other civil liberties. and in effect a dangerous undermining of democratic ideals. The rise of the abolitionist papers. their editorial objectives and practices. their editors. and their relationship to the total anti- slavery movement. together with the causes and effects of the struggle for freedom of the press. are embraced in this study. J. A. Iel Porto 2 The central point of reference in the study is the work of William Lloyd Garrison, whose Boston gibgratgp, published from 1331 to 1865. has come to be regarded as the fountainwhead of anti-slavery agitation. Although preceded by a few pioneers in the field of anti-slavery jour- nalism. notably Benjamin Lundy, it was Garrison who stirred Southerners into denunciation of Northern agitators, and Garrisonian tactics which stirred Northerners to attempts to stifle the publications attacking slavery. By ldho, anti-slavery organizations had split over the issue of political action against moral suasion as a proper means of abolishing slavery. The anti—slavery press, as a result, was similarly divided. one side voicing Garrisonian moral suasion arguments (made complex by non-resistance, disunion. and women's rights). the other supporting political action. Those in the latter group aided in forming the Liber- ty party, and in turn supported the Free Soil party and the Republican party. Both sides played a part in turning the tide of public Opinion against slavery. I The victory of that press over those who would suppress it. al- though incidental to the slavery controversy. was a victory for the civ- il rights tradition in America, and had far-reaching results in deter- mining the course American journalism has followed down to the present day. TABLE OF CON TENTS ACMOWledgnents O O O O O I I I O I O O O O I o C O O I O I Vi ta 0 O I I O 0 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER our - REFORM AND THE PRE‘S . . . . . . . . . . . A. T119 500131 Liind o o o o o e . I e o o o o o e B. Anti-Slaveryh—The Background . . . . . . . . C. Journalism and Freedam of the Press-The Background . CHAPTER TWO — BEGINNINGS OF ANTI~SLAVERY JOURNALISM . Charles Osborn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elisha Bates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elihu Embree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . L. Benjamin Lundy . . Ow?» CHAPTER THREE - GARRISON AND THE LIBEEATO§_ . . . A. Growth of an Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B. The Liberator . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER FOUR.- GARRISONISM AND THE Gk .RISDNIAN AXIS . . A.. The Liberator's Environment . . . . . . . . . . B. Garrisonism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C. Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D. The Garrisonian.Axis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER FIVE - FREEDOM OF THE PRESS . CHAPTER SIX - POLITICAL ANTI—SLAVERY JOURNALISM . . . . . A. Anti-Slavery'Political Action--The Background . . B. William Goodell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C. Joshua Leavitt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D. Gamaliel Bailey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B. Other Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER SEVEN - CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bibliography 0 o 0 o O O c e e o e e o o o 0 o e e o e e o 0 iv 18 26 37 38 hi h3 1‘9 71 73 79 130 131 135 155 161 191 230 231 238 953 261 278 235 290 For thirty years prior to the beginning of the Civil War. and to a limited extent in the second and third decades of the nineteenth century. America witnessed a wave of antimslavery agitation of such preportions. and of such a nature. as to threaten the foundations of the American government. Zealous abolitionists, anxious to eradicate the firmly established institution of slavery. formed societies. hired lecturers, and distributed millions of pamphlets. books. and periodi- cals in an aggressive and concerted effort to influence Americans a- gainst slavery and incite them to take action against it. One of the most important means of influencing public Opinion available to the abolitionist was the newspaper. The abolitionist newspaper was. more preperly. a Journal of anti-slavery news and prOpaganda designed to keep readers abreast of develOpments in the crusade against slavery and to convince them, by means of carefully selected editorial matter, of the necessity of abolishing it. The purpose of this study is to pre- sent an analysis of those anti-slavery Journals. of their editors and editorial practices. of their contents and circulation. and of their effectiveness. and most of all. to survey in general the struggle waged by their editors to secure for themselves that freedom of ex- pression guaranteed by the Constitution and threatened by contemporary forces antagonistic to reform. Chapter I traces the backgrounds of reform. from its inception in the eighteenth—century pattern of thought known as the Enlightenment. ........ [It'll lllkll‘ll\|lll‘[.lll.lll|||\ll-l‘lziz to show how individual American reform crusades of the early nineteenth century were related to each other and how they contributed sUpport to the crusade against the greatest evil of all. slavery. Also presented in Chapter I is an account of traditional and contemporary develements in journalistic practice which shaped the course of anti-slavery Jour— nalism. Subsequent chapters are devoted to the efforts of those pioneer editors who set the pattern of propagandistic practices and inspired the anti-slavery journalists who followed; William Lloyd Garrison and his Boston Liberator. the best known of the abolitionist Journals; the principles which set him apart from other abolitionists. and the editors who shared his ideas: the struggle for freedom of the press; and the abolitionist political action movement. which, rejecting the moral-suasion arguments of the Garrisonian group as an effective means to combat slavery. turned to independent political action. An enumeration of the objectives of this study will aid further 'in providing a view of its scape. Its aims fall into two broad class— ifications: reform and Journalism. As it concerns reform. the study is an attempt to define the principles which motivated reformers. the relationship of various reforms to anti-slavery, and the organizational pattern which provided a framework for the deve10pment of anti-slavery and other types of reform Journalism. As it concerns anti-slavery Journalism. the study is an effort to define editorial practices in terms of purpose and content: to reveal the nature of these Journals with respect to editorial direction and management. news concepts. propaganda. literary quality, makeup. circulation. and details of pub- lication. Above all. the study is an attempt to present in detail the development of abolitionist Journalism-~a story of men and women who. through the medium of the press. sought to change public Opinion to~ ward slavery and hasten its abolition. and who. in so doing. invoked a crisis involving the traditional right of freedom of the press. As far as is known. no detailed study has ever been made of’abo- litionist Journals as a.group. Frank Luther Mott, in his history of American magazines. gives individual attention to Garrison‘s Liberggpg. but discusses other anti-slavery Journals only briefly in a section assigned to ”Politics. Economics. Reforms and Fads.“1 Other historians have been concerned. understandably. with the larger issues of the anti-slavery crusade and its historical significance in American af- fairs. and have treated the anti-slavery press as part of a larger study. Among these. Russel B. Nye's treatment of abolitionism and freedom of the press in Fettered Freedom-—his study of civil liberties and the slavery controversy-~is outstanding. More typical is Arthur Young Lloyd's book. The Slavery Controvergy. containing a chapter de- scribing the kinds of prepaganda used in the abolitionist attack: but the author does not limit his area of research. taking material from Journals. pamphlets. speeches. and reports of all kinds. The histor— ians of American Journalism--that is. of American newspapers-«limit 1Frank Luther'uott. A.Histogy of American Magazines, l1hl-1850 (New York: Appleton. 1930).. I. 275-97CT‘51-93. vii IIIII\\.I...II| [Fl [[Il'll‘l‘lII-‘vllllllll‘ ‘I’I’Iu’zll‘v‘ll [ l [I i ii! 4" u.l|'f . I u It ‘ l ‘3. . \ a u. . I I I ll - I their discussions of the anti-slavery press to a few lines or at most a paragraph. And whereas some material on this subject is available in individual histories of the anti-slavery movement. or in biograe phies and autobiographical writings of the individuals concerned. in» formation of importance to the historian of journalism is almost al» ways assigned a secondary place. In view of the limited treatment by historians. and more signifi~ cantly. of the importance of original research. the obvious source of information is the anti-slavery journal itself. Only by studying these papers can the researcher in Journalistic practices uncover the details which the historian overlooks because of his interest in prin— ciples and events. This study is based on first-hand examination of abolitionist pa- pers. Regrettably. not all of them could be represented in the chief ocourse of material. the Oberlin College Library; individual volumes or issues were sometimes missing. However. because anti-slavery edi- tors habitually borrowed and reprinted articles from one another's papers. I believe sufficient evidence was available to provide ground for valid conclusions concerning papers not actually seen. Some explanation of terms is necessary. This study is primarily concerned with weekly journals. or papers. and is not intended to be a comprehensive study of all the publications issued by anti-slavery presses. which would include books. pamphlets, and various periodicals better classed as magazines. References to publications not falling in the classification restricted to weekly (and occasionally monthly) Yiii |Il\.pl‘|.ll!rll lllv’l‘v .ll‘... ill 1[ rl :lll f '1' journals are to be found inthe study. but only as supplementary ma- terial. In the purest sense. one should refer to such publications as Garrison's Liberator and similar periodicals as “papers.” Mott. in defining terms.2 states that the word ”paper” is one that ”commonly refers to a publication without stapling. stitching. or cover.” In his own references to these anti-slavery publications. Mott uses the terms "journal.” ”periodical.“ or “paper.” at the same time including them in his history of magazines. One term he does not use in these references is "newspaper.” reserving the term for that medium cemmuy nicating p533, Although not designed to carry news in the usual sense of the word. enough anti-slavery papers did present weekly news summaries of EurOpean and American affairs. with other items of gener- al interest. for them to be classed as newspapers. although the dis- semination of news was not their primary function. Therefore. Mott avoids the term. However. the expression "anti—slavery newspapers“ is frequently observed in historical works: the journals are so classed in bibliographies. and are to be found in Gregory's "Union List of Newspapers." Thus. although most references in this study are to "journals." or ”papers," occasional use of the word "newspaper," or even "magazine." is not to be construed as an error in usage. 2%. £33.. introd.. 1. 5-9. in CHAPTER I REFORM AND THE PRESS In order to present a broad view of the cultural deve10pments which preceded the period of anti-slavery Journalism. and to give some idea of the climate of opinion which prevailed during the years of abolitionist agitation. this chapter will attempt to trace the philosOphical and social origins of the great reform movement of the early nineteenth century. In addition, because of the crisis concerning freedom of expression which the anti-slavery Journals brought about. a brief survey of the develOpment of American journalism with emphasis on its prepagandistic aspects and on contemporary views of freedom of the press. will aid in illuminating the historical background. A. The Social Mind Harriet lartineau. an English abolitionist who met most of the prominent American anti-slavery leaders during a visit to the United States in the middle eighteen-thirties. described them in the following manner: There is a remarkable set of people now living and vigor- ously acting in the world. with a consonance of will and understand- ing which has perhaps never before been witnessed among so large a number of individuals of such diversified powers. habits. Opinions. tastes. and circumstances. The body comprehends men and women of every shade of colour. of every degree of education. of every var— iety of religious Opinion. of every gradation of rank. bound to~ gether by no vow. no pledge. no stipulation. but each preserving his individual liberty; and yet they act as if they were of one heart and of one soul.... A well-grounded faith. directed towards a noble object. is the only principle which can account for such a spectacle as the world is now waking up to contemplate in the abo- litionists of the United States. Although she was describing the abolitionists. Miss Martineau's words could Just as easily have applied to numerous other contemporary re- formers. These included crusaders for religious. educational and eco~ nomic reform; spokesmen for improvement of penal conditions. and for women's rights: advocates of peace. temperance. health. and better family relations. Each group had its ”well-grounded faith. directed towards a noble object.” a faith inspired by the dream of a better world. .A correspondent of Garrisonis.Lgbgggtgg described their general sense of impending success: 1 Harriet Martineau. The Marty: Age of the United States of America (Newcastle Upon Tyne. ISHOV. p. 1. That an extensive change in the social. political. and religious aspect of society is close at hand. nothing. perhaps. more fully proves. than the growing desire for such change.... One by one spring up. and are presented to public view. new theories of life. new principles. new combinations.... Thought is parturient. and brings forth acts armed against every abuse. Religion is to be separated from cant. politics from brute force. and social and domestic life from the brand of slavery and de- pendence. Listing the evils in the American social and economic structure. the writer foretold their imminent destruction: That out of these evils will come good. from the chaos order. none who recognize clearly a lisdom which foresees and intends happiness to the whole human family can. for a moment. doubt . 2 The character of these individuals. combined with their determination and Optimism. gave life and direction to a great reform movement then surging through the northern and western United States. a movement generated by concurrent forces of idealism. humanitarianism. liberalism. and transcendentalism. Much of the spirit of reform had its inception in the eighteenth century pattern of thought known as the ”Enlightenment.” which assumed the original worth and dignity of all men. and challenged the comfortable to alleviate the harsh lot of the povertybstricken and ignorant masses and the victims of irrational and inhumane social conditions. 2Samuel Bower. The Liberator. Aug. 11. 18h}. 3Merle Curti. The Growth g£_American Thought (New York and London: Harpers. l9h3). p. 103. ‘llii i l'll'll’l‘tlltllll h According to Gurti. the Enlightenment engendered. in EurOpe and America. a body Of humanitarian thought and feeling which in turn em— braced many specific reforms. ideas. and values. The great nineteenth century wave of reform involved the doctrine of progress. with its sugv geetion that possibly even the most unfortunate members of society could achieve mental. social. and moral elevation. Justification of belief in the theory of progress was also associated with the philosOphy of natural rights. The idealization of primitive peeples and belief in the dignity of individuals encouraged sympathy for the Indian. the slave. and the underbprivileged. Christian ethics and piety. exempli- fied by the Quakers' doctrine of the golden rule. led men to display concern for the unfortunate. The deists added their deep faith in the essential goodness of man. as well as their conviction that social en- vironment was a dominant factor in determining human institutions. In colonial America. humanitarian principles were given practical application in Qpaker efforts against harsh penal codes. intemperance. poverty. and slavery. Among individual humanitarians. Benjamin Franklin was outstanding. In the latter part of the eighteenth century. after the Revolution. humanitarianism continued its advance. while anti- slavery sentiment. particularly. gained ground. based on the conviction that slavery was uncongenial to republican principles. Egg, 2&13. pp. 120-6. See also "The Expanding Enlightenment.“ Ibid.. Chap. vn. pp. 155-31». Parrington. tracing the growth of liberalism and the social con- science of New England.5explained the role played by Unitarianism in bridging the gap between the harsh theology of Puritanism with its em- phasis on a God of wrath. and the newer humanitarianism. of the same Puritans. awakened by social conscience. He suggests that the awaken- ing of the new spirit was a logical aftermath of the social sufferings of the Kapolsonic period. and that it found expression in 1812 in the anti-war sermons of William Ellery Channing. the liberal leader of the Unitarian movement. From this attack on war to the rise of the dar- risonian Non-Resistance Society Of the late eighteen-thirties. the spread of pacificism was rapid. And with pacificism came other reforms. until the program embraced anti-slavery. women's rights. prison reform. and such -isms as vegetarianism. Along with associationism. and transcendentalism. the new liberal— ism gave rise to two schools of perfectionism. a movement of particular interest to this study of anti-slavery because of its close relationship to Garrison's radical abolitionism. The doctrine of one school. an ex- treme expression of the growing social awareness among contemporary refbrm-minded classes. was first propounded by John Humphrey Noyes. of Vermont.‘ In 1831‘ he established a small monthly paper. the Perfectioniet. 5Vernon Louis Parrington. Main Currents ig_American Thogght (New York: Harcourt. Brace. 1927). II. 339-h2. 5mm . n. 3143. ”very probably as revolutionary a sheet as was ever printed inltmearicaJ“7 Among Noyes' converts were Garrison? Edmund Quincy. the Grimké sisters. and Henry C. 'right. all extreme abolitionists. The perfectionism of Noyes would make short shrift of political parties. of loyalty to government. of the political state itself. and set up instead a social order in which familiar things would be topsybturvy, with the Just sit~ ting in high places and the rich and great of earth brought low.9 Another form of perfectionism. more theological in application. was preached in the eighteen-twenties by Charles G. Finney. the evangelist. who taught that every human being. by exercising the '111 and cultivating “right intention“ could achieve a state of perfection. Oberlin College in Ohio became the center of Finneyism. while the Oneida Community in New York. founded by Noyes. was the focus of communistic perfectionism.10 Despite differences. both schools of perfectionism inspired opposition to slavery. As an introduction to her discussion of the cults and utopias which sprang up in nineteenth-century America. and the numerous crusades ac- tivated by humanitarianism. Alice Felt Tyler emphasizes the influence of evangelical religion and dynamic frontier democracy: ZParrington. gp,‘git.. II. 3M3. 88cc below. Chap. IV. 9Parrington. 22. 933,. II. 316. loam-ti. 93. 913.. p. 310. Ill I'll. llf I ll. (Ill! The desire to perfect human institutions was the basic cause for each sect and community. and this same desire lay at the roots of all the many social reform movements of the period. The American reformer was the product of evangelical religion. which presented to every person the necessity for positive action to save his own soul. and dynamic frontier democracy. which was rooted deep in a belief in the worth of the individual. Born of this combination. the reformer considered reform at once his duty and his right. and he did not limit his activities to one phase of social betterment.1 Against this background of reform. encompassing major intellectual movements of the later eighteenth and earlier nineteenth centuries. came numerous individual. specific. humanitarian crusades. each concerned with the improvement of prevailing conditions in American society. Often these crusades interlocked or overlapped. because. as Kiss Tyler stated. the reformer usually "did not limit his activities to one phase of social betterment.“ Organizations devoted principally to one reform frequently supported those dedicated to others; individual leaders were frequently general reformers first and specialists by selection; and finally. the propaganda.newspapers of these organizations. although specializing in one area. often gave support to other reform efforts. This is especially true of anti-slavery organizations. leaders. and newspapers. Closely associated with anti-slavery agitation was the crusade for temperance. Not only did leaders engage in both reform enterprises. but the courses of both show a similarity in organization. in divisions over principle. and in their use of prepaganda. Finally. as the anti-slavery 11 Alice Felt Tyler. Ireedom's Ferment (University of Minnesota. 19”“). pp. 2.3, advocates took to political action to gain their ends. so did the temperance supporters. According to John Allen Krout. the passing Of the Maine Liquor Law of 1851 ”marked the end of an epoch in temperance reform. Henceforth. the battle was to be waged not by precept and ex- ample. but by political action.”12 This was only a little more than a decade after the anti-slavery Crusaders split over the question of political action. As in the case of antivslavery. protests against intemperance were made as early as colonial times. After the Revolution the interest in temperance increased. notably within religious groups. The Quaker philanthrOpist and propagandist. Anthony Benezet. exhorted the Pennsyl- vania Quakers to disapprove of the use of intoxicants. while after 1780 the.lethodists were similarly active. Among individuals the Philadelphia physician. Dr. Benjamin Bush, was outstanding in his agitation for tem- perance.13 Opposition to intemperance increased in intensity during the first quarter of the nineteenth century. stimulated by the spread of revival- ism in religion and the advance of humanitarian reform in general. After 1825 the movement swept over the country. ”attracting more than a million followers organized in a movement that was to furnish a model for pressure 1 groups." n numerous college presidents aided in the drive; one of them. 12John Allen Kraut. The Origins 2; Prohibition (New York: Knapf. 1925). Foreword. p. iv. .13Ty1er. 23. 931.. pp. 312-15. 11‘Ibidu pp. 316. 322. Dr. Heman Humphrey. of Amherst College. in 1828 delivered an address entitled "A.Parallel Between Intemperance and the Slave Trade." In 1826 the American Society for the Promotion of Temperance was formed. It maintained campaign managers. published countless pamphlets and period- icals. and leaned heavily on emotional as well as educational propaganda. By 183” the Society. strongest in New England. New York. and Pennsylvania in the North. and Virginia and Georgia in the South. consisted of five thousand locals with a million members. At a national convention in 1833 (attended by such staunch abolitionists as Gerrit Smith. member of the landed gentry and wealthy owner of the Peterboro Temperance Hotel. and Arthur Tappan. New York merchant-philanthrOpist) the delegates split over the question of liquor traffic. some favoring legislative action. others Opposing it. Up to this time their emphasis had rested on appeals to the consumer. with all prOpaganda directed toward the signing of pledges promising total abstinence from spirituous liquors. The dispute over political action led to a weakening of temperance organizations.15 Temperance publications were numerous. and on occasion names famil- iar in anti-slavery agitation were listed as editors of temperance journals. The National Philanthropist, established in Boston in March, 1826 by the Rev. William Collier. was one of the first. It was edited by Garrison from January to August. 1828. Later called the Geniug g: ngperance. it was edited by 'illiam Goodell and Prudence Grandall. Joshua Leavitt. while editor of the §£!_York.§!§pgelist. constantly 15Tyler. 92. g_i_t_.. pp. 322-29. preached both against slavery and for total abstinence from intoxicating liquors. In 1836 there were eleven weekly and monthly journals devoted solely to the interests of temperance. while many religious periodicals (and numerous anti-slavery papers) carried temperance articles. Between 18h0 and 1850 there were never fewer than thirty temperance journals in circulation.16 lhereas the emotional prOpaganda of the anti-slavery press played on the public sympathy for the slave by emphasizing the cruelty of the slavery system. the prOpaganda of the temperance press played up the horrible effects of intemperance on the individual and his loved ones. Hyperbole was much in evidence. Krout provides a broad view of the propaganda used.17 Dogmatic statements from American and European medical authorities were printed. asserting that spirits caused a large proportion of physical and mental ailments. Habitual drunkenness was depicted as a form of suicide. and estimates were made that between 10 and 15 thousand persons each year died prematurely from the effects of using ardent spirits. .A ”spontaneous combustion" theory that drunkards were consumed .by fire when their alcoholic breath came in contact with a flame was widely accepted after 1827. The idea that alcohol permanently contami- nated the blood was apparent in a news item in the Pennsylvania Temper- ance Recorder of February. 1836. Uhder scare headlines. "Fire! Fire! Blood on Iirei' the journal stated that Dr. J. 0. Hanson of South Berwick. 16 - [rout op. cit.. pp. 139. 15k, 226. and William Goodall. Slavegy a_n_dAnti-Slavery (N's—w York. 1855). p. 391m. 17%. 931.. pp. 227. if. 11 Maine. after bleeding a common drunkard. had applied a match to the blood with the result that it burned for thirty seconds with a blue flame. Appeals were made to employers' self-interests. pointing out drinking by workers lessened efficiency. Farmers were urged to hire non-drinkers as farm helpers. and in addition were exhorted not to sell grain to distilleries. Thinly disguised fiction and poetry revealed the horrors of the cup: unrequited love. poverty. disease. and death. Children were not neglected: among special publications for juveniles were Temperancg Toy. the Youth's Temperance Lecturer. and Th3 Boy's Tempprance Book. all depicting causes and effects of drunkenness. The close association between the prohibitionists and anti-slavery elements. who frequently held their meetings in a manner convenient to members of both groups. led eventually to a weakening of the temperance movement. especially in the South. Neal Dow. a Portland. Maine. mer- chant prominent as a director of temperance prOpaganda. testified to the understanding and cOOperation between the two groups: lost of the leaders in each reform were interested and active in both. exerting their influence to make the efforts for one contribute to the development of the other. as far as it could be done consistently and with prudence. To this end the state and county gatherings Of both agitations were generally held upon succeeding days. that those attending the one might more conveniently participate in the other. However. Southerners in the temperance movement. who could hardly be expected to feel such sympathetic compatibility with anti-slavery groups. 18 Neal Dow. The Reminiscences of Neal 22!. Portland. Me.. 1898. Reprinted by Kraut. 2p. p_i__t_.. p. 2852' were irritated when journals they received from Northern temperance societies reprinted abolitionist prOpaganda. Many Southerners. recalling Garrison's editorship of the Eggigp§l_ghilanthrgpist, interpreted this editorial relationship as indicative of a strong bond between the American Temperance Society {which sponsored the PhilanthrOpigt) and the abolition periodicals. One Southern temperance organization. the state society in South Carolina. in December, 1832,recommended that its auxiliaries sub- scribe for the Temperance Recorder. an exclusively temperance journal published in New York without contaminating anti-slavery items. Nor did the prominence of abolitionists of the caliber of Lewis Tappan and Gerrit 19 Smith in temperance work reassure Southerners. Thus Southern advocates of temperance came to identify the two reforms and to repudiate them both. In the North. the temperance movement suffered because of the common leadership. A public that did not condemn the anti-abolitionists' destruction of Arthur Tappan's library and furnéaure could scarcely subscribe to his leadership in other reforms. The relationship between anti-slavery elements and the crusade for peace was not so close (with perhaps the exception of the Garrisonian Non-Resistance group) as the temperance-abolition alignment. According to Miss Tyler. peace advocates were few in number and there were few leaders who ”did not hold the anti-slavery issue to be more important, 191mm. pp. 915.. pp. 176-7. 289-90. eoTyler. pp. cit., p. 329. 13 and few who did not forget or disregard their peace principles as the days of crisis approached.“21 Tracing the deveIOpment of peace organizations. Miss Tyler revealszzthat. like slavery and temperance. pacificism had its American beginnings in colonial times. and that William Penn. Benezet. and Dr. Rush wrote pamphlets and articles on the subject. Channing's efforts after 1800 helped pave the way for the establishment in 1815 by David Low Dodge, wealthy Presbyterian merchant of New York City. of a peace society which immediately plunged into a prOpaganda campaign. inc eluding tracts distributed with Dodge's merchandise. The same year. 1815. saw the organization of the Massachusetts Peace Society at a meet- ing in Channing's home in Boston. By 1819 there were 17 similar societies scattered from Maine to Georgia. Noah Worcester. a Congregational clergyman. author of The Solemn Revie! g: the Custom 92 War, showing that 123.2! the effect g£_popular delusion. and Proposing §_§gmgdy, a classic in peace literature. was corresponding secretary of the Massachusetts society and editor of its periodical. the Egiggg.gf’§g§gg, Worcester wrote a constitution for a national society. organized in Dodge's home in 1828 as the American Peace Society. As in the case of anti-slavery and temperance. a national organization came into being to direct the work of local and state societies. and to serve as a center for‘publish- ing and distributing propaganda. William Ladd. a retired shipper—merchant— planter who was active in promoting national organization. used every 21Tyler. 22. 233,. p. 396. azlbid. .' pp. 396420. 114 means he could to arouse public Opinion in favor of peace. relying on appeals to piety and prayer. but also appealing to science. economics. humanitarianism and public service. He edited the Harbinger 92123335, official periodical of the society. then the lepmgg, the latter merging with the American Advocate 9: Peace. The Garrisonian group in 1838 esn ' tablished the New England Non-Resistance Society.23based on the ideas of John Humphrey Noyes. the perfectionist. The radical views Of this so- ciety were aired in the Liberator and in the society's organ. the N227 Resistant. In the years before the Civil War another very active paci- fist was Elihu.Burritt. the "learned blacksmith” whose "Olive Leaf” page phlets were sent to hundreds of American newspapers to agitate against war over the Oregon and Texas issues during the forties. Burritt in 18h6 became editor of the Advocate 2£_§g§gg, and the same year published a periodical called the Bond 2f Brotherhood which he distributed in railway cars and on canal boats. Disturbed over the policies of the American Peace Society. which he thought should have taken a more posi- tive stand against war. he resigned his editorship and went to England. where he aided in establishing the League of universal Brotherhood as an international association to help abolish war. During his years in Eng- land he helped bring about four international peace conferences. In 1855 he returned to the United States to devote fruitless efforts to prevent the Civil War. 23 See below. pp. lh5-7. 15 lhenever a woman appeared in the crusades against slavery, intem- perance. or war, another reform issue took shape-the struggle for women's rights.2u The American woman of the early nineteenth century. despite the equalitarian influences of frontier life. was legally considered a minor whose affairs. whether she were single. married. or widowed. were admin— istered by others. The general trend of reform in the 1820's and 1830's made women conscious of their own lack of status. and objections to their participation in peace. temperance. and anti-slavery organizations inspired many to fight for a change. Denied opportunities to follow professional careers. a few hardy individuals fought successfully to gain more than the limited educational training traditionally offered women and became physicians. ministers. and writers. The tremendous increase in books. magazines. and newspapers during the second quarter of the nineteenth century combined with the flood of pamphlets. tracts. and leaflets issued by reform societies offered Oppor- tunities for women interested in writing. Temperance and anti-slavery societies annually published gift books with stories and poems written by women. who likewise frequently edited the children's publications. Margaret Fuller became a staff member of Greeley's New York Tribune. Mrs. Anne Royal edited the Huntress for twenty-five years. Amelia Bloomer, postmistress in a small New York town. was editor of the £111, a temper— ance magazine. and added a word to the American language by advocating a 214 Iaterial following is from Tyler. op. 913.. PP. hen-62. 16 ”reform dress” for women?5 Other women editors were Jane Grey Swisshelm. a flashington correspondent and editor of the Pittsburgh Saturday Xisiter; Miss Cornelia lalter. first woman editor of an important daily paper. . the Boston Transcript: Mrs. Sarah J. Hale. of Godey's Lady's Book. the famous magazine: and Mrs. Ann 8. Stephens. of Egterson's Magazine. Famous among women newspaper correspondents was Mrs. Sara Willis Parton. who wrote for the New York nggggpunder the pen-name of “Fanny Fern." Of a different sort was Anna Ella Carroll of Baltimore. who became a public relations counsel for big business, a lobbyist in Washington. and indus- trial prOpagandist. Because a large part of the success of any reform movement depended upon public meetings and organizational work. many female reformers ac- quired skill and fame on the lecture platform and in the meeting hall. It is of interest in this respect to note that among the Quakers. a leading sect in humanitarian crusades, there had generally been no sub- ordination of women in church affairs. whereas among more conservative sects women were denied a part in the councils of the church. As a re- sult. the parallel factors of liberalism and freedom of speech for women produced many outstanding women reformers. Abby Kelly. first woman to graduate from the regular college division at Oberlin. came to public speaking naturally through her experiences in the Quaker church. Sarah and.Angelina Grimk‘ became Quakers after leaving home in South Carolina to aid the abolitionists in the North. Sarah wrote a series of articles 258» also Frank Luther Mott. American Journalism (New York: Mac- millan. 1950). pp. 312-13. Hereafter referred to as: American Journalism. .. . ‘|I wt 1 l \.I 17 called "Letters on the Condition of Women and the Equality of the Sexesm in answer to a Pastoral Letter issued by the orthodox ministers of Massa- chusetts who refused women the right to speak from their pudpits. Lu- cretia Mott. who was able to gain the respect of the mobs who came to disrupt her anti-slavery meetings. was a Philadelphia Quaker. Both she and her husband. James. were delegates to a World's Anti-Slavery Conven- tion in London in 18h0 and with Garrison fought for recognition of eight or nine women. sent as delegates by the Pennsylvania and Massachusetts societies. who were denied admission to the convention. Other women who acquired reputations in the lecture halls were Elizabeth Cady Stanton. who was elected president of a women‘s temperance association formed after Susan B. Anthony. most famous of them all. was denied permission to speak at a temperance convention in Albany in 1852; Lucy Stone. who aided Amelia Bloomer in promoting dress reform; and Antoinette Brown. Ernestine Rose. and Clarina Howard Nichols. all of whom helped organize women's- rights groups. Greater than all other reforms, however. was the issue of slavery. an issue which eventually overshadowed all other contemporary humanitarian crusades. Miss Tyler writes: Men and women both realized that the equalitarianism of American democracy made the presence of Negro slavery incon— gruous and anachronistic in a free and humane society. In- tangled with every phase of American life in that period. a backh ground for every crusade. the slavery question became the central issue for all reformers. and eventually the antislavery cause ab- sorbed all the enterprise of thoseswho sought to perfect the in- stitutions of the young republic.2 T 91. 931.. p. 226. Jitl‘e [0 gal-{II I‘ll 3 all..." {[.fl‘l I.) ‘11 {I -lxlul' 18 Asserting that the plight of the slave ”never fully lost touch with the women's rights. pacifistic. evangelical, and anarchistic movements.M Nye adds: But abolition of slavery bulked larger and larger in the total reform movement. until. at the end. it overshadowed the other reforms.... Other reforms met success or failure and faded. only to merge with the greater issue of freedom versus Oppression.2 B. Anti-slaverye—The Background The anti-slavery movement in England antedated the American by roughly a full generation or more. William Goodall. in his history of abolitionism, provides two chapters of early English and pre-American Revolution protests against slavery and the slave trade.28 Prominent among Englishmen who testified against the institution and its support- ing traffic were Dr. Samuel Johnson. Edmund Burke, Blackstone. William Pitt, George Fox. John Locke. and Joseph Addison. John Wesley. the founder of Methodism. who visited America in colonial times, asserted that American slayery was ”the vilest that ever saw the sun." and “the sum of all villanies.” Among Americans Goodell listed Dr. Benjamin Bth. Thomas Jefferson. Benjamin Franklin. and John Jay. John Woolman's h 27Bmmsel B. Nye. Fettered Freedom_(M10higan State College, 19h9). 1).. 28%. is. Pp. 27-14}. 19 travels through the provinces from l7h6 to 1767 as a preacher and anti- slavery agitator. Anthony Benezet's efforts. and the work of Dr. Samuel Hopkins of Newport. Rhode Island. in successfully urging New England Congregationalists to pass a resolution against toleration of slavery within the church were included. As in other humanitarian areas. the Quakers were prominent. To the names of Woolman. whose Journal (l77h) and essay entitled Some Considerations 953. the Keeping p_i_‘_ Negroes (1751+) bear witness to his hatred of slavery. and Benezet. whose treatise en- titled §_o_rg_e_ Historical Account 3: _G_u_i.r_1_e_a_ (1772) influenced Wesley's Thoughts 9;; Slaveg. Miss Tyler adds the Quaker names of Ralph Sandiford and 301138111131 38y.29$andiford in 1729 wrote a Brief: Egposition g: the. Practice 9_f_'_ 1:23 M. and Say a book with a long title beginning All Slave Keepers that Keep the 331129911‘3. i3 Bondage. Apostates. in 1737. Both were printed by Franklin, who with Rush and Benezet corresponded with EurOpean abolitionists. At Benezet's request, Rush in 1772 wrote an Address 312 the Inhabitants of the British Settlements p}; the Slavgg: 9f Negroes _i_p_ America. During the Revolutionary War all the states, with the exception of Connecticut and Rhode Island. framed and adopted constitutions. the Northern states excluding slavery either by constitutional provision or indirectly through court decisions based on constitutions.30 By 1801+ 2922’ 2.1.1” PP- “63’5- 3oHenry Wilson. Histogz g}; the Rise and m1 of the Slave Power in; America. 3 vols.. (Boston and New York: Houghton: fifffln. [3727. I. 20-22. (ll‘lllllilvll ’%i[ [I I‘ll III. I. III] L 20 seven of the thirteen states had made provisions for emancipation. while legislatures in Maryland. Delaware. and Virginia debated the subject. with effective action blocked by conservatives. When Kentucky came into the union the question of slavery arose in the congressional debates over her constitution. but the fight for abolition led by the Presbyterian David Rice. ended in defeat. In the South. few voices were raised in Opposition.31 'hen the framers of the Constitution met in 1787 the slavery issue was subjected to a series of compromises which in effect represented a victory for the South. and when Congress met for the first time in March. l789.the victory was sustained.32 The assertion of human equality in the Declaration of Independence. in phrases reiterated constantly in early nineteenth century anti-slavery Journals and meetings. was set aside. The South won representation for three-fifths of its slaves. proposed taxes on slaves were defeated. and importation of slaves with- out interference by law was assured until lSOS--a twenty-year extension of the slave-trade gained for the South in return for drapping naviga- tion laws which would have restricted Northern trade. Memorials on slavery presented to the Congress were referred to a committee which. after examining the powers vested in Congress under the Constitution. declared that Congress had no right to interfere with the slave trade 3I‘l‘yler. 92. gi_t_.. PP. 1t66--7. 32I'or details of debates on slavery questions during the constitu~ tional convention and in the first congressional meeting see Vilson, 22- 9_1_t_oe Is 39‘680 I'llfii“ ‘1 [I‘ll :I’lf‘l’l.i[ :- 1'“ la‘l'll‘lll I‘ll" ,Illblll' I I ‘ ‘ 21 until 1808. that it was prohibited from interfering with the emancipa- tion of slaves within the States. and that it had no right to interfere with the internal regulations of particular States: to be retained were certain federal rights. such as taxation on imports. and regulation of traffic in the interests of humanity. After a bitter debate the report. with slight alterations, was accepted by the House. a report which had not the authority of a legislative enactment. yet in all the subsequent conflicts growing out of the slavery question the doctrines therein embodied have been generally recognized as the true exposition of the Constitution. and of the powers of Congress touching that matter.33 The memorials to the Congress had been sent by members of abolition societies active since the days of the Revolution.3h The Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery. the first abolition society formed. was organized in April. 1775. and counted Benjamin Franklin and Dr. BenJamin Rush among its presidents. The New York Abolition Society was formed in January. 1785: John Jay was chosen president. and Alexander Hamilton secretary. Similar societies were established in Delaware (1788). Maryland (1789). Rhode Island and Connecticut (1790). Virginia (1791). and New Jersey (1792). In 179k delegates from ten societies met in Philadelphia in national convention. and continued to meet annually for several years. then less frequently. These societies sent memorials to Congress. worked to gain gradual emancipation in themr states. devoted efforts toward the education and moral improvement of the free Negroes. 331111.”, 92. 533... I. 67. “M” I. 22-30. and Goodell. 92. git” pp. 95-9. 22 and sought to prevent attempts at reenslavement of colored freeman. The number and activities of these societies dwindled. however. after the turn of the century. and during the first two decades of the nine- teenth century there was comparatively little of such organized activity until the growth of general reform interest in the twenties and thirties-3’5 According to Goodell.36 organized churches in America made early protests against slavery. but in later years failed to continue oppo- sition to the institution. He states that protests were made by the Methodists in the 1780's. by the Presbyterians in 179M. and by the Baptists in 1788. However. to cite only two items from a long list Goodall covers in much detail. the General Assembly of Presbyterians. which earlier branded slavery as "man-stealing.” in 1815 assumed a tem- porizing and procrastinating policy toward slavery. and failed to take a positive attitude. And in 1836 the Methodist EpiscOpal Church. at its general conference in Cincinnati. disclaimed any right to interfere with the slave—master relationship. stating that it had 0'no wish” to inter- fere in the civil or political relation of master and slave. Near the end of his discourse regarding the attitudes or organized American churches toward the practice of slave-holding. Goodall asks the reader to decide for himself 358“ Alice Inna Adams. The Nglacted Period of Anti-Slavery 1.! America (1808-1831) (Boston and London: Ginn. 1903'. pp. 116-911. for details of society efforts during these years. 35%. 935.. pp. 106-3. 1h3-219. 23 whether it is probable that the Churches. other ecclesiastical bodies. and leading ministers. of the different sects in this country. could hold such a position in respect to slaveholding. church discipline. religious instruction. and the missionary enterprise. without being brought. of necessity. into a state of hostility to any body of earnest. persevering. and consis- tent men and christians. who should seek. from high moral, re- ligious and benevolent considerations. the present and entire abolition of slavery.37 Miss Adams concurs with Goodell's views: On a question involving so many moral issues. appealing so directly to the fundamental principles of Christianity. it seems natural to expect from the churches and their spiritual guides an interest and an influence in anti-slavery measures. As a whole. however. they showed great indifference towards the matter. Indeed, in many cases it was worse than indiffer- ence; clergymen presented reasoned apologies for the system. they carefully prepared arguments in its behalf. they even actively participated in its horrors.38 Despite the harshness of these assertions. both writers present evidence to show that efforts to check the evils of slavery or to prohibit it entirely were not entirely wanting among individual churches and indi- vidual clergymen. Although contemporary reformers had decidedly mixed feelings toward colonization. some believing the practice and theory pro-slavery and °th°r3 classifying it anti-slavery in sentiment.39 no review of the nineteenth century backgrounds of abolition would be complete without a discussion of the American Colonization Society. Investigation of the ho Society's deve10pment reveals its origin in a reselution passed by the 37%. 93.. p. 216. 38 23. cit.. p. 96. 39For early Opposing views. see Adams.o gp.c t.. pp. 199-207. noMaterial following is taken from Goodall. 93, 913.. pp. 3hl-5; Vilson. 92, cit.. 1. 208-23; and Adams. pp, 913,. pp. 10 2h legislature of Virginia in December. 1816. asking the President of the United States to obtain territory in Africa or elsewhere for colonizing free people of color. The Society was formed the same month at a meet- ing held in Washington. Among its fifty members were Henry Clay. John Randolph of Roanoke. and Supreme Court Justice Bushrod Washington. its first president. In 1821 the site of Liberia was acquired and plans progressed for transporting American Negroes. already free or liberated: for the purpose. to Africa. The number of branch societies increased until by 1832 there were 97 in the North and 136 in the South. In that year every state (except Rhode Island and South Carolina) had colonizar tion societies. The Society's emphasis on colonizing free Negroes. I however. was interpreted by some reformers simply as a method of elim— inating potential trouble-makers and thus perpetuating slavery. That the colonization scheme involved colorbprejudice did not escape the free Negroes. who. in conventions in Richmond. Philadelphia, Washington. Bal- timore. and numerous northern cities Opposed the scheme and asserted they would never voluntarily leave their homes. To promote the work of the Society agents were sent to England. Eliot Cresson went there in 1830. and for more than three years pressed the claims of the group among British sympathizers. His work was undone to a large extent by Garrison. whose visit to England in 1833 was marked by attacks on the Society and its accomplishments. The abolitionists. represented by Gar- rison. asserted that the Society denied freedmen the essential rights of residence in the land of their birth. slandered them. discouraged their education and improvement. and Justified slavery. Goodell. in a typical 25 argument against the organization. claimed that in the eighteen years ending in 1835. only 809 manumitted slaves were delivered to Liberia for colonization. a number equal to the increase in the slave population during a period of five and one-half days. After reviewing colonization efforts. legislative debates. and re- ligious attitudes toward slavery. Goodell stated§1that there were many causes which. like little rivulets running together. produced a national agitation of the slave question. He divided them into moral. religious. social. and.political influences. He named the revivals of religion. and the attempts to evangelize the world through missionary enterprises sup- ported by bible. tract. and education societies. He told of an increas- ing spirit of inquiry in respect to Christian ethics. and the application of religious principles to man's social relations and political duties. He recalled the discussion of slavery which grew out of congressional debates over the Missouri Compromise of 1820. and how congressional elec- tions immediately following the Compromise were affected by a new divi- sion in party lines. when the terms ”anti—slavery” andtpro-slavery” took the place of Federalist and Republican. It was at this time. he wrote. that the word “dough-face" was coined for those political figures who favored the extension of slavery. Finally. it was a period whenthe re- formers. daring to be articulate. found an effective means of communicating ”192, £i§,. pp. 382-90. Goodell. one of the most energetic and ubiquitous of the early abolitionists. is perhaps the most trustworthy ef the abolitionist historians. Henry 'ilson. whose work is more detailed. was much more interested in proving the existence of a ”slave-power conspiracy“ and lacked Goodell's broad though biased view of the abolition- ist movement and its place in American history before 1860. 26 their ideas to the peeple: Along with the new spirit of moral enterprise and inquiry. there came likewise the new and apprOpriate methods of their manifestation and culture among the masses of the people. Newspapers were no longer confined to party politics and com— merce. nor the reading of them to the select few. Religious newspapers were among the novelties of the times. These were followed by papers designed to promote the reforms and discuss the moral questions of the day. Voluntary lecturers and agents of societies were abroad. Promiscuous conventions as well as protracted religious meetings were held. and laymen found they had tongues. To write for the public was no longer the monOpoly of professional authors and quarterly and monthly reviewers. Whoever pleased might become an editor of a newspaper. and whoever chose to subscribe for it. at a trifling expense. was introduced into the 'republic of letters.‘ Not only did the great masses become readers of'public Journals. but to a great and growing ex- tent. contributors. likewise. The custom of writing anonymously. encouraged the timid: the most dependent could stand here on a level with the most powerful. and sometimes smile to see their productions arrest the public attention.... No one can compre- hend, in their causes and distinctive characteristics. the ex- isting agitations in America. who does not take into account the new power and the changed directiog of the public press. consti- tuting a new era in human history. 2 C. Journalism and Freedom of the Press: The Background One historian of’American journalism. Frank Luther Mott. divides the development of newspapers until the time of the Civil War into five 1‘3 periods: The Beginners 1690-1765; The Press’in the American Revolution thoodell. g3. 93.. pp. 389-90. h3American Journalism. Chaps. I-XIZ. pp. 3-326. For a discussion of divisions by other historians see Alfred McClung Lee. Thg_Dailz News: 25235.23'America (New York: Macmillan. l9h7). pp. 11-12. ' 37 1765-1783; The Party Press: Early Period 1783-1801; The Party Press: Middle Period 1801—1833; and The Party Press: Later Period 1833-1860. Presented here as a matter of convenience. these divisions provide a springboard for a discussion of those journalistic developments perti— nent to an understanding of the anti-slavery press. There was much discussion of public affairs in colonial newspapers prior to 1765 in the form of letters or essays addressed to the editors and signed with fanciful pen-names. as well as through reprinting of extracts from books and pamphlets. In colonial times. however. the pam- phlet was considered a more important instrument of propaganda than the newspaper.hh Newspapers of the period. weeklies only. were too small to provide adequate space for extensive argument. and the individual had more freedom of expression in his own pamphlet than in a paper owned by someone else. With the controversy over the Stamp Act of 1765 and the increase of the agitation which led to war with England. American news~ papers assumed a more important position as carriers of the ideas: The protracted struggle between the colonies and the mother country from 1765 to 1783. demonstrated the value of the press as a.means of influencing public Opinion. From the time of the Stamp Act controversy. political leaders on both sides freely used the newspapers to carry on discussion. 5 unAmerican Journalism. pp. 5h~5. h 5lillard Groevenor Bleyer; Main Currents in thg_Histogz gflAmericag Journalism (Boston: Houghton Ilifflin. 1927). p793. 28 Leaders respected the new prestige gained by newspapers; Washington on- coumaged the Patriot press and once sent quantities of worn-out tenting to the papermills to be made into newsprint. As a propaganda medium the newspaper was forging ahead. Of the three great media of prOpaganda in the Revolution-~the omnipresent pamphlet. the sermons of the political clergy. an' the newspaper--it was the last which made the greatest gain.4 The propaganda literature of the American Revolution included about nine thousand.books. newspapers. and broadsides issued by some two hundred American presses between 1763 and 1783; of these. perhaps two thousand were pamphlets on political issues.u7 The controversy over ratification of the Constitution was the last chapter in the age of the pamphlet. and although the form did not disappear. it was soon relegated to a minor place in favor of other media of communication: The techniques of communicating major ideas in simple words had been refined to a point where the philosOpher. the po- litical leader. the reformer had an almost instantaneous hear- ing in the public forum. The newspaper and the magazine at one level. the printed book at the other. took the place of the pamphlet. The age of the little book. like the American Revolution itself. had come to an end.“8 Not to be overlooked as prOpaganda media are the eighteenth-century magazines. The earliest colonial magazines. beginning with those published hsAmerican Journalism p. 107. ”IJ. 8’. Powell. ”The War of the Pamphlets.” Literary History of the united States. ed. Robert E. Spiller. et al. (New York: Macmillan. 1958;. I. 131. ”311ml. . 1. 11114-5. 29 by Andrew Bradford and Benjamin Franklin in thl. were founded ”with the very definite intent of influencing public Opinion.“ particularly in political matters.1+9 More significant is the fact that eighteenth-cen- tury American magazines. designed by their editors to be valuable ”re- positories” and I”museums“ of current and past thought. carried articles on reform which reflected the humanitarian aspects of the Enlightenment. Social history abounds in these records.... In the Middle Colonies especially. the virtues of a collegiate education for the female mind were advanced. and the traditional theory of subservience of woman to man found apposition....‘ The evils of slavery were attacked by religious and humanitarian pleas coming from both America and.England. Prohibition of the stronger al- coholic liquors found its champions. The administration of prisons and the punishments required by law for crimes were philosOphically analyzed and discussed. One magazine especially is worth mention. Zhg_American Museum. published in Philadelphia. 1787-1792. and.edited by Mathew Carey. who reprinted ' articles on social reform collected from various sources. Articles on slavery were numerous in the gpggpg. authors including Anthony Benezet, Rush. Franklin. and thveceeur. As a storehouse of anti-slavery propa- ganda.Ighg_American Museum was ”unapproached by any other magazine of ‘ the period.”51 Before discussing the ”party press” in America. it is essential to give some cansideration to freedom of the press. which was established I. 9James Playsted Wood. Magazines ig.the United States (New'York: Ronald Press. 19149). p. 12. 50nyon N Richardson .A Histogy of Earl American M g3 1h 0 e'- a ZinOB, 1 1- 1189 (New York: Nelson and Sons. 1933 p. H. 511bide. ppe 322-3e 30 at the Zenger trial in 1735. and made a part of the Constitution with the inclusion of the Bill of Rights. The right to criticize government was tested when John Peter Zenger. a German immigrant and publisher of the Newaork Weekly Journal. was brought to trial on charges of ‘print— ing and publishing several Seditious Libels...tending to raise Factions and Tumults. among the peOple of this Province. inflaming their minds with Contempt of His Majesty's Government. and greatly disturbing the Peace Thereof.” The Journal had been established in 1733 in opposition to Governor Iilliam Cosby. and was ”the first newspaper estatflished in America by a political faction as a means of carrying on a political controversy."52 Zenger was defended by Andrew Hamilton. a prominent Philadelphia lawyer. who presented the first legal argument in any Amer- ican court on two points of vital interest to liberty of the press: the admissibility of evidence as to the truth of the statements alleged to be libelous. and the right of the jury. not only to pass upon the fact of publication of the alleged libelous matter. but to determine if those statements were in themselves libelous under the law. Although these legal issues were not incorporated into American law until many years later.53 Zenger's acquittal was recognized on both sides of the Atlantic as a.milestone in the progress toward freedom of the press. 52Bleyer. 22; cit.. pp. 6h-5. Accounts of the Zenger affair are given by Bleyer. ppt—33-7. and American Journalism. pp. 31-8. 53As part of the Alien and Sedition Acts (see below. p. 32). and as a result of James Fenimore COOper'B war with the press. 1837-h5. See American Journalism. pp. 303-9. and R. R. Outland. ghg_Effi am Libels 22.Cooper. Univ. Wis. Studies in Language and Lit.. No. 28 {1929). 31 As state constitutions were adapted following the Declaration of Independence in 1776. guarantees of freedom of the press were inserted in all of the thirteen with the exception of Rhode Island. Connecticut. New York. and New Jersey. but when the Federal Constitution was presented for ratification in 1787. it contained no such provision. After much debate the omission was remedied when Congress adapted the Bill of Rights. the first article of which provided for freedom of religion. freedom of speech and of the press. the right of peOple to assemble. and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. It was this amendment. of course. which was invoked time and time again by the anti-slavery cru- saders. Meanwhile. the prOpagandistic nature of the press. established dur- ing the Revolutionary War. affected the new era. the first of the ”party press” periods: ...the most noticeable feature of the journalism of the years 1783-1301 had its roots deep in the Revolutionary press. This\was the ardent partisan political propaganda of the period. It was in- evitable that political leaders. once they had discovered the use- fulness of the press in the heats of controversy. should employ such newspapers as they could enlist to help them fight the bat- tles which presentlgudeveloped along the new Federalist versus Re- publican alignment. Both political parties were represented by newspapers which were little more than political propaganda sheets. and as adjuncts to their political commentary the newspapers of the Federalist period printed great volumes of scurrilous attacks on political personalities. 5nJAmerican Journalism. p. 113. 32 To curb abusive Republican newspapers. and at the same time rid the country of alien propagandists. the Federalist majority in Congress in 1798 passed the Alien and Sedition Acts. creating another crisis in the struggle for freedom of the press.55 The first three of these measures. passed when war with France was imminent. dealt with aliens. and were aimed at emigres. especially French. considered dangerous to American interests. The fourth measure. the Sedition Act. was aimed both at them and at native American editors and writers who attacked the Washington administration. an attempt to muzzle the Opposition press and prevent criticism of the Federalist government. The Acts immediately became a partisan issue: agitation grew as prosecutions increased. although there were in all only about twenty-five arrests and ten convictions under the Sedition Act. In the Sedition Act were two clauses providing for incor- poration of the two legal points made by Hamilton in Zenger's defence. but they went out with the rest of the provisions when the Acts expired March 3. 1801. the day before Jefferson became President. The partisan nature of American Journalism. however. continued in the nineteenth cen« tury. Mott refers to the period 1801-1833 as "The Dark Ages of Partisan Journalism.” when newspapers emphasized politics even more than the pre- ceding peried. when scurrility and vulgar attack on personal character exceeded all that had.been known before. Jefferson particularly suffered free personal abuse.56 558ee American Journalism. pp. 1&6-52. and Bleyer. gp, 913.. pp. 115-26. for details of excesses of partisan Journalism and.prosecution of cases under the Acts. 56American Journalism. pp. 167-9. See also the chapter on Jefferson in James E. Pollard. The Presidents and the Press (New'York: Macmillan. 19h7)s PP. 52-950 33 The question of freedom of the press was not to become a major issue again until anti-slavery agitation provoked attempts to suppress aboli- tionist papers. a crisis listed with the Zenger trial and the Opposition to the Alien and Sedition Acts as one of five great crises in American press freedom.57 In the 1830's. concurrent with the rise of the Liberator and other important anti-slavery journals. there occurred a revolution in American Journalism. the advent of the penny press. fihile political papers con- tinued in many respects to dominate the American scene to 1860. the penny press had a creed which Mott summarizes as follows: (1) The great common peOple should have a realistic view of the contemporary scene. and this in spite of taboos: (2) abuses in churches. courts. banks. stockmarkets. etc.. should.be ex- posed: (3) the newspaper's first duty is to give its readers the news. and not to support a party or a mercantile class; and (h) local and human-interest news is important. To these doctrines Horace Greeley later added. when he founded éhe penny Tribune. the refonmer's ideal of social amelioration.5 The contrast between the established.political and mercantile papers and the new Journals. indicating differences in content. editorial purpose. cost. circulation. and readership is indicated by the following: 3y eliminating political news and political editorials. and by substituting for them entertaining and sensational news. with editorials on such 'moral' topics as intemperance and gambling. they were able to secure almost immediately circula- tions greater than those of all the 'respectable sixrpenny 57Lucy I. Salmen. ”Five Crises in American Press Freedom." Thg_ Press and Society. ed. George L. Bird and Frederic E. Merwin (New York: Prentice-Hall. 1951). pp. 66-7h. 58American Journalism. pp. 2h2-3. 31+ papers' combined.... Sold on the streets for one cent. or delivered by carriers for six cents a week. they were within the reach of everybody. For the first time in the world was demonstrated the possibility of appealing successfully to large masses of the population by cheap 'tabloid' newspapers. edited so as to make the strongest possible appeal.5 Among penny papers were New York's Sun. Transcript. Herald. Tribune. and Times; Boston's Daily_Times: Philadelphia's 23b312_Ledger; and Balti- more's Sun. In the cheap-paper movement. Horace Greeley's New York Tribune reached the highest point in democratic ideals and reformatory zeal.60 One of the great reformers of his times. Greeley espoused the French system of associationism (identified with its founder as Fourierism). labor unions. prohibition. Opposition to capital punishment. opposition to the Mexican War. internal improvements and a protective tariff. west» ward expansion. and scientific farming. One of his greatest "causes” was anti-slavery. and with it he defended freedom of speech for the abolitionists. and equal political rights for women. He was a great ed- itorial prOpagandist. and his vigorous editorial writing won for the Tribune no small part of its success. The reform aspect of his paper was strengthened by the addition of such staff members as Charles A. Dana. who became managing editor. George Ripley. literary editor. and Margaret Fuller. All three had been members of the Brook Farm community. 59Bleyer. 92, gi£,. p. 18%. -m “a-“ is. .I ll- I‘J‘ '- IV 35 and,£ipley and Fuller had been editors of the transcendentalists' Dial. First issued in 18h]. the daily Tribune had over h5.000 subscribers just before the Civil War. But it was the Weekly_T:ibune. which at $2 a year attained a widespread national circulation of 200.000 by 1860. that made the name of Horace Greeley a household word throughout the nation. An enormous increase in the number of American newspaper and per~ iodical readers occurred in the period 1833-1860. There were about 1.200 papers in 1833. and about 3.000 at the end of the period. of which approximately ten per cent were dailies. The number of periodicals-~ magazines and class Journals published weekly. monthly. and quarterly-- increased from a few hundred to more than a thousand during the same years. Many causes combined to bring about this growth. In the first place. the population of the country multiplied two and a third times. Secondly. the concurrent development of public education produced a na- tion of readers. Thirdly. interest in public affairs increased with growth of a more democratic political system. and with the rise of social. economic. and reform movements. In the fourth place. reduction in the price of papers. made possible by improvements in presses and papermaking machinery. and accompanied by lower postal rates. made news- papers available to a large portion of the pOpulation which hitherto could not afford them. And finally. women were beginning to read news- papers. a reading public catered to by the editors.61 Etherican igurnalism. pp. 216. 303-h, 36 Reform journalism. therefore specifically anti-slavery journalism. appeared at the culmination of several social develOpments which played significant roles in shaping its character. One of these was the wcve of humanitarian reform. including peace. temperance. and women's rights. which. having already established a tradition of reform journalism and a public interest in reform movements. provided additional substance. moral support. cooperation. and journalistic example to those interested in crusading against slavery. Three other traditions which aided in shaping anti-slavery journalism concerned the development Of the press in the eighteenth century. The first was the tradition of freedom of expression. a freedom established in the colonial period. guaranteed by the Consti- tution. and severely tested by the Alien and Sedition Acts. The second was the tradition of aggressive. partisan journalistic practices which evolved from the bitter political controversies accompanying the growth of the new republic. An established tradition Of propagandistic journal— ism was the third. Newspapers and magazines. rather than pamphlets. came to be recognized after the Revolution as effective media for influencing public Opinion. Furthermore. contemporary with the establishment of the first significant anti-slavery journals was the creation of a cheap press with broad readership and wide circulation. By expanding that portion ef the population which turned to newspapers for information and Opinion. and by acting as champions of the common peeple. the penny papers aided anti- slavery journalists in finding readers and sympathizers. These develop— ments. traditional and contemporary. provided form. purpose. and method for the editors of.American anti-slavery journals. 37 CHAPTER II BEGINNINGS OF ANTI-SLAVERY JOURNALISM The Quakers were among the first in colonial America to take active measures against slavery. In the late eighteenth century journals, books. and.magazine articles against the evil by Woolman. Sandiford. Say, and Benezet carried forward the tradition of practical application of human- itarian principles implicit in Quaker philosOphy. It is more than a matter of coincidence. then. that the four men to be considered in this chapter for their publication of pioneer anti-slavery newspapers were all Quakers. It will be noted that their editorial activities are somewhat similar. and that their efforts were related in a loose chain of events which led to the introduction of Garrison to anti-slavery journalism. Three of them. Osborn. Bates. and Embree. are minor in stature. but the fourth. Lundy. bridged the gap between the little-known early publica- tions and more important later ones through long years of activity. and earned distinctive prominence as a pioneer. not only for his editing but for his general anti-slavery activities. 3s A. Charles Osborn The first of these Quakers. Charles Osborn (1795-1850}, was born in North Carolina. moved at 19 to Tennessee. and. as a member of the So- ciety of Friends. traveled in the South advocating abolition. In 1815 he took a leading part in forming the Tennessee Manumission Society. and favored abolition. but whether immediate emancipation or gradualism is apparently not definite. One writer asserts that Osborn was the first to proclaim the doctrine of immediate and unconditional emancipation. while another source states that this assertion cannot be substantiated.1 Osborn is also credited with publishing the first abolition news- paper in the United States. a title Open to dispute.2 His Philanthro— pi§2_was first issued August 29. 1817. in Mount Pleasant. Ohio. and al- though there is no question of its being the earliest publication. chronologically. of those considered here. there is some question of its being the "first abolition newspaper.“ll Under Osborn's editorial management The Philanthrqgist was religious and.moral in tone. and devoted entirely to reform subjects. A weekly. three-column. fourapage paper measuring nine and one-half by 12 inches. 18cc George I. Julian. "The Rank of Charles Osborn as an Anti- Slavery'Pioneer.” Indiana Historical Society Publications. II (1891). pp. 231-67. and.Ruth.Anna Ketring. ”Charles Osborn.” in Dictionary 2:, American giggggphy. ed..Allen Johnson (New YOrk: Scribner's. 1928‘. hereafter called agg. 2 Julian. lo $0, pp. 231-2. 39 it contributed to the warfare being waged by reformers generally against the three great national evils-«war. slavery. and intemperance. Slavery was discussed ”eighty to ninety times, making an average of nearly twice in each weekly number.” Osborn was Opposed to the colonization scheme favored by the Ameri- can Colonization Society; however. he did allow pro-colonization Opinions to be expressed in his columns by others. He devoted space to attacks on the slave-trade. printed essays on cruelty to slaves. and Opposed the use of slave-grown produce. With reference to the last named. it has been asserted that the Philanthrgpist was ”clearly one of the first news- n papers in the United States which espoused this duty.”H He printed se- lections of anti-slavery poems from William Cowper. William Shenstone. and others. and filled his columns with articles on slavery borrowed from regular newspapers. and with articles by correspondents.5 Osborn's objection to slavery was based on religious grounds. and his reputed favoring of the doctrine of immediate. as opposed to gradual. emancipation has been associated with repentance. He preached “the doc- trine of immediate repentance of sin. and believed that the slave-holder had no right to put off this repentance by favoring any plan of gradual emancipation.” Each;number of the small periodical carried these words 3Julian. 22. gig” p. 2%. “ram. . p . 256. 5321.31.” p. 257. and passim. of Dr. Samuel Johnson: "I shall never envy the honors which wit and learning obtain in any other cause, if I can be numbered among those who have given ardour to virtue and confidence to truth.” It is difficult to estimate the circulation of Osborn's zhilgpthggf 2333; such statistics were not readily released by the majority of the anti-slavery newspapers. Some guidance to the extent of its circulation. however. may be gained from a list of agents provided in the second num- ber. Here were listed the names of 11 agents in Ohio, 11 in Pennsylvania, one at Wilmington. Delaware, and one also at Greensboro. North Carolina. a total of 21$.7 After little more than a year as editor and publisher of the Egg}; anthropist. Osborn in 1818 sold the periodical to Elisha Bates. and sub- sequently moved to Indiana. Reasons for abandoning publication of the paper included a desire to go farther west where he could more easily obtain land for his children. a feeling that the colonization scheme was too strong to be successfully counteracted by his own influence. and the belief that he could.more effectively serve his ends in the field of the 8 traveling ministry. This was the area of service in which Woolman had excelled. Annette C. Falsh. ”Three Anti-Slavery Newspapers Published in Ohio Prior to 1823." Ohio Archaeological and Historical Qparterly. XXII. (1922). pp. 172-212. 171:. 71bid. . p. 177. SJulian. 22. _c_i_t_.. pp. 260-1. 141 In 18h2 he aided in the formation of the Free Produce Association of Wayne county. Indiana. and in the establishment of another prOpagan— dist newspaper. the Free Labor Advocate and Anti-Slavery Chronicle. In that same year conservatives gained control over the Indiana Yearly Meeting. which had earlier been dominated by active abolitionists. Os- born was removed from the Meeting for Sufferings. a governing committee of the Church. on which he had served for years. In February. 18h}, he took part in the secession of 2.000 radicals who formed the Indiana Yearly Meeting of Anti-Slavery Friends.9 B. Elisha Bates Elisha Bates acquired the Philanthropist from Osborn on Oct. 8. 1818; his first issue (Dec. 11) was designated Vol. 1, No. l. and he continued 10 publication nearly three and a half'years. The new Philanthropist. like its predecessor edited and published at Mount Pleasant. Ohio. was smaller than the original. measuring five and one—half by seven and three-quarters inches. a size Bates considered more easily adapted to binding. The periodical continued as a weekly. but 9Ketring. &. The only available source of information concerning Bates is Annette C. Walsh. _p, cit.. from whom the material in this section is taken. Bates increased the number of pages from four to sixteen. Each set of 26 numbers was considered a volume. complete with index. There was little advertising. Subscriptions. at first $3 annually. were later reduced to $2. Bates described his periodical in his first number as “a journal containing essays on moral and religious subjects. domestic economy. agriculture and mechanical arts. together with a brief notice of the events of the times.” He believed his age called for improvement in the areas listed. especially morality and religion. Therefore. his Philanthropist was not devoted exclusively to anti—slavery. but reflected its editor's interests in abolition of war. duelling. and capital pun— ishment. not to mention an interest in the plight of the Indians. Circulation of the new Philanthropisg. like the original. was lim— ited. and appeals to subscribers to pay up. a constant editorial note present in all anti-slavery periodicals. were frequent. Although no circulation figures are available. some evidence of distribution is fbund in the number of agents listed in an.early number (December. 1818}. which named nine in Ohio. six in Virginia. ten in Pennsylvania. two in Maryland. and one in North Carolina. These agents were allowed 10 per cent commission for receiving subscriptions and transmitting the money. In addition. Bates accepted produce in exchange at the highest current prices. Bates issued his last number of the Philanthropist on April 20. 1822. There was sound editorial advice apparent in the reasons he gave for suspending publication. advice later editors might have followed with profit. These reasons were: 1) the paper lacked local news and tales of diversion; 2) its attitude towards slavery was too mild for zealous abolitionists; 3) he had discovered that slave-holders were too generally disposed to reject without discrimination appeals made to their feelings. Bates was both printer and publisher of the periodical. whidh was only one of his editorial interests. In April. 1820. the Philanthropist issued preposals for the editor's Medical and Botanical Repositogy. a quarterly magazine. and later that same year (August) Bates announced his intention to publish a monthly paper. the Moral Advocate. to deal exclusively with war. duelling. and capital punishment. Both continued publication after suspension of the PhilanthrOpist. the gepository_con- tinuing to 1831. when Bates went to England. C. Elihu.Embree lhen Osborn moved to Ohio in 1816 and relinquished his role as one of the leaders of the Tennessee Manumission Society. his work was car- ried on by Elihu Embree (1782-1820). whose father. Thomas Embree. a Quaker minister. had.preached gradual abolition in Tennessee as early as 1797. Elihu and his father. with a brother. Elijah. were engaged in the iron business. Elihu was a slave—holder. but an unwilling slave-holder. who had a deep-seated conviction that slavery was inhuman and morally wrong. .As clerk of the Tennessee Manumission Society. Elihu.Embree, with In other members. fixed his signature to a memorial addressed to the legis— lature of Tennessee urging that body to take action toward melioration of slavery conditions. The memorial quoted the Declaration of Indepen— dence. ”...all men are created equal." a favorite device of the memor- ials and petitions which were to flood government offices in later years. It asked that laws be passed prohibiting slaves from being brought into the state. making it a felony to drive slaves in chains. prohibiting the separation of families. and regulating food. clothing. and correction of slaves. In addition laws were requested which would permit slave-holders to ”emancioate their slaves of an age and state of health capable of pro- viding a living without restraint or hazard of any kind.” The memorial was signed August 19. 1817. at the time of the third convention of the Society. It was the second such memorial Embree had assisted in preparing for submission to the Tennessee legislature. Both were ignored. Embree has been described as a ”red-blooded crusader" who believed that his cause was in need of a means of expression. and who felt that the need was the more urgent if state legislatures were to ig— 12 nore petitions. In March. 1819. he began publishing the Manumission Intelligencer. a weekly newspaper. described as ”probably the first newspaper in the 1 1Robert H. White. “Sketch of Embree.” The Emancipator. Published Ey_Elihu Embree. Jonesborough. Tennessee. 1820. (Nashville. Tenn.. 1932). 7111-1. 12 Ibid.. x. 16 13 United States whose avowed object was the abolition of slavery.‘J The Intelligencer. a complete file of which seems not to be in exist- ence. was established at Jonesborough. Tenn.. and was succeeded by Thg_ Emancipator. which ran through seven monthly issues. April 30 to Oct. 31. 1820, each issue containing 16 pages. In his first issue of the Emancipator. in an ”Address of the Edi- tor." Embree indicated the aims of his two-column periodical. and gave a preview of its scOpe. After announcing monthly publication. 0‘on a fine superroyal sheet of paper. in octave form. at One Dollar per annum.” he wrote: This paper is especially designed by the editor to advo- cate the abolition of slavery. and to be a repository of tracts on that interesting and important subject. It will contain all the necessary information that the editor can obtain of the progress of the abolition of the slavery of the descendants of Africa: together with a concise history of their ‘ introduction into slavery. collected from the best authorities. 4 The editorial address also told of plans to print the constitutions and proceedings of benevolent societies dedicated to abolition; correspondence. 13William Birney. James Q, Birney and Bis Timeg (New York. 1890). p. 77. hereafter referred to as Birney. White. gp. git.. p. x. goes further and asserts Embree's periodicals were the ”first...to be devoted exclusively to the abolition of slavery.” Meanwhile. Julian. gp. 933.. claims first honors for Osborn. whose Philanthropist_was first published on August 29. 1817. 18 months before the Manumission Intelligencer. Ap- parently the dispute comes to rest on the term ”exclusively." lhThe Emancipator. Published by Elihu Embree. Jonesborough Tennessee 1820 (Nashville. Tenn.. 1932ITI This publication is not to be confused with The Emancipator. published in New York from 1833 to 18h2. and after- wards in Boston. #6 speeches. biographical sketches of persons so devoted; and a history of the abolition of the African slave trade in every part of the world. As an editor Embree professed "that he expects (like other periodical edi» tors) to live much upon the borrow; and to make use of such materials as he may find in his way. suited to his object. without being very parti— cular to take up much time or room in acknowledging a loan [and] willing that others should use the same freedom with him...” He asked for com- munications. promising publication on approval. and requested details of law suits relative to unlawful bondage. All communications were to be directed to the editor at Embree's Ironworks. Sullivan County. Tennessee.15 The seven issues of the Emancipator were completely devoted to the anti-slavery cause. whereas the Philanthropist. as noted. divided its attention among other reforms. In addition to the lead editorial which outlined his plans. Embree published initial installments of a history of the Manumission Society of Tennessee. and a history of the rise. pro- gress and accomplishment of the abolition of the African slave trade by Thomas Clarkson. Both of these were continued in subsequent issues. The constitution of the Manumission Society was also printed in this first issue. and Embree's close association and interest in the group's activities is reflected in the second issue (May 31. 1820) in which he published an address to the Society in addition to the second install- ment of its history; in the third issue (June 30. 1820) which contained 1 5Tb. Jonesborough. Tenn.. Emancipator. April 30. 1820. In five columns devoted to the Society's second memorial to the Tennessee legislature; in the sixth issue (September 30. 1820) which printed a report of a Society meeting and address; and in the seventh and last issue (October 31. 1820) which reported another address. The Clarkson series on the history of the slave trade was bolstered by Embree's own editorial in the June number in which he cited the Act of Congress "declaring the slave trade to be PIRACY. and punishable with death.” and included two sections from the act. The same edition carried two borrowed editorials on the trade from the National gazette and Th3 Union. Subsequent issues carried additional items on the same subject. and the fifth number (August 31. 1820) reprinted a slave trade editorial taken from the columns of Bates' Philanthropisj. The total devotion to the anti-slavery cause was carried out in special departments called "Modern Listener” (spelled "listnerfi in the first few issues). "Southern Customs,” and "Law Intelligence.” all of which appeared irregularly. The first of these. "Modern Listener.” was frequently given over to an account of legislative affairs. Typical of the third. “Law Intelligence} is the account in the second number (May 31. 1820) of a law suit in Charleston. South Carolina. in which a slave owner was awarded $500 damages because one of his slaves was brutally beaten by the defendant. Embree adds that ”we should have been better pleased. if the damages had been applied to the comfort and benefit of the poor creature who had been made to suffer the consequences of such savage abuse." In the same issue. under "Southern Customs.” the editor tells of the mistreatment of a Negro in Raleigh. North Carolina. This last- mentioned department is of special interest because of its similarity to M8 the "Black Listlg department in Lundy's Qggggs g£_Universal Emancipation. the front-page ”Refuge of Oppression" column in Garrison's Liberator. and various others in the anti-slavery press. Miscellaneous items found in the columns of the Emancipator include a quotation in the fourth number (July 31. 1820) from Jefferson“s 32333 2g Virginia: ”There must doubtless be an unhappy influence on the man» ners of our peOple produced by the existence of slavery among us.” Finally. in this brief review of the Emancipator's contents. some~ thing must be said of its poetry. Typical of the titles printed is one in the August issue: I"The slave holder leaving the world after bequeath- ing his slaves to his heirs.” Anonymous. it appears in the same issue with one described as: "The following lines were composed. Sept. 28th 1819. on hearing of the separation of a negro woman and her children." and another entitled ”The Ghost of Justice” taken from the Charleston Patriot. The quality of these poems is indicated by the following Open- ing lines from a l7-stanza anonymous and untitled piece found under "Original PoetryM in Embree's first number of the Emancipator: Far in a gloomy desert. waste & wild. I chanc'd to stray alone one evening late. There overheard this plaint from sorrow's child. Who mourn'd the sad condition of his fate: I was a prince of late on Afric's coast. Bless'd with each comfort that my country gave: But pomp and honors in a dream were lost. And from a prince I was transform'd a slave. This effusion continues with sudh phrases as "my frantic soul.” ”such grief as mine opprest." and ”Each floodgate of thy burning wrath unbar.” and as such is typical of a large portion of the poetry in the anti- slsvery journals. 1+9 As for circulation. “In a short time. The Emancipator had a sub- scription list of 2.000 and was being 'extensively circulated in the United States.”"16 Although in the June number Embree listed agents in Philadelphia. Baltimore. and Wilmington. Delaware. which is hardly in— dicative of wide circulation. he stated that subscribers were asking for copies of the first two numbers. A similar reference appeared in the September issue. The future of the periodical seemed assured. However. the growth of the Emancipator was cut off by the death of its publisher on December h. 1820. Publication ceased. although. in a sense. Embree and his newspaper were succeeded by Lundy and his £32133 gf‘Universal Emancipation. which. beginning the following year. 1821. was published for a time at Greenville. Tennessee. in association with 17 the Tennessee Manumission Society. B. Benjamin Lundy Benjamin Lundy (1789-1839). a slight. hard-of—hearing Quaker who abandoned his saddler's trade in order to devote all of his time to 18 editing and publishing the Genius 2: Universal Emancipation. is the 16Shite. 92, git,. p. x. 17Ibid. 18Sources for biographical data include: Fred Landon. "Benjamin Lundy.” M: Birney.o _p_. cit.. Appendix 3.. PP. 389-306: and The Life. Travels and Opinions of BenTm minL mg! (Philadelphia. l8h7). hereinafter referred. to as Lundy. link between the efforts of Osborn. Bates. and Embree. and the career of William Lloyd Garrison as an anti—slavery editor. For service to the anti-slavery cause from 1815 to his death in 1839. during which years he traveled extensively in addition to his publishing adventures in Ohio. Tennessee. Maryland. the District of Columbia. Pennsylvania. and Illi— nois. Lundy has been described as deserving "the high honor of ranking as the pioneer of direct and distinctive Anti-Slavery in America." and "the first of our countrymen who devoted his life and all his powers ex- -‘ .L. clusively to the cause of the slave.” Born in Handwich. New Jersey. January h. 1789. of Qpaker parents. he remained until he was 19 on his father's farm. where as a child he in- Jured his health and permanently impaired his hearing by trying to do a man's work. He had very little schooling. In 1808 he left home to spend four years as an apprentice and an additional 18 months as a journeyman saddler in Wheeling. Virginia. His pity was aroused when he saw chained coffles of slaves on their way to southern markets. He married and es- tablished himself in his trade at St. Clairsville, Ohio. which was about 10 miles west of Iheeling. . Lundy'e Virginia experiences led to an interest in the welfare of the enslaved Negroes. and in 1815 he called a few friends together and formed. for anti-slavery purposes. the Union Humane Society. an organiza- tion which grew to a membership of nearly 500 in a few months. Under 19 ~ Horace Greeley. The American Conflict (Hartford. 1877). I. ll]. 51 date of January ‘4, 1816. he published an address to the philanthrOpists of the United States over the name ”Philo Justitia.” urging the forma- tion of anti-slavery societies. wdth uniform constitutions. and regular correspondence between them.20 Lmndy's career as a publicist received its first substantial im- petus when. a year and a half later. and only a few miles away at Mt. Pleasant. Ohio. Osborn began publication of the Philanthronist. Osborn apparently reprinted Lundy's "Philo Justitia" article.21 and encouraged him to send to the paper additional anti-slavery articles. It was evi- dent that the two were kindred spirits. In 1818 Osborn prOposed that Lundy Join him in a partnership. and Lundy accepted. requesting time to get rid of his saddler's wares. To do this he made two trips to St. Louis. His second trip to that city was extended from the fall of 1819 to December. 1820,because of his becoming engaged in writing articles on slavery for newspapers in Missouri and Illinois. and after exhausting his property he set out on foot to return home. Meanwhile. his patience exhausted. Osborn sold his paper to Bates.22 Disagreement between Lundy and Bates over principles led to the former's decision to conduct a newspaper of his own. Lundy wrote: 2°Lundy. p. 16. 21Julian. ‘2, cit.. p. 252. refers briefly to a "strong! article in the Philanthropist. no given date. ”probably written by Benjamin Lundy. over the signature of Philo Justicia." 2231mey, p. 391. 52 m...as E. Bates did not come up to my standard of anti-slavery. I deter- 2 mined immediately to establish a periodical of my own.” 3 Accordingly. he moved to Mt. Pleasant (his wife's home). and began publication of The Genius 2£.gniversal Emancipation in January. 1821. Bates printed the first number. and then: Afterwards had my printing done at Steubenville. Ohio. a dis— tance of twenty miles. I went to and from that place on foot. carrying my papers. when printed. on my back. I had begun the work without a dollar of funds. trusting for success to the sacredness of the cause; nor was I disappointed. In four months from thfi commencement. my subscription list had become quite large.2 Convinced that publication of his newspaper in an eastern city would provide greater Opportunity to extend its influence. Lundy planned moving to Baltimore. because "he was well aware that the best vantage ground for attacking slavery was the State of Maryland.” However. the Manumission Society of Tennessee. after the death of Embree. had ob- tained a press in order to disseminate the principles of emancipation. and Lundy was asked to give his assistance. He had no money. owned 25 neither press nor types of his own. After issuing his eighth monthly number of the Genius in Ohio. he went in September. 1821 to Tennessee. 23Lundy. p. 19. #413333. . p. 20. 25Birney. pp. 391-2. 53 where he learned to be a printer "without having ever served an hour‘s apprenticeship.“ Besides the Q£niug, he established at Greenville a 26 weekly newspaper and a monthly agricultural work. But Baltimore still beckoned. In 1823 he wrote: 'The Genius of Universal Emancipationa had now obtained a pretty wide circulation in the United States. As it was the only anti-slavery paper in America. I concluded to at— tempt the transfer of its publication to one of the Atlantic cities. hOping thereby to extend its influeppe still more widely. and secure for it a better support." This design was perhaps encouraged when. in the winter of 1823-182h he attended a convention of the American Abolition Society at Philadelphia. and became acquainted with a number of Eastern abolitionists. After issuing the August. 182U,number of the Genius at Greenville. he started eastward on foot. delivering anti—slavery lectures and forming abolition societies along the way.28 The first Baltimore number of the £33333 appeared in October. 152m, as No. l of Volume h. the hhth issue of the monthly. there having been some interruptions. It was a l6-page octavo. with printed matter occu- pying about four and one-half by seven and one-half inches. It included an editor‘s address in which he pledged to expose those who upheld the 26—7 Lundy. p. 20. 27Ib1d.. p. 21. ZSBirney. p. 392. 51+ ”infamous practice of enslaving their fellow-mortals." and declared as his objective the “complete and final extinguishment” of slavery. In- cluded were accounts of the formation of six new emancipation societies. an article on Haiti (”Hayti”).a review of a new work on slavery. an item on slavery in Brazil. notice of a British anti-slavery meeting in London. poetry on Haiti and Africa. a "Black List" of kidnappings. and notices to patrons and correspondents. Baltimore took little notice of “the scrupulous truthfulness. good judgment. firmness. industry. and sledge— hammer style of the unpretending Quaker."29 Because he ladked capital to finance the QEEEBH- Lundy worked as journeyman for the printer in whose office the anti-slaver monthly was struck off. But prospects improved. and in the March. 1825,number of the Genius Lundy announced proposals for a weekly edition. which‘was to be a lG-page quarto. A specimen number of the weekly was issued.July h. and regular publication began September 5. 1825. Like other anti- slavery periodicals discussed in this chapter. the new weekly was quite small in page size. measuring six and three-quarters inches wide by nine and one-half inches deep. a size increased July h. 1821 to eight and one- half by 11 inches. The increase in the size of the Genius reflected a growing prosperity during which Lundy brought his family from Tennessee. hired printers to.assist him in a shOp of his own. and promoted anti- slavery through his newspaper without assistance of donations. He was a 2931rney. p- 393. 55 good canvasser. subscriptions came in readily. and job-work aided in sustaining him.30 It is of interest at this point to consider some aspects of Lundy's editorial activity as it reflected his attitudes in the campaign against slavery. Most interesting. perhaps. in view of later controversy over the issue. is Lundy's belief in political action. It is true that in 1823-182“. while publishing the Genius at Greenville. Tenn.. he Opposed the faction in Illinois which wished to reverse that state's constitu- tion-«a document framed originally with a provision for the perpetual exclusion of slavery. During the same period he published appeals to Congress to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia.31 Editorial stands of this nature are not unusual in the anti-slavery press. More unusual. at this early stage of Journalistic activity. is any expressed belief that political action also involved the glegtign of officials known to be Opposed to slavery. With reference to the presidential cam- paign. Lmndy wrote. in the spring of 132h: In my view. the subject of universal emancipation is a pg; litical one. in the most emphatic sense of the word. and as I have heretofore shown. it is exceedingly important. why. then. shall we not bring it to bear upog our election of chief magistrate. as well as any other? 2 3OBirney. pp. 393-M. 31Lundy, pp. 189-90. 321b1d.. p. 191. 56 The following statement underscores Lundy's position as a pioneer in anti-slavery political action. and also indicates what may be described as two aspects of political activity; promotion of the cause by Opposi- tion or support of a given development; and promotion by election of those public officials favorable to the cause. In the matter of political action against slavery he was in advance of most of his contemporaries. From a very early date. even during his residence in Tennessee. he aided in the most effective movement of the kind made before 1330 ex- cept the exclusion of slavery from Illinois by popular vote in 182h. He was one of the first in 1328 and 1829 to expose the designs of the Jackson party managers to acquire Texas and to answer the articles in which Thomas H. Benton. Duff Green. and the 'Richmond Inquirer' advocated the creation of six to nine new slave States and the ascendency of the slave power.33 Outside the political arena. Lundy's ideas are not unusual although his activities covered broader areas than his editorial precedessors. Like them he was apposed to the efforts of the American Colonization So- ciety. arguing that if the Society were to add emancipation to its aims he would raise his voice to applaud: "Emancipation. with me. is a pri- mary object. and I cannot for a moment think of joining in any of the colonizing schemes that may he invented. if they shall not have that object in view.'3u He believed that the Society disclaimed emancipation as its object. and aimed only at removal of those who were already free. In 1826. 57 societies auxiliary to the Colonization Society existed. of 3331rney. p. ”03. h Lundy. pp. 191-2. 57 which an were in slaveholding states. and membership included well- known statesmen and philanthropists from both North and South. The American Colonization Society had been formed in 1817 after the Virginia General Assembly. in December. 1816. passed a resolution "which advocated the elimination of the evil of free Negroes by colonizing all free blacks and subsequently manumitted slaves that were willing to go to Liberia.“35 Lundy. however. had his own projects for colonization. and for America's emancipated Negroes. looked upon Haiti as the land of Oppor- tunity. In his first Baltimore number. October. 132M. he began a series of articles on this subject. He believed that colored peOple. emanci— pated. could benefit by accepting the terms offered by the Haitian gov- ernment: payment of half of the passage money. citizenship, freedom of religion. a grant of land for cultivation. and so on. In the same col- umns he asserted that no man. as long as he conducted himself with pro- priety. could be compelled to quit his native land.36 In March. 1825. he announced the opening of emigration offices in Baltimore to aid mi- gration to “Hayti.” In June. he participated in chartering a vessel to take 83 emancipated slaves. value $30,000. to that island. after their being freed by David.Minge. a Virginia gentleman. His interest in Haitian 3SArthur Young Lloyd, The Slavery Controversy_(The University of North Carolina Press. 1939). pp. 18-19. 36Lundy. P- 193- 58 emigration was intensified when. in the fall of 1825. he made his first trip to Haiti. It was during this absence that his wife died. leaving him with the care of five children. In the Genius for June 3. 1826. a month after his return. and in succeeding issues. he published corre- spondence revealing an arrangement with the Philanthropic Society of Hayti to act as agent to aid slave—holders willing to emancipate their slaves-~the Society to pay passage and provide each man with 15 acres. In the issue for May 19. 1827. he began publication of a "Review of the History of Hayti” which was to continue through 30 numbers.37 A weapon frequently advocated by anti—slavery forces was the boy» cott of slave-labor products. The anti—slavery press supported this ac- tivity by printing offers on behalf of the publisher to supply “free labor“ produce for those wishing to abstain from using the products of 38 slave labor. In the Genius for August 5. 1826. Lundy announced an arrangement with Michael Lamb. a Baltimore store~keeper. to supply free labor produce to his readers.39 As for emancipation. Lundy was. of course. in favor of it. But gradual or immediate emancipation? In the Genius for December 3 and 10. 1825. Lmndy published the Elizabeth Heyrick article. ”Immediate. not 371nndy. pp. 19h, 197-202. 211. 38Julian. 92, gi£.. p. 256. asserts that ”Osborn was one of the very first men of this country to Oppose the use of slave-grown produce... while the Philanthropist is clearly one of the first newspapers in the United States which espoused this duty." 39Lundy. p. 20“. 59 Gradual Emancipation.” and subsequently he reprinted articles and published correspondence favoring immediate emancipation. Birney believed that Lundy was a pioneer in advocating immediatism.no However. it would be difficult to draw inferences from his publication of the Heyrick article. or of similar material. for Lundy believed in presenting all sides of the question and stated that the guiding policy of the EEELEE had always been to report "acts of both individuals and associations of whatever name or standing...considered fit subjects of scrutiny and criticism. so far as they may have a bearing upon the question of slaveryfl'h1 On the other hand. we have the account relating how Garrison. spurred by recent con— viction of the need for immediate and unconditional emancipation. pre- sented the idea to Lundy on the farmer's arrival in Baltimore in 1829 to Join the editorial staff of the ggnggs. and was answered by his new as~ ' sociate (Lundy not being prepared to accept the new doctrine): ”Well. thee may put thy initials to thy articles. and I will put my initials to mine. and each will bear his own burden.”h2 This reply suggests at least a non-committal attitude toward immediate emancipation. As a borrower. Lundy played the game of shears and paste-pot as well as his contemporaries. selecting material from such diverse sources as IEOSee Birney. pp. 398-h03. for additional evidence. Birney takes specific exception to the assertion that Garrison was the first to advo- cate immediate emancipation in the United States. hl'PrOPosals for Resuming the Weekly Publication of the Genius of Universal Emancipation.” The_Frie d 9: gap. May 9. 1838; also in The Liberator, May n. 1838. "" heWendell Phillips Garrison and Francis Jackson Garrison. William Lloyd Garrison (Boston. 1885). I. 1ho. Hereafter called Garrisons. 60 the Richmond Whig. Winchester (33.) Republican. Zion's Herald. Genius gf_Tempgrancg. American Farmer. and African lleposaitory.b'3 A general view of the contents of his Genius from 1821 through 1830 underscores its historical value. and reflects the desire of the editor to have his publication serve as a source of facts and argument on behalf of those favoring anti-slavery: It is the repository of all plans for the abolition of slavery. of all laws. Opinions. arguments. essays. speeches. and views. statistics. constitutions of societies. etc.. manumissions. con- gressional proceedings. notices of books and pamphlets. coloni- zation efforts. political movements. in short. of everything re— lating to slavery. 4 During this period Lundy was not content to advocate his principles through editorial labors alone. He traveled by land and sea. sometimes seeking new subscribers. more often seeking Opportunities for the colo- nization of freed slaves. In the Genius for April. 1830. Lundy reviewed his travels. stating that in the preceding ten years he had spent several thoumand dollars of his earnings. traveled more than five thousand miles on foot and twenty thousand in other ways. visited nineteen states of the Union. made two voyages to Haiti and held more than two hundred pub- lic meetings.h5 hJA more complete list is found in Birney. p. #05. l‘Birney. p. 397. L“Slums. p- 239. 61 At different periods Lundy had various editorial assistants to aid in publishing the Geniug, William Swaim. one of his North Carolina con~ verts. whom Lundy considered ”a very capable, intelligent and philan- thropic young man." left in 1828 after six months' service to establish a weekly newspaper in his home state. Shortly afterward. according to Lundy. the newspaper ceased publication. for ”...he treated much of slavery and emancipation. until he was silenced by that malignant spirit which has finally driven us all from the slave country.”h6 Another assistant was Elizabeth Margaret Chandler (1807-183hl. whose prize-winning poem. ”The Slave Ship." written in 1825, was re- printed in the Genius. Lundy asked her to become a regular contributor. and frequent articles of hers appeared in the paper in 1826 and 1897. In 1829 she took charge of the "Ladies' Repository" department.147 In 1836. two years after her death, her poetry was published "with a Memoir of her Life and Character. by Benjamin Lurdy.” Remarks found in the ads vance notices. or proposals. for this work, indicate the limited nature of her reputation as a poet: ”Although this amiable and highly gifted author was not extensively known. by_name. yet some of her writings have MS been widely circulated. and greatly admired.“ Garrison referred to her wjislfundy. pp. 27-8. 1”Sarah G. Bowerman. ”Elizabeth Margaret Chandler," LAB. and Birney. pp. uOO‘le ugThe New York Emancipator. March 9. 1836. The collection. entitled Poetical Works g£_Elizabeth Margaret Chandlgg. was published by Lemuel Howell. Philadelphia. 1836: as a ”meritorious female abolitionist." and one who. “owing to a modesty. as rare as it is admirable." was little known to the public. Her obit- uary in the Liberator. of modest length. glows with admiration. but is short on facts. It preceded a letter from ”Near Adrian. Mich. Tor.“ written by the poet's brother. Thomas Chandler, who said she died Novem- ber 2. 183% of a fever after an illness of 11 weeks.“9 The Genius 22 Universal Eggngipgfiign was suspended from January 3. 1829. to September 2. 1829. due. according to Birney. to adverse politi- cal sentiment.50 Its revival was marked by the presence (in addition to Miss Chandler} of a new editorial associate. William Lloyd Garrison. The eight-month interim was spent in gathering strength for resumption. Ind apparently it was during this period that the invitation to join 51 forces which Lundy probably extended to Garrison in 1828 was accepted.’ In that year Lundy had visited New England seeking subscriptions. and had met Garrison in Boston. After returning to Baltimore. Lundy re- ported in the Egpigg of December 13. 1828. that a new paper called the Journal 32 £22.21E22 had been established at Bennington. Vermont with Garrison as editor. and that the new Journal would advocate the re~elec- tion of John Quincy Adams over Andrew Jackson. In his report Lundy re- ferred to Garrison as ”a young gentleman of fine talents.“ and quoted figI‘he Liberator. November 29. 183k. 50Birney. pp. 3914—5. 53'See Birney, p. 395. and Garrisons. I. pp. 119-"0. for a difference of Opinion with respect to details of Lundy's journey north. 63 part of Garrison's editorial in the Journal's first issue {October 3. 1898): We have three objects in view. which we shall pursue through life. whether in this place or elsewhere-~name1y: the sup— pression of intemperance and its associate vices. the grad- ual emancipation of every E§ave in the republic. and the per— petuity of national peace.- Garrison's introductory editorial in the Eggipg. after joining forces with Lundy. repeated his interest in temperance and peace. but his anti-slavery sentiment was more severe: he favored immediate rather than gradual emancipation. In the same editorial he criticized the plan of the American Colonization Society as ”altogether inadequate” as a remedy. but deserving encouragement as an auxiliary. and favored Haiti over Liberia as a home for emancipated slaves.53 The Genius did not prosper under the new dual editorship. Garrison ascribed this to his advocacy of immediatism. and afterwards wrote: ”Where Friend Lundy could get one new subscriber. I could knock a dozen h off. and I did so."5 William Birney. as we have already noted. thought otherwise. arguing that Lundy. together with Miss Chandler. already favored immediatism.55 52Lundy. pp. 228-9. Garrison's editorial in the Journal is reprinted in full (with its other objectives) in Garrisons. I. pp. 107-h. 53Genius of Universal_Emancipatigp, Sept. 2, 1829, reprinted in Gar- risens. I. pp.fi142-16. 5nGarrisone. I. p. 158. 55s» Birney. pp. 397-h03. 6D In the Genius of November 13. 1829,Garrison wrote the slave trade item which resulted in a suit by Francis Todd against the two editors charging libel. Garrison was jailed and subsequently returned to New England. This incident will be treated fully in the following chapter. In the Qggip§_of March 5. 1830. Lundy announced the dissolution of the partnership. The same issue said that the paper for several months had assumed a strong political cast in opposing the administration of General Jackson. and that “...it will hereafter treat exclusively upon the subject of emancipation.“ 0f Garrison. Lundy wrote: "...he has proven himself a faithful and able coadjutor in the great and holy cause in which we are engaged.”56 A month later the Genius became once again a monthly publication. with Lundy alone as editor. It was published in Baltimore until the end of 1830. then in Washington. D. C.. until October. 1833. Publication after this date was sporadic. because Lundy was traveling and the paper was sometimes left in other hands. It was to reappear in Philadelphia in 1836.57 Meanwhile. other anti—slavery journals entered the field. In Feb- ruary. 1833,the Genius listed 11 periodicals: The Genius g£,Universal Emancipation. washington. D. 0.; The Greensborough Patriot. Greensbor— ough. N. 0.: The Western Luminagy. Lexington. Ky.; The Miscellaneous 5VELundy. p. P38. 5ZBirney. p. 397. and Lundy. pp. 285. 289. 65 Rgpggitegy. Mount Pleasant. Ohio; The Eliegg, Philadelphia. Pa.; The Friend. gguégzgcate 2£_Truth. Philadelphia. Pa.; The Genius 2:.EEEEEIT ance. New York City; The Liberator. Boston. Mass.; The Abolitionist. Boston. Mass.: The Morning Daily Advertiser. New York City; The Pal- ladium. Bethania,Pa. They were listed. according to Lundy. in the 3 order of the time of their commencement.5 In March. 1833. the Genius printed the prospectus and a notice of The Emancipator. just begun in New York by Charles Denison. a Baptist minister. and in addition listed six other newspapers backing anti-slav- t: ery sentiment. but not necessarily devoted especially to emancipation.) On August 3. 1836. the same month which marked a revival of the Genius after a nine-month suspension. Lundy began a new anti-slavery newspaper in Philadelphia. a weekly. which he named The National E27 guirer. and Constitutional Advocate gijniversal Liberty. Garrison‘s Liberator. then in its sixth year. welcomed the newcomer in a notice entitled ”Another 'Incendiary' Paper." with this comment: The veteran Lundy is again in the field. We have received the first No. of a weekly paper. issued by this old and tried champion of the cause of human rights. and entitled the 'Nation- a1 Inquirer. and Constitutional Advocate of universal Liberty.‘ On the first page. under the title. it bears as a motto. the 58 Lundy. pp. 261'20 59Lundy. n. 262. These six were: The Christian Monitor. Brooklyn, Conn.; The Courier.Northampton. Mass.: The Telagzgph. Boston. “893-? 222. Christian Soldier. Boston. Mass.: The Telegraph. Brandon. Vt.; and Th2. Christian Mirror. Portland. Me. 66 familiar quotation from the Declaration of Independence. 'We hold these truths. etc.. and at the head of its editorial columns. the brief but expressive sentence*-'Delenda est Captivitas.'--Slave§y must bg_abolished. Noble banners those. to wave on fore gad main mast heads! Success to the gallant bark that bears them! The Enquirer of February 11. 183% reported the proceedings of an anti-slavery convention at Harrisburg. Pennsylvania. January 31 to Febm ruary 2. which resulted. owing in part to Lundy‘s efforts. in the forma» tion of the Pennsylvania State AntioSlavery Society. Lundy's efforts were recognized in a resolution adapted by the convention. A month later (March 18. 1837). the Pennsylvania Society assumed the financial responsibility of publishing the qugiggg. Lundy had become an editor with a sponsor for his weekly. although the monthly Genius. also pub- lished in Philadelphia. was still his. and his alone. In the following months the Enquirer urged more political action in combating slavery. reported the death of Lovejoy and the burning of Pennsylvania Hall. and in general covered the progress of the cause. A year after the Pennsylvania society agreed to underwrite expenses. the Enquirer announced Lundy's retirement as editor (March 9. 1838}. The executive committee of the Pennsylvania society. in a public announce- ment signed by Daniel Neal. chairman. commended the pioneer editor as "one who has been largely instrumental in arousing an anti-slavery feeling 60232_Liberater. Aug. 13. 1836. Item signed "1B"0 in Garrison's ab- sense. 61 handy. pp. 292. ff- 67 in.Pennsylvania." and whose retirement was not brought about by any diminution of interest in the cause. ”but from circumstances of a personal nature. which seem to require. at his present period of life. more attention to his own interests...."‘62 Lundy. in his valedictory. pointed out that during half of his 19 years of giincessant toil...on the altar of 'universal emancipation' his family had been scattered.” and needed consideration. and that his health had suffered. He also assured his friends that he was not abandoning his work.63 His editorial successor was the poet. John G. Whittier. who changed the name of the weekly from The National Enquirer to that of Pennsylvania Freeman. Lundy's retirement was short—lived. In May. 1838. the antioslavery press carried his ”Preposals for resuming the weekly publication of the GENIUS OF UNIVERSAL EMANCIPATION by Benjamin Lundy." in which he stated: "This paper will contain a full report of all the official proceedings of the Illinois State Anti-Slavery Society. with notices. etc. of local societies. and such other original and selected matter. in connection with the all absorbing question of Emancipation in America. as may be 614 deemed instructive and entertaining to its readers.” 6gfieprinted in The Liberator. March 23. 1838. 63Ibid. 6’4 The Friegfi_gf.§ag. May 9. 1838; also Egg.££berator. May h. 1838. m 13—.“ ‘ -—— 68 The revived publication. a weekly again for the first time since the Garrison episode in 1830. was to be an eight-page quarto with four columns to each page. Lundy promised a department devoted to literary matters. and coverage of the most important foreign and domestic news. Subscriptions were to be $3 a year. and communications were to be ad- dressed to the editor at Hennepin. Putnam county. Illinois. Prior to assuming editorial duties once again. Lundy attended the opening exercises of Pennsylvania Hall. ”a very large and beautiful building...erected. principally by the abolitionists of Philadelphia (and) dedicated to Free Discussion. Virtue. Liberty and Independence.” Unfortunately. Lundy left his personal belongings in one of the rooms. and these were consumed by the flames which destroyed the building May 17. 1838. three days after its dedication. On the following morning he wrote to a friend as follows: Well! My papers. books. clothes--every thing of value. (except my journal in Mexico. etc.) are all. gll_gone--a total sacrifice on the altar of Universal Emancipation. They have not yet got my conscience. they have not taken my heart. and until they rob me of these they cannot prevent me from pleading the cause of the suffering slave... I am not disheartened. though every thing of earthly value (in the shape of property) is lost. Let us pggsevere in the good cause. We shall assuredly triumph yet. 65Garrisons. II. 21k. 6 6Lundy. p. 303. 69 His time for triumph was short. Only twelve more issues of the often-revived Genius g£_Universal Emancipation were published. the printing being done at Lowell. Illinois. Lundy died August 2?. 1839, after a brief illness.67 Garrison paid tribute to the anti—slavery pioneer in a lead edi- torial more than three columns in length. which also carried tribute to Garrison. He wrote: To Benjamin Lundy. more than to any other human being. I am indebted for having my attention called to the wretched condition of the slaves in this liberty-worshipping. slavery~ idolizing country. Be it was who first informed. quickened, inflamed my mind on the subject of American slavery. and by whom I was induced to consecrate my life to the overthrow of that dreadful system of iniquity. If. therefore. any thing has been achieved in the cause of libergg. through my instru— mentality. let him have all due credit. 0f Lundy‘s effectiveness in the fight against slavery. Garrison said: ’ Ihy it was that. for so many years. he seemed to labor almost in vain. and to spend his strength for nought. is easily explained. He not only neglected to advocate the doctrine of immediate and unconditional emancipation. but treated it as visionary. up to a comparatively late period. Hence the vitality of the moster SLAVERY was not reached by any of his darts; and though he was vehement in his denun~ ciations. yet he failed to prescribe the right remedy for the disease. ‘ Another reason why friend Lundy succeeded no better was. he did not bear any testimony against the inherent rottenness and injustice of the American Colonization So- ciety. until within a few years. 9 67Fred Landon. Egg, 68The Liberator. Sept. 20. 1839. 69Ibid. 70 Although Osborn. Bates. and Embree contributed to the establish- ment of journals devoted more or less exclusively to the cause of anti— slavery in America. Lundy is by far the most significant of these early abolitionist editors. Each of them aided in carrying forward the Quaker tradition of applied humanitarianism. based as it was on religious and sentimental reasons. but it was Lundy's energy. devotion, and long years of enterprising journalism which attracted other writers to the task of crusading against slavery through the medium of the journal. The most important of these writers was, of course. Garrison. whose interest in anti-slavery reform was sharpened along with the experience in reform journalism he received as Lundy's associate. Lundy must be considered too for his organization of anti-slavery societies. which. through con- tributions. frequently supported journals that may have otherwise failed. As a journalist. Lundy's practices were to influence other editors in selecting and organizing material for their papers. while his life of zealous effort in the face of numerous obstacles was a con- stant source of inspiration to those who came after him. 71 HAPTEB III amaze ON AND THE 51315.3 gig Nilliam Iloyd Garrison“ s Liber atop. published in Boston from 1531 r to 1865. has been called the anmost eloquent and effective of all anti— slavery papers.” Historians of American journalism would agree with Mott that The persistent. intense attack of the Liberator upon a hated ”MF- institution every week for a third of a century was an extra- ordinary performance. Said the Lation at the end of the war. commenting on the demise of the Lioera or after its work was --w-‘l'. done: 'it is perhaps the most remarkable instance on record of a single-hearted devotion to a cause. However. concerning Garrison and his position as a leader in the anti- slavery movement. there are sharp differences of opinion. On the one hand he has been described by a co~worker as ”the prophet of one of the grandest reforms that the world has ever witnessed...[a man] raised up by Divine Providence to deliver this Republic from the sin and crime of slavery."20n the other. Iilliam Birney. a contemporary. wrote: ”Not a single distinctive doctrine of the Garrisonian 'extreme wingl was ever accepted by the American people or Government. It was the most utter abortion known in the history of this country.”03 These two points of view, representing extremes. must be kept in mind by anyone attempting 1 WJoumalism. pp. 206, 323. The citation from the Nation is given as Jan. H, 1863 (vol. II. p. 7). .__--e 2011ver Johnson. William Lloyd Garrison and His Times (Boston: Houghton. Mifflin. lSElY. p. 23. 3Birney. p. 330. 7? attempting an objective study of Garrison and his career in the anti- slavery movement. In this chapter, the editorial policies of Garrison and the legraigg form a central point of reference from which similar and contrasting de— velopments in contemporary anti-slavery Journals may be viewed. There— fore, the total editorial character of the Elpegatgg cannot be examined in this chapter alone. but will reveal itself further in subsequent chap— ters. During the 35 years of its publication many changes took place in Garrison's paper; major changes will be better understood when presented in relation to the developments which causedfihem. Therefore. it is es- sential to examine closely both Garrrison's early career, and the form and substance of the Lipgratgg, with emphasis on the early issues. pub- lished during the formative stages of the anti-slavery movement. 73 A. Growth of an Editor The editorial career of William Lloyd Garrison (1805—1879l began when Ephraim R. Allen. editor and proprietor of the Newburyport, Massa— chusetts (semi-weekly) Eggald. accepted him on October 18. lSl€,as an apprentice to the printer's trade. During the seven years and two months of his service with Allen. Garrison wrote a number of essays for his and other papers on literary and political subjects. but none on antimslavery or other reforms. One essay. a three-column article on ”American Writers.” was a reply to an attack on American literature which appeared in gymfig; wood's Edinburgh_Maga§ing. A series of six articles. entitled "The Crisis." appeared in lSZh in the Salem EEEEEEE' and were concerned with the contemporary political situation. Garrison's writing during his ap- prenticeship shows no indication of the course it was to take in later years. On March 22. 1586. a few months after completing his apprenticeship. Garrison became editor and publisher of the Newburyport Free_Press. an independent four-page weekly for which the youthful editor ”wrote” edi- torials while sitting at his cases. composing stick in hand. These edi- torials were mostly political in nature. with only scant references to the slavery question. After six months as editor of the Egg: Eggsg in Newburyport. Garri- son sought employment in Boston. where he worked briefly in the offices Garrisons. I. 35. 36-58. Subsequent material on Garrison's early career is from this same volume. 714 of the Massachusetts Weeklprournal, edited by David Lee Child. who later became editor of an anti—slavery Journal in New York, and in the printing shOp of the National Philanthropist. The Philanthropist, de~ scribed as ”the first paper in the world devoted mainly to the temper- ance cause.”5 was conducted by the Rev. William Collier. a Baptist city missionary. who had established it on March h. 1826. Garrison boarded with Collier. as did Nathaniel H. White. printer of the agilanthrqpist. who subsequently purchased the paper. Garrison became editor of the temperance journal on January h, 1898. The Philanthropist. like other reform journals meagerly supported. also struck at war, infidelity. lotteries. and desecration of the Sabbath. Garrison‘s contacts with Collier and White marked his first introduction to reform journalism. while his meeting with Benjamin Lundy, the Quaker reformer, shortly after taking over his new duties. quickened his interest in another reform subject. anti-slavery. After eight months as editor of the Philanthropist, Garrison ar- ranged to become editor for six months of a political paper in Bennington, Vermont. but his new-found interest in reform led him to reserve the right to advocate anti—slavery, temperance. peace. and moral reform as well as the reelection of John Quincy Adams. to whose political fortunes the new paper was dedicated. The Journal 2£.£22.222££.'53 first issued October 3. 1828. It was a fourbpage weekly. six columns to the page, 5Garrisons. I. 79. 75 with a subscription price of $2 per year. Garrison‘s introductory edi- torial listed his principles as independence. practical education, en— couragement of national industry. the gradual emancipation of slavery. and perpetuity of national peace. In later issues he pronosed the form- ation of anti-slavery societies in Vermont. and aided in sending a pe— tition to Congress to ask for abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. His six month editorship ended with the number for March 97, 1899. His valedictory editorial revealed his plans: ”I am invited to occupy a broader field. and to engage in a higher enterprise: that field embraces the whole country-~that enterprise is in behalf of the slave population.”6 Thus Garrison cast his Journalistic lot with the most controversial reform issue of the era. and launched his career as an anti-slavery agitator. The ”higher enterprise” was an associate editorship with Lundy in producing the Baltimore Genius of Universal_Emancipation. and for Gar- rison it marked the last stage of his apprenticeship in reform journal- ism. Nearly 2h years of age. he had completed his general training on northern newspapers. and was ready for specialized training in Maryland. where he was to receive his advanced degree: conviction and imprisonment for libel. His co—editorship began with the Genius of September 2. 1899. Two months later. in the November 13 ”Blacklist.” a department devoted to items relating to cruelty to slaves. Garrison told of a ship. the 6Garrisons. I. 121. Francis. which was engaged in the transportation of slaves from Balti- more to New Orleans. He promised to give details. and the following week the Gaping reported that the Eggngig carried 75 slaves south. chained in a narrow place between decks. The name of Nicholas Brown was given as captain of the vessel; the owner. Francis Todd, was a fellow- townsman of Garrison's from Newburyport. Massachusetts. The EEEXBE ar- ticle. signed ”G.” asserted that men who engaged in coastal slave trade were no better than those engaged in the foreign slave trade (outlawed by Congress). and that they should be ”SENTENCED TO SOLITARY CONFINEMENT FOR LIFE...they are the enemies of their own specigg-«highway robbers and murderers; and their final doom will be. unless they speedily repent. £3_2223py_the lowest depths of pggditigg.”7 The editor of the Newbury- jport ggggld. Garrison's former master. was asked by Garrison to copy the article; he did not comply. In the libel suit later brought by the £3tate of Maryland. Garrison was found guilty and fined $50 and costs. tine whole amounting to over $100. Unable to pay. he entered prison .quril 17. 1830. His partnership with Lundy had already been dissolved. Eliter six months' association. as announced in the Genius of MarCh 5. 1830. Garrison's first task in prison was to write an eight-page pamphlet I‘ecounting his trial and asserting his determination to continue his ifight against slavery. He thanked his fellow editors for their expressions 7The item is reprinted in full in Garrisons, I. 165-6. 77 of sympathy. adding. "I think it will appear that the freedom of the press has been invaded. and that power, and not justice. has convicted me.”8 In addition the editor wrote to several friends. among them the poet Whittier. explaining his stand. The poet. seeking some means to‘ effect Garrison's release. wrote to Henry Clay, whose presidential as~ pirations Garrison had championed two years before. Meanwhile. Arthur Tappan. a wealthy New York merchant interested in reform. wrote to Ben- jamin Lundy and authorized payment of the fine and costs. Garrison was released on June 5. 1830, after an imprisonment of M9 days; he was without an editorial connection. but not without plans. In the ensuing months plans to publish an anti-slavery newspaper of his own crystallized. Following his release from prison. he spent several weeks in Baltimore waiting for his second libel trial. on {Todd's personal suit. Le“rning the trial would not take place till 'fall. and believing he could expect no Justice in Maryland. he decided 1:0 let the case go by default and left the city. While in prison he Pied prepared three addresses on slavery and colonization. which he de- 1.ivered in Philadelphia. New York. and New England. First. however. he i-ssued a prospectus: "Preposals for Publishing a weekly periodical in Washington City. to be entitled THE PUBLIC LIBERATOR. AND JOURNAL OF THE ”TIMES." He chose Washington. he explained. because the city was ”the }lead of the body politic. and the soul of the national system: and Garrisons, I. 178. 7s secondly. because the District of Columbia is the first citadel to be carried." The primary object of the publication was to be ”the aboli- tion of slavery, and the moral and intellectual elevation of our colored pOpulation.” In addition he promised to espouse the causes of peace and temperance. Politically. he would support Henry Clay.9 The proposals were issued in August. 1830. After learning that Lundy had moved his 9gp£u§ to Washington. Garu rison resolved to publish h13.££§§£§£22 in Boston. However. there were additional reasons for the change. His close friend and editorial asso- ciate. Oliver Johnson, later wrote: ”He clearly saw that all efforts to redeem the South would be vain so long as the Northern people. through ecclesiastical. political. commercial. and social channels, supplied the . l moral power by which the slave system was upheld." 0 Garrison. in his :first issue. gave this explanation: During my recent tour for the purpose of exciting the minds of the people by a series of discourses on the subject of slavery. every place that I visited gave fresh evidence of the fact. that a greater revolution in public sentiment was to be effected in the free states-~and particularly 13 New England--than at the south. I found contempt more bitter, Opposition more active, detraction more relentless. prejudice more stubborn. and apathy more frozen. than among slave own- ers themselves. Of course. there were individual exceptions to the contrary. This state of things afflicted. but did not dishearten me. I determined, at every hazard. to lift up the standard of emancipation in the eyes of the nation. within sight gleunker Hill and $3 the birth place 93 liberty.II 9The preposals are reprinted in full in Garrisons. I, 199-202. No Inention is made of specific newspapers in which they were published. 10Johnson. pp, 313,. p. MP. llThe Liberator. Jan. 1, 1831 (reprinted in full in Old South Leaff lets, IV. No. 78. Further references to this first issue are from this reprint.) llnl\llll‘.|l|“|ll|.l‘ II 79, B. The Liberator Volume I. Number 1 of The Liberator (the longer title was discarded) was launched on Saturday. January 1. 1831 from Merchants' Hall in Boston despite the extreme poverty of the publishers, Garrison and Isaac Knapp. The two men slept on the floor of the dingy office. which was shifted from room to room till it reached the cheap-rent third story under the eaves. and they susbisted chiefly on bakery goods purchased at a neigh- boring shOp. Eventually they purchased a seconduhand press and fonts of well-worn type to do their own printing. after the first few issues were printed by Stephen Foster. Paper they bought on credit. The publication was small. a four-page folio made up of four-column pages arasuring four- teen inches by nine and a quarter. A weekly. with the motto. “Our Coun— try is the World-—Our Countrymen are Mankind.“ the new reform journal ‘was without subscribers to welcome its birth.12 Garrison. in his first issue. asserted that he would pursue the {Drinciples set forth in his original prospectus. which had ”obtained a rvide circulation." with one exception: he would be politically inde- Ibendent. Besides giving reasons for establishing the Liberator in the Iiorth {as noted above). Garrison. after quoting the Declaration of In— ciependence. wrote that he would contend ”for the immediate enfranchise- Enent of our slave pepulation.” Thus reaffirming his belief in imgpfiigtg ans Opposed to gradual emancipation. he made "a full and unequivocal 12' Garrisons. I. 219-23. 80 recantation” of the Mpernicious doctrine of gradual abolition.“ Those who objected to the quality of language which led to the Baltimore libel suit were given the following now-famous manifesto: I am aware, that many object to the severity of my lan- guage; but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as truth. and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject. I do not wish to think. or speak. or write. with moderation. No: No! Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to grad- ually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen:-—but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest-~I will not equivocate-—l will not excuse—-I will not retreat a single inch-~AND I WILL BE HEKRD. The apathy of the peeple is enough to make every sta- tue leap from its pedestal. and to hasten the resurrection of the dead. It is pretended. that I am retarding the cause of emancipation by the coarseness of my invective and the pre- cipitancy of my measures. The chargg_i§ not true. He closed this address to the public with a dedication in the form cxf’a.sonnet. addressed to ”Oppression!“ The last six lines read: I swear. while life-blood warms my throbbing veins. Still to oppose and thwart. with heart and hand. .Thy brutalizing sway--till Afric's chains Are burst, and Freedom rules the rescued land.-« Trampling Oppression and his iron rod: 1 Such is the vow I take-—SO HELP ME GOD! 3 The spirit of this fervid dedication is reflected in the words of c31.1.ver Johnson. who. describing Garrison's devotion to the cause during t'he infancy of the Liberator, wrote: M l 3The Liberator. Jan. 1. 1831. vittlll.ll\\(l .IIII' 'I‘I. . His heart was all aflame with enthusiasm for his cause. but never for a moment was his calm judgment overcome by heat. A faith so absolute in the sacredness and power of moral principles. a trust in God so firm and immovable as his. I have never seen exhibited by any other man. Never for an instant did he doubt the success of the movement to which. upon his kneefl. with his Bible Open be- fore him. he had consecrated his life.1 Following the Garrisonian manifesto. a portion of the remainder of the maiden issue was devoted to a report of the second Baltimore libel trial on Todd's personal suit for $5,000 damages. Since Garrison had left Maryland, the jury‘s verdict for Todd. with damages of $1.000. went unchallenged.15 Though the newspaper which carried these declarations was not an attractive one by modern standards. it was no more unattractive than its contemporaries. The newspapers of the 1830‘s. like their eighteenth- century forebears. continued to present to their readers gray columns of type-matter unbroken by headlines or news pictures. It was not until the mid-lane's. when the Mexican war news brought in the common use of lieadlines in multiple decks over important stories. that the gray type- nsasses were alleviated by occasional use of larger type sizes.16 How— ever. an examination of the majority of the thirty-five volumes of the ILiberator.17 through the year 1865. reveals that Garrison. with certain 14Johnson. 92. g_1_g_.. p. 52. 15For more complete details of both trials. see Garrisons. 1. 165.99- 158ee American Journalism. pp. 292, ff.. for developments in format and content of newspapers contemporary with the early Liberator. 17Volumes of The Liberator available at the Oberlin College Library were examined in detail for the years 1831-18Nh. lShS. 1850. 1852. 1856. and 1865. ‘Volumes for the intermediate years were examined only gener» ally. 82 exceptions to be noted. did not change the general format of his news- paper. Doubtless aware of the trend in the use of headlines for major stories. Garrison nevertheless continued publishing a newspaper which. except for an increase in size. looked nearly the same after 3h years of publication as it did after its first two years. To the end. the "headlines“ of the Liberator appeared as they had in the beginning—nthat is. one or two-line captions or titles identifying the content of the material presented. with little effort to attract the reader's attention to any matter considered significant by the editor. A closer examina- tion of the organization of Garrison's newspaper will aid in understand- ing his editorial practices with respect to make-up. The "incendiaryfl character of the Liberator was apparent in a por- trait of slavery at the tOp of page one of every issue after the 16th :number. The first 16 numbers of the paper carried a plain black-letter lieading. or title-plate. which gave way to one surmounted by a cut repre- zaenting a slave~auction at the national capital. The background re- wrealed the capitol flying a flag with the word I”Liberty." and before it :1 slave being lashed at a shipping post. In the foreground other slaves vvere shown gathered under a sign bearing the words ”Horse Market.“ Ilearby an auctioneer wielded his hammer while mounted on a box inscribed vwith the legend: mSlaves. horses and other cattle to be sold at 12 0‘0.“ Except for the masthead. carried at the top of column one. and a 'paragraph or two under the masthead entitled "Texts on Slavery." which ran during the first year and consisted of quotations from many sources relating the evils of the institution, page one of the Liberator during 83 during its first few years reflected little editorial planning. Here were printed long addresses. correSpondence. excerpts from periodicals. poetry. selections from pamphlets. reports made at anti-slavery con— ventions. and general miscellaneous information relating to the great discussion. . Page two. which carried the running title. “The Liberator," was often the ”jump“ page for material running over from page one. Here the early Liberator carried special departments. These included the ”Juve— nile Department.” with poetry and tales thick with antirslavery prOpa- ganda for children; the “Slavery Record." (similar to Lundy’s ”Black List") with accounts of the horrors and cruelties of slavery; and the ”Ladies' Department." which first appeared January 7. 1832,and revealed itself as a descendant of a similar department in Lundy's 932133 of ‘Universal Emancipation. These departments are of special interest and ‘will be treated in detail in later pages. The third page of the Egbggatg£_carried the title "Journal of the trimes.” in apparent commemoration of the political paper he had edited '1n.Bennington. Vermont. 1828-29.18 This page carried Garrison's edi- ‘torials in a column simply capped "BOSTON/Saturday.” followed by the ciate. The third page was generally the "news” page. carrying local and :foreign matter usually borrowed from other sources. some original announce- xnents. correspondence. notices concerning other publications. and some advertising. Frequently page two material crowded onto page three. coo—*- lg-‘larrisons. I. 219. The Libsrator of Jan. h, 1839, was the last issue to carry this heading. it was changed to "The Liberator“ the fol- lowing week. pages two and three being identical in this respect there- after. with slight changes in type faces. 8h The heading of page four. ”Literary. Miscellaneous. and Moral." indicated further departmentalization. Column one carried the “Liter- ary” material. and was usually filled with poetry. Column two. desig— nated ”Miscellaneous." was a mixture of essays. news. poetry. feature items from other periodicals. and excerpts from books. Under "Moral“ were printed selections from sermons. religious essays, and frequently temperance material. The last column. more or less. on page four. contained advertising. To sum up. the Liberator was a rather unattractive newspaper to look upon; difficult to read because of its closely packed columns of type; and without pictorial display except for the ”slave-auction" cut and a few others to be commented on. The subject-matter of the depart- ments frequently spilled over into other categories. and a poem might appear on page one instead of in the ”Literary“ column. The subject— Inatter was. of course. the heart of the paper. and if display was of xninor importance it must be remembered that Garrison was above all a :reformer--and moreover-~an editor publishing at a time when all other Ilewspapers were equally gray and lacking in eyeusppeal. The contents of 'the Liberator. in terms of prOpaganda. editorial policy. and in general ‘the whole of Garrison's anti-slavery crusade during these early years. Inay be viewed with more interest in the light of its circulation and readership . The circulation of the Liberator. as of other anti-slavery news- papers. depended in part on the activities of agents who represented a number of periodicals and were themselves often printers or publishers E5 of other newspapers. The EZEEEEEEE listed its agents in the masthead. carried at the tOp of column one. page one. with the subscription price of $2 a year. payable in advance. and notice that agents were "allowed every sixth cepy." The ngfg§£g£_of April 23, 1831. carried the names of six agents. one each in Newburyport, Mass.. Providence. New York, Philadelphia. Newark. and Baltimore.19 Two months later the June M number listed the names of 13 agents in eastern cities from Washington to Bangor. Maine. Benjamin Lundy being one of two listed for Washington. and Joseph C. Lovejoy. a brother of the martyr. named for Bangor. A year later the June 30, 1832,number listed 53 agents. mostly in the New England and middle—Atlantic states. There were also two in Ohio. two 1. n 20 in Indiana. and one each in qpper Canada. naiti and England. It must be noted that the number of agents listed provides no measure of circu- lation. but merely some indication of geOgraphical distribution. and that not dependable because agents were not always active. Garrison commented upon the relationship between the number of agents and the number of subscribers to the Liberator. when, in an editorial addressed to both. he wrote: “Our list of agents is large. but it is more showy "1 than productive.MC l 9The Liberator of this date is the 17th number of Vblume one. the first to carry the ”slave-auction" cut. A facsimile of page one may be seen in Garrisons. I. Opposite p. 232. 2Og1_1__e_Liberator. June h. 1831; June 30° 1832' 21 Ibid.. Dec. 28. 1833. 86 Some information about the circulation of the early Liberator can be gleaned from a private circular appeal to friends for support in April. 1833. It began with the words. “SHALL THE LIBERATOR DIE?“ and from it we learn that during the first year. "about 500 subscribers“ were added to a list which began with no subscribers at all. and that the five hundred were inadequate to support the paper. During the second and third year. the list grew “up to 1000. and then to about 1300.“ Ac- cording to the circular.during the first three months of the fourth year six hundred new subscribers were added. indicating a total of about two thousand subscribers by April. lSEM. The same appeal provided a'break- down of cepies printed and circulated: We now print and circulate P30? cepies of the Liberator weekly. 5 this number. too are taken in Philadelphia; 300 in New York; 200 in Boston; and the rest are scattered through the free States: making a total of about 2000actual subscribers. Of the remaining 300 we send ho to Haytl. and the same number to England. Our exchanges with other papers has been about 153—- other copies are distributed gratuitously.a The circular also tells us something about the kinds of people who read the Liberatgg: It is a remarkable fact. that. of the whole number of subscribers to the Liberatog. only about one-fourth are white. The paper. then, belongs emphatically to the peOple of color--it is their organ-~and to them its appeals will come with peculiar force. Let them remember that so strong are the prejudices of the whites againsg it. we cannot at present expect much support from them.2 22Garrisons. I. M30-2. 23lbid. 87 The original proposal to publish the Eibgrgiqr. as noted above. included in its objectives "the moral and intellectual elevation of our colored population." However. in view of the reasons given for choos- ing the North as the preper place to publish his anti-slavery newspaper. it is unlikely that Garrison foresaw that three-fourths of his readers would be Negroes. Nevertheless. the Liberator ”speedily became the mouthpiece of the more intelligent colored peOple. They contributed to its columns praise of the editor's opposition to colonization. comments . .23’ upon passing events. reports of tneir meetings. literary essays.“ * This aspect of the Eiger§£22_may explain an incident that occurred during Garrison's first trip to England in 1333. when Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton. a leading abolitionist. discovered that Garrison was white and not a black man as he had assumed. Garrison considered this ”a testimonial C)? of his unqualified rec0gnition of the humanity of the negro.“h) The contents of the Liberatqg confirm the statements that the read— ers of the journal were Negroes. and that it was the "mouthpiece of the more intelligent colored pecule.” Garrison aimed a great deal of his material at Negroes. ranging from poetry to news to announcements of meetings. Thus a notice of a Negro meeting in Rochester was preceded by the comment (relative to a group order for 200 copies of a Garrison ad- dress): “The approbation of our colored countrymen in Rochester is ‘31?“ Garrisons. I. 255. 25Johnson. gp. cit.. p. 133. Another reference to Garrison's being Inistaken for a black man is found in Garrisons. I. 258. CO. CR received with pleasure." The report of the 1332 ”Second Annual Convention of the Peeple of Color" in Philadelphia filled most of one issue, and a column-long article in another was devoted to resolutions passed at an anti-colonization meeting convened in the African Wesleyan Methodist Church of Harrisburg. One of these resolutions expressed gratitude to Garrison and Lundy. and another urged that the proceedings of the meet- ing be sent to the Libgrgtgr_for publication. A similar meeting in Al- bany was reported a month later. and other activities. such as those of "The Philadelphia Association for the Moral and Mental Improvement of the PeOple of Color” were covered.' Perhaps more interesting is the editorial evidence of the capacities of the colored race for self-improvement. Such matters had a double ob— jective: to reveal to colored readers the accomplishments of their brethren. and to convince the white population that Negroes were capable of sustaining themselves as freemen. The June h. 1831.number, which also carried a report of the colored Philomathean Society of New York City._reveals that Garrison attended a concert given by the "New York National Band.” a Negro broup. Under the "Miscellaneous” column in the same issue is an anonymous story of a freed Negro who was able to assist his former owner when the latter was struck with misfortune. The same column on March 2h. 1832.0arried a short essay entitled “Capacity of Blacks.” referring to instances cited in the Liberia Herald of black men ""‘7fi§“' The Liberator. Sept. 3, 1831; June 30, 1332; Oct. 8. 1831; Nov. 16, 1831; June 1. 1838. 89 who distinguished themselves. including "Hannibal. an African. who rose to the rank of lieutenant—general in the Russian corps of Artillery." A December 10. 1836,piece told. in part of a column entitled "Capacity of Negroes to Take Care of Themselves.“ of a former slave whose estate grew to $25,000, and the EEEEEEEQE of July 6. 1833,reprinted a "composition from a young female of color, one of Miss Crandall's scholars.” demon- strating her ability to write. Four issues of the newspaper. beginning February 11. 1832. carried on page one a series signed by "S.T.U.” on ”What can the free colored peOple do for themselves?” The initial ar— ticle was accomoanied by a Garrison item on page two entitled ”Can a Black Man Write?” in which he asserted that the material "displays tal- ents highly creditable to its author.” Garrison. a writer of poetry himself. took delight in printing specimens which came from the hands of colored writers. The by-line of one poet, especially. appeared often in the second volume of the Libera £23; “Phyllis Wheatley, An African Slave.“ One of her poems. “A Hymn to Humanity." describes the virtue as a deity sent down to earth to aid the slave. The second and third parts of the six-stanza poem are: The bosoms of the great and good With wonder and delight he viewed. And fixed his empire there: Him, close compressing to his breast. The Sire of gods and men addressed. 'My son. my heavenly fair! 90 'Descend to earth; there place thy throne; To succor man's afflicted son, Each human heart inspire: To act in bounties unconfined, Enlarge the close, contracted mind, And £111 it with thy fire.‘ 27 We have reserved for this place fuller discussion of the depart- ments contained on page two of the Liberaggz. The “Juvenile Department.“ "Ladies' Department." and "Slavery Record" department deserve special recognition because of the quality of material presented and because of their comparatively short existence as special sections of the Eibgratgr. Examination of the early volumes of the Liberator shows that the juve— nile section began in Volume 1 (1831), and all but disappeared by Vol- ume 5 (1835). The "Ladies“ Department” first appeared in Vblume 2, Number 1 (January 7, 1832), and was also marked by a gradual removal during the next few years. The "Slavery Record“ made its appearance in Volume 1, apparently a direct descendant of the “Black List‘9 in Lundy“s Genius g£_Universal Emancipation, which may have been in turn a descen- dent of the ”Southern Customs" department in Embree's Jonesborough (Tenn.l Emancipator of 1820. The "Slavery Record” section was replaced at the ”beginning of Volume h (lgjh) by a new department. the "Refuge of Oppres- sion," which appeared nearly regularly on page one under the masthead for the remainder of the Liberator's existence. 2 7The Liberator, Sept. 1, 1832. For other Wheatley poems see issues <:r March 5h. April 28, May 5, May 12. May 26. June 2, June 9, and July 7. 91 The three departments (juvenile, ladies'. and slavery record} flourished vigorously in Volume 2, the second year of publication. and their presentation characterizes an experiment in reader appeal that Garrison found either unsuccessful or undesirable. Each department was almost regularly accompanied by a cut. one column wide and approximately two inches in depth. depicting the horrors of slavery. These cuts ap— peared in Volume 2, although the departments were continued beyond it. The cut for the ”Ladies' Department“ presented a kneeling slave, her hands upraised in prayer and a chain dangling from the wrists. An arched caption over the figure carried this appeal: 3“Am I not a Woman and a Sister?M The cut used for the ”Juvenile Department“ showed a child being sold by an auctioneer, the child’s arms being stretched towards its mother who stands nearby under a palm tree with a babe in her arms. .A man in front of the auctioneer's stand appears to be remonstrating with the slave-trader for separating the child from its mother. Either of two cuts were used for the "Slavery Record” section. One depicted another family separation. a slave embracing his wife while their child clings to his mother's skirts, their figures huddled under a long lash wielded ‘by an overseer. The other was a.shipboard scene, which depicted slaves losing hurled into the sea. This cut apparently represented a frequent EDrOpaganda theme, the cold-blooded murder of kidnapped Africans and dis— }:osal of the victims in order to avoid detection as a trader in the il- JLegal slave trade. This graphic series. perhaps derived from an English isource.28 was accompanied by an enlargement of the Liberator, with five ¥ 28Garrisons. 1. 30h. columns to a page instead of four. In March, 1832, another publisher, (‘1- 8. J. May, inspired by he pictorial display, modeled his Christiap Monitor after the Liberator and wrote: "I think the Libezator one of 29 the handsomest papers I have seen." The contents of the "Juvenile Department." selected to appeal to children, were couched in phraseolOgy and sentiment designed to evoke pity and tears. Poetry was a staple of this department. Borrowing from the Genius 32 Universal Emanciaption, the EEEEEEEQE of June h, 1331 re- printed for its juvenile readers a poem entitled: I"Vi'hat is a Slave, 30 Mother?" written by "Margaret.” The second of its five stanzas reads: May children as young as I be sold, And torn away from their mother's hold-4 From home--from all they have loved and known, To dwell in the great wild world alone, Far, far away in some distant place, Where they may never see their parent's face? Ah! how I should weep to be torn from you. Tell me, dear mother, can this be true? Alas, yes my child. Another poem in the issue of September 3, 1831, entitled “Address of a Little Slave Boy to his Master‘s Son," and written by “W.M.” began with the lines: Dear white young master, hear, I pray, What your poor black boy aims to say. I often wonder why should be Such differences betwixt you and me. 2 9Garrisons. I, 30hn, 3oIt may be assumed that "Margaret” was Elizabeth Margaret Chandler, editor of the ladies'department in the Geniu‘s. 93 The March 17, 1832 department carried a rhymed ”Letter from the Little Slaves to the Sabbath School Children of New-England,” and the January 21 issue, earlier in the same year, printed an anonymous poem, ”The Slave Mother,” which told how a slave murdered her three children to save them from her own fate.' A preface indicated that the ballad was “the plain narration of an incident, which happened in Kentucky, in 1831.“ But not all the juvenile departments carried poetry; there were moral tales too. “Uncle's Story” in the issue of March 31, 183?, relates a “true" inci- dent told by a Mr. Wilson about a gentleman traveling in North Carolina who was invited by his hostess to see slave children eat table scrapings out of a trough. The plight of northern blacks was emphasized for little readers in the October 22, 1831, issue in the twelfth installment of a series called "The Family Circle,” written for the Liberator by ”U.I.E.” Lucy, asking her mother why black and white children do not attend the same schools, is told: "There are separate schools for the blacks... lfou remember I told you some foolish persons have a sort of dislike to lslack peeple; and many parents, especially those who are very ignorant, lfiéive an idea that it would be disgraceful for their children to go to tIle same school with black boys and girls.” The “Ladies' Department" was incorporated by Garrison in the Open- ing number of Volume 2. because, according to his sons, Garrison believed in would give a new impetus to emancipation. American women, he felt, ‘3<3111d not be ”less philanthropic or less influential than their British S31~sters, who were heartily engaged in the effort to abolish slavery in theecolonies.” With respect to the potential influence of women in the 9‘4 cause of abolition, Garrison wrote that there were two errors in out— look, first the proneness of advocates to overlook or depreciate their influence, and secondly the women's disposition to undervalue their own power, or, misconceiving their duty, to excuse themselves from partici— pation.31 In the department of March 17, 133?, an anonymous female con- tributor from Providence, Rhode Island, answered the question arched over the kneeling slave in the woodcut, “‘Am I not a Woman and a Sister?'“ in these words: ms: We acknowledge that thou are a woman and a sister; and our sympathies have been awakened in thy behalf, although there are many who still remain in a state of apathy in regard to thy sufferings...for the thought is too revolting, that there is so much indifference manifested by our sex, on this subject, al~ though one million of them are now groaning beneath the same Oppressive yoke with thyself...But something must be done: an effort must be made: nothing can be done without an effort; and it is in the power of American women to do much, in the cause of African emancipation; they can form societies; each member agreeing to do all in her power to abolish this horrible traffic-~to spread the ala m by patronising the Liberator-a and to abstain from using the fruits of iniquity and Oppression. .111 an adjoining column, part of the same department in the same issue, VV$l8 a.paragraph on ”Female Influence” borrowed from the Bostgn_Christian PIENPald, beginning with the sentence: “We are more than half persuaded, t1161t the country must look to female virtue and patriotism for emancipa- 1:1011 from slavery-~mental, as well as physical, rather than to men.“ \— 31Garrisons. I, 30h—5. Appeals to motherhood marked the contents of the “Ladies' Depart“ ment” in the march 31, l?3?, issue, which contained a poem dedicated to "The Death of an infant Slave" by ML. H.“ of Newburyport, who was iden— tified as ma young lady of color.“ One verse begins with the line: "She sat a mother's watch to keep beside her dying boy...’1 the poem q - =s followed by a brief essay on ”Sorrows of a Female Heart” by ”Char- w- lotte” of Boston, who describes a slave driven by man from society: "Can a women forget the sucking babe when she is forced from home by the violent hands of Lian?fm The liberatqi's interest in the intellectual achievements of free lolacks is reflected in th "Ladies' Department” of June 10, 183?, which }128 an item on a society of colored ladies in Philadelphia, called the "Eemale Literary Association." Garrison Spoke at one of their meetings, 21nd wrote: “If the traducers of the colored race could be acquainted vvith the moral worth, just refinement, and large intelligence of this Etssociation, their mouths would hereafter be dumb." We may conclude our £3enmpling from this department by mentioning the section in the liberator or May 26, 183?, which was a continuation of “A Dialogue on Slavery“ llfidcen from a British anti-slavery tract. Adjoining the column, which “V813 tapped by the usual cut of the kneeling slave, was a rare double" <3C>lumn cut of “Chloe and her playmates taken captive by the slave-dealers? U’Ilicierneath were details taken from a recent book, "Memoir of Chloe Spear," ‘EDKIblished in Boston, with the information that the proceeds of the cepy- I‘ight were to be devoted to the benefit of schools in Africa. Chloe, who was ctptured in childhood, was described as "being favored by the munificent 96 Author of her existence, with superior intellectual powers, which, if cule tivated, would have raised her above many of a different complexion.“ Thus did Garrison appeal to his female readers. The contents of the “Slavery Record" department were not designed to appeal to a special category of readers, ior did its subject matter differ greatly from much of what the reader found in other sections of the EEEEEEEEI such as the page devoted to “Journal of the Times" or the fourth page columns of "Literary? and "Miscellaneous“ material. The Liberator as a whole was devoted to abolition of slavery, and propaganda (an cruelty to slaves might be found in any column in one form or another. Iievertheless, the “Slavery Record" represented a concentrated effort in tiiis direction. The issue of March 31, 1832,may be considered typical. .ILn anonymous poem, 1"The Slave Ship.” appeared under the out depicting craptives being thrown overboard, and told of an African chief who, sepa- Izated from his bride, burst his bonds and threw himself into the sea to cascape bondage. A long item, ”Jamaica,” reprinted from the New York (ZCMnmercial Advocate, followed the poem. It told of the Jamaican gover- I‘Cir‘s order to destroy Baptist missionary property in the colony follow~ 3113Q: a rebellion of slaves on the island, and quoted a Baptist advertise- ment in the Kingston Chronicle denying charges of inciting the slaves to I"Shellion. Under this article was reprinted an extract from a letter to ‘3}Le editor of the New York Gazette, also relating to the Jamaica revolt. 1‘" ethods of flogging slaves were described in a paragraph beginning with 13he words ”Horrors 2£_Slave§y!” under the Gazette item. The department ‘3Ilded with two brief notices, the execution of a Negro girl named Elizabeth for murder. from the Norfolk Eggggg of March 10, and an anon- ymous bit on slave—labor factories in Mississippi. In other issues, descriptions of cruelty to slaves, news of slavery in the West Indies, correspondence describing punishment. articles on the Slave traffic, poetry, selections from the southern newspapers telling of insurrection, murder, executions. sales. auctions, and so on, filled the ”Slavery Record"R department. In the issue of July 23. 1831, the department noti- fied subscribers that that number of the Eihgggtgg was accompanied bv a "COpperplate engraving of sections of a Slave Ship,” depicting the ”hore :rible manner of packing the miserable Africans." As a final offering for volume one, the Fecember 2k, 133 ,“Slavery Elecord” offered an "Annual view of Slavery," in which were recorded cihoice bits from all the slave states: “Georgia: ...a slave shipped to death near Macon by his overseer. The murderer unpunished.” In the isldifi.volume. the “Record” of September 21, 1833,presented additional (Bjmmnples of a favorite type of selection from the southern newspapers-~ Fléivertisements for runaway slaves to demonstrate. from "scores of [simi~ :Lélr] advertisements...how well the poor slaves are contented with their 1 01;.“ The general editorial character of southern newspapers in their defense of slavery as in institution and the reports in their pages of 3L£1NV8, court action. auctions. advertisements for runaways, and other he" pertaining to slaves as prOperty, not to mention the details of <33P1hne and punishment, apparently led to Garrison's replacing the "Slavery I{1%‘czorc1’9 section with the page one "Refuge of Oppression" at the beginning 98 of 183h. Comment on the establishment of the new department was made as follows: A natural develOpment of the original "Slavery Record"... 'into which we propose to COpy some of the choicest specimens of anti—abolition morality. decency, logic and humanityv-gen- erally without note or comment“ (Lib. h:3l. A year later: 'It has already opened the eyes of many to see how cruelly abolitionists are calumniated by their enemies; and it proves that we are ready to let both sid_s of the contrOVersy be seen in our columns" (Lib. 5:3}. ‘ Over the years following the establishment of the "Refuge of Op- -pression" department. Garrison's selection of "specimens of anti—aboli- tion morality. decency, logic and humanity” included not only material from the Seuthern press. but antioabolition and anti-Garrison material ;from newspapers in the North. and occasionally from the publications of :fellow anti-slavery editors. The Liberatgr of January 11. 183h. re- gorinted editorial vilification of Garrison from the Saco (Maine) Demo- czrat. the New Bedford Qazgtte. and the Natchez Standard. In the "Refuge” Ifbr June 15. 1838. Garrison reprinted two letters taken from the Augusta (Georgia) Chroniple g Sentinel and signed by ”A" whom Garrison describes Eta an "incendiary and desperate author.“ The letters. both dated May 137. 1838. from Philadelphia. deal with events related to Pennsylvania Eitéll. In the first the writer tells of seeing whites and blacks together <31: the streets and describes the Hall as one ”sacred to the cause of amalgamation." In the second. dated later the same day. the writer gloats over the firing of the building. ”...that accursed Moloch.” and \——— 32 Garrisons. I. H53n. 99 admits being one of those who threw stones at the windows. Selections from the New York 923$l§£.§.§£92132§1 an avowed anti~abolitionist paper. often appeared in the "Refuge.“ The Liberator of July 19. 183h. carried a column and one-half from the Courier g Enquire: attacking abolition- ists under the heading. "The Fanatics.” and a few months later. under the same heading, the Liberator of October ll carried another attack from the same newspaper. In the Egbgggtgg of October 11. lShh. Garrison reprinted an editorial from the Pawtucket Truth's_§gpositor. and por- tions of editorials from the "Hartford Christia£_(!l {reeman" and Utica Idberiy Presg. All three were attacks on Edmund Quincy (who frequently sassisted in editing the Liberator during Garrison's absence) for the :fbrmer's participation in a dispute involving the American Anti-Slavery ESociety. This dispute did not involve the common cause. but was a prop- earty row between Society factions. Nevertheless. those Opposing Gerri— sson and his friends were given space in the Liberator. but under the 9‘Refuge of Oppression” heading. In the same issue, on an inside page. C§arrison wrote: "It is a long time since this department of our paper flas contained so large and choice a collection of suitable articles, as 1.t does this week.” Another example of Garrison's using the column for Crustations from the abolitionist press may be seen in the EEEEEELEE of ‘Idlne 9. 18h8. which reprinted an editorial on "Incivism" from the Wast- ington National Egg. Garrison's concept of "news," as deduced from a study of the EEEEE? Eitgrfs pages, was apparently conditioned by two general purposes: pre— Esentation of anti-slavery information for its value in promoting the lOC cause of abolition, and presentation of general information which, des- ignated as foreign and domestic news, or classified by words like ”mar” riage,” "death," or 1"horrible occurrence," sought to convey to the read- er the impression that the Liberator was a newspaper as well as a journal of anti-slavery. The first category includes reports of anti~slavery conventions, with their addresses, resolutions, and committee reports; coverage of legislative affairs relative to slavery; communications from foreign and domestic correspondents telling of anti-slavery action in their respective areas; and narrations of occurrences like the burning of Pennsylvania Hall, the suppression of abolition newspapers, and the (death of Lovejoy. Some of this was, of course, 2235 fidg news. Most of it, however, dealt with affairs which were of interest only to abolition— :ists, and not to readers in general. The third page of the Lgbgrglgg, designated by a running head as 'the "Journal of the Times,” usually included the general news—~foreign sand domestic. A typical example of foreign coverage is the column in tJie August 95, 1832, Liberator with the heading ”EurOpean News.” The 3Anitial paragraph states that "Intelligence has been received to the 19th th Ju.y," and is followed by brief items from England and EurOpe, unre— ilstted and not even grouped according to point of origin. They include 17€rferences to Sir Walter Scott. the official size of the French ar y, lgrhglish elections, and Austrian preparations for war. To the right of t1dis column is one containing a long report on the cholera epidemic in I‘Iew York, Philadelphia, and other eastern cities. In the Liberator of Isaarch ?3, 183?, one column presents l”Foreign and Domestic Items” together, lOl yet special space on the same page is given to ”CHEERING NEWSE" of the abolition of slavery in the British colonies. Closer inspection of the story reveals it to be a report that the British planned to introduce a bill in Parliament to that effect. Occasionally the caption "Foreign News" meant news from England only, as in the issues of August 11 and August 18, 123?. As the giheratop borrowed editorial paragraphs freely from other newspapers. so it borrowed its foreign news. "Summary of News" in the August 1U, 18L0,l£§§3§£21) acknowledges that the items to follow were taken from the New York Journal 9: Eggmerce of August 10, .and that the information,received only ”Bl days later from EurOpe.” earrived with Capt. Hosken on ”The Great Western,“ .hich brought papers ‘to July 25. One short item stated: ”Lucien Buonaparte died in Italy on ‘the 29th of June, aged 66 years.” The Liberator devoted more space to local than to foreign news. ”‘local" meaning the Boston area. Occasionally an item illustrates con- tramporary practices in handling sensational news. The following para~ {traph is the "lead" in a story of slightly more than five inches, with— Crut headlines, which appeared in the libgrgtpr of April 93, 1836: gorrible Qgpurrence--Suicide. EEQ.2£££EEE£§.EBI§E£ of’a Female.--Our city was last evening Lads the theatre of an awful tragedy. Mrs. R. Wade keeps a boarding-house at No 50 Filbert street-~she is a very handsome woman, and her manners are highly attractive. She has lived unhappily with her hus~ band, who is residing in another part of the city, and a bill of divorce is now pending. (3131tuaries appeared in the columns of the Liberator, sometimes for their lisews value, more often for their prOpaganda value, as in the report of ‘tlie death of ”TOBY, a colored man, aged 63 years,” in the April 30, iffy, 102’ issue. Toby's home was described as a place without "trifling gewgaws,” but ”Scott's Family Bible, with a few other books, both in the Dutch and English language graced the bureau, while every thing within, and around. bore the impression of industry and economy.” The notice of Toby's death is followed by an account of the death of Flora Jeans, colored, in the almshouse at Salem. Marriages too were reported, but briefly and without embellishment, as were birth announcements. As Garrison borrowed foreign news, so he borrowed domestic news. The January P7. lghl, EEREZQEZZ,n°t°d that a half column of such items was taken from the Ehiladelphia Ledg‘r, and the July 1. 18h}, EEESKEEQE stated that its news from the United States and Mexico was taken from the Philadelphia g, §, giggttg and the New Orleans 313ayung. Such bore rowings were frequent, and often Garrison did not give the source. The subordination of foreign and domestic news to prOpaganda in the ‘Liberator was criticized on one occasion by another newspaper. Garrison's "Refuge of Oppression" column of June 28, 1350, reprinted a communication Chatelined Washington, June 18, and sent to the Boston gagly;§gg, The Iletter quoted the June in lgbggator_as saying that its editor was com- }:elled to omit "a large amount of foreign and domestic intelligence of zin interesting nature” in order to give details of a statement made by {Horace Mann to Daniel Webster. The writer then concludes: Here we have it!... Thrones abroad may have been overturned. dynasties rooted out. emperors or Kaisers murdered. and yet the readers of the Liberator's Atlas letter will be totally indif- ferent and careless to hear. so long as their appetite may be gorged with such rank condiment as the correspondent of these two papers prepares for them. 103 Returning to the first category of news-—that is. information of value in promoting the cause of abolition-~we find that the editor of the Liberator demonstrated a willingness to provide full coverage and to record minor as well as major events. Not a story of national prom~ inence. as contrasted to the burning of Pennsylvania Hall. the death of Lovejoy, or the destruction of Birney's Philanthropist in Cincinnati. is his account of the Prudence Crandall affair. Miss Crandall operated a school for colored girls at Canterbury, Connecticut, a school not looked upon with favor by the village fathers. who resolved to persuade her to abandon her project. On March 9. 1833. the LEEEEEEEE merely printed an advertisement announcing the school would open the first Monday in April. The advertisement ran weekly for a month. The story of her misfortunes first broke in full force in the gibggatgg of April 6. 1833, when the usual page two departments were eliminated in favor of three columns on the Crandall school. including a long letter in 0p- position to the school taken from the Norwich ggpgbligag. and another communication from the same paper giving the contents of the Canterbury resolutions. The Liberator caption was: ”COMMENT IS NEEDLESSt" The Opposite page. page three. carried a half column of criticisms of the village's action. reprinted from other newspapers. In subsequent issues33 the story of the Crandall school was reported. occasionally with unusual 33 See The Liberator for April 27. May 25. June 8. June 2h. July 6. Aug. 3. Aug. 31, Sept. 1h. Sept. 21. Oct. 12. and Nov. 2. 1833. loh headlines, as in the July 6, 1833 issue: wsavms BARBARITl'i/Miss Cran— dall Imprisoned!!!“ This particular story is of interest. not only be» cause of the space devoted to it. but the manner in which it was reported. coverage consisting of correspondence to the EEBEEEEQE' correspondence to other newspapers reprinted in the Liberator. and editorial remarks by the Liberator‘s editor and by other editors whose words were reprinted in the Liberatgz. If the examples of 6"news” presented above seem to the modern reader to be uneasy mixtures of facts and opinion. it is only fair to point out that editorializing in news columns was a characteristic of pro-Civil War news reporting which carried over from colonial Journalism. News leads of this period. 1830-1865. were often editorial statements. or consisted of information telling how the facts had been received.314 These contemporary practices were reflected in the Liberator. perhaps even more intensively than in other Journals, because as a weekly anti— slavery Journal sustained in part on borrowings. its news presentation adapted itself to summary-and—comment offerings. The editorial column. usually on page three. was not always re- stricted to the opinions of the Liberator's editor. It was sometimes used as a catch-all for miscellaneous information. including correspond- ence. notices of meetings. straight news reports. obituaries. statements on circulation and on the financial affairs of the Liberator. A few of 1. 3 See American Journalism pp. 5h. h55. 292. 295. 105 these deviations from the course of pure editorial discussion are pre- sented here to show another facet of Garrison's editing practices. The column of June h. 1831. contains a notice that the editor will be absent for a few weeks. and is largely devoted to a report on Lundy's ggnius 3: Universal Emancipation. its contents. purpose. accomplishments. Follow- ing this comes a paragraph praising the New York National Band. a col» ored organization. The January 21. 1832 column is mostly devoted to notices. following an open letter by Garrison to John Quincy Adams. News of the Crandall school. from a correspondent. is prefaced by edi~ torial comment on the school in the June 15. 1833,column. Letters from the editor on his travels frequently appeared in the column. as the s 3.. I t ‘5 . first of a series. “Mr. Garrison In England-~No. 1.” beginning in the July 6. 1833, Liberator. The columns for April 20. 1838. and September 20, 1839. are marked by obituaries of Joseph H. Kimball and Benjamin Lundy respectively. both anti-slavery editors. An extract from the Sixth Annual Report of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. contain- ing an attack on ven Buren. is carried in the March 23. 1838. editorial column. ell And finally. as examples of statements to readers concerning the circulation (expressions of concern and not revelations of statistics} and financial welfare of the Liberator. one may examine “Concerns of the Liberator” in the December 10. 1836. issue: ”To the Friends of The Liber- ator" in the January N. 1839. number; and the December 11. lSMO. essay. ”Our Own Affairs." These last three items. it may be noted. appeared either in the last month of the year. or in the first month. the ending 106 or beginning of a volume being considered appr0priate for appeals to subscribers. The last essay named ends with the words: "Those who are indebted to us are kindly but earnestly requested to make immediate pay- ment. or they will force us to exclaim-v'Save us from our friends. and we will take care of our enemies!" These are but a few examples of the mixed use of the editorial column. a practice of no small importance in delineating the total character of the Libggatgg and its editor. Of page four contents. designated by the running caption. ”Liter— ary. Miscellaneous. and Moral.” a word may be said concerning the ”Miscellaneous” and ”Moral" columns before beginning a discussion of the poetry in the literary department. The ”Miscellaneous" section was just that. including correspondence. editorial comments taken from other news— papers. news. literary criticism. anecdotes. and ”fillers." The subject matter was heavily anti-slavery. and not to be construed as reading of general interest. The ”Moral" department was usually devoted to reli- gious matter. but often included general reform materials. particularly concerning temperance. The column for June 6. 1835. contains an extract from an address ”...to the Unitarian Community.‘I entitled ”Fashionable Religion.” attacking those who go to church merely ”for example's sake. and because religion is an excellent thing for the poor." The "Moral" column for November 19. 1831. includes the preamble and constitution of the City Temperance Society of Boston. The department for June h. 1831. reprints an advertisement on cock-fighting from a Richmond.paper with ed; itorial criticism from the Philadelphianz. Actually the contenfie/of the “floral“ section could easily have appeared under ”niecellaneous.” because 107 the latter department had only a general classification and the former was frequently omitted entirely from the columns of the Liberatgz. The poetry which appeared in the Liberator has already been briefly characterized by a few selections from the juvenile. ladies'. and literu ary departments.3S These selections represent the plaints of slave mothers torn from their children. tearful musings over the death of in- fant slaves. the yearning of noble blacks for their freedom. and por— traits of abominable conditions aboard the slave ships. However. the poetry printed or reprinted in the Liberator had a wider range than suggested by these few examples. In addition to anti-slavery verse. there were poems on peace. temperance. and dueling. Garrison printed non-propagandistic poetry. poetry commemorating individuals or anniver- saries. and on occasion poetic satire. The authors of the poetry appear- ing in the Liberator may be grouped arbitrarily into three divisions: well-known poets. like Whittier; little-known writers. like Elizabeth Margaret Chandler. together with unknown individuals identified either by initials or not at all; and 'illiam Lloyd Garrison. With the excep- tion of those in the first group. the writers contributing verse to the Liberator. or whose verse was reprinted in the Liberator. offered little of literary value. .A glance at three typical literary columns. October 18. October 25. and November 8. 183“. reveals that poems were taken from the London 58cc above. pp. 89-90. 92. 108 Patriot. the Religioug Souvenier.the London Atheneum, the North Ameri- can Review. the Fall River Recorder. the Court Magazine. and the Third Class Reader. Titles include “The Last Night of Slavery.” no author: "Answer to the Captive's Appeal." no author; "To Scotland. on the termi- nation of Slavery throughout the British Dominions. lst August. 183h." by William Sinclair: "Farewell to Mr. J. D. 1.. on his leaving America for EurOpe. in feeble health." written for the Liberator by S. A. M. of Wal- tham; ”Tit for Tat." no author; "Sonnets.” by Sir Egerton Brydges: ”The World's Delusive Figure Flies." by C. C. Pise. D. D.: and ”The Slave Traffic.” by Cowper. If we except the poem by Cowper. a few lines from the poem ITo Scotland..." by Sinclair will give a fair example of the quality of the verse in these three literary columns: Proud land of patriot martyrs!-~of the brave. Whose blood hath dyed the heather and the wave! Land of the mountain torrent! where unfurled Thy flag hath waved defiance to the world: Where Freedom's power Oppression ne'er could quell. And Independence ever loves to dwell.-- Girt by thy cliffs. and guarded by thgesea. The citadel and bulwark of the free! Of 55 poems printed in a middle volume of the Liberator. the 16 is- sues beginning February 22. 1850 and ending June 7. 1850. only a small number are by well-known writers. Of these. eight were written by 'hit- tier. and one each by Browning. Shelley. and Tennyson. Of the eight by Vhittier. five appeared in an all—Whittier column in the March 1. 1850. ii; The Liberator. Nov. 8. 183h. 109 issue; one week earlier. February 22. the Libgggggg had carried an ad- vertisement that ngmg.‘by John G. Whittier. published by B. B. Mussey and Company. Boston. was "just issued.“ Of the 55 poems. 15 were writ- ten "For the Liberator." and the authors of the majority of these iden- tified only by initials. The other he were mostly borrowed from other Journals. Among authors named are J. G. Saxe. E. D. Howard. John Swain. E. R. Place. Bernard Barton. Mary Irving. Arthur P. Morris. Franklin Freeland. C. D. Stuart. and Charles List. These literary columns are of unusual interest because they are included in some issues. beginning with March 15. 1850. when the Lib: 253395 was reacting violently to the March 7 speech of Daniel Webster. wherein the Massachusetts Senator stated that restitution of fugitive slaves was a constitutional obligation upon the North. and accordingly contain material on this bitter controversy. The first anti-Webster poem appeared in the March 29 Liberator. Written by ”A. D.” and en- titled 'Daniel Webster." it ended with the words: ”We trust in traitors never."l After this nearly every issue through June 7 carried attacks on Webster in verse. and several appeared in scattered issues after June 7. The April 5 literary column began with a two-stanza poem. "Take the Chain.“ by "H. N. 8.” Written for the Liberator. the poem was prefaced with these words: 'Daniel Webster. it is said. is to receive a gold chain for his infamous speech on the slave question. March 7. 1850.” The first stanza reads: t It'll! llrnl 1]! III" I lllll' 1. 110 Take thou the chain--though it be of gold. It will serve as an emblem. still. Of the magic power Oppression may hold O”er a boasted freeman's will. That golden chain may a token be. Entwined around they neck. That the, Lion 21; all N9: England's free Will follow the tyrant's beck. Immediately following this poem. introduced by the editorial note. 9“How applicable to Daniel Webster's case2* Garrison reprinted ”The Lost Leader.” by Robert Browning. Whittier's famed ”Ichabod” appeared in the May 2h Liberator. re- printed from the Washington National Era. Two weeks later. in the June 7 issue. a Plymouth correspondent identified as “Old Colony“ presented a poem similar to Whittier's entitled "Ichabod!” and beginning with the words: He sinned when light. a brilliant light. Shone on his path: Now admiration of his might Is changed to wrath! This poem. of a half dozen stanzas. was followed by anonymous lines. ”To Daniel Webster.” and ”To a Fallen Senator." Though he wrote no poems on Webster in the 1850 volume. Garrison occasionally inserted his own verse in the columns of the 912335335. {The first issue of the newspaper. January 1. 1831. cantained three poems. signed "G---n." One of them was a sonnet. a form which appealed to Car- irison; one was a paean to "Universal Emancipation;” and the third was a commemoration entitled "New Year's Day." The sonnet. "To an Infant.” is given here: 111 Fair bud of being.--blossoming like the rose. Leaf upon leaf unfolding to the eye. In fragrance rich. and Spotless purity.-n Which hourly dost some latent charm disclose;-— 0 may the dews and gentle rains of heaven Give to thy root immortal sustenance; So thou in matchless beauty shalt advance. Nor by the storms of life be rudely driven. But if. oh envious Death! this little flower Thou from its tender stem untimely break. An angel shall the drOpping victim take. And so transplant it to a heavenly bower; Where it shall flourish in eternal spring. Nurtured beneath the eye of a paternal King. In mid~year. in the Libeggég§_of June h. 1831. Garrison printed a poem. ”To -—~r. On the return of her Birth-Day. June h. 1831.” which occupied two full columns. stating in a prefatory note that it was written ”dur- ing the author's incarceration in the Baltimore prison last year."'37 The fifteenth stanza (there are 20 in all) tells Garrison's own attitude toward his writing: I pray thee. --~. pardon this digression; A poet's license hath no limits to it; Howbeit. I am no rhymer by profession.-- My limping verse most palpably doth show it; And therefore an I bound to make concession. For daring. in this guise. to feign the poet: This is thy birth-day—-and I took my pen Simply to ask for thee God's benison. {The same issue. on page one. carried another Garrison poem. ”Fourth of sluly.” beginning with the lines: W 37See Garrisons. I. 179. 181. and 18? for sonnets entitled “Freedom f editorial comment under the headlines: "THE MURDER AT lASHINGTONI! Vorcs or THE PRESS./ m MURDER or us mun.” The newspapers quoted ‘were vehement in their denunciation of the affair. the Boston Mornigg_Post stating: "The NATION SHOULD ECHO WITH INDIGNATION at this HORRIBLE OUT- EAGE—-this COLD BLOODED.ASSASSIR1TION." 116 Of lesser frequency were references to cockfighting. cruelty to animals. punishment of sailors. and other examples of man's inhumanity to man and beast. The "Moral" department of June n, 1831. quoted an editorial from the Philadelphian attaching the MSports of the PitM ad» vertised in a Richmond paper. A newsmeditorial item in the Libeggtgg of August 27. 1836. reports the death of a horse forced to trot 26 miles to win a $1000 bet for its owner. an incident described as ”an act of dis- graceful brutality.” The “Miscellaneous" department of August 11. 18h}. included an editorial taken from the Buffalo Courier on "Whipping Ap- prentices in the Navy." On the same page was a prospectus of a new pub- lication. "The Reformer." devoted to ”Temperance. Anti-Slavery. Moral Reform. Peace. Health Reform. Christian Union. Christian Retrenchment. Female Elevation. General Education. Parental Reform. Professional Re- form. National Reform.” On a line below this list were the words. “Pub— lished by a Reform Association.” A week later the Libggatgg ran an edi- torial on reforms taken from the Oberlin. Ohio. Evangelist. and in the same issue. under ”Miscellaneous.” it printed a column and a half en- titled. ”Night Scene in a Poor Man's House.” filled with the pathos of ‘poverty. Nor were the South Sea islanders neglected in the Liberator's columns. A long piece. page one. November 2h. 1832. presents an ”account of the barbarous treatment of a chief of the island of Nukuhiva. by the Captain of a French vessel... extracted from the Rev. Mr. Stewart‘s Jour- nal.” It must be emphasized at this point that the Liberator espoused other reforms. like women's rights. most of which were looked upon by 117 Garrison's detractors as harmful to the cause of abolition. These ele- ments will be given consideration in the discussion of ”Garrisonism” in the next chapter. The distinction between the two chief groups of abo» litionist reformers of the times is this: abolitionists in general fa» vored the movements against intemperance. war. duelling. and the cruel- ties of man to man. as designated above; however. only a portion of the abolitionists followed the tenets of ”Garrisonism." a disagreement which led to much dispute over the preper conduct of the crusade against slav— ery. Before concluding this chapter with an estimate of Garrison as an editor. and of the Liberatgg as an anti-slavery newspaper. consideration must be given to a distinguishing characteristic which aided in making the Liberatgg stand out so boldly among its contemporaries. Mott. as noted. has called it the ”most equuent and effective of all anti-slavery papers.“ Another writer. comparing Garrison and Lnndy. narrows the difm ference between the two editors to one of language: Lundy's words in denunciation of slavery are as strong in many instances as any of Garrison‘s. and sometimes even stronger than any language used by Garrison. The difference seems to lie in the application of the words. Lundy denounced slavery as a system. the slave trade as a business. and.desire for new slave territory as political chicanery; and he plead for the negroes as a race. However bitter and sharp his words. they offered no hold for an indictment for libel....Garrison. on the other hand. not only condemned slavery. but assailed slave traders and slave owners as individuals. and 1% consequence. in 1830. suffered im= prisonment for his rashness. 1 1Adams. 92, 933.. p. 69. Garrison was aware of. and perhaps took pride in. the ”severity” of his language. asserting in the very first issue of the EEE£I§$2£. that he would be ”as harsh as truth. and as uncompromising as justice.“ and that he would neither think. speak. nor write with moderation. On another occasion he wrote: ”My language is exactly such as suits me; it will displease many. I know-~to displease them is my intention.""u2 Compare this statement with one made by Lundy in answering a correspond- ent who recommended the use of mild language: "Every man is entitled to his own Opinion. on this as well as other subjects. but I have always thought. that TEETH is. or Ought to be. so pOpular. and withal so beau- tiful. that it stands in no need of decoration.“h3 That Garrison used his severe language on pro-slavery adherents and apologists is self-evident. One writer states: He assailed the system of slavery with such vituperation that the most humane slave-holders. when Judged by his prejur diced and distorted description. took forms as terrible as the monsters of Greek mythology-~cruel tyrants. murderers. thieves. and criminals.... Denunciation being his chief wea- pon. Garrison became even more fafifitical as subsequent vol- umes of the Liberatgr appeared... JHis hatred of the institution was so intense. and his scorn for those 'who Upheld it so great. that he did not hesitate to vilify and revile £1 slave-holder even after death. In the editorial columns of the Liber— titor of’January in, 1832. Garrison quoted a portion of the will of 11P—Garrisons. I, 225. 227. lalmndy. p. 213. 1mLloyd. pp. 9_i_§_.. p. 52. 119 Stephen Girard. a Southern merchant and philanthrOpist. and provided an introduction in these words: The newspapers are heaping piles of panegyric upon the late Stephen Girard. for his benevolent legacies. We have not the smallest portion of encomium to bestow. It is true. he has disbursed a base amount of preperty. and a consider» able portion of it for laudable objects; but all the merit belongs to the necessity which death imposed upon him.... Notwithstanding he had millions of dollars to disburse. he had neither the humanity nor the principle to break the fet- ters of his poor slaves; but they are to be starved and whipped and defrauded for a terms of years. and then sold 'to promote the health and prosperity of the inhabitants of the city of New Orleans'!!! Execrable conduct! mean and base enough to tarnish all his other charities! In commenting on the insurrection of slaves in Virginia led by Nat Tur» ner. Garrison in his September 3. 1831. editorial called attention to his prediction that slave revolts would occur so long as slavery existed. describing the Turner rebellion as the "first step of the earthquake. which is ultimately to shake down the fabric of Oppression.” For the slave-holders who put down the rebellion he had these words: Yo patriotic hypocrites! ye panegyrists of Frenchmen. Greeks. and.Poles! ye fustian.dec1aimers for liberty! ye valiant sticklers for equal rights amoong yourselves: ye haters of aristocracy! ye assailants of monarchies: ye re- publican nullifiers: ye treasonable disunionists! be dumb! Cast no reproach upon the conduct of the slaves. but'let your lips and cheeks wear the blisters of condemnation: Garrison blamed not only the South for the blood spilled during the in- surrection. but New England and the nation as well: "The crime of cp- pression is national. The south is only the agent in this guilty traffic.” Opponents of the Liberator and its principles held the Opinion that the newspaper itself was at least partially responsible for inciting the Turner rebellion. a responsibility Garrison denied. The Liberator of 120 November 19. 1831. quoted an Eastport manufacturer as saying: ”It is said that a paper called the 'Libgggtgg.’ printed in Boston. which is devoted to the abolition of slavery. has had no small share in excit~ ing the insurrectionary spirit prevalent among the negroes of the south.“ To which Garrison added: "It is said that the moon is made of green cheese: and we have no more doubt that the statement is true. than that the charge brought against the Liberator is correct. 'IT IS SAID.’ is an irresponsible libeller. a shameless bastard, a miserable craven.” Garrison crossed verbal swords with many individuals during his long career as an abolitionist. among them a number of editors who cp— posed emancipation or urged restraint in dealing with slavery. Colonel James Iatson Webb. editor of the anti-abolitionist New York Courier 299 Enquirer?5was frequently the object of Garrisonisn attack. Two months after the Turner affair a Webb editorial referred to the ”hairwbrained [sic] fanatics who are using their best. or rather their worst endeavors to excite disaffection among the slaves of the south...” Garrison quoted the editorial in theflgiberator of November 19. 1831. and replied in kind: There is not. in this country. a more profligate and cor- rupt print than the New—York Courier and Enquirer. It is the favorite of rum drinkers, lechers. pimps. and knaves. There is not a moral and benevolent enterprise which it does not Oppose. ... The piece is a fair specimen of the hypocritical cent which is used by the enemies of the slave pepulation. The Liberator of October 12. 1833- carried news of Garrison’s re- turn from England. and his own report of New York city riots resulting T_n53ee American Journalism. pp. 182-3. and 260-1. for a description of this newspaper and its editor. v 121 from a meeting held to form the New York City Anti—Slavery Society. He took occasion to refute charges of incendiarism made by Webb. and in the process displayed more of the Garrisonian capacity for fiery language: To the charge made against me by the cowardly ruffian who con- ducts the New-York Courier and Enquirer. and by the miserable liar and murderous hypocrite of the Newaork Commercial Adver- tiser. of having slandered my country abroad. I reply that it is false.... I did not hesitate there-*1 have not hesitated hereu-I shall hesitate nowhere to brand this country as hypo- critical and tyrannical in its treatment of the people of col- or. whether bond or free. If this be calumny. I dealt freely in it. as I shall deal. as long as slavery exists among us- or. at least as long as the power of utterance is given to my tongue. The same charge. that Garrison slandered his country while abroad. was made in a handbill circulated in Boston. On the same page on which he replied to Webb. Garrison quoted the handbill and a comment of introduc- tion taken from the Boston Eveninngranscript. which the Liberator prom- ised its ”deserts in due season.” The handbill. signed "A North Ender.m demonstrated the writer's ability to use libelous language. Garrison was described as a "Negro Champion" who had been on a "disgraceful misc sion"to London; readers were urged to administer justice with "plgpty. g£_tar and feathers.” because Garrison had supported a speech made by Daniel O'Connell. The latter was quoted as asserting that Americans were ”'a set of sheep:stealers. man-murderers. and that the blackest corner in Hell's bottomless pit. ogght tg_bg, and would be the future destination gf the Americansi'” Another source of constant vexation to Garrison was the Washington National Intelligencer. whose editors so objected to the incendiary tone of the Liberator that they refused to give Garrison space in their 122 columns to answer their charges. In his editorial of October 8. 1831. Garrison calls the Entelligencer's editors. Joseph Gales. Jr.. and W. W. Seaton. 9'proverbially dull men” who were the "most rancorous assailants” of the Liberator. and quotes their refusal. which referred to “this mad- man's libels upon the National Intelligencer.” 0f Garrison the National Intelligencer said. "Nothing but a straight jacket and bread and water could convince him. For such ravings he is to be pitied rather than condemned.” The next number of the Liberator. October 15. carried a let- ter which Garrison wrote to Gales and Seaton for insertion in the lflifillf gggggg. with additional editorial comment on their refusal to publish it. ”giving as a reason. the severity of the language used in the Liberator.m However. he adds: "They have not hesitated to apply to the Editor of this paper the most scurrilous and malignant terms. and to represent him as a master spirit of depravity-~‘fanatica1.’ 'demented.‘ 'a mercenary miscreant.I 'the instigator of human butchery...W The above quotations serve two purposes: to show the quality of Garrison's journalistic aggressiveness. and to show that other editors were equally able in their use of invective. Examples of name-calling from the Opposition press are conveniently gathered by Garrison in an editorial note cited above on page 99. in which the ”Refuge of Oppression” column is drawn to the attention of the reader because it contains a "large and choice” collection of articles written ”in a spirit of vulgar vituperation and rage. which it is not in the power of Billingsgate to outdo.” These articles referred to an abolitionist's statement in a dis- pute. and represented it. said Garrison. as ”full of 'black calumny.‘ 123 'coldrblooded. venomous slander.’ “Lying. hypocritical sland.'--°a most malignant and baneful attack.‘ 'a gross and treacherous assault.‘ 'a thousand times exploded fiction.‘ 'a compound of falsehood and stupid- ity.‘ etc. etc." In turn. Garrison described some of the Opposing news» papers' articles as “monstrous caricatures.” The Liberator's pages. especially its editorials and its I"Refuge of Oppression“ column. provide a large store of similar and equally explosive epithets. used by Garri— son in attacks and counter-attacks upon the enemies of the Liberator. who frequently used similar denunciatory language. It is important to note here that the American press during the period of anti—slavery agitation generally indulged in editorial vilifi— cation marked by scurrilous phraseology. This was the press which Charles Dickens. after visiting the United States in lane. characterized in his Amprican Notes as having *ribald slander for its only stock in trade."1+6 This was the press against which James Fenimore Cooper. during the years 1837-18h5. brought fourteen private libel suits and two pro- secutions for criminal libel. This period in the history of American journalism was one in which censorship was effected by "cudgel and horse— whip.” one in which duels and street-fights between editors were not un- common. one in which marksmanship was sometimes more important than pen- manship. During the period 1833-1860. for example. the editors of the editors of the Vicksburg Sentinel “engaged in four duels and endless *6 Quoted in American Journalism. p. 310. 1.214 single-combats on the streets; four of its editors were killed. one drowned himself. one was imprisoned. and others were wounded.” The ed- itorial vocabulary of James Gordon Bennett. publisher of the New York EEEElQ- was so violent that fellow editors in lShO carried out a "moral war" against him. calling him such names as "obscene vagabond.""polluted wretch." and Nvenomous reptile." and describing his newspaper as a a”ri— bald vehicleflafflicted with ”moral leprosy." Horace Greeley knew the words toe. and on one occasion addressed William Cullen Bryant. Of the New York Evening Egg}, in this fashion: ”You lie. you villain: you sin- fully. wickedly. basely lielnh7Garrison's language. however intemperate it may now seem. was hardly more so than was customary in the journalism of his day. The frequent appearance in the Liberator of the views of Garrison’s Opponents reflect Garrison's policy of printing both sides of the ques- tion at issue. a policy in which he took some pride. The ”Refuge of Op- pression” column to some extent represented one aspect of this policy. although one must remember that the pieces selected for this department were chosen to expose the attitudes of those in favor of slavery. so that the anti-slavery reader could clearly see the self-evident wickedness of their arguments. Nevertheless. these arguments. representing the posi- tion of the South usually took in defense Of its "peculiar” institution. did appear in the Liberator for consideration by its readers. Occasionally. h 7American Journalism. pp. 235-7. 308-10. 125 in printing an Opposition article, Garrison directed the attention of his subscribers to his policy of ”fair play.” In the numbers of May P6. June 9. and June 16. he published an article from the April issue of the New-gpgland Magazine supporting the views of the American Colonization Society. whose activities Garrison bitterly Opposed. The first article was displayed prominently on page one of the Liberator. The concluding piece carried an introductory note by Garrison that this was included "In conformity with our determination to treat all parties with candor and to give our Opponents a fair choice to be heard..." However. he hastily added: "We shall however take an early opportunity to expose the extreme fallacy of the arguments." His policy of fairness to all is accented in a letter signed "S” under "Communications” in the December 27. 1839.‘£iggratgr. in which the writer stated in part: ”...knowing as I do that Garrison will give more space to an opposer in the Liberator. than he would occupy himself.“ iews of the opposition were not all that Garrison printed: he did not hesitate to give space to communica- tions containing threats to his personal safety. as attested above by the "tar and feathers" handbill. In the number for October 22. 1331. an item entitled ”SHORT METRE? calls attention to a "laconic epistle” from Lowell which ”afflicts us less than the postage--six cents.” These words followed: 'Sir - If you persist in publishing your infamous Liberator one month longer. assassination awaits you. Think not that you can avoid the blow; as poison will accomplish. what the dagger may fail of effecting. REVENGE3! ‘ 'I126 Garrison’s willingness to supply pro~slavery arguments in addition to and for comparison with his own anti-slavery views. whether or not the former were politely stated or acrimonious. helped to establish the read- ability of the Liberatgr. The praise heaped upon it by its friends. and the abuse showered upon it by its enemies. aided in convincing the im~ partial observer that the Liperato£_was not a dull paper. However. it could have been a better newspaper if Garrison had been more careful of his selection and display of contents. A summary of Garrison‘s deficiencies in making up the EEEEZQEQE is provided in a letter addressed to him by Edmund Quincy.1+8 who sometimes edited the newspaper during the former‘s absences. Quincy called Garrison his "dear friend." to assure him that the criticism was well—intended. but came quickly to the point: ”...thg EEESZEEQELEEE faults." He stated that the paper bore marks of haste and carelessness in makeup. and that "matter seems to be hastily selected and put in higgledyepiggleqX, without any very apparent reason why it should be in at all. or why it should be in the place where it is.” This happened. Quincy said. because the editor selected articles with the intention of providing them with editorial comment. but in haste omitted the comment. Often things were left at loose ends. in Quincy's Opinion. and important matters broken off in the middle. so that each issue was not a complete unit in itself} the paper frequently contained expressions like "more next week.” yet the ”more" did not materialize. Quincy found R 718 - Garrisons. III, sh-7. The letter is dated Nov. 6. 18h}. 127 it unpleasant to hear the Liberator compared unfavorably with Leavitt's Emancipator. since he believed Garrison had as much editorial talent as Leavitt. but was ”only wanting some of his (pardon me} industry. appli- 1+9 cation. and method.” Makeup was not the only element Quincy discussed. Garrison's care— lessness in conducting his editorial department called for attention: Then we complain that your editorials are too often want- ing. or else such. from apparent haste. as those who love your fame cannot wish to see; that important topics. which you feel to be such. are too often either entirely passed over or very cursorily treated. and important moments... neglected. Now we know that you.have talent enough and to spare to write editorials. such as no other editor can; that you have the most ample materials for the best of selections. and emi- nent tact and sagacity for judging what is timely; and. more— over. that you have abundance of time for doing all this. if you would but have a little method in your madness. Quincy indicated a suspicion that Garrison's friends had been ”disaf— fected by the neglect of their communications." but said this was a mat- ter of conjecture. Garrison. said Quincy. might make the Liberator a ”more powerful and useful instrumentality than it is.” by additional ex- ertions on his part. To Quincy's criticisms one might add the words of a modern histor- ian, who describes the legrator as “...the most carelessly edited. though incomparably the most brilliantly written” of all anti-slavery newspapers. and its editor as a "brilliant and provocative" journalist 50 who was “equipped by taste and temperament for free-lance Journalism.” 1. 9For a more sympathetic analysis of Garrison's working habits. sam- ples of his handwriting. etc.. see Garrisons. IV. 308-11. 5°Gilbert Hobbs Barnes. The Antislavery Impulse 1830-18h14 (New York: ’ Appleton-Century. 1933). pp. 58. 199. 128 From the foregoing discussion of Garrison's journalistic training and motives. and of the Liberator's contents and arrangement under his editorial direction. it is possible to draw a number of conclusions. These are necessarily limited pending presentation of significant develv Opments in the chapters to follow. First of all. despite what may be considered a refinement in his conversion of the old "Slavery Record“ column to the ”Refuge of'Oppression” Garrison revealed no originality in his editing. He found a pattern established in Lundy's QEEXEE‘EZ Universal_Emancipation. and carried on from there. As for newswriting. —-that is. the journalistic presentation of newsworthy facts to the reader—-Garrison found contemporary practices peculiarly suited to his subject and objectives and made no attempt to change or improve on them. Ihat better place to denounce slavery than among the very facts of slav- ery? Nor can one imagine Garrison restricting his Opinions to the edi~ torial column; his contemporaries did likewise, and readers eXpected nothing different. For all his seven years as an apprentice. and for all his subsequent training as editor of non-reform newspapers. Garrison was a careless and hasty composer. one whose "higgledybpiggledy” arrangement of news would perhaps have made his Old master-printer blush with shame. However. the early training had its effect: the Liberator never missed an issue in 35 years of publication; it was neatly printed and free of typographical errors. More significant. though. is the fact that the Liberator was 235 a.model of good makeup and editing, as we have seen by Quincy's criticisms. nor did it compare favorably with the Emancipator. edited in New York and 129 later in Boston by Leavitt. a former minister. There is no basis for distinction in the Liberator's adherence to the cause of temperance. the promotion of peace. or crusades against duelling. capital punishment. and other evils in the reformer's lexicon. Other anti-slavery Journals did likewise. and equally as well. As for the quality of the anti-slav- ery propaganda in the EEEEEEEEIv its varieties and objectives. Garrisonfis editing contributed nothing particularly new--the process of selecting and reprinting news was well established. and the communications of Garrison's contributors were no better nor worse than those of his pre— decessors. That much of his material was borrowed merely shows that other publications printed it first. Garrison's language. bitter and violent as it was. was not unusual for the times. since editorial billingsgate was a characteristic of his era. However. Garrison's writing was more than caustic. His was a brilliant. persistent attack on the institution of slavery and those who upheld it. whether Southerners or Northerners. The unique characteristic of the Liberator was. in the final analysis. Garrison's personal capacity for a sustained Journalistic offensive against an institution growing increasingly sensitive to criticism. 130 CHAPTER IV GARRISONISM ANDTTHE GARRISONIAN AXIS The preceding chapter is a study of a newspaper and its editor. pro» viding a general view of the personalities both of the periodical and of the man who selected and arranged its contents. However. the portrait is incomplete without analysis of the guiding principles which distinguish Garrison's ideas and methods of achieving the desired end. abolition, from those of others. The term "Garrisonism" was used by his Opponents as an epithet of approbrium,1 but the phrase did represent Garrison's special brand of anti-slavery activity. many-sided as it was. and is used here simply as a collective term. An effort will be made in this chapter to define Garrisonism. and to describe the anti-slavery newspapers which followed Garrison's leadership. Unfortunately. not all of these news- papers could be examined at first hand; thus the chapter is necessarily limited in scope. l Barnes. Q. §_i_t_.. p. 97. 131 Is- The Liberator” s Evironment Essential to an understnading of Garrison's special views as they were reflected in the Liberator, is an understanding of the arrangements under which the 9,132,933.29“? was published. and of the historical develop» ments in the anti-slavery crusade which affected its policies. When the first issue of the Liberator appeared. it bore the names of William Lloyd Garrison and Isaac Knapp as publishers. with Garrison as editor and Stephen Foster as printer. Foster. the foreman of the Printing-office of the Christian Lminer at Merchants' Hall. was a ledger at the home of Rev. William Collier. as were Garrison and Knapp. Knapp. a practical printer. had been a friend of Garrison's from the Newburyport days when both were apprentices. After the third issue. Foster's name was withdrawn. Financial difficulties constantly harassed the two pub- lishers. and in April. 183M, their circular. "SHALL THE Hemmer: DIE?" revealed an annual deficit of $1700. At this time Garrison's salary as editor was $700. while subscriptions to the Liberator were $78 per year. A PrOposal to get financial assistance from the New England Anti—Slavery 2 SOCiety did not succeed. The Liberator of January 2. 1836. was the last to carry the names of Garrison and Knapp as publishers; the following number carried the name or Knapp as publisher. and Garrison as editor. An editorial note later in the year. November 26th. explained that Knapp had agreed to assume the \w p Garrisons. 1. 218-20. h3?—3. expenses of publication and to pay Garrison a salary of $800. The note stated, that subscribers were $1,000 in arrears on " this year'sW account; that agents were to forward money owing to the Liberator; and that a 11 st of delinquent subscribers would be printed at the end of the year-- a threat not carried out. Two weeks later. December 10th, an editorial entitled ”CONCERNS OF THE LIBERATOR.” gave reasons “why we both need and solicit augmentation of patronage,“ and reported that "at no period. since the commencement of our paper. has its income been equal to its necessary expenditures." There were patrons who never paid, and "thou-— sands of dollars“ were due. The'Liberatol's chief difficulties were three. in Garrison's view. First. through the instrumentality of the Lflgtgg the cause of imme- diate emancipation was advanced and public sentiment changed; other anti~ Slavery newspapers, however. immediately sprang into existence. absorb— ing ”a large portion of patronage which would otherwise have been ex— tended to the Liberator...” The second difficulty was due to the violent attacks made on the magazine for its forthright expression of anti-slavery Views. Garrison's explanation of this. combining as it does the Libera— LEE'B principles. comment on the reaction to the vehemence of its at— tack, and a comparison with other anti-slavery newspapers. is worth re— Drinting in full: The Liberator. having first begun the conflict with those twin-monsters. SLAVERY AND COLONIZA‘I‘ION. naturally excited the COncocted venom of every human reptile in the land. and caused a prodigious uproar against it. among professor and profane. which in many instances so prejudiced the minds of new abolition Converts. that they stood aloof from giving the paper a prompt 81lpport. But the other anti-slavery newspapers. not being thus 135 signally odious, (although identical in spirit and in princi- ple with ours.) had. clearly an advantage over us, by no means detrimental to the cause in general. but only to the Libera— tor in particular. The third reason for the Eiberatgr's difficulties underscored its inde— pendent position: It was not assisted financially by any anti-slavery society. The editorial pointed out that 2136.: Emanciiaator was the organ of the American Anti—Slavery Society; 33.12 3:13:51 of 332533 was the organ of the New-York State Anti—Slavery Society: and 2:13 511311.51 of; 3.1329(le published at Concord. New Hampshire. " {and worthy of the most extensive patronage.)" had a fund pledged. to insure publication. He had no desire to draw a Single subscriber from these other publications. Ga'rrison stated. "Our Object is simply to show. that our painful liabilities have not been lessened by the prodigious‘growth of our glorious cause, and that we have 5Some claim for a more extended support." The editorial ended with this Pa Pagraph : The editor is conscious. that. for some time past. the Liberator has deteriorated both in interest and ability. His apology is. ill-health. protracted with more or less severity. which has unfitted him for mental and phvsical effort. Should he fully regain his health. he trusts that he shall be enabled to infuse new spirit into his columns. and to make the paper more worthy of public patronage. Support from an organization did come briefly in 1837, when the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society assumed financial responsibility for the Liberator. retaining Knapp as its printer. At the same time. Garri- son wrote (February 14. 1837) to a friend. explaining: "The paper. how- ever. is apt to be the organ of our Society. nor is anybody to control my Pen.“ This arrangement, which proved unsatisfactory to the Society be- Cause of Garrison‘s increasing emphasis in the Liberator upon matters 1314 relating to his "Garrisonism." lasted. only to the end of the year. when Knapp resumed the responsibilities of publisher. The Liberator of Jan- nary h. 1839, carried an editorial addressed ”TO THE FRIENDS OF THE LIBv ERA'I‘OR” and signed by Francis Jackson. Edmund Quincy. and William Eas— eett. all of whom were active in Boston reform circles. in which they announced that they were to assume financial responsibility of the paper during that year. Oliver Joh neon. who frequently edited the liberatcr hr- -' in Garrison's absence. was to be general agent for the paper. Knapp re— main ed as publisher, but through 1839 only.3 The prospectus for Volume 10. printed December 20. 1339. added two nmes to the finance committee. Ellis Gray Lorine: and Samuel Philbrick. Two weeks later, January 3. 197140. the giberatg‘r announced that Knapp's interest in the paper was transferred to Garrison, who was to be both editor and publisher, with the committee of five to handle financial matters. In the same issue an editorial signed by the committee announced. that the Liberator was "un— controlled by sect, untramnelled by party. unseduced by the blandishments 01‘ the few. unterrified by the violence of the many.“ and thus would be Bus tained in its "independent career.” This arrangement was maintained to the end of the paper's existence in 1865. Knapp was paid $175 for his interest in the Liberator and its sub- scription list. but later distributed a circular (December 6. 18141.) Claiming preperty rights in the 143935535. which he asserted was no longer a "free—discussion paper.” but one that had departed from its \. Garrisons. II. 122. 199. 256—7. 331. 135 original character. On January 8. ISHP. he published a single issue of Knapp;§_Liber§t2£ and then retired from the scene. Meanwhile. the size and circulation of the LlEEIEEQI increased. From four columns‘in volumes one and two. it was expanded to five col~ umns at the beginning of the third volume. and to six with the issue of March M. 1837. its printed page measuring about 16 by 23 inches. This size was retained to the end. By midsummer of 1837 circulation of the Liberator had climbed to about 3.000. B. Garrisonism The distinguishing characteristics of the methods and viewpoints which set Garrison and his followers apart from other groups of anti- slavery prOpagandists have been identified by various names. One writer. in classifying the larger groups of propagandists as philCSOphical. po~ litical. and radical schools. places Garrison as leader of the radical element in the East. and Theodore Weld of the Lane Seminary group. as leader of the Radicals in the West.6 Another. emphasizing Garrison's controversy with religious groups. refers to the "novel heresies" which ....-ni_.- Garrisons. II. 331-2. and III. 37-h2. 5 _Ibid.. I. 30h, and II. 123. 6 Lloyd. 22, 935,. p. 59. 136 completed his "alienation from orthodoxy.”7 His friend Johnson, writing of Garrison's views. placed the word "heresies" in quotation marks.8 An unfriendly writer refers to Garrisonian ideas as ”vagaries," and quotes the German historian. Von Holst. who referred to Garrison as the leader of ”the small extreme wing.”9 These citations serve to indicate some of the attitudes toward Garrison's beliefs and position in the movement. A more detailed esamination of Garrisonism is pertinent, not only because Garrison was a central figure of the abolitionist crusade. but because the sister-papers of the £3333§£93_may be appraised by the degree of acceptance of its policies. The "heresies” and "vagaries“ encompassed by the term "Garrisonisrr.m were not distinctive elements in the editorial policy of the EZEEEEEEE during its first half dozen years. It has been shown that peace and temperance had from the beginning shared places with abolition in Gar~ rison's early reform efforts. All three, of course, had numerous cham» pions. Reformers may have found Garrison's language harsh, but they could often agree in principle with the Liberator. Garrison's insistence on immediatism, as opposed to gradualism, was, on the other hand, the cause of much debate in abolitionist circles. Likewise, his attack on the American Colonization Society. published in 1832 as Thoughts on 7Barnes. 92, 923,. p. 93. 893. cit.. p. 271. 9Birney. 22, g$£.. pp. 269, 281, 31h. 137 10 African Colonizatiop, alienated the members of this powerful group and set Garrison apart from those who believed colonization was the solution to a growing social problem. the place of the free Negro in society. ’is views on peace. temperance, immediatism. and anti-colonization, ag- gravated by his violence of expression. all played a part in the crea- tion of Garrisonism. More specifically, Garrisonism consisted of the following: anti~ Sabbatarianism, non-resistance. universal emancipation, and no-hunan gov- ernment. These politico-religious heresies stem in turn from Garrison's unorthodoxy and/or perfectionism. for Garrison was a perfectionist.11 Garrison, who was ”Orthodox at first by inheritance and through the influence of his noble Baptist mother," and ”a very strict Sabbatarian in early life,”12 in 1836 Opened a controversy over proper definition of the Sabbath by criticizing a speech made by the Rev. Lyman Beecher, head of the Lane Seminary. Shortly afterwards. August 21, 1836, he wrote to a friend. maintaining ”that, under the gospel dispensation. there is no such thing as a 'holy day.‘ but that all our time ought to be sanctified by works of righteousness and in well-doing,” and in the 10 See Garrisons. I, 290-30h. The official publication of the Amer- ican Colonization Society was The African Repositoryi published monthly from Hashington, 1826-1892. Vol. 1-7 in the nearly complete Oberlin Li- brary collection are those used by Garrison in his investigations for his booklet, and bear his autograph on the flyleaf, and his marginal notations. 11See above. Chap. 1, pp. 5—6. 12Johnson. 22. cit.. p. 363. Eibezgtgr asserted that he was ”decidedly Of Opinion that every attempt which is made to enforce its observance, as a peculiarly 'holy day,‘ by pains and penalties, whether civil or ecclesiastical, is positive tyran— ny...” This heresy, augmented by other Garrisonian "isms," intensi~ fied the enmity between Garrison and the Massachusetts clergy, and cul» minated in a series of ”clerical appeals" condemning Garrison in particu- lar and abolitionist methods in general. Garrison retaliated with open war against organized religion.1h His unorthodoxy. despite the fact that his views were largely his alone, invoked clerical charges that all abolitionists were infidels. Ministers in increasing numbers denied the use Of their churches to anti-slavery agents, which for Garrison was reason enough to leave the church. As the rift between religion and re- form grew, the anti—slavery movement weakened: Believing that unless the churches officially adopted an Openly abolitionist stand they were actually aiding slavery, Garrison attacked in turn each denomination which failed to do so, and eventually concluded that organized churches were useless and sinful.‘ Garrisonian 'come~outerism' (secession from all churches refusing to sanction abolitionism or to take an antislavery stand) gained some adherents among leaders of the abolition move- ment and seriously weakened it.l 13 Garrisons. 11, 110-12. 1h For details Of the clerical appeals and Garrison's religious views. see Garrisons. II, 131-h0; Johnson. _p, 231.. pp. 272-81, 363-71; and Barnes, 22, git., pp. 88-99. 1 5Russel B. Nye, Eettered Freedom (East Lansing: Michigan State Col- lege Press, 19h9), pp. 13-lh. 139 An immediate effect of the dispute was the termnmtion of the ar- rangement by which the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society gave finan- cial aid to the Liberator after the members Of the Society objected to Garrison's use of the newspaper to promote his unorthodox views. Gar- rison defended himself in an editorial written toward the end of 1837, the only year the paper was supported by the organization: We have had no ulterior views to promote under the guise Of abolition, nor have we covertly intended to alter the char— acter and object of the Liberator; and we should deserve to be universally despised. if we had taken advantage of any ar- rangement with the State Society to circulate our views on other subjects besides slavery, in any way Justly implica- ting the Sogiety or making any other person responsible but Ourselves.1 In the same editorial he defended the Liberator against the accusations of the l"clerical appellants.” and included a rebuke against the Egg England Spectator. for its attempt to use Garrison's views on the Sab- bath to "Spread disaffection through the anti-slavery ranks and suppress the Liberator...” The dispute over anti—Sabbatarianism continued within abolitionist ranks, and eventually resulted in Garrison's questioning orthodox Con~ gregational and Presbyterian views of the Bible. In 18h8 Garrison and his friends held an Anti-Sabbath Convention. Five years later, in 1853, he participated in the Hartford Bible Convention, and gave public notice of his “abandonment Of the common view of the inspiration of the Scrip- tures in which he had been bred." The revolt from orthodoxy was complete; 16 Reprinted in The Friend 2; Egg, Nov. 15, 1837. 11m henceforth charges against him and his followers of ”infidelity” in-‘ creased in intensity.17 Garrison's views on American government. the United States Consti- tution, and participation in practical politics, arose from his per- fectionism. In March, 1837, three years after his conversion to the perfectionist doctrines of Finney endothers, he met John Humphrey Noyes, the lay leader of the perfectionist movement. A few days later Noyes outlined his principles in a letter tO Garrison. stating that he had renounced all allegiance to the government of the United States, and that he asserted ”the title of Jesus Christ to the throne of the world.” The American government was a "swaggering libertine, trampling on the Bible--its own Constitution--its treaties with the Indians--the peti- tions of its citizens: with one hand.whipping a negro tied to a liber- tywpole. and with the other dashing an emaciated Indian to the ground." Other governments were equally evil, and one who participated in them partook of evil. “Every person who is. in the usual sense of the ex- pression. a citizen of the UnitedStates. 143.. a voter, politician. etc.. is at once a slave and a slaveholder-—in other words, a subject and a ruler in a slaveholding government.” However, renouncing the evil Of government was not enough; it was necessary to put an end to Oppression 17 See Garrisons. III. 218—27, 378. An editorial entitled ”’Garri- sonism'—-Infidelity.:'” in the Sept. 9. 18h2,LiberatOr is addressed to the editor of Zion's Herald. Garrison wrote that his infidelity con- sisted ”solely in appealing to the SCRIPTURES OF THE OLD AND NE! TESTAMENTS.” lhl by declaring war on it. Noyes gave seven reasons to justify his stand. based on the belief that the territory of the UniteflStates belonged to God and was promised to Jesus Christ and his followers; therefore he was moved to ”nominate Jesus Christ for the Presidency. not only of the United States, but Of the world.” Noyes' statement was followed by a pointed question: "Is it not high time for abolitionists tO abandon a government whose President has declared war Upon them?” In Noyes' Opin- ion, the antimalavery campaign could succeed only by making it "tribu- tary to Holiness.” and Garrison was counseled to set his face "Egggzd perfect holiness.”18 The effect of Noyes” philosOphy of nO-government was echoed in the Liberator Of July 28, 1837, when Garrison, reporting his own Fourth of July address before the Anti»Slavery Society of Providence, quoted a portion of Noyes' letter. In addition. he enumerated all the factors underlying the lack Of unity in the anti-slavery crusade. emphasizing the view that church and state had united in support of slavery. Be- cause the two institutions. church and state. were currupt. he predicted that the church (being the more corrupt) would first be dashed to pieces, and that the political dismemberment Of the Union would follow.19 18 Garrisons. II, 1h5-8. The letter is dated March 22, 1837. 19 Garrisons. II. 151-2. 1M2 The new trend in the Liberator's policy did not go unnoticed by Garrison's friends. Eliznr Wright, Jr., wrote that he wished Garrison would conduct the Liberator nin the singleness of purpose of its first years, without travelling off from the ground of our true, noble, heart- stirring Declaration of Sentiments... But you have seen fit to introduce sentiments on government and religious perfection~~and they have pro- duced the effect which was to have been expected.” Wright, who looked upon Garrison's new sentiments as "downright fanaticism,” expressed the fear, in a letter to Amos Phelps, that Garrison had undone his work a- gainst slavery; Garrison's plan ”of rescuing the slave by the destruc— tion of human laws is fatally conflictive with ours...." he wrote, ”still, if he would run up his perfection flag, so that abolitionists might see what they are driving at, shouting for him, he would not do us 20 much hurt.” Whittier, too, was dismayed at the trend of the Libera- tor.21 The policies which were to guide the Liberator were clearly ex- pressed in the prospectus for volume eight. The newspaper, Garrison as= serted, would discuss ”other tOpics which, in our Opinion, are intimately connected with the great doctrine of inalienable human rights,” in addi— tion to the abolition of slavery, ”still...the grand object of our labors...” 20 Garrisons. II, 168, 1693. See also 178-81. For the Declaration of Sentiments of the American Anti-Slavery Society. see Ibid.. I, HOS-1?. 21. , Ibid.. II, 177. 1113 To the old motto, "QUE COUNTRY IS THE WORLDe-OUR CCUNTRYMEN ARE ALL MANKIND," he would add mUNIVERSAL EMANCIPfiTlfifi...tie emancipation of our whole race from the dominion of man.” Co-equal with the cause of abolition, Garrison placed "the cause of PEACE," adding that Quaker non- resistance was not sufficient because it did not go far enough. Non» resistance, he believed should be applicable not only on the national but on the individual level. Echoing Noyes, he adepted the doctrine that ”the kingdoms of this world are to become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ," and that present national-governments were all ”Anti~Christ,“ they were ”human governments.... to be viewed as judicial punishments," because they were based on the principle of violence and maintained by armies and navies. Finally, he wrote: "As our object is Enizersal emancipation,-—to redeem woman as well as man from a servile '- to an equal condition,-»we shall go for the RIGHTS OF WOMAN to their 22 utmost extent.” The new "rights of woman? policy was apparent at once in the pages of the Liberatgr. The issue of January 5, 1838, which carried the pros- pectus, replaced its miscellaneous heading on page four with ”EQUAL RIGHTS," and under this heading reproduced the first and second of a series of letters by Sarah M.'Grimke, a women's rights advocate, on e- quality of the sexes. The series continued through the issue of Feb- ruary 16, when the fifteenth and final letter, ”Man Equally Guilty with 22 The Igberator, Jan. 5, 1838. The prospectus was also printed in the issue of Dec. 15, 1837. Portions are reprinted in Garrisons. II. 199'20ue 11.04 Woman in the Fall,“ was printed. The "Equal Rights” heading remained through the printing of the last letter, when the department reverted to the use of "Miscellaneous.“ “Political," or “Doctrinal" headings. The series was made available to the public in pamphlet form. An ad— vertisement entitled ”The Province of Woman" appeared in the January 1? Libgrgtgg announcing publication of "Letters on the Equality of the Sexes, and the Condition of Woman. Addressed to Mary S. Parker, Presi- dent of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society, by S. M. Grimke.” Single copies were 25¢. In the same issue there appeared a column-long editor- ial by Garrison entitled "Rights of Woman" in which he reported a Boston Lyceum debate on the question ”whether it would be better for society if equal civil rights and duties were enjoyed by women as well as men.... It was almost unanimously decided against the women-«of course; although, if we can appreciate a simple truth and sound logic, in our Opinion those who sustained the affirmative (Messrs. Amasa Walker and J. A. Belles) were victorious in every point of view.” Additional evidence of the change in editorial policy was the re~ placing of the title-plate at the tsp of page one with a new engraving, which first appeared March 2, 1838. The new engraving consisted Cf two panels, eadh measuring slightly more than four inches in width. and a- bout two and one-half inches in depth. The words. "THE LIBERATOR,” were superimposed across the bottom of the two panels. The left panel was similar to the original title-plate, showing the‘whipping post before the capital in the background, and a slave auction in the foreground. However, the slave auction was being held on “FREEDOM ST." In the right ‘u’lllll ll-‘ l.'lll|ll.li cltl‘ll ‘..‘|' I ll' ll.¢l|l.ll.s| All. It'll ill. 1?;5 panel a series Of happy scenes revealed the result of "EMANCIPATION," the word being carried in the upper left portion Of the picture over a con- tented family grouped at the foot of a tree. At right were depicted_ Negroes busy at work, and at far right the rising sun shone over a group with uplifted arms. The new title plate appeared in the Egbgggtgg'until May 31, 1850, when it was replaced by a much larger one with the same general theme. 1 Nor did Garrison allow the peace crusade to remain in the background. On May 30, 1838, at a Boston meeting of ”friends Of peace," a committee of five Garrisonian abolitionists selected September 18 as the Opening date of a convention to discuss the best measures for its promotion. One result Of the convention was the formation of the ”New England Non- Resistance Society," Of which Garrison was corresponding secretary. The ”Declaration of Sentiments” adopted by the Peace Convention again echoed the perfectionist creed: We cannot acknowledge allegiance to any human government; neither can we Oppose any such government by a resort to physi- cal force. We recognize but one KING and LAWGIVER, one JUDGE and RULER Of mankind.... As every human government is upheld by physical strength, and its laws are enforced virtually at the point of the bay- Onet, we cannot hold any Office which imposes upon its incum— bent the Obligation to compel men to do right, on pain Of im- prisonment or death. We therefore voluntarily exclude our- selves from every legislative and Judicial body, and repudiate all human policies, worldly honors, and stations of authority. If :3 cannot occupy a seat in the legislature or on the bench, neither can we elect others to act as our substitutes in any such capacity. 1h6 In the new order there would be I"'no distinction of rank, or division of caste, or inequality of sex." Members, "filled with the spirit of CHRIST,“ would adhere to the doctrine of non—resistance. They would at- tain their ends by lecturing, circulating tracts and publications, form- ing societies, and petitioning the state and federal governments for ?5 peace legislation. "until at least half of the fourth page was regularly devoted to it." Garrison, anticipating complaints, assured his colored readers that the cause of slavery was not to be abandoned, though white supporters pro- tested. and many subscribers were lost. Because of a growing fear that the Liberator would become the organ of the Non-Resistance Society, a friend, Miss Anne Warren Weston, wrote to Garrison on November ll, 1838, suggesting a special periodical devoted to the non-resistance cause. The pressure was taken off the Liberator with the issuance of the first number of the Non-Resistant in January, 1839. a small folio of four columns to the page published semi-monthly. However, columns were the same width as those in the Liberator, to permit interchangeability of matter. The editorial committee consisted of Edmund Quincy, Maria V. Chapman, and Garrison. The publication's motto was ”Resist Not Evil.-— Jesus Christ.” The publication expired with the issue of June 29. 18h?, 2 3Garrisons, II. 2?2-3, 229. The ”Declaration of Sentiments"I is reprinted on pp. 230-“. EhGarrisons. IX, 23s. 2&0—2. 1‘47 though the New England Non-Resistance Society maintained Operations un- tio its decease in 18h9. However. it was not without a publication during all of its later years. On January 1, 18h8,the HBE:§2§1§£§E£.§BQ EZEEELEEl.§§El§£lEEJ published by Adin Ballou, became the official organ 25 of the Society, and ran for one year. Although he was an associate editor of the Ngn~Resistant, Garrison was not particularly active in the Society or in the work of publica- tion. In lghl, commenting on his absorption in the anti-slavery move— ment, he stated he was yet to deliver his first public lecture on the Church, the Sabbath, or even on non—resistance, adding: ”We have been nominally one of the editors of the Non-Resistant for a period of two and a half years: and, during that time, we have not devoted hglf a day to the writing of editorial matter for its pages.”26 One of the Non- Resistance Society's most active members was Henry C. Wright, who was the sole missionary kept in the field. His journey to England, author- ized at the fourth annual meeting of the Society in September, lShl, for the purpose of promotinthhe causes of peace, abolition. temperance, chastity and Christianity,’ was one of the reasons for the lapse of the Non-Resistant.27His initials, "H. C. W.” appeared frequently under 25Garrisons. II, 326; III. 79-80, NIB. With respect to the inter- changeability of matter, it may be noted that the Liberator frequently carried a page four column under the heading “NON-RESISTANCE,” which took the place of or adjoined the miscellaneous column. 26 , Garrisons. III, lo. 27Ibid.. 11. 326: III, 80. Wright, a close friend of Garrison’s, was also agent for the Garrison-dominated.Massachusetts Anti-Slavery So— ciety. communications to the Liberatgg. In the August P3, 1839, EEEEIEEQE he asserted that the principles of non-resistance could not he carried out in a world filled with dishonesty, cheating, and drunkenness. and added that non-resistance aims to change this state of violence, anarchy and blood... into a state of love, and peace and safety... Non—resistance calls man out of this state, and enthrones in him Christ as King of kings, and Lord of Lords. The Libeggtg£_of June 7. 1839, in reporting a meeting Of the paper's friends to discuss policy. quoted a statement made by Wright in defence of charges that the LEEEIEIQI was guilty of infidelity; What constitutes infidelity? If to quote the Bible almost every other sentence-~if to fashion a man's style of writ- ing after the Biblem-if to refer to the Bible perpetually. constitutes infidelity, then is William Lloyd Garrison an infidel, and the Liberator an infidel paper. Another of his communications, written from Concord, June h, l8hl, de- scribed the American clergy as "a brotherhood of thieves,” basing this assertion on the premises that American slavery was a system of theft, that the religion of the country sustained the theft, and that the cler- gy'sustained the religion. Summarizing previous attacks on the churches, he wrote: "We have held up the American clergy, as a body, as the dead- liest enemies of the 'holy and heaven-appointed' institution of marriage, of the bible, the weekly sabbath, the christian church and ministry. and of revivals of true religion...”28 Another mainstay of the non-resistance movement was Edmund Quincy, who was a.member of the Liberator's finance committee and who frequently aglhg Liberator, June 18. 18Ml. 11;; assumed editorial duties in the absence of Garrison. Reporting for duty after a five—months" absence. Garrison wrote a long editorial on Quincy in the January 17, lShS, EEEEZEEQE' thanking him for assuming the editor— ial chair during his recent illness and during his absences when he toured western New York in the fall of lSDE, visited England in lSMS, and toured Ohio in 18h6. Quincy's reputation in antimalavery circles eventually matched Garrison's, who wrote: Perhaps there is no one—~I will not except myself3--so virulently hated and so vulgarly assailed by the betrayers of the anti~slavery enterprise, as EDMUND QUINCY. They per— ceive in him the most thorough detestation of knavery-—an absolute regard for integrity of character--a sagacity, a- mounting to intuition, in the detection of hypocrisy and cant—~a spirit that can neither be flattered nor intimidated into a compromise of principle—-an ability and willingness to unmask imposture, such as few in this age possess-~and a sublime elevation of soul above that fear, ay, and that favor of man, 'which bringeth a snare.‘ Hence their torment at his presence. Of Quincy's part in the non-resistance movement, Garrison wrote: The formation of the Non-Resistance Society almost entirely ranoved the curse from the Anti-Slavery movement. It ex- cited universal contempt, and was assailed by every shaft of ridicule. For one to be a 'Garrisonian' abolitionist was bad enough; but to be a non-resistant was altogether intol- erable. Mr. Quincy might have avoided the odium of being a member of the Non—Resistance Society; his anti-slavery obli- gations did not require this new martyrdom; he could have taken a non-committal course in regard to it....No. Start- ling as was the enunciation of those principles, and novel vas was the proclamations of those doctrines. he dared to grapple with them, and to give them a severe analysis... But ' as soon as his Judgment was convinced, he 'conferred not with flesh and blood,' but made himself one with the de- spised non-resistants--and most ably, as the principle edi- ' tor of 'THE NON-RESISTANT,’ did he vindicate the position and object of the Society. The non-resistant principle of rejecting any form of political ac— tion as participation in a "slave-holding” government, with its parallel policy of repudiation of that governnent for having usurped the throne of God, supported the last and perhaps most significant plank in the Garrisonian platform; disunion. Since the American Constitution was the document responsible for the American government, for Garrisonians it became "a covenant with death and an agreement with hell,“ its de- struction essential to a divorce of free North and slavehclding South. The lébggatgr legan became: “Ne Union with Slavenholders!” As early as 1832 Garrison stated that the Constitution was "a com- pact formed at the sacrifice of the bodies and souls of millions of our race, for the sake of achieving a political object-"an unblushing and monstrous coalition to do evil that good might come.”29 However, it was not until 10 years later, following the ferment of the non~resistance movement, that actual repudiation of the Constitution and disunion be~ came Garrisonian policy. At the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society in Boston, January 26-28, lEhE, Garrison introduced a resolution to the effect that the union of liberty and slavery in justness and equality was a 1“moral impossibilityz” therefore, "the Amer- ican Union is such only in form, but not in substance——a hollow mockery instead of a glorious reality.“ On March 22 he wrote to G. W. Benson avowing that he was ”an American Repealer,” adding ”I go... for the repeal 29 . Garrisons. I, 308. of the union between the North and the South.“ Emphasizing the differ- ences which existed between North and South, he asked if there were not already a dissolution of the union in fact, and urged dissolution in formn-fiespecially if the form gives ample protection to the slave sys- tem, by securing for it all the physical force of the North." The doc- trine itself became an issue at the annual meeting of the American Anti-~Slavery Society in New York, May 10-13. On May 1}, 18‘42, the £232- gtgg‘s editorial column carried the following motto: A REPEAL OF THE UNION BETWEEN NORTHERN IJBERTY ANL SOUTHERN SLAVERY IS ESSENTIAL TO T”* ABOLITION OF THE ONE AND TIZE PRESEZ's’A'i‘ION or THE OTHERJ’ A week earlier the gibgr§£g£_carried a strong disunion editorial, insist- ing ”The only remedy is A REPEAL OF THE UNION.M The reaction to both came swiftly, and Garrison used his ”Refuge of Oppression” column for censoring editorials. The Eggpl§g_§dzgga£g_thought it strange that Gar- rison and his friends could advocate measures, "the direct tendency of which is to produce revolutions. wars, and carnage.” The Cincippgti. Post and Anti;§§plitionist took pride in being the first in the North to hold up the abolitionists as "TRAITCRS to their country... under the garb of religious fanaticism.” Now it could add: We warned the honest to beware; and it is now almost univer— sally ADMITTED that the abolitionists are TRAITORS, wicked hupocritical VILLAINS, as a body, and we now go farther. and have the proofs for the assertion, they are DISBELIEVERS IN THE HOLY BIBLE; and we have proof from their head organ, that they are the Open and avowed advocates of a REPEAL OF THE UNION!!! 3O Garrisons. III, M6, h9-50, 56-7. 152 The great head organ of the abolitionists. the Boston Liberator. edited by UM. LLOYD GARRISON, has thrown off the mask, and Openly avowed the dissolution of the Union to be the policy of the abolitionists.... My God, can language de- scribe the scorn and contempt such men merit? The utterance of such a word against gpr happy country, ought to seal the traitor's lips foreVer. Nor were women's rights forgotten in the campaign against Garri— sonian disunionism. The New England Catholic Reporteg, in an editorial titled ”The Liberator, alias, the Edsorganizer,” attacked Garrison for a resolution {offered at a Non-Resistance Society meeting) which managed to combine women's rights and disunion in one succinct statement: Resolved, That the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of every State in the Union, according to the democratic theory of government, and the Declaration of Ameri- can Independence, are based on usurpation, inasmuch as they proscribe one half of the people on account of their sex. from the exercise and enjoyment of what are called civil and politi- cal rights; and, consequently, that whoever votes to sustain these instguments, votes to uphold and perpetuate an atrocious despotism. 2 Meanwhile, the initial slogan beginning with "A REPEAL OF THE UNION... ” was carried at the top of the editorial column. It was re- placed with a more pungent statement in the Liberator of March ED, 1833: “Eggggggg. That the compact which exists between the North and the South is a 'covenant with death and an agreement with hell,'-~invo1ving both parties in atrocious criminality, -—and should be immediately annulled.” Resolution adOpted at the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society at Faneuil Hall, January 26, 18h}. l 3 The Liberator, May 20, 18h2. 2 3 Ibid., Nov. 11, lane. 153 This resolution, preposed by Garrison himself at the Society's meeting,33 was carried as a flag at the top of the editorial column for only two months, through the Liberatg: issue of May 19, 18h}. Subsequently the disunion slogan took another form, appearing in the upper rightnhand corner of page one, adjacent to the titlesplate: NO UNION WITH SLAVEHOLDERS! THE U. S. CONSTITUTION ”A COVENANT WITH l"Elt'l‘H, AND AN AGREEMENT WITH HELL.‘ v—w". ‘Yesi it cannot be denied~vthe slaveholding lords of the South prescribed, as a condition of their assent to the Constitution, three special provisions to secure the perpetu— ity of their dominion over their slaves. The first was the immunity, for twenty years, of preserving the African slave trade; the second was the stipulation to surrender fugitive slaves-van engagement positively prohibited by the laws of God, delivered from Sinai; and, thirdly, the exaction. fatal to the principles of pepular representation, of a representa- tion for s1aves--for articles of merchandise, under the name of persons... To call government thus constituted a democracy, is to insult the understanding of mankind. It is doubly tainted with the infection of riches and slavery. Its reciprocal op- eration upon the government of the nation is to establish an artificial majority in the slave representation over that of the free peOple, in the American Congress, and thereby to make the PRESERVATION, PROPAGATION AND PBRPETUATION OF SLAVERY THE VITAL AND AN TING SPIRIT OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT.'-—*ohn Quincy Adams.3 This slogan and quotation, with minor variation, appeared as companion piece to the Liberator's title-plate for over 16 years. 33 Garrisons. III. 88. See also same volume, p. 52. for an earlier Liberator quotation of “covenant with DEATH” as taken from Isaiah 28: l -18. 31‘The statement was taken from an address made by Adams at N. Bridge- water, Mass., Nov. 6, lShh. See Garrisons. 111, 13k, 506. 151+ On December 20, 1860, two months after the ekmtion of Lincoln, South Carolina passed its secession ordinance. The union was breaking up, and Garrison, in his first issue of 1861, could write in the EEEEE‘ ator: All Union-saving efforts are simply idiotic. At last, 'the covenant with death' is annulled, and 'the agreement with hell' broken-~at least by the action of South Carolina, and ere igng by all the slave~holding states, for their doom is one. The old slogan was therefore replaced in the December 13, 1861,issue with a new one: ”Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land, to all the inhabitants thereof.” At this time the Civil War was eight months old, and the quotation under the slogan. again from Adams, asserted that mil- itary authority could authorize universal emancipation of the slaves. The last statement to be carried in the top right corner was one en- titled "PRES. LINCOLN ON NEGRO SUFFRAGE," which appeared October 13, 1865, introducing "an extract from an unpublished letter from the late President Lincoln, addressed to Gen.Wadsworth, taking strong ground in favor of universal suffrage.”- This message appeared in the Liberator through its last number, December 29, 1865. 35 Garrisons. III, 508. 155 C. Organization Because anti-slavery newspapers were frequently the official organs of anti-slavery societies, and because the newspapers in the Garrisonian axis usually reflected the anti-slavery views of those societies promoting Garrisonism, it is necessary before proceeding further to provide at least a limited amount of information on these societies. Numerous anti-slavery societies existed before 1831.36 Inspired by Lundy. a pioneer organizer, Garrison, in his first issue of the QEEIEEl. 9£_£gg EZTEE’ October 3, 1898, preposed the formation of anti-slavery societies in Vermont. Three years later, when his £12335; 3 was nearly a year old, he proposed to a group of 15 persons assembled in Boston on November 13. 1831, that Americans follow the practice of the English abolitionists in establishing societies based on immediate rather than gradual abolition. Although the principle of immediacy was questioned by some, Garrison's attempt at organization was successful. On January 6. 1832, Garrison and 11 others, including Oliver Johnson and Isaac Knapp. signed a declaration that “every person... has a right to imme- diate freedom from personal bondage.“ This was part of the preamble to the constitution of the New—England.Anti-Slavery Society, published in the Liberator of February 18, 1832, together with a list of officers. including Arnold Buffum, president; Joshua Coffin, secretary; and W. L. Garrison. corresponding secretary. For a time the Liberator was the 367 For a discussion of number and location by states, see Adams, _p, 9-2... pp. 116-260 156 official organ of the Society, but its members concluded that a monthly publication would better serve the purpose, and Garrison became one of a committee of three which edited Thgygpglijigpigg, a monthly publication which ran from January through December, 1833. It was edited chiefly by Garrison, printed by Garrison and Knapp, and its first four numbers cone tained a series of articles on immediate emancipation.37 Before embarking for England, May ?, 1833. as a special agent of the Society. Garrison urged friends to join in forming a New York City anti— slavery society, a proposal already set in motion by Lewis and Arthur Tappan, wealthy reform-minded merchants. Garrison returned to New York from England on September 29, 1833. The New York Society was formed a few days later, October 2. providing the occasion for the city's first conspicuous anti-slavery disturbance. Comments made in the New York Courier and Enguirgr, associating Garrison's return from abroad with the formation of the new society, aided in inciting mob action in a city whose residents were already anti-abolitionist because they regarded abo- litionism as a threat to Southern trade relations.38 Officers of the New York City Anti-Slavery Society included Arthur Tappan, president; William Green, Jr., vice-president; John Rankin, trea- surer; Elizur Wright, Jr., corresponding secretary: and C. W. Denison, Garrisons. I, 107, 277: The Abolitionigt; 2: Record of the Egg England épti-Slavery Society, Boston, 1833. Announcement of discontin- uance of The Abolitionist is found in The Ldberator, March 8, 183M. 8 3 Ibian.3h6, 380-2, and Nye, 92, 915,, p. 163. Garrison's de- scription of the mob, his comments on the New York meeting, and remarks on the Courier and Enguirer are found in The Liberator, Oct. 12, 1833. 157 recording secretary. Named as managers were Joshua Leavitt, Isaac T. Hooper, Abraham L. Cox, Lewis Tappan, and William Goode11.39 The formation of the American Anti-Slavery Society, a national or- ganization to promote the cause, took place in Philadelphia, December M, 1833. Although called Garrison's ”darling project,” the summons to at- tend such a meeting was signed by Arthur Tapoan, Joshua Leavitt, and Elizur Wright, Jr., all officers of the New York society. Between 50 and 60 delegates of anti—slavery societies, representing ten of the 12 free states, met at the Opening of the convention. Arthur Tappan was named president of the new society, and Garrison became secretary of ho foreign correspondence, a minor post. Garrison drew up, and the con~ vention adOpted, a "Declaration of SentimentsM embodying the principles of the new organization. Innediatism was established in the declaration that slaves "ought instantly to be set free.” More interesting, perhaps, in view of Garrison's later political sentiments, are these words: We also maintain that there are, at the present time, the highest obligations resting upon the peeple of the free States to remove slavery by moral and political action, as prescribed in in the Constitution of the UnitedStates. kl This declaration of principles was the keystone of the American Anti- Slavery Society and all of its numerous subsidiary organizations through- out the free states, a network which, by’1837, included over a thousand 39The Abolitionist (New England Anti-Slavery Society). Vol. I, No.10 Oct.. 1833. Elizur Wright, Sr., was referred to as president of the Western Reserve Anti-Slavery Society. quarrisons, I, 392—h15. Also see Barnes, pp, cit.. pp. 5h—8, for statements questioning Garrison's leadership. theprinted in The Liberator, Dec. 1M, 1833, in an unusual double‘ column spread. See also Garrisons. I, NOS—1?. 158 individual organizations with more than a hundred thousand members. Theirs was the flood of petitions miiCh were sent to state legislatures and the Congress in l‘Vashington.142 Theirs too was the flood of prepa- ganda which carried the ideas of the anti—slavery crusaders to readers. The fourth annual report of the American Anti~Slavery Society (1837} which stated that "the number of societies organized since the last an- niversary is M83, making the whole number 1006,“ also listed the follow- ing issues from the press during the year: Bound volmnes 7,577 Tracts. pamphlets h7,?50 Circulars, etc. h,100 Prints 10,h90 A~S Magazine 9,000 Slave's Friend 130,150 A-S Record 103,000 Human Rights 189.300 , Emancipator 217,000 43 The last five listings show distribution of official Society periodicals Slave's Friend_was a juvenile magazine; the Antitglggggy Record a "small nu magazine with cuts;” Human Righ£m_a small folio paper. The Emancipator was a newspaper, discussed more fully below. The Quartergy_Anti—Slavery Magazigg, published by the Society in New York, the headquarters of the 132 A Barnes, op. 211.. pp. l3h~5, gives figures showing distribution of membership. h} arterly Antilglavery.wgfagygg. V01. II. No. 8. July, 1337. pp - 3147-8 0 1mGarrisons. I, RS3. 159 organization, was edited by Elizur Wright, Jr., and may have been pub— lished only during the period October, 1335 through July, 1337. 5 The formation of a parent society pledged to a declaration of senti— ments was effective for a few years only. Differences of Opinion over principles of a.nti- slavery action brought about a break~ down in the na~ tional org'nization in lZUO, only seven years after its establishment. Goodell, an editor whose publications will be examined in detail later. wrote later that few abolitionists in lfih0 occupied ”precisely the orig~ . . . , , h6 inal ground' that they did 1n the 1335 convention. Some of the aboli» tionists changed their views in respect to female cooperation and the women's rights question; some in respect to the practicability of ob— mining legislative action against sla avery through the instrumentalitv of the old political parties; some split over the interpretation of the American Constitution, reoudiating it entirely or holding it to be es— sentially anti—slavery except for its “compromises;" some changed their views of their churches, and wished to withdraw from them because they believed the churches blocked anti-slavery progress; some changed their views respecting compulsory civil government, asserting they could not vote.or conscientiously hold office in it. 145Geraldine Hepkins Hubbard, A Classified Catalogue of the Co_llec— tion of Anti— mSlavery Prooaganda in the Oberlin College Librar": ed.Julian S. Fowler, Oberlin College LibraryQBulletin,m Vol. II, No. 3 (Oberlin, 193?). Hereafter referred to as: Oberlin anti- slaverv catalogue. See also The Liberator, Apr. 6, 1838, for the prospectus of an enlarged Quar- terlvfi Anti-Slaverv Magazine to follow the first two volumes. __13._._._. h6William Goodell, Slavery and Anti- ~31averZ.(New York: William Good- ell, 1885), p. h5h. subsequent material is from this same source. 160 Divisions took place. The Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society {form— erly the New England Anti-Slavery Society) was divided in May, 1939, as a result of differences over theology. political action. and reformatory measures. The Garrisonians remained in control of the old society, while those who believed in the importance of oolitical action formed. on May ?7. a new state society called the Massachusetts Abolition Society. Their newspaper organ was the M2§§.§E§§fi§€§.QEQLERLQEEELv begun in April. 1339, and conducted by Elizur Wright, Jr., formerly corresponding secretary of the American nti-Slavery Society and editor of the Quartegyg. A kindred dispute. sharpened by a difference of opinion on the po~ sition of women in the anti—slavery movement. led to a division in the parent organization. The initial split occurred in the annual business meeting in New York, May 7. 1839, which Garrison "packed” with a boat— load of men and women from Boston. The open break came at the annual meeting of the society in May, lsho. Again Garrisonians capturedthe old society. The antimGarrisonians. led by Arthur and Lewis Tappan, formed a new organization; the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. This split led to a dispute over ownership of the EEEEEAEEEEI! published in New York as the organ of the old American Anti—Slavery Society. With Garrisonians in charge of the old national organization, and the Tappans leading a new national organization, the question naturally arose as to which should control the numerous state and local auxiliaries already formed. Finding themselves in a convenient position. most of the auxiliaries withdrew and became independent of either national organiza- tion, although in some states, especially New York and Ohio. Garrisonians established state societies. 151 Meanwhile. those abolitionists who favored political action were taking steps to establish a third party. Abolitionists found. after many experiments. that candidates of the old parties could not be de- pended upon tb redeem pre—election pledges made to their abolitionist supporters. Nor could the abolitionists. because of previous party af~ filiations. be depended upon to vote in a bloc for a candidate pledged to anti-slavery. A new party, it was hoped. would accomplish what pre— vious political action had failed to do. The Liberty party. therefore, was formally organized at a convention in Albany. New York, April 1. lShO. Garrison had actually suggested a similar party in 133“; by ldho. however, he was opposed to any kind of participation in government. E. The Garrisonian Axis ‘ The status of the Garrisonians. following the schism of lflho. is summed up best by Johnson. The followers of Garrison retained control of the national society. and transferred its headquarters from New York to Boston: its financial resources were diminished by the split. and its membership reduced by the secession of the anti—women's rights and po— litical abolitionists. However. four state auxiliaries remained with the Garrisonians: the Massachusetts group, the Pennsylvania society. the New Hampshire society. and a newly-formed organization in Ohio, the West— ern Anti—Slavery Society. which included western Pennsylvania in its 162 Operations. In addition. there were five weekly newspapers remaining to the Garrisonian wing: the indenendentigbezatggj the National’Anti-Slav— --—-~“ vvu-‘v-fi-‘s ery Standard in New York, operating from the national society's old head- quarters: the ngpgylzapia ggeeman in Philadelphia. representing the Pennsylvania society; the figpi;§lggggy Epgle_in Salem. Ohio. representing the Western Anti~Slavery Society; and the flgpald_g£_3reedgm in Concord. N. 5.. the organ of the New Hampshire group. Of these, only the Libera— tor and the §£a§dazd continued publication long enough to record the final abolition of slavery.)47 On December 11. 131:0, a liberate: editorial entitled '1 Our Own Af- fairs” asked: "But the Liberator~~shall it die. or shall it live? This is a question for its friends to decide.” Despite the fervor of their crusade to rid the country of slavery. the Garrisonian abolitionists—~ and their workers in the field—-were not enthusiastic enough in their support of the anti-slavery press to give it real or continued stability. In the Liberator of January 15. lflhl, Garrison lamented this fact in an editorial entitled "The Anti-Slavery Press.” There is. undeniably. a criminal neglect on the part of the professed abolitionists of the United States, as to cher- ishing the anti-slavery press. There are thousands who do not take any anti~s1avery journal. and who allow themselves to re- main in almost total ignorance of the great liberty movements of the day; yet they can patronize sectarian and party papers. which. if they speak at all on the subject of slavery. are dis- posed to oppose rather than to countenance our enterprise. 14? Johnson. 42. 913.. pp. 320~5. 163 Continuing in the same vein. Garrison pointed to “some fifteen journals. almost exclusively devoted to the cause of emancipation in this country.” where there should have been a hundred. To support his charge that abo- litionists neglected their press. Garrison citedthe suspensions (for lack of funds) of the Cincinnati. Ohio. Philanthropisg; the Egignd a; gen in Utica, New Yofic; and the Pennsylvania zgeemag. Meanwhile the I“... Herald of Freedom_was continually threatened with extinction and the National Anti-Slave:E_S:andarg was "languishing for support.” In the following accounts of individual Garrisonian axis newspapers. it is well to note that editors shifted from paper to paper. that names like N. P. Rogers. Parker Pillsbury, Oliver Johnson and others in the "moral abolitionist” or Garrisonian camp formed a loose chain of command over this segment of the anti—slavery press. In addition. it.may be noted here that another group of anti—slavery newspapers. the political~ action publications. was established prior to IRMO and mushroomed after the formation of the Liberty Party. These latter newspapers will be dis~ cussed in Chapter Six. The gggald_g£ Eggedgm was established in Concord as the organ of the New Hampshire Anti-Slavery Society in 1835, with Joseph Horace Kim- ball as its first editor.“8 Kimball edited the newspaper until shortly before his death April 11. 1838. a victim of consumption at the age of 25. Garrison devoted a full column to Kimball in the Liberator of April 20. 1838. stating that he had ”finished his course most honorably." MS Johnson. 92, £13., p. 301. 16% including a letter from a woman in Concord to a friend in Boston de- scribing Kimball's last days. and also reprinting Kimball‘s obituary. taken from the §§£§l§.2£.EE§EQQEr The obituary gave some account of his background. which included a trip to Barbadoes and Jamaica as an agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1836. Kimball was succeeded by Nathaniel Peabody Rogers. who dominated the rest of the EEEELQLS history. References to Rogers in the four~ volume biography of Garrison by his sons reveal that the two men had a warm affection for each other. and that Rogers was a staunch Garrison- ian. Rogers supported Garrison in the latter's dispute with the churches. and again later. when Garrison was charged with infidelity. he wrote that the Lihgggtgg’s editor "is an historical fact in the annals of Anti-slav- ery,...considered by enemies of the cause as the representative of abo~ lition principles." Garrison in turn described Rogers the editor as a ”moral Richard Coeur de Lion. [who] gives his blows thick and fast.’fl On another occasion Garrison wrote: "The more I see of Rogers. Lthe more] h I love him.” 9 Rogers was born in Plymouth. N. H.. June 3. 179M. the son of a physician. After graduation from Dartmouth he studied law, then prac~ ticed for twenty years in Plymouth before moving to Concord to edit the Herald. to which he contributed from its founding in 1835 to June. 193?. when he became editor. Following Garrison's lead. he became a non-resist- ant. appealed loudly to the Church for aid in the cause. then came to the 1+9 Garrisons. II. 158-9. 330. 358. MES. 165 conclusion that ”'the Church' is a mere self-constituted association of individuals. whose claim to particular election. special inspiration. or peculiar divine guidance. is without any solid foundation.“ He be— lieved "all moral questions {are} to be decided by an appeal to reason and conscience. not by texts from ancient writings in Hebrew and Greek ... however tradition may ascribe to those writings a mysterious or sacred character.”50 In Plymouth Rogers was corresponding secretary of the local anti- slavery society. and tOgether with David L. Child and S. E. Sewall. was one of the trustees of the Noyes Academy at Canaan. New Hampshire. a school Opened in the fall of 183M. to educate both colored and white youths. His friendship with Garrison dates from this period. In lSuO the two men traveled to London as delegates to the World Anti-Slavery Convention. Because the Convention refused to recognize the women dele- gates in Garrison’s party. Garrison refused to take an official part in the proceedings and left the floor to sit in the balcony. where he was joined by Rogers. among others. During the journey Garrison prevailed Upon Rogers to assume the editorial direction of the American Anti— Slavery Society's paper. the National_Anti-Slavery Standard. in addition to his duties with the Herald. Rogers assumed the editorship of the Standard in the late fall of lSMO. but relinquished the position in March. Wm- 'r um: - John Pierpont. introd.. A Collection from the Newspaper Writings of N mtianiel Peabody_Rogers (Concord. N. H.. 1837). xiii-xiv. BiOgraph— ical data are from this same source. The Collection '111 henceforth be referred to as: N. P. Rogers. 166 lghl. when Lydia Maria Child . assisted by her husband. David L. Clild became editor.51 In editin Ht e g?£§li.2£.323§§232 Regers followed the line estabv lished by Garrison in the EEEEIEEEI: Writing in the Eiiéld of July 15, ISMP. on "Church and State“ he asserted: It was the curse and ruin of the Church. when she consented to the friendship and protection of the armed State. Christianity left her at that moment. and has never since darkened her doors. except to bear testimony against her.... A few conscientious in- dividuals have tried to speak for the slave. a few times. in her heathenish synag ;ogues. and it has filled all her borders with mor- tal alarm.52 On politics he was equally vehement; Every thing runs into politics.--It gives such a chance to fight. and show power. They have dragged the poor old Temper— ance enterprise and the Anti—slavery cause to the ballot—boxee and tried to make them enlist in the squabble of elections.... I ask all abolitionists. and especially ghird Party men (nomi- nally) to quit their parties entirely. and quit politics en— tirely. I would quit it. as I would dgipgigg. or smoking. or chewing. or any other immoral practices. I would quit the ballot box. as I would the militia. It is as immoral to vote or be voted for. for political office. as to train or enlist in the army... Political action is unfit even for orute aninals. Is it fitter for mar? "Is humanity less susceptible of moral influ— ences than what we call brutalityl55 For Rogers. as for other Garrisonians. ince slavery was a moral evil: :1 ’ Garrisons. I. usun; II. 373—n, 336. M20; 111. 90. 52V. P. Rogers. pp. 221-2. See also pp. 239 ff. for another article. "Great Meeting~House Eruption. attacking the Church. 1bid.. pp. 263-5. Reprinted from the Herald of Freedom. Dec. 1’. 167 ....our applications for its cure should be moral. They should not be political. or military direct. political being military indirect. They should be moral. We have got to generate hgmanity for this country. that will not allow of Slavery.5 - When the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society was threatened in 1339 by the formation of the political—action group which later established the Massachusetts Alolitionist, Rogers wrote an editorial in the Herald of Freedom_of January 26. 1839. defending the position of the Lileratgg. Attacking a preposal made at a Worcester meeting to establish a new state anti-slavery paper which would urge political action independent of par- ty. devote itself exclusively to anti-slavery. and serve as the organ of the state society. Rogers wrote. with the Elbergtpg in mind: As to the first. who can urge political action. and all other. with the ferce and the single-eyed constancy of the Liberator? As to this exclusive devotion. there seems to be some indefiniteness. For how broad is anti-slavery? As to the matter of control. we caution brethren. with all deference. not to covet ggptggl.g£_the Liberator. The controllers of that sheet and its conductor would find them» selves clothed with an awkwsrg trust. That paper started the antiuslavery enterprise. It pioneered it. It pioneers to this day. and will and must. God willing. pioneer it to the end of it. Whoever undertakes its control. will find they have mistaken their strength... The Liberator undertakes no guidance of abolitionists.... It has a mental and moral calibre different from that of the rest of us. It has a clear— er vision. a.profounder sagacity than any and all of us. In a storm. all hands would call the Liberator to the helm. 5H N. P. Rogers, p. 307. Reprinted from the Herald g£_Freed9g. May 2. isu5. 168 The editorial ended with an exhortation to “lay no rash hand on the Liberator.” praising Garrison as "the man who pays no homage to human authority.“55 However Garrisonistic Rogers was in denouncing the Church. the State. and those who would weaken the anti—slavery ranks. he revealed a strong affection for good poetry which was rare in A—S editors. In seeking poetry worth reprinting in the Herald. Rogers attempted to find enti- slavery verse of high quality. refusing to print run-of-themmill poetry merely to fill his literary column. On September 9. lShl. he wrote; "I have ransacked our scanty exchanges for a morsel for this 'correr.‘ but can find none that will speak. Poetry that won't speak and ring. is worse than none." Again. on November 5. the same year. he wrote: "We can find verses enough. but they are not equal to the station of aPoet’s Corner ' in an antivslavery sheet. these days of fiery trial." In the same column he mourned Whittier's allegiance to the new Liberty party. which. according to Rogers. stifled the poet's genius. Whittier. Rogers said. "ought to be abroad in the moral tempest-~letting down sheets of fire-~for anti-slavery to inflame her press with. We call on him to come to life again." Later he complained of the dearth of good anti—slavery poems. claiming that the anti-slavery press often printed poems inappro- priate to the cause. and citing specific poems in the Liberator. the Standard. and the Pennsylvania Freeman which were not truly anti-slavery 55 N. P. Rogers. pp. 59-62. Reprinted in the Liberatgg. Feb. 8. 1839. 169 in content. ”Alas! the scarcity and dearth of abolition poetry-~cvery- where.“5 The financial condition of the figrald was always precarious. In January. lShl. its circulation. never robust. had dwindled to about 900. In July Rogers reviewed the struggles of the paper. its printers. and its editor. and revealed that very little of the salary arranged for him actually reached his pockets.57 His association with the Herald 9£_§£ggf ng_came to an end.in December. thh. after a long diapute over ownership of the pager. A study of the dispute as presented in the Liberatggsg re- veals that the argument involved a contest over legal ownership between the newspaper's printer. John E. French. and the New Hampshire Antie Slavery Society. This contest was settled in favor of the Society by a commission of which Garrison was a member. Rogers took sides with French. his son—in-law. However. there was more to the diSpute than mere preperty ownership. As a non-resistant Opposed to all political organization. Rogers extended the principle to its limit and Opposed any kind of organization. advo- cating "free meetings” in the anti-slavery cause. without control of chairmen. committees and boards. Even the Garrisonians could not approve this unlocked—for deve10pment: 56No P. RogQTSv pp. 152, 1959 210-13. 57Garrisons. III. 23. 8 5 See’rhe Liberator of July 5. Nov. 3. 22. 29. Dec. 6. 13. 27. ISHM. 170 Disquieted by this inconvenient consistency. and this thorough carrying out of his non-resistant principles. his non-resist— ant friends in.Massachusetts. consulting and co~0perating with some of those in New Hampshire. decided that the property of the 'Herald of Freedom' was not in him. but in the Board of the New Hampshire Anti—Slavery Society. In the Liberate; of December 13. lghh. Garrison carried a.brief reference to Rogers' views on organization. and added: Since my friend Rogers has felt it to be one of his duties to attack anti-slavery societies. especially the N. H. Society. and to divert funds from their treasury. I have regarded it as a singular position (and is it not?) to be occupied by one ed- iting a paper belonging 33 the §tg§g_$ociety, and under its control... ~ This is the only reference found in the Liberatg; which admits to more than a dispute over the Eggald's ownership. To the end Garrison asserted that Rogers was a dear friend. one loyal and devoted to anti-slavery. and that French. not Rogers. was at fault. Although asked to remain as editor and printer respectively. Rogers and.French withdrew. The New Hampshire board. at a meeting December 17. lSMh. named Parker Pillsbury editor. and Jacob H. Ela printer of the Herald. Pillsbury had edited the paper during Rogers' journey to London in 18110. and remained as editor until the Herald expired in 1816 for want of patronage. Rogers meanwhile began a rival paper. The Herald of Free— dom. (note the distinguishing prefix. "The"). which struggled on for 59Pierpont. pp, 213.. p. xiv. See also Johnson. pp, cit.. p. 301. and.Louis Filler. "Parker Pillsbury: an Anti-Slavery Apostle." T‘e 321. England Quarterly. xxx (19%). pp. 3214-5. — 171 about two years beside its rival. Rogers died October 16. 18h6. and the paper died with him.60 During the short period that Rogers was editor of the National Arti- Slavery Standard. the management Of its New York office was in the hands of Oliver Johnson. a staunch Garrisonian. 1 Johnson. who was four years younger than Garrison. was born December 27. 1809. in Vermont. He be— came an apprentice in the office of the Vermont EQEEEEEQ: at Montpelier. where he read Garrison‘s Journal 2£.E§§ Timgg. During the same year. (1828). he lectured on anti-slavery. In 1832 he married Mary Anne White. a.promoter of prison reform and later a lecturer on anatomy and physiol- ogy to women's groups. Johnson's Christian Soldier. a journal Opposed to Universalism, was issued in Boston within a week of the appearance of the first number of the Liberator. The close relationship of Garrison and Johnson is apparent in the pages of the Liberator. which the latter edited during Garrison's illnesses in 1837 and 1838 and his trips to Eng— land in 1833 and 1860. Johnson was one of the founders of the New Dng~ land Anti-Slavery Society in 1832. and four years later became a travel- ing agent for the organization. In 18h9 he was appointed as editor of the Anti_Slavery @3512. and two years later he assumed the editorship Of SOFiller. pp, gi£,. pp. 326-7. 6lGarrisons. II. M20. Garrison. in writing to Johnson on Nov. 26. 186%. told him: "I have not a more attached or a.more disinterested friend in the world than yourself. And the anti-slavery cause has never found a truer advocate or a more faithful laborer than you.have been from the hour you espoused it." Ibid.. Iv. 125-6. 172 the Pennsylvania Freemag for a short period. In 1853 he was named asso- ciate editor of the National Anti-Slavery Standard. a post he held until the end of the Civil War. After the war Johnson held editorial posi- tions with the New York Independent. the New York Weekly Tribune (he had been Boston Correspondent for the New York Tribune from 18h2 to l8hh. and assistant to Horace Greeley frunlShM to 18h8). the New York Christigg Union and the New York Evenipg Post. His book. William Lloyd Garrispg and His Times is an intimate history of the anti-slavery movement with special emphasis on the Garrisonians. He died December 10. 1889.62 Johnson's associations with four of the five newspapers in the carrison— ian axis. and his joint endeavor with Rogers. graphically illustrate the unity of policy which prevailed in this section of the anti-slavery press. When Johnson arrived in Salem, Ohio. to take over the editorship of the Anti-Slavegy Bugle. the paper was four years old. It had been es- tablished June 20. lShS. and its first six numbers were issued from New Lisbon. Ohio. The first issue announced that it had been founded by the Ohio American Anti-Slavery Society ”to disseminate Anti-Slavery truth" and to show the "great_barriers that stand in the way of the slave's re— demption.“ Temperance. peace. and capital punishment would receive a share of attention; however. the overthrow of slavery was to be its chief objective. attainable by assaulting “this monster in his refuge and hid- ingrplace-«the Church.” Other variations of the Garrisonian theme were 62Julius W2 Pratt and A. Grace Teeter. "Oliver Johnson." Egg. and Garrisons. I. 273. 173 clearly in evidence: a page—one essay by Adin Ballou on ”The Superiority of Moral over Political Power;" an editorial on "The Liberty Party." attacking political action; one on "Infidelity." attacking the Church; and an address to subscribers promising that the @3513 would send forth a blast which would make the land “echo and re-echo to the soulvstirring cry of 'NO UN ON WITH SLAVE—HOLEERS.'"63 This same slogan appeared below the title-plate and above the date- line of the fourepage. four-column weekly. for which subscribers paid $1.50 annually.. Heading the editorial section of each issue were these words from Edmund Burke: "I love agitation when there is caise for it-— the alarm bell which startles the inhabitants of a city. saves them from being burned in their beds.“ Page four carried the usual miscellaneous and.poetry departments. with Whittier's "The Christian Slave" appearing in the first issue. host noteworthy among departments was the Egglg°s equivalent of the Liberator's ”Refuge of Oppression.” In column one. page one. following Liberator tradition. appeared 'Slavery's Shelter." with the usual citations of Opposition to the cause. The gpgl_. the westernmost link of the Garrisonian chain. made its position in the anti—slavery campaign quite clear. Readers and friends were advised in the July 25. 18h5. edition that no other paper west of the mountains bore the motto "No Union with Slaveholders.“ the motto of the Herald g£_Freedom. the National Anti-Slavery Standard. and the 3E9. hi1§£amr Ewa- J we 90 .1516 - 1714 Pennsylvania Egeeman. The same editorial took notice of the rival "Ohio Anti—Slavery Society." not to be confused with the "Ohio American.Anti- Slavery Society." which published the Bugle. We wish that this society would sail under true colors so that its character might not be mistaken. Its agents are Lib- erty Party Lecturers. its measures Liberty Party measures. and its design to strive for the abolition of slavery by building up the Liberty Party. Then let them hoist the Liberty Party colors. and sail under their true flag--the flag of Birney. and the bloody Union to which they stand pledged. The confusion over names was resolved the next year. The Burle_of June 26. lghfi. reported that the name "Ohio American" was dropped in favor of "Western Anti—Slavery Society" at its convention that month. Editorial direction of the ngbe. somewhat confused in the early numbers. was established in the August 15. ISME. issue with the announce- ment that the paper was being transferred to a publishing committee u — der the Society‘s executive committee. and that Benjamin S. Jones and J. Elizabeth Hitchcock were to be placed in charge of the editorial de« partment. The Bpgle of January 16. lSHé. announced their marriage three day earlier. and the co-editorship proved compatible. Under their di- rection the newspaper promoted Garrisonian arguments by reprinting edi» torials from the Libggaton. the {Egggag. and the §§ang§§g, with special attention to the last-named. More interesting. perhaps. is the editors' controversy with "western" newspapers of opposing anti-slavery views. They made frequent editorial attacks on Dr. Gamaliel Bailey. editor of the Cincinnati Philanghropist. 3 Liberty Party advocate; a Bugle editor- ial of August 1. 18h5. criticized Dr. Bailey's manner of resigning from 175 his membership in the Methodist Church. although the Garrisonians believed in ”comeoutismf Bailey was attacked again August 2?. lSHS. for his series of articles Opposing "The Disunion Pledge." a theme the Joneses repeated October 3. Both Bailey and Cassius M. Clay. editor of the Lexington 253: éflfilififlflv were criticized for their attitudes respecting the Mexican War. A Eggle editorial of June 26. 18h6. referred to their "grossly inconsistw cnt position." censuring Clay for joining the American army in the Mexi- can War, and Bailey for defending the government’s right to raise vol— unteers-"Clay and Bailey. said the 22513, flouted the principles of non- rs resistance. A year before. in their August 22 and 2~. 18MB, issues, the 22513 editors had praised Clay for his courage in attacking slavery (al- though disparaging his belief in force). and defended his right to free— dom of expression after the loss of his newspaper through pro—slavery mob action. "Gomeoutism" was strongly encouraged in the Euglg through frequent editorials and letters from contributors. One of the latter. in the Feb— ruary 6. lShG. number, wrote that she was leaving the Society of Friends because it was necessary to withdraw from “all sectarian corporations.—~ which assume authority over the minds and consciences of their members.” .A March 6, lShS. editorial entitled "Universalism" assailed a Ravenna. Ohio. minister for refusing to sign a protest against slavery. Three is- sues beginning March 5. 18h? carried aggressive editorial rebuttals of James A. Theme. an Oberlin professor. who wrote. "Comeoutism and Come— enters” in the November. lSMG. Oberlin_guarterly. The issues of’May lb. 176 21, August 6, 13, 18M7, carried letters and editorials commenting on the action of certain Presbyterians who withdrew from their church because it admitted slave—holders to communion. The August 13 number also re» ported a protest of th Freewill Baptist ministers against slavery. Under the Joneses the It}! Qgglg's circulation increased slowly during lens, from a little over 800 in January to about 1630 in November. With the first number from Salem (Vol. I. No. 7) the number of columns in the _paper sssPncreased from four to five. a better quality of paper was used, a larger title-plate took the place of the old, and the paper assumed a bright, clear look. At the beginning of the second volume. July 31, lSMG. the paper was further enlarged to six columns. Much of the editor~ ial content througn he years lShS, thG, and 18%? was original. How— ever, an examination of lSRS issues revealed a falling off in original matter, with more and more space devoted to lists of contributors and Columns of "General Items." lacking in anti—slavery zeal. In September, 18h7, the editors noted there had been no increase in circulation for eight or ten months. and in August, ISMS, they reported a drop of 200 subscribers to a new figure of ”not quite lhOO." Complaints indicated that the paper did not meet expenses. and an emergency develoyed which required aid from the East. The May 11, 13M9, Bugle revealed that Abby K. Foster. in response to an appeal to the American Anti-Slavery Society by its Ohio branch, solicited funds from contributors in Philadelphis and New York. The sum of $M50.16 was collected for sup ort of the Burle finn, 177 while the parent society also undertook to supply a new editor, Oliver Johnson. inasmuch as the "present editors desired to be released." The valedictory of the Joneses appeared June 1“, lSMB. There was no issue the following week. a customarv practice during annual conven— tions of the Western Anti-Slavery Society. of which J. Elizabeth Jones was treasurer. At the convention. Oliver Johnson was appointed a member of the Society's business committee and named recording secretary, ac- cording to the group's seventh annual report which apoeared in the 23513 of June 29, 18h9, the first number under Johnson‘s direction. The trees— urer's report revealed that expenses of publishing the newspaper during the preceding ten months amounted to $1,350, with receipts from subscrib- ers totaling only $750. I Johnson's editorship was an obvious effort on the part of the Gar- risonian group in the East to bolster the efforts of its western cousins§5 Changing from the emphasis on local affairs, Johnson placed greater stress on anti-slavery affairs in the East, with frequent borrowings from the Liberator. a paper the Joneses cited less often than the Standard or the Freeman. When the Liberator entered its twentieth year of’publica— tion, Johnson marked the event with editorial praise in the @3512 of January 12, 1850: Circulation figures are cited in the issues of the Eggle of Jan. 23, July 214. Aug. 1M, and Nov. 6, 18%; Sept. 3, 131:7; and Aug. 2.5. lens. 65The comparison is limited to Bpgle issues through Sept. 7, 1850, the last number of Vbl. 5. 178 There is not in all the land another paper which has larger claims upon the gratitude and affection of the friends of Radical Reform than this. Its fidelity to principle under every temptation, its fearless and independent tone, its promptness to embrace and proclaim unpopular truth without regard to consequences. should make it dear to every friend of humanity. Johnson installed a new department, "News of the Week," in which he pre- sented a summary of the latest from EurOpe. To attract readers the news- paper was again given a new title—plate, beginning October 6, 18h9. In the July 6, 1850, issue he was able to answer a correspondent's ques- tions with good news: the subscription list of the Eggle had increased "about two-hundred" in the year the newspaper was under his guidance. This would indicate a circulation approaching 1600. However, the news- paper was not breaking even, for help was again needed from the parent society. The sixteenth annual report of the American Anti-Slavery So- ciety, reprinted in the Epgle of May 18, 1850, showed a disbursement of $600 to the Ohio newspaper. Johnson edited the Bugle for two years,relinquishing his position in 1851 to Marius Robinson.66 Robinson, with Theodore Weld, had been one of the seceders from the Lane Seminary in 183M. In July, 1836, when a mob stormed the offices of Birney's Cincinnati Philanthropistj Robin- son. then Birney's assistant, saved the type forms for the next issue by disguising himself and escaping the mob. As an anti-slavery lecturer he 66Johnson, _p, cit.. pp. 180, 32h. 179 was tarred and feathered by another band of ruffians after delivering several talks at Berlin, Ohio, in June, 1837. He edited the Epgle to its final days in 1857, holding it true to the tenets of Garrisonism. Johnson said of him: "His editorial services were of great value, and won for him the admiration and the confidence of those who profited thereby." As for his personality, Johnson described him as "exceedingly modest, never seeking conspicuity, but willing to work in any place, however obscure, to which duty called him.‘“’67 After editing the 23gl§_Johnson was for a time editor of the 23337 svlvania Freeman, 8 a newspaper which had a hopeful beginning followed by a somewhat precarious existence. The §3§§m§p_had been founded in Philadelphia as the fiational Enquirer by the pioneer Benjamin Lundy, who was its editor from August 3, 1836, to March 9, 1838, when the editorial post was assumed by the poet Whittier, who changed the name to Penney}; vania Freeman.69 In February, 18MO, Whittier was succeeded by James M. MdKim. a former Presbyterian minister who was the publishing agent and corresponding secretary of the Pennsylvania.Anti-Slavery Society, the 70 Garrisonian group in that state. It was suspended temporarily in 67Johnson, g2. 333.. pp. 178-81. Robinson described.his ordeal by tar and.feathers in letters which were reprinted in the New York Epapgif pater, June 29, Aug. 17, 1837. where he was described as a.graduate of the University of Tennessee. See also Nye, 92, 233,. PP. 106, 170, 21k, 227. 68Garrisons. III. 388n. 69The Liberator, March 23, 1838; Garrisons. II, 323. 7oCharles Moore, "James M. McKim,” Egg. Maxim's daughter, Lucy, later married Wendell Phillips Garrison, son of the editor. 180 . 1 . . December, l8hl, by the Pennsylvania soc1ety.7 Originally a weekly newspaper, the Egggman was apparently for a time a monthly publication selling at fifty cents per year, listed as such in a contemporary col— lection of essays containing the "thoughts, words, and deeds, of some . 72 prominent Apostles, Champions and Martyrs." That the Freeman had fallen on hard times was evident in a prospectus published in the Lib- era§g£_of January 26, l8hh, which included the following resolution am dopted at a meeting of the executive committee of the Eastern Pennsyl- vania Anti~Slavery Society on December 22, 18M}: Resolved, That the interests of the anti~slavery cause in this State require that the Pennsylvania Freeman, instead of being issued as it now is, g atuitously, and at irregular in- tervals, should be published as a regular monthly or semi— monthly paper, to be issued at stated periods, and sustained by a regular subscription list. The prOSpectus further revealed that James M. McKim, publishing agent. and C. C. Burleigh. corresponding secretary, had agreed "to revive the Pennsylvania Freeman as a regular semi-monthly paper, and to assume the entire control and responsibility of its publication." The first num- ber was to be issued the second week in January, lSMh, at seventy—five cents per year. McKim and Burleigh, who signed the prospectus, said the character of the paper would not differ from other anti-slavery papers 71 Garrisons. III, 18. The society was now called The Eastern Penn- sylvania Anti—Slavery Society. 2 7 The Leggon g£_Liberty, 2nd ed. (New York, 18h3), p. 38h. Sold at the office of the American Anti-Slavery Society. except for a "wider range of discussion, and a greater amount of free- dom," and signified their intention to follow Garrisonian themes: The subjects which shall mainly occupy our attention will be the Church, the Clergy, Political parties and Po- litical partisans; their present position in respect to the anti— slavery cause , and the duties of ab olit ionists in re- gard to them. At this time the disunion doctrine of the Garris onians was rainin ground within the antiuslavery movement. Some diapute ov,r the princi— ple occupied the floor at the New England Anti-Slavery Convention which be .n May 28,18hh, in Boston. Eisunion won. and C. C. Burleigh pre— sented to Garrison, as president of the Arerice n anti— —Slavery So ”1 t7, a silken banner inscribed in part Wltfi the legend, ”No Union with Slavee holders!" The members of the Eastern Pennsylveria Anti«Slavery Spenglerr approved the conduct of the editors of the Pennsylv.nia Freeman in fol- low wing the new line, and W! m, accord ir.g to the Liberator,”argued just- ly that, if it were pro—slavery, dissolution would be a duty."73 Tne "no-governm at.” ”nomvote" policy of the Garrisonians was mainte ined by the Freeman in the presidential c ..paign of 18L8. a year described as "full of promise and of peril" for the ca use What were aholitionists to do? Was one party, one candidate, a better croice tlm the others? In particular, did the Free Soil party offer hope? The Freeman answer was clear. 73 Garrisons, III. llO-lh. 18 We believe that the abolitionists, while they must look with interest upon the movements of the Free Soil party, ca nnot consistently engage in that or any other party which is founded upon a recognition of the Vnited States Constitution and allegiance to the Government. seanwlile, the Garrisonian paper in Ohio, the Bills, carried the ear J messare: ”Vote for whom you will, you vote or the Constitution of the You vote for Chains, and whips, and thumhscrews, and t..! ».°. 3 . u 1 .3 ' , . - branding 1rons, and cruSued hepes, and blighted affections, and.de~ graded intellect for the slave...” ’3 *3 Ho {33 _J O " '3 :0- 3 n :s «9 w:‘ n r- . 'C‘w - . H, eff leacy of 3011-ic l ~ction ”Lb not anonrent 1n T‘I‘e 51:1 during the. two wears, 19253—18110, n? ms£++§1~mus g ’- . . ‘ .... 3 2 Pennsylvania editorship. The latter date is significant, since it was in that year that enmeriorn An+.i—S lavery Society split over the issue of political the disruption within the society, 33 C) d H. O '3 {... He ’1 - 3' 6 l 3' {L Q *0 *3 (D C ) U) 0 p1 I9" .4 sympathized with the olitical action party a1d became "an aggro ess ve member” of the 1. nerican and Foreign hiti-Slnvery Society, the group 0p» ’ -.. Q 0 O I ' 'ed to earrisonisn. inc direction 0. Whi -J '3 (r tier's political thinking was made clear in the editorials he wrote for the EEEEEEE: Writing tn "Political Action” in lC’S, he described a class of men “who conscien~ tiously believe that they 11ave nothing to do with the politics of the country,“ and who concluded "that good men should never visit the ballot- box.“ His answer to the problem was direct: . . , \ . 7 n printed in Tie intieglgypry Luplg, Sept. 39, 15n0_ , Dilbert hiordell, “John G. mama." ms. 133 We regret to see the energies of anv friend of tie slnxe jflal ied Ly swch a misteken ide o duty.... As cit~ izens, and legal voters we here a might? instrument in our hands: a pover at oIce pencef 11 end effectua 1--- In a similar edi toria.l earl ier in the year he asserted; "Po "3 O (3 p L.) O 1" 1 p... (b {a L.J O t: (b O ’1) I ,. O C5 :1 Q 1".) H g) C- O IS (D m 0 *9 action has done the w rk 0 We bly undo it." . te lni .ier s2? 1. 41. dit hit... x.'.EL. w: was -ete if‘ r V‘ tt e U t‘e e ’ors J to NC! ‘0 l t r joir ed 1y C. C. 31r leigh. the Free§§n_passed into the hands of loyal Gerrisonians, and continued to serve as part of tLe axis to the end of its days. In leS the editorship was cor ducted 'ointly by Cyrus M. Burleigh, younger brother of C. C. Burleigh, and fiery Grew, an of- ficer in the strongly Garrisonien Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. In that year the cir ulation of the Freeggn was reported as 79 "nearly two thousand.” For a time after 1850 Johnson was editor of the Freeman, a post he relinquished to become associate editor (with ”O ' \ ‘ Q 9 S. h. Gay) of the Rational Anti~3lgverz_§::§osrd. he assumed his new duties early in lZSh. In June of the same year the Pennsvlvanis 77.? rinted in Fri cndo or, Oct. 10, 183” -— ...- (7' YQPPnrifit-d in the New York Tmfincirotor, Afr. 19. 13’? 790.0h nson, 92_. cit.. p. 323; and T‘e Mi eretor, Ang. 18, lSMS. 80“ rrisons, III, 383n. In his book, Garrison and the Anti-Slav— :32 Movement, Johnson does not mention his own association with the Freeman. 12:4 society voted to merge the Freeman with the Standard a union accom~ “.- plished the following month, with McKim becoming Philadelphia corro~ srondent for the §§§n§§£§, The transaction was reported at the annual meeting of the American Anti-Slavery Society in Meg, 1%55, with mention of other axis papers: The Anti—STQXCIy Bugle has been faithfully maintained by the Abolitionists of the West, and continues the excellent and trustvworthy paper that it has ever been. The Liberator, at Boston, we believe, was never in a better condition the; it %/ has enjoyed for the last tw years. Still, its uncompromis- ing tone and unflinching fidelity to its largest ideas of duty, it is likelr, will prevent its ever being Oppressed with patron-age.U Johnson's transfer to the National Anti-Flavor: fitordord ple"°d ~Us—5s him on a newspaper established in New York in 18MO as the official (7r 0L3 organ of the American Anti-Slavery Society under the Garrisonians. The action followed an alleged "embezzlement“ of the New York Egangiu meter, the official paper of the "old" American Anti-Slavery Society, by "New Organization" members of the politically~minded New York City Anti-Slavery Society. Patterned after the Liberator, and starting without any subcrib- ers ct all, the Standard was conducted by a trio of editors before N. P. Rogers assnmed the directorship. Beginning in May, lfiul, Lydia Maria Child edited the paper for two years, until she was succeeded by NE 9 _...- he were. email-319.an §£§fl£§Ldo Jam 26. 1 8 56- 82 Johnson, 92, gi_,. p. 298. See also Garrisons. II, 351, 359. her husband {and former assistant) David Lee Child, who stayed on until the spring of lShh. Sydney inward Gay became editor at the time, with Edmund Quincy and James Russell Lowell (for a short period) as contri- r/ '- ... buting editors. Gay was joined in lSSN by Johnson, retiring in 1.9; (after 1h years) to accept a position on the New York Erihune, Johnson, now the sole editor, left the paper in 1865, convinced there was no longer any need for anti—slavery journals, but the paper continued in 85 other hands to its demise in 1370. 0f all the Standarfi’s editors, Mrs. Child was perhaps the most interesting. Garrison praised her highl, and called her "the Mrs. Ben» \ _ J4 jamin Franklin of the nineteenth century.“ One biographer described her writings on slavery as "compounds of emotional idealism, cool log— or: J ic, historical and economical truth, and anthrOpologicai error.” 1 In a farewell editorial she summarized her principles in editing the giflnf 335$, pointing out the many ways in which her readers differed with her policies: Many complained because I calmly stated my reasons for bev lieving that a distinct political party would do immeasur~ able injury to the anti-slavery cause... Several complained that I stood so carefully aloof from ’new organization;' hile others urged that I was doing incalculable mischief Johnson. 92. £33.. pp. 296-53. 8h The Liberator,_June h, thl. 85Walter C. Bronson, "Lydia Maria Cnild,“ LAB. 156 to the cause by not at aching new org :anization... Some com- plained that the slaveholder was treated too harshly; others, that my reproofs of sin were ”mere child’s play!.... Divers correSpondents have blamed me for not attacking church and clergy; while others have mourned over the disrespectful man- ner in which 2531; ministers. or their denominations have been treated. And more: Y :,o i ave re epe “at ”d1 said that In id not inten to edit the pape for acoliti. onis ts. It seemed to me ”that the Lib- erator, the Herald of Freedon, and various ‘Liberty party' papers, were sufficient to meet th eir wants; and that the cause needed a medi gm of communication with the neoolo, My aim, therefore, was to make a good, family newspaper.80 The editor wit.h the longest tenure, Sydney Reward Gay, was chosen by Wendell Phillips. Gay‘s policies were best summarized in a letter written by Philli 1pc , who, after pointing out that Gay was former edi- tor of a newspaper in Hingham, Massachusetts, added: “He is, moreover, in perfect unity with the Boston Clique, which is a great thing, you may be sure.M87 After leaving the gtgndard Gay joir edth 0 staff of the New York Tribune, where he became managing editor from 1862 to 1865. For four years beginning in 1867 he was managing editor of the Chicago Tribune, and then spent two years on the staff of the New York Even ;_pg 58 Post. He died in 1888 at the age of 7M. "E— 0 Reprinted in The Liberator, May 12, 18h}; also, the Cincinnati PhilanthroPist, May éh, lgnj. 87 Garrisons. III, lOln. ggfrank Monaghan, "Sydney Howard Gay,” Egg. 187 An examination of the volumes of the Standard from 1855 to 1865 reveals a paper with a national flavor, including columns of matter from correspondents in Washington and even news from Europe supplied by Harriet Martineau, Page four of the six-column paper was given over to the usual poetry and features, the latter having a more universal appeal than the strongly biased anti~slavery feature material in the Liberator. Like other papers in the Earrisonian axis, much space was assigned to affairs of the national American Anti-Slavery Society and to allied state societies, with column upon column devoted to reports of speeches at their meetings. Editorials emphasized the ”no-government.” “no—voting"q principle,89 which broke down in 186h when Garrison urged readers to vote for Lincoln. However, the §jandard was a rather dull 90 newspaper compared to the fiery Liberator. Even its counterpart of the Liberator's “Refuge of Oppression," entitled either ”The Spirit of the South," or ”Pro-Slavery," lacked the spirit found in the Boston journal. No circulation figures were given. Distribution is inferred in a study of monthly lists of contributors, for the period November 1, 1863, to November 1, 186“, which showed ZMO names from Pennsylvania, 207 from 8 9Goodell, 2p, cit., pp. 511-25, reviews this policy as it appeared in both the Standard and the Liberator. Barnes, 22, gi£., p. 199, states that the Standard ”has meaning only as long as the Childs edited it: thereafter it is mediocre.” 188 New York, 166 from Massachusetts, and 136 from Ohio. The next highest number was New Jersey, with M3, followed by New Hampshire, Maine, Illi- nois, and Indiana (21). Iowa had 20, Vermont 13, Wisconsin and Michigan 12 each. The southern states of Virginia, Maryland, S uth Carolina, Tennessee, and Louisiana reported a total of 21 contributors during the year. In addition there were a few names from England, Scotland, and Iceland. That different standards of editorial practice existed among the Garrisonian papers, Just as different standards existed among abolition- ists. Garrison recognized in a Liberatqg editorial of June 17, 18h2. Although the date is early, the sentiments expressed apply equally well to the anti-slavery publications of later years: The manner in which the Anti-Slavery Standard is con- ducted is not in accordance with the genius or taste of some of our abolition friends. It is, in their opinion, too literary, too quiet in its tone, too nice in its phraseology. Others are as little pleased with the peculiarities of the Herald of Freedom. They think it is conducted in bad taste, almost in a bad spirit; and the fire and impetuosity of its editor startle them. Others, again, decidedly prefer some other anti-slavery journal to the Liberator; and these are not a few. Now, for one, I am heartily glad that the Herald is not like the Standard; that the featuresof the Standard so widely differ from those of the Herald; and that the Lib- erator is, in its chracteristics, unlike them both.... Of one thing I feel sure--of our union of hearts as the friends of the perishing slave; of our determination to make no com- promise with the enemies of emancipation; of our readiness to do what in us lies to usher in the year of jubilee. Herein lies the reason for the varying Journalistic practices within the group--let the different newspapers in the axis follow their individual stylistic paths, but union of hearts and community of pur- pose will lead to a common victory. It is fitting that the words come 189 Garrison--for his were the principles that set the pattern for all the links in the Garrisonian ”chain.“ Garrisonian was a many-sided radical abolitionism, embracing imme- diatism; anti-clericalism and "comeoutism;" anti—constitutionalism with its accompanying no—government, no-voting tenets; disunion with all its ramifications; non-resistance; and women's rights. The total phildSOphy of anti-slavery methodology, compounded of these isms, set the Garrison- ians apart, caused the schism in the old American Anti¢Slavery Society, and split the whole anti-slavery movement. The strength of the Garrisonians, intensified by determination and unity of purpose, was based largely on the activities of a close—knit central command. Their leaders played a triple role as organizers, of» ficers of the societies, and editors or contributors to the newspapers. They knew the value of their newspapers and fought bitterly to keep them alive. Editors were carefully selected to advance the cause, and if basic editorial policy went astray, as in the case of Rogers and per- haps Whittier, new ones swiftly replaced the recreants. Substitutions were made if failure threatened, as Johnson was substituted for the Joneses in Ohio. The pattern of editorial control was clearly demon- strated in Johnson's assignments: first the Liberator, then the Brvle, Freeman, Standard. The Liberator trained him in Garrisonian journal“ istic techniques, which he carried with him to each ailing paper in turn, renewing in each some of the Garrisonian militancy and fire. 190 The ultimate test of abolition journalism is the measure of its ef- fectiveness. It must be remembered that the Garrisonian newspapers rep- resented but one part of the total prOpagardistic output, sharing honors with thousands of pamphlets and other publications distributed by the societies, not to mention the work of agents and lecturers. Even if total circulation of the five newspapers in the axis were known, there could be no measure of readership, nor of the echoed quotations which ap- peared in hundreds of other newspapers through the exchange system. The fact remains that Garrison, despite the schisms, was ”a hero to his 91 disciples and the legendary figure of abolitionism to the nation." Though their politically minded Opponents believed that moral suasion was less effective than the ballot-box in abolishing slavery, the con- victions of the Garrisonians were nevertheless broadcast in a manner which focused public attention on the cause, and ultimately aided in bringing about the political victory.i In this struggle, the Garrison- ian newspapers and editors played a prominent part in influencing pub“ lic Opinion against Southern slavery. 9 l Quotation from Barnes, op, cit.. p. 99. 191 CHAPTER V FREEDOM OF THE PRESS The reformer in every age faces the task of changing the statug gg_, When the reform he sponsors involves changing an entire social in- stitution, the Opposition to him is enormous. In their attempts to a- bolish slavery, the reformers met antagonism which not only endangered their lives and property, but threatened to upset the foundations of the American government. It will be the purpose of this chapter to re- view the struggle of anti-slavery editors against these forces which endangered their traditional right to freedom of eXpression: to show that the battle was won in the North when the issue was recognized by the public at large as a threat to constitutional rights and civil lib- erties: and to show how the press in the pro—slavery South was itself shackled by suppression of these same civil rights and liberties. This story of the struggle of anti-slavery editors for freedom of the press is not new.1 However, a study of anti-slavery newspapers would be incomplete without at least a resume of those events which con- stitute one of the most important chapters of the history of American Journalism. In addition, it is hoped that citations from original sources will serve to extend and augment knowledge concerning the Ameri- can civil liberties tradition. 1 See especially Nye, g2. 215.. "Abolitionism and Freedom of the 192 The weapons used by those Opposed to the anti—slavery reformers ranged from anonymous threatening letters to actual attacks on life and preperty. They included personal assaults on editors, suits for libel, attempts to curb the press through legislation, editorial at- tacks, inspection of the mails, burning of the offending newspapers, eviction of reporters from meetings, and the destruction of presses and buildings housing publishing establishments. The veteran editor Benjamin Lundy was one of the first to suffer for attacking the institution of slavery. In his 933131 of January 20, 1827, he reported that one Austin 'oolfolk had assaulted him on the streets of Baltimore in retaliation for Lundy's criticism of him ear- lier in the month for his participation in the slave-trade. A month later, February 211, Lundy reported the result of Ioolfolk's trial for assault--the Judge fined the trader one dollar. Lundv's removal from Maryland to Washington was occasioned by the fact that his ”language was forcibly construed into libels, and some half-dozen prosecutions threatened me with long imprisonmentflz In reviewing his Baltimore trial in the Todd libel case, Garrison asserted in the third number of the Liberator that ”Bree inquiry is the essence. the life-blood of liberty; and they who deny men the right to use it, are the enemies of the republic."3 Others repeated the cry 2 Lundy, pp. 30. 205. 209- 3Garrisons, I , 198-9 . 193 that Opposition to abolitionist sentiments contravened the right of ex- pression, and that a threat to freedom of speech was a threat to the republic itself. Nevertheless, a decade passed before anti-abolitionist pressure on editors in the North was lifted. Not until lSMO did active apposition to anti-slavery Journalism cease; by that time Opponents realized that charges against the abolitionist editors for attempting to incite slave revolts were without foundation, and that suppressing the abolitionist press threatened freedom of the press itself.” The accusations that abolitionist publications caused slave re- volts increased to a roar when Garrison was blamed for the bloody up- rising of Nat Turner and fellow-slaves who attacked a dozen white fam- ilies in the neighborhood of Southampton, Virginia in August, 1831. In an editorial in the Liberator of September 3, 1831, Garrison replied that the charges against him were a "foul slander.” In the issues of October 8 and 15 he in turn attacked the Washington National Intelli- gencer for supporting a statement in the Tarborough, N. 0. Free Press that the Liberator was "published in Boston or Philadelphia by a white man with avowed purpose of inciting rebellion in the South,” and that its circulation among Negroes was effected by "secret agents." The Intelligencer was aghast that ”incendiary publications...intended by, their authors to lead.to precisely such results...as the Southampton tragedy" were permitted in New England. and appealed to the mayor of 1; Bye, g2, 233., p. 98. 191+ the city of Boston to find or create a law to suppress these "diabolical papers."I Garrison answered by asserting that the accusation was ”in- effably ridiculous.” and that it was despotic to suppress a paper for contending that all men were created equal. In the Liberator of Dec— ember 2h, 1831, Garrison used the headline ”Southern Audacity” to describe the assertions made by the governors of South Carolina and Virginia that incendiary newspapers were responsible for the Turner rebellion. The same issue carried another editorial entitled ”Senatorial Villany,”I which told of a $5,000 reward offered by the Georgia Senate for the ap- prehension and conviction of Garrison. 'lhere,“ he asked, "is the lib- erty of the press and of speech?" Lundy defended the Liberatqg_against the charge, quoting the Boston paper as having "not a single subscriber .south of the Potomac.'5 The reward offered for the conviction of Garrison was only a frac- tion of the $50,000 offered later for LaRoy Sunderland (the editor of Zion's Watchmag) and Arthur Tappan by the citizens of Mount Meigs. Mont- gomery county, Alabama in August, 1836. Their offer was reprinted in the "Refuge of Oppression" column in the Liberator of January 1”, 1837, over an advertisement copied from a laryland newspaper offering $250 reward for a runaway slave. The Liberator of March 12, 1836, also re- ported an offer of $10,000 for the conviction of Amos A. Phelps, made by the Federal Union of Milledgeville, Georgia. Similar offers from 5L'undy, pp. 2h7-8. 195 the South for the conviction of abolitionist editors became common. In reply the abolitionists repeatedly affirmed that they were within their rights under the Constitution, and that they not only were free to at— tack slavery, but were actually preserving freedom of the press in so doing.6 Meanwhile, however, the crucial decade of the eighteen-thirties supplied incident after incident in which attempts were made to silence those editors devoted to abolition. The more spectacular events in- volved mob action, such as tarring and feathering Marius Robinson—in 1837, dragging Garrison through the streets at the end of a rcpe in 1835, destroying Birney's presses in Cincinnati in 1836, and killing Lovejoy in Alton, Illinois in 1837. Less spectacular but equally dan- gerous to freedom of the press were various legislative attempts to curb abolitionist Journalism. Collectively, these actions brought a- bout a change in the climate of opinion when the Northern public real- ized that a fundamental freedom was threatened. Prior to 1830, mobs frequently harassed abolitionists and temper- arily disrupted free discussion of the slavery issue.7 In addition, apa proval of mob action by unsympathetic editors gave evidence of the bit- terness of public opinion toward agitation of the question by anti- slavery editors. The Garrison and Robinson affairs illustrated the SNye, 92, £32,, pp. 99-100. 7For more complete coverage, see Nye, pp, 913., "The Reign of Mob LB... Chap. v. 196 intensity of anti-abolitionist feeling in journalistic circles, as well as the reluctance of many editors to defend the rights of their abo— litionist brethren. Garrison, in the Liberator of November 7, 1835, gave a complete accounting of his mistreatment on October 21 by a Bos- ton mob. He asserted that his offense was in ”pleading for LIBERTY—n liberty for my enslaved countrymen, colored though they be—-liberty of speech and of the press for ALL!m Martyr—like, he wanted ”those news- papers which were instrumental in stirring up the mob” to know that it was a "blessed.privilege thus to suffer in the cause of Christ.” He quoted the Boston Gazette to show the attitude of the wayward press: We trust that Garrison and his deluded followers will learn a lesson from the events of yesterday afternoon, that shall prove a benefit to them for the rest of their lives. It will not do for them to browbbeat public Opinion in this way; 'it cannot, nor it will ggt_come to good.‘ This commu- nity will no longer tolerate their rascally conduct. Further, Garrison asserted, all the daily press in Boston approved of the riot except the Advocate and the Reformer; the editors of the Commercial Gazette, Atlas, Centinel, and Courier, he believed, ought to have been indicted for attempting to stir up the mob; and the city authorities similarly punished because they made no effort to arrest the leading rioters. Garrison questioned the effectiveness of the riot: 1111 it cause one abolitionist to swerve from the faith?... till it stop the freedom of discussion? w111 it put down the Liberator? Will it check the growth of the anti-slavery cause? Will it slacken my efforts? NO. It will have a contrary effect. It will humble the pride of this city: it will rouse up and concentrate all that is left of the free spirit of our fathers; it will excite sympathy for the 197 persecuted, and indignation against the persecutor: it will multiply sterling converts to our doctrines: it will increase the circulation of anti-slavery writings; it will substitute a thousand debaters in the place of one, and make the discussion of slavery paramount to all other tepics; it will make the triumph of truth over error, and of liberty over oppression, and of law over Jacobinism, and of republicanism over aris- tocracy, more signal and glorious; it will lead the most blind to see that the existence of southern slavery is incompatible with the exercise of the rights and privileges of northern freemen... Robinson, while on a lecture tour at Berlin, Mahoning county, Ohio, was dragged from the home of friends and subjected to tar and feathers at the hands of a mob on June 3, 1837. Describing his treatment in a letter printed in the New York Emancipator, Robinson referred to the ”gross violation” of his rights. adding: “...whenever they are crushed by the lawless hand of violence, in the person of any one member of the community, however humble, all the members of necessity suffer with it.“8 The Emancipator of August 30, 1837, carried an editorial entitled "The Constitution and Free Discussion,” which attacked the Western Reserve Chronicle in Ohio for its censure of anti-abolitionist violence. Re- ferring to the Robinson case, the Chronicle asserted the rights of free discussion were of inestimable worth, But there may be times and places, when and where the exer- cise of this high prerogative, on particular subjects, may by obnoxious to the community} ip.such cases the will 2£_thg p90ple should undoubtedly bg_obgzed. gJohnson. gp. cit.. pp. 178-81, and the New York Emancipatcr, June 29 9 1837. 193 The Emancipator, in its editorial, upheld minority rights under the Constitution, emphasizing that one man had as much right to free dis- cussion as a thousand. The ghgggggkg's failure to uphold this right marked an attitude which the Emancipatgg was quick to define: The most alarming portent in our political thundercloud is, the cowardice of the press upon this subject. Shame on a craven press: Shame on its fawning managers! More significant than the isolated Robinson and Garrison experi- ences in the gradual change of public opinion toward the abolitionist press, were the riots attending the publication of Birney's Cincinnati PhilanthrOpist, and the death of Lovejoy in Illinois. James G. Birney became an abolitionist editor after a career as attorney, planter, and slave~owner in Alabama. Following his conversion to anti—slavery, he disposed of his slaves and selected Danville, Kentucky (where he was born, February h, 1792) as the city in which to publish his paper, the PhilanthrOpist. The citizens of Danville, however, objected. and the paper, scheduled to appear on August 1, 1835, was removed to Cincinnati, where the first issue appeared January 1, 1836, although printing for the first four months was done at New Richmond, north of the city.9 The first issue of the paper aroused an immediate storm of protest. The Cincinnati Republican of January 16 believed that Birney was more dangerous to peace and order than Garrison, and on the 22nd, the Rgpub- lican advocated immediate suppression of the city's abolition society. 931mOYo 22- 91-530 PPO 99 36’1430 179-87! 209’100 199 That evening, a mob, chiefly recruited from the Kentucky side of the river, gathered to protest Birney's activities and those of other Cin- cinnati abolitionists. Birney himself dispersed the mob by explaining that he was not, like Garrison, a disunionist, but believed that eman- cipation could be achieved without disturbing the Constitution.10 The presses on which the PhilanthrOpist was printed, owned by A. Pugh, a Quaker. were moved to Cincinnati without difficulty, and the paper, the organ of the Anti-Slavery Society of Ohio, continued.publi- cation without incident until July 12, 1836. At midnight, a band of men forced its way into the shOp, destroyed a large part of that week's editions, dismantled the press and carried parts Of it away. On the morning of the lhth handbills appeared in the city with the heading “Abolitionists beware!” The PhilanthrOpist appeared as scheduled on the 15th, but the uprst was yet to come. On Saturday night, July 30th, a mob broke into the Offices of the paper, scattered the type, tore down the presses, and wrecked the office. The mob then moved to the home of the printer, Pugh, and next to Birney's residence, where his son, William, was at home alone, the editor being away on an anti-slave ery lecture assignment. Without disturbing the Birney home, the mob returned to the printing office, dragged the press through the street and threw it into the river. The mayor of the city, who witnessed the destruction, then told the mob to disperse.11 —; 10 Birney} _p, 213., pp. 210-19. 11 Ibid.. pp. 2h0—7. 200 The attack of July 30th was planned at a meeting a week earlier, on the 23rd, called by an anonymous advertisement in the papers asking citizens ”to decide whether they will permit the publication or distri- bution of abolition papers in this city." Forty-two citizens were named to prepare resolutions, one of which pledged the use of "all lawful means of discountenance and suppress every publication in this city which advocates the modern doctrines of abolitionism.” During the week following the mob meeting, pressure was brought to bear on the executive committee of the Anti-Slavery Society of Ohio to discontinue the 22117 Enthrgpisé, and by similar demands in the press.12 Birney°s refusal to accede led to the violence. Birney, in a letter13 to William Goodell said he returned to the city early Wednesday morning, with ”but little idea of the personal malignity of the mobocrats against myself.M He described the situation after the attack on his paper: The re-action here is not what it ought to be; but there is some. In the country, so far as its temper is to be judged of from the papers, it is very decisive against the mobocrats.... So far as we have heard from our anti-slavery friends in Ohio, they seemed roused up to a virtuous indignan tion.... The break up circulated our publications through the city better than we could have done it. 12 Birney, 22, 913.. pp. ENE-5. 13 The Friend 33m, Sept. 1. 1836. 201 Garrison. in commenting on the treatment of the Birney affair in the Cincinnati daily newspapers, quoted a letter published in New York: The avowed object of the movers, in the recent violence. was to put down that which.was supposed injuriously to affect the business of the city. It was a husiggsg measure, stand- ing distinct from the great principles of political freedom and individual security. It had nothing to do with law, or morals, or religion11+ Hence the busines§_press only was ef« fected.[sic].by it. In the same column Garrison extracted a letter from a woman in Hills- boro, Ohio, (where Birney had lectured on the eventful weekend) telling how eggs were thrown at Birney during his lecture. Garrison's coverage of the Cincinnati riots was not nearly so ex~ tensive as the reports printed in Goodell's Friend g£_M2p, published in Utica, New York. The reaction in the Friend 2§_Man was perhaps greater because Utica hadheen the scene of a similar riot in October, 1835, during a state convention of abolitionists. when a mob sacked the printing offices of the Utica Standard and Egmggrat, another anti- slavery paper.15 Two full columns in the 233.9119 9;: 59.11. of August h, 1836. were given over to excerpts from the Philanthropist, recounting the Cincinnati incident. Birney's editorial blaming the press of Cin- cinnati for the attack, an offer from a Kentuckian of $100 for the de- liverance of the body of Birney to Kentucky, and an address to the cit- izens of Ohio by the executive committee of the Ohio Anti-Slavery So- ciety were also.included. The latter reviewed events in Cincinnati,vowing 11‘k'l'he Liberator, Aug. 27. 1836. 151m. 0 93.. pp. 165-6. The Friend 93; M_a_1_1_ was established June 23, 183 . superseding the Standard and Democrat. 202 ”full determination, by the help of God to maintain unimpaired the freen dom of speech and the liberty of the press-~the PALLAEIUM OF OUR RIGHTS.” Nine signatures were affixed. including those of Birney and Gamaliel Bailey, who was to become Birney's successor. Prior to the above accounts of the Birney affair, Goodell had be- gun a series of editorials entitled I"'Mobs Destroy Liberty." Apparently written before he received his exhanges from Cincinnati, they appeared in the Egiggd g£_g§p_for July 21, July 28, August h, and August 18, without mention of Birney, and with only general references to freedom of the press. The August 18 issue contained an additional two and one- half columns relating the misfortunes of the PhilanthrOpist. .A week later, August 27th, Goodell summarized events in an editorial entitled “FREEDOM OF THE PRESS COL :13“ Like other editors who emphasized the wider significance of such action, Goodell asserted that freedom of the press was gone not only for the anti-slavery press. but for ”the gaggi- Eén printing 23883. ggnerally. at least in our principal cities...m He added: We mean to say that editors and.printers in our cities LdRE NOT speak out their minds. not simply because they fear the loss of’aristocratic patronage (and this were sufficiently degrading) but because they fear.ARISTOCRATIC LYNCH LAW, that, with a nod. can hurl ANY CITY PRESS IT PLEASES INTO THE RIV- ER!!! Goodell cited the Cincinnati Daily Gazette for its failure to expose the attack on press freedom. and quoted the paper's remark that {[2 are too much ig_th£_midst g£_the ACTORS, TO ADVENTURE AN OPINION ON 203 The ultimate conclusion-J'THE ammcm PRESS cm ms mum rm UNLESS IT PLEADS THE CAUSE OF ABOLITIONM-vwas so phrased and argued logically by Goodell in the Egignd 22|§§n_for September 29. 1836. A- gain using an editorial from Cincinnati as a springboard. he reprinted on page one a statement from the Cincinnati Journal and Luminary which held that times and circumstances were so affected by partisan zeal that it would be impossible to ”weigh arguments with a conscientious desire to come at the truth," concluding that flfor the good of the com- munity" it was "not advisable to yield our columns to the discussion“ of slavery and anti-slavery. Striking at the heart of the matter. Goodell concluded: But we know no other way to bring out and.expose the heart- lessness, the sophistry, the narrow-mindedness of the notion so very prevalent now-a-days, that the freedom of the press can be maintained, while the press does not plead and.will not plead for universal freedom.--We expose it, because un- less speedily exposed, it must prove the ruin of the country and the death of the free press. We believe this as fully as we believe in the connection of moral causes and effects. as fully as we believe in the moral government and supremacy of God. Zhg_press must surrender its own freedom 9£_plead for the freedom gf_thg slave. The differences in Opinion between editors of the Cincinnati type, who hesitated to defend press freedom because of the general feeling that abolitionists were unwelcome agitators dangerous to the community, and the anti-slavery editors who were sensitive to violations which they envisioned as threats to the welfare of the entire nation, were merged into one outburst of disapproval over the murder of Elijah LoveJoy, ed- itor of the Observer in Alton, Illinois. The Lovejoy affair was ”the most significant case involving the freedom of the press. and the one which did more than any other to en- list support for the abolitionists among conservative elements in the North...” By merging abolitionism and freedom of the press into a sin- gle cause, it wremoved the last restriction from the abolitionist press, allowing abolitionist prOpaganda free publication and circulation in the non-slave states.” and. possibly more important, it "lent credence to the abolitionist claim that the fight for Negro freedom involved a struggle for white freedom...”16 Elijah Parish Lovejoy was the son of a Congregational minister in Albion, Maine, where he was born November 9, 1802.17 After being grads uated with honor from laterville College. he migrated to Missouri, taught school for several years, and then became editor of the St. Louis 21223, a political paper. He was converted to religion during a re— vival in 1832, abandoned his editorship, and studied divinity at Prince- ton. Friends invited him back to St. Louis as editor of the St. Louis Observer, a religious paper, a position he assumed in November, 1833. He was at this time a colonizationist, Opposed to abolitionist societies and their propaganda. In 1836 he publicly rebuked a judge for his 16* Nye. 92, 933,. pp. 115, 121. 17 Material in this paragraph was taken from a biographical sketch in an "extra” issued.by the New York Emancipator. Undated. it appeared between the issues of Feb. 8 and 15, 1838, in the volume examined. 205 pro-slavery statements during an investigation of the burning to death of a Negro by a mob, whereupon the mob attacked the Obsggggg's printing plant. .After moving his paper to Alton, Illinois, he made his editorial position clear: To discuss the subject of slavery is not the object of my paper, except as a great moral subject in connection with others. My object is to publish a religious journal. Nevertheless, his press, having been left on the bank of the river over- night, was destroyed by persons unknown. Lovejoy obtained a new press and.published his paper. now called the Alton Observer, without further difficulty. His Opinions on slavery, however, became more militant, and on July 20 he published in the Observer a Declaration of Sentiments on the subject and issued a call for a convention to establish an Illi- nois anti-slavery society. On August 23, 1837, his offices were attacked by a mob and his press destroyed. Another press was purchased. but be- fore it could be set up it too was broken into pieces by a mob. Mean- while. his call for a convention bore fruit, and on October 26 a group of delegates gathered at Upper Alton to form the Illinois Anti-Slavery Society. Lovejoy’s fourth press. which arrived on November 6. was removed to a warehouse with a group of about fifty persons to guard it overnight.18 On the following day threats were made against Lovejoy, and warnings of mob violence were made to the Alton Common Council, but no action was 18 The following information is from the New York Emancipator of NOV. 23. 18370 206 taken by the mayor. On the evening of November 7. Lovejoy and a dozen or fifteen friends. all armed. entered the warehouse. About 10 o'clock a company of twenty or thirty men appeared at the warehouse to throw stones. Someone from within the building fired a shot which struck Lyman Bishop, one of the mob, who died soon after. The mob withdrew, gathered again, stormed the building with ladders, and set fire to the roof. In an exchange of shots. Lovejoy was killed. The mob then burned the warehouse, smashed the press. and threw it into the river. Reaction to the tragedy was widespread and intense. The anti- slavery press made the most of it. eulogizing Lovejoy in black-bordered columns. Issue after issue appeared filled with editorials condemning those responsible. The handling of the story by the New York Emancipa- 393 was typical of the attitude taken by the anti-slavery journals. A page one headline November 23, 1837 announced: ”The First Martyr Has Fallen, In the Holy Cause of Abolition!" The entire page was given over to the story. with columns blocked off in heavy black rules. The issue of November 30 contained a demand for expansion of anti-slavery Opera- tions and an appeal for the necessary funds asking ”Blood Crieth2! Shall it Cry in Vain?” The following three numbers. through January h, 1838, carried column after column of "Testimonies of the Spirit of Libv erty,” comprising quotations from the press rebuking the mob and uphold- ing Lovejoy. In a four-page extra edition, the Emancipator presented a page one single-column silhouette portrait of ”Liberty's Martyr," with his signature. A six-column heading. "The Judgment of Freedom Av gainst the Massacre. Nov. 7, 1837, at Alton. 111..“ announced additional comments from the press. 307 A few papers quoted by the anti-slavery press expressed the belief that Lovejoy's death was the result of his own misdoing. The MLEEQEZE ézgug. of St. Louis. called him an ”infatuated editor.” who. disregard— ing the known sentiments of a large part of Alton's population. insisted on publishing his paper ”for the propagation of the odious and disor- «19 ganizing principles... The New York Evening Post condemned the manner in which the Arggs spoke of the Alton event. adding: The right to discuss. freely and openly. by speech. by the pen, by the press. all political questions. and to examine and.an- imadvert upon all political institutions. is a right so clear and certain. so interwoven with our other liberties. so neces- sary, in fact. to their existence, that without it we must fall at once into despotism or anarchy. To say that he who holds unpOpular Opinions must hold them at the peril of his life. and that. if he expresses them in public. he has only himself to blame if they who disagree with him should rise and put him to death. is to strike at all rights. all liberties. all protec- tion of law. and to justify or extenuate all crimes. 2%? New York American agreed with the Post. asserting: ...we look with shame and indignation upon the tone of too many newspapers which. in speaking of this enormous crime. seek to extenuate its atrocity by dwelling 8n what they call the obstinacy and rashness of Mr. Lovejoy.2 Southern reaction to the anti-slavery prOpaganda of the abolition— ist press included. as well as threats of reprisals. resolutions from Southern legislatures asking lawmakers in the North to take official action to curtail publications by passing laws restricting the circu- lation of ”incendiary” newspapers. Southern papers also advocated 191m New York Emancipator. Nov. p3. 1337. POReprinted in the New York Emancipator. Nov. 23. 1837. P08 extrawlegal action. condoning acts of violence and the destruction of the offending printing establishments. Such efforts to curtail the dissemination of abolitionist principles were given much space in the anti-slavery newspapers. accompanied by editorial comment to show that the South was committed to the destruction of civil liberties in order to perpetuate slavery. Southern memorials to Northern state legislatures. asking for re— strictive legislation. were occasionally looked on favorably and in some instances achieved success. Ultimately. however, the requests met defeat.21 The bitterness of the anti-slavery press toward these memorials was expressed by Garrison in his coverage of Lunt committee hearings22 before the Massachusetts legislature in March, 1836. when Garrison. Goodell. and other members of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society petitioned to be heard in order to avert legislative action endangering liberty of expression. In the Liberator of April 2. 1836, Garrison used these words: The Memorials and Resolutions of certain southern Legislatures. now before the General Court. in libellous and indecent phrase- ology brand some of the most estimable. patriotic. and pious inhabitants of this State, as 'misguided and wicked men.‘ 'nuisances.‘ 'incendiaries.’ 'fanatics.‘ 'traitors.‘ 'an unholy band of cowardly assassins.‘ etc. and imperiously require the passage of penal laws providing for the punishment of all those who preach. that it is criminal to make merchandise of any portion of the human race. v“ 21 NYC, 22: Cite. pp. 109-113. 22 Ibido. pp. 113—150 209 In addition Garrison quoted from Southern newspapers to show the na- ture of their demands. The Richmond Whig said: "The South asks no sympathy or professions. There is no remedy but one» ghatg_£he_incen— diary_jggrnalg...if you cannot_rea¢h the vile slanderegs. SAY NOTHING.“ “H.” The Richmond Enquiggr admonished the North by stating: ”fig shall lo k £g£_the cessation of the issue of lEEEEQEEEX papers_a1together, OR FOR HIGH PENALTIES UPON THE CIRCULATIORS OF THEM WITHIN OUR LIMITS.” In the same editorial. Garrison described Lunt as one “giddy with his elevation" to the legislature. and one who ”uses quite fluently the dialect of a southern slave-driver.” In a previous issue. the Libegatg£_of March 19. 1836. Garrison presented testimony given at the two hearings before the legislature earlier in the month. The issue on which Northern legislatures balked. in considering the demands of Southern lawmakers. was stressed by the Rev. Charles Pollen. a professor at Harvard and a member of the anti- slavery petitioners. who said: You cannot censure freedom of speech in abolitionists. with- out preparing the way to censure it in any other class of citizens. who may for the moment be obnoxious to the major- ity. The question. therefore. is not whether you will put down the abolitionists. but it is whether the Legislature of Massachusetts will suppress freedom of speech forever. Reports of curtailment of anti-slavery newspaper circulation by violence or law were scrupulously noted by the editors. who used each occasion to point a moral. In the September P6. 1835. Liberatgg. Gar- rison printed a letter signed by ”Albert."l lamenting the fact that stage coach drivers had assumed the responsibility of acting as guardians of the public welfare by destroying anti-slavery newspapers at Concord. New Hampshire. Sarcastically he thanked the stage drivers and the post office department for assurance that "our liberties and rights will be amply protected.” The New York (monthly) §2§R212fi£9£.f°r the same month. September, 1835. filled several columns with accounts of mob ac‘ tion against the post office in Charleston. South Carolina on July 30. The Charleston postmaster (said to be anticipating the attack) removed proscribed newspapers and pamphlets from the mailbags for the mob. which set fire to them; at the same time effigies of Garrison and Are thur Tappan were also consigned to the flames. On August 3. at a pub- lic meeting. a committee of 21. headed by an ex—senator. was appointed ”tg_take charge_g£_the United_Statesf mgil.” and to determine means best adapted to put down the abolitionists. The committee was reported to have indeed taken charge. by quarantining mail boats. censoring the mail. and stopping every incendiary paper. The Emancipator. in the same issue. estimated that about 1,000 copies of the Emancipator. Anti~ Slavery Record. and Slave's Friend were destroyed in Charleston. A total of 125.000 issues of these publications had been printed in July. along with 50.000 copies of Human Rights, and most of them. the editor assured his readers. were distributed chiefly in the northern states. Those sent to the slave states have been directed to professional and distinguished citizens. and in no instance. to our knowledge. to any slave or even free colored man.... Have we ever advised any col- ored persons. however Oppressed. to use force? We challenge our enemies to the proof. 211 The same Emancipator printed a letter from R. G. Williams. publishing agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society. which sponsored the per» iodicals listed. Referring to accusations that the Society's publica- tions were incendiary. designed to incite slave rebellions. Williams promised free copies to anyone who wished to examine them. adding that ”nothing will be found in them contrary to the Constitution and laws of the United States. or inconsistent with the character of good citizens. or designed to excite insurrection among the southern slaves. They ad- dress not the slave but his master.” The Charleston incident led to the most significant attempt in this period to limit the freedom of the press. aneaffort by the United States Congress to pass legislation forbidding postmasters to forward anti-slavery periodicals in any state where their circulation was for- bidden by state law. On July 29th.23 the day the mail boat arrived from New York. the Charleston postmaster wrote to Amos Kendall. Post- master General. informing him that the mail from the North was filled with pamphlets and tracts on slavery. that the public‘was excited. and that he had determined to detain the papers. which he described as ”insurrectionary in the highest degree.” He asked for instructions. Kendall replied: Upon a careful examination of the law. I am satisfied that the Post Master General has no legal authority to ex— clude newspapers from the mail. nor prohibit their carriage or delivery on accounkof their character or tendency. real or supposed. 23The following information is from Kendall‘s letter of.Aug. h. acknowledging and quoting from the letter of the Charleston postmaster. It was printed in the New York Emancipator. Sept.. 1835. Kendall further observed that the postal service was created ”to serve the people of gggh_and all of the United States. and not to be used as the instrument of their destructign.“ adding: By no act or direction of mine. official or private. could I be induced to aid. knowingly. in giving circulation to papers of this description. directly or indirectly. We owe an obligation to the laws. but a higher one to the com- munities in which we live. and if the former be perverted to destroy the latter. it is patriotism to disregard them. En- tertaining these views. I cannot sanction. and will not con- demn the step you.have taken. Presenting this letter to his readers. the editor of the Emancipator asserted: “It remains to be seen whether the people of the United States will sanction such a decision.” In the same column was an ed- itorial reprinted from the New York Evenipg Post suggesting Kendall's resignation for failure to discharge his duty. The Egg§_viewed the Postmaster's decision. neither to condemn nor sanction the unlawful conduct of the Southern official. as an act establishing a censorship g£_t§g pgggg in its worst possible form. by allowing every twopenny Post Master through the country to be the judge of what species of intelligence it is proper to circudate. and what to withhold from the peeple. In his annual report for 1835. Kendall, himself a newSpaper man. suggested that President Jackson ask Congress to give the Postoffice Department authority to refuse circulation to obnoxious papers in the Southern states. Jackson accordingly recommended legislation imposing a penalty on any person or persons who used the Federal mails as a means of circulating’papers in the South intended to instigate insur- rection. John C. Calhoun. chairman of the committee which received the bill. thought the measure unconstitutional. but proposed instead a 213 statute forbidding postmasters to forward periodicals to those states having laws denying circulation to abolitionist publications. This bill was finally defeated in the Senate by a narrow margin.2u Federal postal regulations themselves imposed no restrictions on the circulation of anti-slavery journals. In one curious instance a congressman objected to receiving an issue which was sent on his own franking privilege. Adam Huntsman. representative from Tennessee. ad- vised William Goodell. editor of the Friend g£_5§g. that he had.not asked for the paper. and that Goodell by sending it to him under frank had defrauded the government of postage. He pointed out that by the laws of Tennessee it was a penitentiary offence upon any person ”who may be found guilty of using. circulating. or giving currency to such a paper as you have sent me. upon the subject of abolition.” This in— formation was given. he said. to warn of the dangers involved in send- ing the newspaper to his state; although he could read it with impunity in Washington. at home he would be subjected to an ”infamous punishment.“ Goodell replied that the issue mailed contained a review of a congres- sional report containing opinions of interest to lawmakers. and that the privilege of frank was extended to representatives by the peOple. at their expense. to facilitate communication between the two groups in the interest of the national welfare.25 2mmnerican Journalism. pp. 206-7. 2 5The Friend g£_!§n, Feb. 15. 1837. 211+ ‘AIthough the climate of opinion in the South respecting anti-slav- ery publications did not deter a few individuals of anti-slavery con» victions from giving voice to their Opinions. the record reveals the difficulty of maintaining abolitionist periodicals in the slave states. Benjamin Lundy. who succeeded Elihu Embree in disseminating propaganda for the Tennessee Manumission Society. moved his operations to Balti- more. and thence to Washington and Philadelphia. Lundy recorded the failures of William Swaim's Greensboro. North Carolina. 2253321. and Milo Mower's New Orleans Liberalist. Mower was imprisoned in 1830 on the charge of circudating ”a seditious and inflammatory hand-bill a— mong the coloured.pe0ple“ after publishing his paper for only a few months.26 Birney. who planned publication in Kentucky. was forced to establish his paper in Ohio. In Macon. Georgia. the abolitionist 9;;— iggg_was silenced. and its editor. a Doctor Andrews. forced to leave the city.27 The Progess g: _t_h_g Age. a small. weekly anti-slavery newspaper in Lexington. Kentucky. though mild in its views. died for want of support in the early fifties.28 Pressure in Baltimore brought about the suspension of the Saturday Visiter. described by Gamaliel 26Iundy. pp. 27-8. 239. 2hl. 2 7The Liberator. Oct. 18. 1850. In the same issue Garrison re- ports the ejection from Eufanla. Alabama. of one Captain Elisha Betts for his communications to the washington National Era. ng. Winston Coleman. Jr., Slavery Times in Kentucgz (university of’North Carolina. l9h0). p. 317a. 215 Bailey as I“a pioneer anti-slavery journal in the South.“ Edited by Dr. J. E. Snodgrass. the Visitor advocated temperance. abolition of capital punishment. and anti-slavery. and united its subscription list with that of Bailey's Washington §;g_1n 18h7, after nearly five and one-half years of publication. Snodgrass became Baltimore correspond- ent for the £35,29and on January 28. 18h7. he issued an extra addressed ”To the Lovers of Truth and Freedom.” recounting the efforts in Mary- land to stifle his paper. He quoted resolutions from the House of Del- egates which referred to an 1835 law against circulating incendiary publications. and called the Eigitgg ”an incendiary paper...calculated to create discontent. and stir up insurrection among the people of color in this State.” Snodgrass denied the charges. which were based 0 on his publication of a speech made by Cassius M. Clay.3 Clay. a.Kentuckian. had suffered the loss of his own paper. the True American of Lexington. only two years before. The history of this newspaper is interesting because it appeared in a border state with a more liberal tradition than those of states in the deep South. because of the method in which the paper was suppressed. and because of the forceful personality of its editor-«a slave-owner who. like Birney. came to espouse abolition. 29The National_Era. Apr. 15. l8h7. O 3 The Anti-Slavery Bugle. Feb. 6. 18h6. 216 A border state. Kentucky had a tradition of liberalism. As early as 1792 Baptists. Presbyterians and Methodists were active in anti- slavery agitation. The first distinctly anti-slavery organization in the state. the Kentucky Abolition Society. was formed in 1808 by Bap~ tists. Because the columns of the genera? press were closed to anti- slavery discussion. the Society established its own paper. the £223}“ tion Intelligepggg_§§g_Miggiggggy_ggg§g§gg£ at Shelbyville in May. 1822, under the editorship of the Reverend John Finley Crows. Only 12 issues of the Mgggggggg. a monthly3were issued. with subscribers numbering fewer than four hundred. In 1827 the Society itself died a natural death.31 Cassius Marcellus Clay. born in 1810. was the son of General Green Clay. a Kentucky slave-owner who Opposed slavery but ”made it as bear- able as was consistent with the facts.” Clay attended Transylvania University and Yale. In Boston he met both Nhittier and Garrison. and after hearing a speech by the latter resolved "that. when I had the strength. if ever. I would give slavery a death struggle." He himself delivered his first anti-slavery speech at Yale during a Centennial celebration of washington's birth. February 22. 1832. Returning home. he studied law atTransylvania but never took out a license to practice. In 1835 and 1837 he was elected a member of the Kentucky House of Rep- resentatives. where he began to develOp Opposition to slavery.32 31Coleman. 92, g$£.. pp. 293-h. " ’) 5LGassius Marcellus Clay. The Life gfixgassipp g§r95113§_§13y QCincinnati..9hio. 1886}. pp. Hi. 57-3. 74. Originally planned for two volumes. only one volume was published. Hereafter called Clay. 217 On a campaign tour of the Northern states for his cousin. Henry Clay. in 18hh. Clay reported seeing ”a vitality...which foreshowed the downfall of the slave—power." He wrote for political journals until their columns were “closed against me. [and] I determined to start a press of my own in the cause of liberation.” His objective was to use the constitutional right of freedom of the press ”to Change our Nat- ional and State Laws. so as. by a legal majority. to abolish slavery." Accordingly. he engaged T. B. Stevenson. editor of the Frankfort. Kentucky ggmmggggglth. at $1.000 a year. to edit EEE.2£E£.£E§£1§§£- the first number of which appeared June 3. 18U5. Aware of the danger of mob violence. Clay fortified his office building by lining the out- side doors with sheet-iron. placing behind the doors on a table two brass four-pounder cannon purchased in Cincinnati and loaded with shot and nails. and stocking the premises with a supply of Mexican lenses and guns. In addition. he prepared escape through a trap-door in the roof for the six or eight persons pledged to defend him. The final act of retaliation would be to touch off a keg of powder and blow up 33 the invaders. 314 Clay explained his principles in his prospectus. Thg_True American. to be published in Lexington. would be “devoted to gradual and constitutional emancipation.” He called for political action to 33Clay. pp. 105-7. 3hTaken from Boston Emancipator and Weekly Chronicle. Mar. 5. 18h5. 218 accomplish this end. preposing to establish a state party not affili- ated with any other party. state or national. In addition. the Amgggggp. a weekly independent paper. sold at $2.50 per year. was to ”especially... regard the high place which labor holds in the economy of nature. and insist upon its enjoyment of a fair distribution of the products of cap~ ital.” The paper appeared with the motto "God and Liberty” at its mast- head. Although it was severely denounced in Lexington. its 2,000 sub- scribers. of which three hundred were scattered over Kentucky and sev- enteen hundred out of the state. greeted the new champion of freedom with anwarm welcome. Lexington citizens took action against the gmggif g§p_after two and one-half months of publication. On August 1h. 18h5, a committee gathered at the courthouse to discuss plans to suppress it. Clay. ill with typhiod fever for two days. nevertheless went to the meeting to defend his position. 0n the 18th an injunction was is- sued against the 2532 American. and Clay was forced to give up the keys to his plant to a city marshal. Meanwhile. an assembly of 1.200 per- sons. gathered on the same morning. determined that no abolition press would be tolerated in Kentucky. They were unaware that a writ of sei- sure had already been served on Clay. ill at home. A committee of 60 persons then proceeded to the plant. dismantled the equipment, and shipped it to Cincinnati.35 Clay later recovered $?.500 damages in a 35601811183. 920 9—1-3}. pp. 307-8. suit against James B. Clay. the son of Henry Clay. who acted as secre— tary of the Committee of Sixty.36 Clay continued to publish Thg‘zgpgvémgziggp from Lexington. al— though the paper was printed in Cincinnati. until he left for the Hex“ ican War in June. 18h6. For a time after his absence the paper was edited by John C. Vaughan. with Brutus J. Clay. brother of Cassius. in charge of finances. It was discontinued soon after. for want of pat- ronage. Clay explained: "As soon as I joined the invading army. my principal supporters. the Abolitionists and some of the political foes of slavery. lost confidence in my purposes. denounced me. and ceased to take the paper." Vaughan. using Clay's subscription lists. estab- lished the Louisville. Kentucky. §3§g1g25_in June. 18h7. a paper which expired in December. 18149.37 The emergence of an anti-slavery champion in a slaveholding state was looked upon with favor by the Northern abolitionist editors. al- though some of them expressed disapproval of Clay's politics and his continued ownership of slaves. The Cincinnati Philanphgppist. com- menting on Clay's efforts in 18h3 to block repeal of an 1833 Kentucky law prohibiting the importation of slaves into the state for sale. said: 36C1ay. p. 108. 7;p;g.. p. 175. and Nye. QR, git.. p. 135. 220 His struggles for the right. amid such formidable Opposition (andother reasons needless to name.) satisfy us. that though still a slave-holder. he is such from no grovelling pecuni- ary interest. or other base motive...and he fears. doubtless. that should he emancipate his slaves, he would lg§g_hig_inf fluence with his countrymen, All eyes are turning to Kentucky.... We suppose the time has come when her patriots should abide at home. and speak out for their country.--Such is the decision of Cassius H.01ay: and in this decision the civilized world has a deep interest. His name is becoming dear to good men; he is mov— ing on a broader theatre than he imagines; his position will be anxiously watched; his deeds noted.38 When the True American was threatened by mob action. the é9£13§lflX§£Z Bugle expressed fear that the Lexington offices would be demolished. noting that "every body understands that the editor will have to be killed first. and that he is somewhat difficult to 1:111.”39 when the paper reappeared Gamaliel Bailey observed that it was "less inflamma- tory than before its suppression by the mob.“ and that though it was conducted by a Whig. "it contains noble truths. which will find a re- sponse in the heart of every right-minded man."140 In June. 18h9.a false report of Clay's death in a duel with Jo- seph Turner led to a premature funeral oration: 38 h Reprinted in the Boston Emancipator and Free American. May 11. 18 3. 39§hg_Anti~Slavery Bugle. Aug. 29. 18h5. uoThe Cincinnati Weekly Herald and PhilanthrOpist. Oct. 15. 18h5. 221 Poor Clay: he has fallen a victim to that brutal code which is always associated with slaveholding institutions.... He loved the cause of Freedom and POpular Rights: he always held himself ready to sacrifice himself upon its a1tar.... Over his grave the friends of Freedom should renew their vows of perpetual.me-agpinst a system. to the false maxims and bloody spirit of which the most cfiivalrous of Kentucky Eman- cipationists has fallen a victim. 1 An interesting contrast between the careers of James G. Birney and Cassius Clay was drawn in an editorial entitled ”Progress" which appeared.February h. 18h6. in the Cincinnati Weekly Eerald and Philan- throRist. Remarking the fact that both were slave owners who met cp- position to their publishing efforts in Kentucky and ended by printing their papers in Cincinnati. the editorial noted that ”Mr. Birney is now bitterly hated and denounced by both the old political parties.“ whereas Clay was ”a general favorite with anti-slavery men of all par“ ties: and in the great cities of the East is welcomed with warm demon— strations of regard...“ Three reasons were given for the difference. First. Clay was "an emancipationist of the most gagdpal kind.” Sec- ondly. he was a member of the Whig Party at a time when it was import— ant that lhig leaders should not offend anti-slavery men. Thirdly. the cause of anti-slavery had progressed a great deal since the as- saults on Birney: The battle for freedom of the press had been fought for ten years in the free States. and won. before Mr. Clay commenced his enterprise in Kentucky. The public mind had been famil- iarized with the anti-slavery movement. and greatly concili- ated. - l The National Era. June 21. 18h9. In conclusion. the Herald and Philanthropist commended Clay for his enthusiasm and his boldness. but pointed out the contrast to the anti- slavery pioneers--like Garrison. the Tappans. Birney. and Lovejoy~-who took the brunt of accusations of fanaticism and incendiarism and were forgotten. Clay's standards on the battle field of human rights were too low. Gamaliel Bailey. the editor who drew the contrast between Birney and Clay. honored the latter for his part in making Kentucky. with the exception of Delaware. ”the only slave State in which the right of freely discussing and denouncing Slavery is firmly maintained." In an editorial in the Washington National Era of August 16. 1855. Bailey praised both John G. Fee. a Kentuckian whose father was a slave owner. and Clay for their ”moral and physical heroism“ in preparing the way for truth. Of the latter. he wrote: Today. Cassius M. Clay is the bulwark of free discussion in Kentucky. While he lives. there is hope for Freedom in that State. The gallant manner in which he vindicated the right of public discussion...has awakened the admiration of the generous everywhere. However. freedom of discussion in Kentucky did not prevail with- out interruption. The Newport. Kentucky. Weekly News. established August 14. 1851. with fifty subscribers and edited by William s. Bailey, was burned out by a mob'early on the morning of October 6th. with losses amounting to $1,600.. By accepting financial aid from his friends. and by calling his wife and children into service as printers. Bailey reestablished his paper six weeks after the fire. renamed it the Free South. and continued his attacks on slavery. By 1856 his 223 circulation had risen to twenty—eight hundred. Following John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry. the Free South became the object of severe criticism because of comments favorable to Brown's part in the raid. and was struck by a mob again. On the night of October 28. l859.an angry crowd wrecked Bailey's printing plant and threw forms and type into the river. The next morning. resuming the attack. the mob en- tered Bailey's home and destroyed his furniture. Bailey and his family. were forced to flee Kentucky.u2 Finally. in 1860 Kentucky passed a law governing the publication of incendiary material.)43 The passage of such a law in the tense days preceding the Civil War tarnished the record of Kentucky's liberal course during the decades which saw victory for freedom of the press in the Northern states and defeat of its princi- ples in the deep South. Because the right of free expression was deemed fundamental to the cause of anti-slavery. abolitionists understandably were cheered not only by events in Kentucky. but by any evidence that the slave- holding states might be undergoing a change of heart. In its issue of May 6. 18h7. the Washington HEfilflBfil §I§_presented in two columns an editorial entitled ”The South Pledged to Maintain the Freedom of the Press." which. after reviewing the bleak record of burnings in Charles- ton. attempts to pass Legislation in Congress curbing the circulation of anti-slavery newspapers. and mob actions of the past. stated: D2The Anti-Slavery Standard. Aug. 16. 1856. and Coleman. gp._git.. pp- 320-1- l‘31‘Iye. pp, ggt,. pp. 130. 6. A similar measure. proposed after the committee sent Clay's True American presses to Cincinnati in 18h5. had been defeated. II. ...I' III 1‘! l ‘I But the dark day has passed.... We have lately had a revival of the gospel of liberty in the South. The good people of this section have become orthodox in regard to the freedom of the press. and their hearts beat high with fervent devotion to this bulwark of their rights. The occasion for this outburst of Optimism was a wave of objections in the Southern press and a number of resolutions by Southern legisla- tures. against the eXpulsion from the Senate of the venerable editor. Thomas Ritdhie (formerly of the Richmond Enquirer and then of the Wash- ington Union} for allowing a correspondent to speak too freely of the doings of that body. The Era quoted the Uniopfs statement that the objections in the press to Ritchie's expulsion were numerous enough to form a sizeable volume. which could be printed under the title Dedicated 22 the Freedom 9f_the Presg. After quoting numerous extracts to show the extent of Southern reaction. the Era concluded: A more unqualified affirmation of the absolute freedom of the press could not be found. We might multiply such ex- tracts beyond number; but we have quoted enough to show that the whole Democracy of the South are committed by the most solemn. emphatic expression of opinion. to the unqualified support of Freedom of the Press. Certainly. the right they claim for the editor of the Union they can deny to no other editor; and if, in their estimation. the exclusion of an ed— itor from the privileged seats of the Senate. for a free an« imadversion on its proceedings. be a gross violation of the liberty of the press. beyond all doubt. they must admit that the demolition of a press by mob violence is a still grosser violation. Gamaliel Bailey. editor of the Egg. had already learned about mob action. since he became Birney's assistant on the Cincinnati 2211: anthropi§t_shortly after that paper was attacked. A year after he wrote the editorial quoted above. his office was stoned in April. 18h8. and he was taken to task personally by a committee who believed that [‘4 “.3 U1 the Egg had inspired the attempted escape of a number of slaves who seized a sloop and sailed off. only to be recaptured.m4 At the same time that the Egg was cheered by what appeared to be an indication of progress. anti-slavery societies. in their annual re— ports. echoed the same Optimism. The committee of the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. in its seventh annual report. 18h7. hOpefully noted the progress of anti-slavery publications in Kentucky. the work of J. E. Snodgrass in Maryland. and the growing promise of the Eation§l_§£§. which. the committee felt. was protected from vio~ lence by the discussions in Congress on the subject of slavery and the freedom of the press. and by the ”growing anti-slavery sentiment of the country.” The Society's executive committee report in 18h8 ex- hibited even greater Optimism: ...we find abundant evidences of the rapid progress of anti- slavery sentiments. The question of slavery has been dis- cussed far more freely and extensively in private circles. in newspapers. secular and religious. in State Legislatures. in Congress. and in the slave States. than at any former period... Th8 conduct of many at the South is becoming more reasonable. To sUpport its views. the committee especially noted the state of Opin- ion in Kentucky. and in addition cited the spread of anti-slavery feel- ing in Western Virginia and Maryland. the establishment of abolitionist uhThe National_Fra. Apr. 20. Apr. 27. 18h8. thqprinted in The Nationgi Era. May 20. 18h7. 6 Reprinted in The National_Era. May 25. l8h8. N N O\ newspapers in Delaware and Virginia. the "almost unanimous voice of the press (South as well as North)fl in condemning the mob's action a— gainst the Era. and instances of growing anti—slavery sentiment in Georgia. Louisiana and other states. The change of opinion toward the abolitionist press in the North. where the victory was won. was more striking. Contrasting the old days. when "the idea of abolition was never introduced into the cola umns of our papers. except for the purpose of condemnation." the execu~ tive committee of the Anti-Slavery Society of Eastern Pennsylvania. New Jersey, and Delaware. at its eleventh annual meeting in lSMS noted: It is not so now. Our newspaper press severally treat abo- litionists with respect. and chronicle their acts and refer to their doctrines and measures without misrepresentation. Their columns. moreover. in one form or other. teem with anti-slavery discussions. Referring to Pennsylvania. the report stated: In the first place. the sound of mob violence is no longer heard in our borders.... Freedom of speech and of the press on this subject have been fully established. and men may in all parts of the State. so far as any experiment has been made. exercise their rights without interruption. 7 The old problem of minority rights against majority Opinion ac- counted for sectional differences. Bailey. in the Philanthropist of August 13. 1839. wrote an editorial entitled “The Responsibilities of the Press" expressing the essential difference in the viewpoints of North and South toward freedom of the press. Citing "An Ohio Paper" w Reprinted in The Liberator. Sept. 1. 18MB. 227 for its refusal to print further articles on anti-slavery ”till better satisfied than at present that a majority of our readers wish to see them.“ Bailey castigated those editors whose papers were closed to minority Opinions. and who believed that nothing should be printed which was “repugnant to the taste of a majority of his readers.” He asserted: If you cannot sustain an independent paper. if you cannot continue an editor. without...selling your conscience and stifling your free thought. to please the majority. then give up your profession. and lay hold of the plough... G. for a race of free-souled editors! The press should be like the sun. pouring its penetrating light on all things. Its voice should be unfettered as the winds of heaven. Whatever can in any way affect the interests of the people. that. the peeple should know. As other citations in this chapter show, those editors who Op- posed Open discussion of anti—slavery matters in their papers reasoned that the practice was contrary to public sentiment. and that it was their duty above all to consider the welfare of the community. Bailey had a thought for this attitude: ”The peOple are not so intolerant. as their timid servants imagine. The tyrannyof public Opinion in this country. is magnified." Magnified perhaps in the North. where by lShO freedom prevailed. But hardly magnified in the South. where news~ papers continued to rely on the theory of ”community welfare“ as their chief principle in interpreting the meaning and application of freedom of the press. Thus. Northern abolitionist editors. aided by the change in pub- lic Opinion after the attacks on Birney's Philanthropist and Lovejoy's Observer. gained freedom for their Opinion when they convinced readers I II I I‘. 228 that the threat to press freedom was in reality a threat to individual liberties in general. Their interpretation of the First Amendment lay in the belief that it was guaranteed freedom for the individual—~any individual--which if destroyed could only terminate in annihilation of all individual and national rights. As abolitionists. it was both log- ical and advantageous to their crusade. for them to assert that a pro- slavery stand was an attack on freedom of the press. that the battles against slavery and £2: civil liberties were one and the same. Although traditional civil liberties were lost in the deep South. the states in the upper South recovered their freedoms. Because Of their proximity to the North. their own liberal traditions. and their exposure to less stringent economic pressures. border states found champions who had the courage to follow Bailey's teachings. and sup- porters to give them strength. As border states their allegiances were split. but their course was in general an inspiration to those in the North who were sure. and many not so sure, Of their convictions. Anti-slavery Journalists. with their faith in the right of the minority to freedom of expression--a right established by tradition and by 1aw--were responsible for. and victorious in. a struggle test' ing the validity of a principle fundamental in the framework of Ameri- can thought. Their victory Over those who believed the individual must suppress eXpression of his beliefs when his convictions are contrary to public Opinion. was a victory incidental to their major objective. the destruction of slavery. The significance of the triumph. however. is beyond simple measurement in terms of a handful of crusaders who 929 insisted on being heard. The issue involved a keystone of the Federal government. without which other democratic principles were endangered. It is true the abolitionists took advantage of the lack of faith by the majority to argue that a blow against slavery was a blow to reas— sert traditional liberties. but they were prOpagandists as well as i- dealists. and their devotion to principle cannot be impugned. For them. really. the threat to suppress freedom of the press waépot a sep- arate and individual evil; it was merely the principle of enslavement of the individual in another form. Had there not been a victory for freedom of expression. the control of public Opinion prevalent in the deep South might well have estab- lished itself in the North. The consequent silencing of the press and other forms of public expression. involving as it did in the South a loss of individual rights and traditional civil liberties. would L875 represented an enslavement of Americans equal to the enslavement of the Negroes. The American press. if silenced by powerful interests. would have been no press at all. as we know it. but a mere conveyor of official communications. a controlled organ of a despotic government. One need not search far for examples of such despotism. CHAPTER VI POLITICAL ANTI-SLAVERY JOURNALISM During the late eighteenathirties abolitionists who favored po» litical action over moral suasion as a means of putting an end to slavery severed their ties with those who held the older view. Among the political actionists were editors who aided in inaugurating the movement. and editors who established new journals to support it. In the eighteen-forties political parties were formed to implement theory. The purpose of this chapter is to trace the development of political anti—slavery journals. and to provide some knowledge of their charac- ter and their editors. A general view of anti-slavery political ac- tivity is presented first for chronological clarity and badkground. 231 A. Anti-Slavery Political Action-The Background According to William Birney. son and biographer of James G. Bir— ney--first Presidential candidate to run on an anti-slavery platform-- the formation of an organized anti-slavery party had its origins ”deep down in national soil." its principles have been asserted by Rufus King. Talmadge. and others...in 1820; Governor Coles. in Illinois. in 182%; Lundy and Raymond. in Maryland. in 1826. 1827.‘1828. and 1829; and William Jay. Joshua Leavitt. and their coadjutors. in the constitution of the American Anti-Slavery Society. in 1833.1 Goodell. seeking a point of origin. recalled as the earliest manifesta- tion he could find on record a recommendation made by Garrison in 183M, advocating "a Christian party in politics” with particular reference to the slave question.2 No anti-slavery political action of any consequence arose. how- ever. until the late eighteen-thirties.3 As indicated above (pp.159« 60} the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society split in 1839 over differ- ences in matters of theology. political action. and reformatory meas- ures. the division resulting in the formation of the Massachusetts Abolition Society and the establishment of a new paper. the Massachu~ setts Abolitionist. This division at the state level was followed in 192. 211.. p- 333- 9%. 9.11.. p. 1469. 3Material following is from Goodell. . cit.. pp. h57-83: and lilson. .2- g_i__t_.. 1. 5145-55: 11. 110-15. 1 £97 150-60. 232 lShO by a split at the national level. with the national American Anti- Slavery Society remaining in possession of the moral-suasion Garrison— ians. while I"new organization“ peeple formed the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. Before the break-up of the societies. however. individuals in the movement had frequently advocated political action. Professor Charles Fallen of Harvard in 1836 suggested formation of a new. progressive Democratic party dedicated to abolition. Iilliam Goodell. Alvan Stewart. Myron Holley. James G. Birney. Joshua Leavitt. and Gerrit Smith. all prominent in political activities in the forties, urged political ac- tion. In 1838 candidates for state offices in New York and Massachu— setts were questioned by anti-slavery men to ascertain their position regarding slavery. In 1838 the New York State Anti-Slavery Society adapted a series of resolutions. drawn by Goodell. pledging to with- hold support from any pro-slavery candidates. A year later. at a na~ tional anti-slavery convention held at Albany. called by a committee appointed for the purpose at the regular annual convention of the Amer— ican Anti-Slavery Society. political action was discussed without the group's arriving at any definite decision. But after 1839 many aboli- tionists were convinced that the time was ripe to inject thezibolition issue into national politics. Myron Holley. whose Rochester. New York. Freeman was established in June. 1839. prepared a series of resolutions advocating the policy of independent political action by abolitionists. These resolutions. adapted by the county anti-slavery convention at Rochester. September 28. 233 1839. led to the formation of the Liberty party. The following Janu- ary. at a convention of the New York State Anti-Slavery Society. at- tended by Holley and Gerrit Smith. a call was issued for a National Convention to be held at Albany. April 1. 18h0. to discuss the ques- tion of an independent nomination of abolition candidates for Presi- dent and Vice-President of the United States. The convention was held. Alvan Stewart presiding. the Liberty party was organized. and.James G. Birney and Thomas Earle. a Pennsylvanian. were nominated for President and Vice-President. One hundred and twenty~one delegates from six states were represented. one hundred and four being from New York. In the national elections that followed. Birney and Earle received about 7,000 of the two and a half million votes cast. In lShl the Liberty party gained a powerful recruit in Salmon P. Chase. an Ohio attorney who had attained prominence four years before by defending Birney against charges of harboring a slave. Chase. who hepefully voted for Harrison in 18h0, called a state convention of anti-slavery men in 18hl. which nominated Leicester King for governor of Ohio. An address by Chase at the convention was widely circulated and exerted considerable influence in strengthening the Liberty party for the lShh national elections. In August. 18M3,a national convention of the Liberty party. at- tended by nearly a thousand delegates representing every free state except New Hampshire. nominated for President James G. Birney. then a resident of Michigan. and for Tics—President Thomas Morris of Ohio. The two received upwards of 60.000 votes in the election. 23h There were at this point three groups of anti-slavery pe0ple ag- itating for abolition: the “old organization” Garrisonians who be- lieved now in “no union with slaveholders“ and who rejected all par- ticipation in government: the Liberty party faction which believed in independent political action through nomination of its own candidates for office; and those anti-slavery men who still adhered to the Whig and Democratic parties and exercised their voting privileges by favorb ing candidates who. they believed. would take action against slavery. Members of the latter two groups agreed on the principle of political action. but were not always in accord as to methods of application. Some accepted the doctrine of the unconstitutionality of slavery; others held it was primarily a matter of state and local responsibil- ity. its extension to be resisted and the institution itself eventually eliminated through constitutional action. This diversity of Opinion existed even within the Liberty party. and though it had presented a fairly united front in two national elections. the party was ready (anti-slavery men being what they were) for division. In his history of the anti-slavery movement Goodell stated there was a feeling in the forties that the Liberty party was merely a bal- ance—ofhpower party. that it would eventually be reabsorbed by the great national parties. and that if it were to be a.permanent organi— zation it should have a full program and not merely a single plank. anti-slavery. Such a full prOgram would include Illi ' II- II _ 235 free trade. gratuitous distribution of public lands. limi- tation of land ownership. the inalienable homestead. re- trenchment of expenses. free suffrage. find the abolition of all 1egalized.monopolies and castes. He also believed. he added. that successful political action required the support of men who had wrongs of their own to be redressed. and of men who were interested in universal equality and impartial justice for’all. Without such support. he wrote. the Liberty party would be scattered and lost. In June. 1835. at a state convention of the party at Port Byron. New York. a proposal was made supporting not only the concept of the unconstitutionality of slavery. but the broader concept of a party dedicated to Goodell's objectives. The convention did not adept the prOposal. However. adherents of the new idea took action into their own hands. held a convention at Macedon. New York. in June, l8h7. and nominated Gerrit Smith and Elihu.Burritt for President and Vice-Presi- dent of the United States. The new group called itself the Liberty League. ‘A later convention at Rochester named Charles G. Foote to take the place of Burritt. who declined the nomination. Meanwhile. the Liberty party men held a convention and named.John P. Hale of New Hampshire and Leicester King of Ohio for the same offices. At the same time that the Liberty party was breaking down in ar~ guments over political methods. a progressive faction of New York Dem- ocrats, known as the "Barnburners" and led by Martin Van Buren. was hQR. git.. p. M71. 236 taking steps to act independently of the Democratic party at large. As Opponents of slavery extension. the "Barnburners" joined with other forces of similar disposition. including Liberty party men, at a na« tional convention at Buffalo in August. l8h8,to form the Free Soil party. Van Buren was nominated as candidate for the Presidency and Charles Francis Adams for the Vice—Presidency. Hale and King, the Liberty party candidates. withdrew their names as their party was ab» sorbed by the new organization. The Liberty League remnant continued independently. A few days after the Buffalo meeting. the Free Soil convention of New York assembled. followed by meetings in Ohio. Mary- land. Delaware. Virginia. North Carolina. Kentucky. and Missouri. The Free Soil platform was based on the principle that slavery was a State institution. and Congress could not interfere with it. However. they insisted Congress should prohibit slavery by law in all free territory. Therefore: No more slave States. no more slave territory. no more com- promises with slavery; and freedom for Oregon. California. and New Mexico. To this...were added declarations in favor of cheap postage. retrenchment. grants of land to actual settlers. the early Payment of the national debt. a tariff adequate to the current expenses of the government and an annual instalment for the debt. Having enunciated this plat- fbrm of principles and proposed measures. they resolved that 'we inscribe on our banners Free Soil. Free Speech. Free La- bor. and Free Men: and under it will fight on and fight ever. until a triumphant victory shall reward our exertions.'5 5Wilson. pp, 313,. II. 151-2. See also Allan Nevins. Ordeal 23 thg.Union (New ork: Scribner's. l9h7). 1. 202-8. . . 937 In 1852. when the Free Soilers nominated John P. Hale for President. they participated in their last presidential election as an independ- ent party. After the Free Soil party came the Republican party. One his- torian. William Birney. considered all three parties as one. a ”Con- stitutional Anti~Slavery party” opposed to the slave power. In a chapter entitled ”THE LIBERTY-«FREE SOIL—~REPUBLICAN PARTY." Birney termed the Republicans merely an extension of the Liberty group.6 Tracing the growth of this party. he cited figures for the 18h0-1860 elections: In round numbers. its presidential vote was as fol— lows. subject to allowance for votes not counted in the first four elections: 18ho ... Birney ... 7,100 lShu ... Birney ... 6?.300 18h8 ... van Buren Gerrit Smith} "' 300'000 1852 ... John P. Hale ... 155, 900 1856 ... Fremont ... l .3h1. 000 1860 ... Lincoln ...1,9oo,ooo 7 With the above general view of anti-slavery political action pro- vided as historical background. especially for the eighteenrforties. the following discussions of individual anti-slavery journals and their editors may. it is heped. be seen in better perspective. 6w. cit.. pp. 332-56. For a broader view see Wilson. 92, cit. II. ho 187 and Theodore Clarke Smith Parties and Slavery 1850-1859 (New York: Harper. 1906). pp. lO9-lh. 792. 915,. p. 333. E. William Goodell William Goodell (1792-1878}. historian of the anti-slavery move— ment and one of the prime movers of political abolitionism. was. over a period of forty years. an editor of reform journals ranging from temperance to religion.8 In 1827. after several years of mixed ex- perience in business. Goodell became editor of the Investigator_§nd General Intelligencer of Providence. Rhode Island. remaining in that capacity when the publication was moved. in 1829. to Boston. where it was combined with the National Philanthropist. In 1833. it was moved to New York. where it was called the Genius gpremperance. In New York Goodell also edited the Female Advocate. devoted to the moral re- form of unfortunate women. and gouth's Temperance_2ecturer. a children's publication. In 1833. too. he helped organize the American Anti-Slavery Society. and at the beginning of the following year became editor of the New York Emancipator. the Society's publication. At midwyear. 1836. he established The Friend 92 Man in Utica. New York. publishing in addition for a short period the monthly Anti-Slavery Lecturer. Other publications edited by Goodell were The Christian Investigator (1832). The American Jubilee. begun in 185k and continued from 1855 to 1858 as The Radical Abolitionigt, and The Gerrit Smith Banner of 1858. The last three were published in New York. where in 1859 he established Thg_Principia. a Journal devoted to "first principles in religion. mor- als. government and the economy of life." This Journal, published 8'. Randall Waterman. "William Goodell.” pgg, and Oberlin Anti- slavegz Cataloalle. pp. 7-8. .‘II I r ‘t 239 through 1866. was the last he edited. although he continued to write for reform and religious papers. For nearly a decade. from the time they both met Lundy in Boston in 1828 to late 1837 following the establishment of the Friend gf_§§n, Goodell and Garrison were close associates in the contest against slav- ery.9 Goodell had succeeded Garrison as editor of the National Phil- anthropist in Boston. and in 183M. under attack for his own strong language. Garrison compared Goodell's style with that of others. de- scribing it as i“perceptive. analytical. expert and solid.” In 1835 the two had a ”Joyous meeting” in Providence. With Garrison. Goodell had a prominent part in the hearings before the Lunt Committee in 1836. when Massachusetts legislators questioned the ”incendiarism“ of the Liberator. At this time Goodell had already left his position as ed- itor of the New York Emancipatog. and was considering a similar posi- tion in Utica when Garrison. addressing him as ”My dearly beloved co- adjutor.” advised in a letter: Go to Utica. by all means.... I would rather see you in charge of an abolition paper. or any other moral reform paper. than any other man in the range of my acquaintance. You.may do much. I know. as a correspondent of the Emancipator. but you.ought never to vacate the editorial chair as long as you have strength to fill it.10 9Material following from Garrisons. I. 91. 9h. M61; II. M6. 96. 97. 102. 1Ocarrieona. II. 9h. The letter is dated Feb. 26. 1836. ii.‘ ( I ‘1' {‘11 'f. 21:0 Goodell was editor of the New York Emancipator from January 1h, 183M. to June 30. 1835. On the former date there appeared in the paper (its full title was The Emancipator. And Journal 9§_Public Morals) a valedictory editorial by the retiring editor. Charles W. Benison. who had held the position since the paper was established in the spring of 1833 through financial aid from the Tappans. Announcing that he had accepted an appointment as agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society Denison then devoted the rest of the long editorialigttacks on the American Colonization Society. In the same issue appeared an announce- ment that the new editor. Goodell. having pleaded "the cause of the Oppressed. in a paper devoaed to TEMPERANCE. and moral reform.“ pro- posed in the future "to plead for Temperance in a paper devoted to EMANCIPATION. and moral reform” Goodell's introductory editorial foln lowed. He told of his friendship for Garrison and Lundy. of having contributed to the Emancipator since its beginning. and of his inter- est in the American Colonization Society as a “half-way” measure for moral reform. until. "overwhelmed by evidence.” he was ”constrained to protest against the corruptness of its principles. the duplicity of its course. the malaria of its influence. and the mischiefs of its measures.” Examination of the 183M issues of the Emancipator reveals an anti- slavery Journal with much space devoted to attacks on intemperance and on the American Colonization Society. The paper had a regular depart— ment entitled ”Temperance." and a most interesting editorial display on this subject appeared in the March 25. 183k. edition. This was a 2‘41 four—by-six inch map depicting the "Continent of Ardent Spirits” and the ”Continent of Self Denial.” complete with a Sea of Temperance in which rested the islands of Peace. Plenty. Good Repute and Longevity; the Sea of Intemperance with islands of Larceny. Arson. Murder. Starv— ation; and the Sea of Animal Appetite. with islands of Magdalen. Strife. Glutton. and Stupidity. The map and accompanying article. by "Timothy Temperance. A. M..“ filled a quarter of the space on page four. Other departments in the paper were assigned to Peace. Ladies. Children. Health. and Public Morals. Attacks on colonization. however. occupied more space than any other subject in the 183% Eggpgipgfigg. All of pages one and three in the February 1 issue were given over to a report of the 17th anniver- sary of the American Colonization Society. continued on pages one and two of the February 11 issue. On February 25 extracts concerning the Society which had appeared in the éflilf§lfiyffl.3329f§25 were reprinaad with the first of a series on colonization entitled ”The Confession and Repentance of the Colonization Society Examined." The series ran through March. In the Emgppipgtgg of October 1h. 183D. an editorial on the AfricagDRepositorv, the Colonization Society's official journal. warned that this instrument of public Opinion was conducted with ”a good deal of art and cunning. and that the work needs to be well watched.” Although the debate over colonization did not cease after l83h. there was less space given to it in the Emancipator during the first few months of 1835. In the January 13 issue appeared an editorial on 2L2 1".Political Action.” in which Goodell criticized the Boston BESQIEEE. for suggesting that church members were wrong in considering political action to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, urging them in- stead to continue fighting slavery with moral arms. He wrote: To say that Christians must not assist in abolishing slavery would be strange doctrine. Yet nothing different from saying they must put forth no political action. Professions are nothing worth without practice. To be religiously_0pposed to slavery. and yet withhold politig§l_§gtigg would be saying to the slave 'be ye warmed. and be ye clothed.‘ It is often claimed that the peeple of the north are already Opposed to slavery. The meaning is obvious. They are Opposed in p39: fession but not in pgggtige. Their withholding political ac- tion proves this. He pointed out that ”getting up an anti~slavery party in politics“ was "quite another matter." because the churches could not be made the arena of party politics. However, he added, church members had the right to use their ballots against pro-slavery candidates in established parties. Whether or not this opinion evoked criticism from other abolition- ists is not clear. but on March 31, 1835. appeared an editorial entitled “The Emancipatorb-How should it be conducted?” In a long statement. Goodell asked if anti-slavery Journals were not Open to the same "FREE DISCUSSION“ principle of public debates and lectures. implying that certain "good friends and fellow laborers" were "fearful and sensitive” of free discussion in the abolitionist press. After a general dis- course on defensive and offensive action, without mentioning any spe- cific policies. he asserted: [U I.“ \N For ourselves. whatever others may think. we feel that when the time shall have come that defensive weapons are no longer needed. our warfare will have been accomplished. and shall only be called to ground our arms. and enjoy the vic- tory.... If the suggestions to which we have alluded are well founded and should prevail. we have only to say that the Emancipator should have another editor. The Emancipator of May 19 announced that Goodell was leaving on a trip. and that Elizur Wright would be in charge. The number of June 30 car- ried a note by Goodell stating that arrangements had been made to change the Emancipator from a weekly to a monthly. an arrangement rew lieving him of weekly supervision but allowing him time to write for the new Eggngipatqg and for other publications of the American Anti- Slavery Society. A year later. mid—1836. he was in Utica. Volume I. No. l of Goodell's The Friend g£,§§g_was issued in Utica. June 23. 1836.’ It contained a prospectus announcing that a crisis had arrived in the course of Christianity. a crisis demanding such a publication as the Friend: Its object will be to maintain the equality'and inalienable rights of all men:--To plead for the down trodden slave:- To support republican freedom:-—To assert and exercise the right of free discussion--ths right to investigate truth. ~- to proclaim and practice duty. In doing this it will seek to restore and promote the religion of the Bibi e~-the re- ligion of supreme love to God. the Father of all men. and of equal and impartial love to all his offspring. without respect of persons. The paper was to be not only an anti-slavery journal.'but an organ combating intsmperancs. gaming. and war. Departments were set up for the ladies. peace. anti-slavery. temperance. moral reforms. poetry. and miscellaneous. Examination of early issues shows them to be of a gen- eral reform nature. but after a dozen numbers the EElEEQ concentrated largely on one subject. slavery. 210+ Goodell may have had good intentions to conduct a general reform paper. but in July. August. and September he was busy writing and pub- lishing articles relating the attack on Birney's press in Cincinnati. with accompanying editorials on freedom of the press and mobs. His issue of October 27. 1836. carried a report of the first anniversary meeting of the New York State Anti-Slavery Society. with reference to an addition of 300 subscribers for the Society's weekly paper.,Th§ 2312E§.2£.!§£fi listing Gerrit Smith as president and William Goodell as corresponding secretary of the Society. Such column headings as “Peace,” "Temperance,” and "Moral Reform” no longer appeared. although such subjects were occasionally discussed. The question of political anti-slavery action first appeared in the Egignd when Goodell printed. in the October 18 issue. resolutions and discussions from the September. 1837. convention of the New York society. One resolution asked state abolitionists to question candi- dates for the National and State Legislatures on the subject of slav- ery. and the other called upon all citizens "without distinction of party" to aid in abolishing slavery in New York. At this time. Goodell. whose comments were included. agreed on the need for obtain; ing "right views” of policy on political action. but did not think abolitionists should take "measures which would seem like political organization” to obtain their objectives. However, he did believe abolitionists should use their ballots in favor of anti-slavery men in established parties. This was substantially the attitude of the majority of those attending the convention. 215 The October 18 issue also carried an address made at the conven- tion by Alvan Stewart. entitled “A Constitutional Argument on the Sub- ject of Slavery.” The opening words announced a new approach to slav- ery: Congress. by the power conferred on it by the Constitu- tion. possesses the entire and absolute right to abolish slavery in every state and territory in the Union. Goodell. who no doubt heard the address. studied it carefully after- wards.11 A week later. in the October 25 issue. Goodell took note of the new and startling position taken by Stewart. but added; ”We neither endorse the argument nor the conclusion; nor has it been adopted by any anti-slavery society.“ For several months further discussion of political action was pushed aside by two develoPments: one. the death of Lovejoy. which elicited from Goodell's pen long editorialson freedom of the press. and the other (important in view of Goodell's consideration of politi- cal action} a break with Garrison over the latter's perfectionism. In the Friend of September 13. 1837. Goodell had commented on the course of the Liberator in respect to the ”Clerical Appeal,” stating that the Boston paper would not become a vehicle of attack on theology as some charged it would. In a long editorial on Garrison and the Liberator, Goodell wrote on November 15 that "Our hepes are disappointed.” Assert- ing his belief that separation of the Liberator as official organ to 1 1Five volumes of The Friend 93 Man. available at the Oberlin library, were formerly Goodell's, who marked various items in ink. Several passages in the speech were underscored. 2h6 the Massachusetts AntivSlavery Society might remedy the evil. Goodell added: But it can not add to the harmony of abolitionists in Massa- chusetts. even then. to see a paper like 'THE LIBERATOR“ a- bounding in sneers against 'the Orthodox” large numbers of whom are abolitionists; & against “orthodogy' which some of them do not know how. very readily. to separate from the foundation principles of their abolitionism! This editorial appeared on the same page with an editorial reprinted from the Liberator. in which Garrison defended his unorthodoxy. A similar exchange took place in the Egiggd of December 13. Garrison's reprinted article had the title "Extraordinary'Misconception.” and in it he referred to what ”Dr. Goodell supposes to be a cardinal heresy in our religious belief.fl Goodell's answer was a long defense of or- thodoxy. Thus the breach between the two men was accomplished. By March. 1838. the Egiggd_was once more filled with the pros and cons of political action. The March 7 issue contained a long dis- course by Judge William Jay of Bedford on Alvan Stewart's constitu- tional arguments. with cepious notes (but no commitments) by Goodell. Later issues were filled with speeches delivered at the February 28 Albany convention by Gerrit Smith. who urged abolitionists to use their ballots against pro-slavery candidates. without forming an inde- pendent party. This was Goodell's view. Beginning with the issue of August 1. Goodell added his strongest editorial support to this ap- proach to abolition by printing a series of twelve editorials entitled ”Political Action.Against Slavery.‘fl His creed was summarized in the seventh article (September 12}: 'Political Creed of Abolitionists--l. Vote for no man who votes against liberty. 2. Never be bribed by'EflPEDIENCY to neglect an Opportunity of voting against slavery.' It was at this time that Whittier. editing the Penniylvania.?reemap, was also writing on political action. One of his editorials appeared in the Friend of October 10 with the ninth of Goodell's series. which ended November 1?. In 1839 Goodell continued jousting with Garrison over matters of theology and political action.12 Meanwhile. political affairs drew much attention. His August 7 issue reported on the previous month's National Anti-Slavery Convention at Albany where political action was discussed without any definite conclusions being arrived at by the group. A ”third party” idea was growing: A considerable number of influential abolitionists seemed disposed. on the whole. to favor the ultimate organization of a third party. Some were ready for the measure. already themselves. and only wished their brethren to look at the subject in the same light. Others supposed the time was not yet come for such a movement. With all these. it was a mere question of time. ' ‘ No action was reported. Goodell wrote. except to refer the questionlof political action to local units to do as they thought best. Birney offered a resolution “entrenting” abolitionists to use the polls. This was apposed.by Garrison. who in turn offered a resolution depre- cating the formation of a third party for making political nominations. The convention. hesitating to make a decision. rejected both resolutions. 12 See fling Friend 911193;, March 6. June 5. July 5. Aug. 21. Sept. 18. and Get. 9. 1839. 2h8 The "third party?“ question now filled the pages of the w. Am0ng those who favored a third party was Joshua Leavitt. who followed Goodell as editor of the Emancipator. Opposed was Lewis Tappan. who. in a letter to Leavitt. gave eighteen reasons against forming a third party. ranging from the negative attitude taken by the American Anti— Slavery Society to the loss of esteem by those who had faith in moral suasion. Whittier concurred with Tappan. So did Gerrit Smith. Fav- oring third party action were James G. Birney. Myron Holley and Alvan 13 but did not reveal Stewart. Goodell was busy presenting both sides his own position. However. beginning in the m of February 12. 1810. he published a series of eight articles on "Independent Nomina- tions" which ended April 1 with these conclusions: _W_e_ g for independent nominatingis. but AGAINST ”a party.‘ We go for an honest union AGAINST party. and against SLAV- ERY. the child and the parent of PARTi'c-ISM. He admitted that his friends believed he would come out in favor of a third party. and that he did not close his eyes “against further light.‘ ' Goodell abandoned his middle position between Garrisonian non- voting and independent political action after the third-party group established the Liberty party at a convention in Albany. April 1, 181m. l 38ee letters in The Friend of M_s_L_n_ from Lewis Tappan to Leavitt. Dec. “.1839: Tappan to Bimey. Jan. 8.18110: Smith to Birney. Jan. 22. isho; and Whittier's comments. Jan. 1. isho. 2149 In the Egiggd_of’July 29. after watching fnearly four months to see whether any objections could be found against the candidates recommended for support.” he placed the names of James G. Birney and Thomas Earle, the party's candidates. at the head of his editorial column in large capital letters. Still. however. he insisted that his position had not changed; he was merely exercising his privilege of voting for the candidates he considered best. Goodell retired from the editorship of the Egiggg_at the end of March, IShl. being succeeded by Stanley P. Hough. His valedictory ed- itorial appeared in the April 6 issue. announcing he wished to devote his time and energy to a new enterprise. the Christian Investigatgz. He asserted that the disputes among abolitionists were rapidly adjust— ing themselves: Those who mean to vote in conformity with abolition principles are coming together. and will. for the most part. act in uni- son. politically. as well as in other respects. Those who pre- fer ‘other great interests' as they call them, will go their own wayb- The above words were bracketed in ink in the Oberlin copy. and the words “other great interests” underlined. For the time being. Goodell preferred to follow other paths. Hough. the new editor of the Friend.1h conducted the paper as a Liberty party organ. The May 25. 18h1. issue announced that Birney and Thomas Morris had been selected as candidates to represent the 11? In the Friend of Hay ll. 18hl. Hough announced that because of the difficulty friends had in pronouncing his last name. he was re- versing his name to Hbugh.P. Stanley. 250 Liberty party in the lShh elections. and in June their names appeared at the head of the Egiggd's editorial column with a cut of a tree and the legend: "The righteous shall grow like a Cedar in Lebanon.” the Liberty party motto which appeared in other Liberty papers. Goodell. meanwhile. retired from the political field to devote himself to religious reform. Eramination of his Christian Investiga- 15 tor reveals the reason for its publication. In the issue of June 1. lShl. he wrote: ”An increasing desire to examine the subject of church reform has had the tendency to increase. very much. the demand for this publication." In 18h} and lshh he presented a series of twelve ”lec- tures” on church reform. most of them dealing with aspects of religion and slavery. At the beginning of 18h9. however. Goodell was back in political anti-slavery affairs. there being no doubt now of his third—party af~ filiations. In March and May of that year he published two numbers only of The Liberty Lgaguer. the official organ of the Liberty League. In March. 185h. he established The American Jubilee. a monthly politi- cal action publication which was continued from August. 1855. to Decem- ber. 1858. as The Radical Abolitionist. In the first number of the Jubilee. a three-column periodical measuring ten by eleven and one-half inches and containing eight pages. Goodell preposed proclamation of ”liberty throughout all the land. unto all the inhabitants thereof.in 15The Investigator was first published in Whitesboro. N. 7.. b0‘ ginning Apr:—l 1851. Seven numbers appeared there. After publishin one number in Seaton. Goodell returned 0 Whitesboro. and then moved ts Honeoye. N. Y.. where the paper was issued intermittently to August. 18h8. 251 the Liberty party motto. This and subsequent issues were filled with articles on the Nebraska bill. limitation of slavery. and affairs of the Liberty party. with frequent addresses by Gerrit Smith. Frederick Douglass (a former slave). and other political actionists. An effort was made to promote ”Jubilee Clubs.” The Abolitionist of December. 1855. announced the formation of the American Abolition Society. whose constitution stated that slaveholding was not sanctioned by the Bible or the Constitution. that it was the duty of the Federal government to suppress slavery and the duty of citizens to elect State and Federal officials who would do so. From this time on the periodical was filled with affairs of the Society. of which Smith was president and Goodell corresponding secretary. Both the Abolitionist and The Gerrit Smith Banner. a campaign paper issued daily from New York for thirteen num- bers beginning October 16. 1858. backed Smith in his campaign for gov- ernor of the state. With the establishment of The Principia. Goodell expressed his intention to return once more to religious and general reform. His introductory editorial in the first issue. November 13. 1859. explained the name and objectives: ...to elucidate first principles-~the 'first principles of the oracles of God'--and to gpplzvthem in practice. where their application is most needed. to the reformatory enter- prizes and problems of the age and nation in which we live. Although largely devoted to religious matters. the editorial contained one paragraph affirming that the Constitution was an instrument re- quiring the government to suppress slaveholding. and that it contained 252 ”powers and provisions...amply adequate. in the hands of a righteous majority.” for that purpose. However. although the introductory edi- torial stressed religious reform. a study of its pages reveals that it was predominantly an anti-slavery political-action publication. A frequent contributor was the Rev. George B. Cheever. who Joined Good- ell as associate editor in October. 1862. Five volumes of The Principle were published in New York. Planned as a weekly eight-page periodical. it was issued irregularly; during its last year (1866) its title varied: N31 {93;}; mafia. National Principia. Principia and National Era. During the years that Goodell was not busy editing publications he applied his time to writing. turning out works of both promotional and historical interest. His history of the slavery controversy. Slavery and Anti-Slavery. was first published in 1852. In 1853 ap- peared the second edition of his study of the slave code. The American Slave Code i3 Theory and Practice. a book containing slavery statutes and judicial decisions. In 13514 the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society published a pamphlet entitled American Slavery 2_Formidable Obstacle tg the Conversion 9: thg_!ggld. a winning essay in competi- tion for a $100 prize offered by the church at Lahaina in the Sandwich (Hawaiian) islands. After the Civil War. Goodell continued writing for refbrm and religious papers. and his interest in temperance affairs was revealed again in 1869 when he aided in organizing the National Prohi- bition party. He spent his last years at the home of relatives in 253 1 Janesville. Wisconsin. where he died. February IR. 1878. 6 B. Joshua Leavitt After Goodell left the New York Emancipator in 1835 he was suc- ceeded. following A. A. Phelps” brief editorship. by Joshua Leavitt. Leavitt. who was born in Massachusetts in 179M. had graduated from Yale (lSlh), been admitted to the bar (1819). and had received a Yale degree in divinity in 1825. He was ordained a minister of the Congre- gational Church in Stratford. Connecticut. In 1828 he moved to New York where he was secretary of the Seamen's Friend Society and editor of the Sailor's Magazine. After gaining additional Journalistic ex- perience writing reform articles for the Christian Spectator. Leavitt in 1831 established the Evangelist. an organ favoring religious re- vivals. temperance. and antioslavery. In 1833 he was a member of the executive committee of the New York Anti-Slavery Society. In 1837 he sold the Evangelist because of financial difficulties. and in the same year became editor of the Emancipator. which he later moved to Boston. Returning to New York in l8h8. he became assistant editor of the Eggs: pendent. He died in 1873.17 16Waterman. yggb The Oberlin anti-slavery catalogue includes not only the above-mentioned titles. but others credited to Goodell. list- ing in addition many contemporary works annotated by Goodell. His per- sonal library. containing many important items of anti-slavery'propar ganda. was given to Oberlin College by his heirs. See Oberlin Anti- slavery catalogue. p. vi. 1 7Il'redericlv: '. Coburn. “Joshua Leavitt.‘ 29;. 2514 The Emancipatgg. after Goodell's retirement. became a monthly at fifty cents per year in August. 1835. In Hay. 1836. the name of the monthly was changed to the Voice p£_Freedom. and the name Emancipator restored to a revived weekly publication. Leavitt was doubtless editor of the monthly; for though the Epigg pflrreedom did not carry an editor's name in its masthead. communica- tions were addressed to Leavitt. who probably wrote an editorial in the May. 1836. number on ”Political Action.” The first paragraph made the writer's position clear: The question is frequently asked. Does the American Anti- Slavery Society intend pp}itica1_action? The answer must de- pend on what is meant by political action. If it is meant that the society will enter the scramble for offices. will set up its candidates and measure its success by theirs. it cer- tainly does not intend any such action. It will not make a party in politics. nor join any of those already made. Neither will it assume to itself any political function whatever. But if by political action be meant inducing ppp, by moral consid- erations. to act politically for the single object of the abo- lition of slavery. it certainly does intend political action. ... It will Operate Upon all parties. so that each party shall deem it prudent to set up candidates who are favorable to abo— lition. wherever Congress has the power. This editorial appeared four years before the American Anti-Slavery Society split over the issues of political action and participation of women in reform work. One can only speculate on the writer's reasons for italicizing "men." Meanwhile. the weekly Emancipator was conducted for a time by A. A. Phelps. a zealous anti-slavery man but a mediocre editor.‘who re- tired from the editorial chair in mid-1837 to become secretary of the Kassachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. 255 when Leavitt assumed the editorship of the ghancipator. his edi- torial salutation in the issue of’August 17. 1837. told of his devo- tion to the cause of anti-slavery during his six years as editor of the Evangelist. and of his being a member of the executive committee of the American‘Anti-Slavery Society since its inception in 1833. In regard to editorial policy. he said. his principles were well known; they were the same principles upheld by the Society. By 1839. however. he had Joined whole-heartedly the political action group. Leavitt was one of the members of‘the New York executive committee of the American Anti~Slavery Society. the committee which issued the call for the national convention at Albany. July 31. 1839. to discuss the question of political action.18 Iith C. L. Knapp and Henry Gibbons. Leavitt was a secretary of the convention. and the three issued an 8"Ad" . dress to Citizens of the United States” stating: Slavery then. is the greatest political evil in our na~ tion. and should be treated accordingly. The question of its abolition is the greatest political question now before the peOple fer decision.... From the strong’hold.[sic] of political ascendancy in which it is now so firmly entrenched. it must be driven out and destroyed by {he only force which can reach the citadel-«THE BALLOT Box. 9 From this time on editorials appeared in the Emangépator. as they did in the Friend QEDEEE.‘urging anti-slavery advocates to use their bal- lots effectively.20 lgGarrisons. II. 307. 19The Friend 2f &. Aug. 21, 1539. ZQAlthough copies of the New York Emancipator for the years 1839- 18h2 were not available. Leavitt's political position is apparent from a study of other Journals. See especially The Friend pf E22» Oct. 16. Dec. h, 1839: Jan. 1. Jan. 8. 18140: the Cincinnati Philanthropist. Feb. twists, Mar. 1. 18143; and the Hallowell we.) Liberty Standard. Dec. 7. 18 2. At the time of the second.Albany convention. April 1. 18h0. he was referredjby Garrisonians as a sponsor of the third party movement. a movement whose most conspecuous advocates were Myron Holley and Vi].- liam L. Chaplin of the up-state anti-slavery group. Gerrit Smith. ep— posed to the third party idea at the time of the first convention. now came out in favor of independent political action. lhen Smith was nominated to run for the governorship of New York on the same Liberty party ticket that sponsored Birney for President, he invited Leavitt and Charles T. Torrey to go on speaking tours. Whether Leavitt went or not is not known. but he did for a time issue a penny daily. the 2E1? lot-Box. in New York Just before the 18h0 elections. in support of Liberty party candidates.21 Meanwhile. Leavitt's conduct as editor of the Emancipator aroused Garrison's disapproval. since the Boston abolitionist believed that the official organ of the American Anti—Slavery Society ought not to represent the Opinions of one man: Highly as we appreciate the editorial...ability of Mr. Leavitt. we are now thoroughly convinced that he has not that clearness of vision and freedom of soul. which the editor of the Emanci- pator ought to possess. We scarcely know in what terms to speak of his conduct. as exhibited for some time past in his editorial columns. 21 ' Ralph Vblney Harlow. Gerrit Smith (New York: Henry Holt. 1939). pp. IRS-50: and Garrisons. II. 3h0-2.6318. 22 The Liberatog..April 3, 18h0. 257 Garrison's editorial appeared one month before the split of the American Anti-Slavery Society in May. 18h0. at which time the gmfigglf pgppp_was transferred by sale to Leavitt to become the organ of the politically-minded NBW'YOrk City Anti—Slavery Society.23 This trans- fer of the Emancipatog. involving as it did the loss of the official organ of the parent society (now taken over by the non-political moral- suasion group) set the teeth of the Garrisonians on edge for years to come. As late as 18h8 the Lipgpapgg printed long detailed accounts of the property and financial arrangements involved to show that the transaction was an ”embezzlement.“2 The new arrangement. with Leavitt sustaining the activities of the newly-formed.American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. was appar- ently not financially successful. On November 11. 18h1. Leavitt wrote to Gerrit Smith to thank him for a gift of ten dollars. and referred despondently to the condition of the Emancipator: I have tried my experiment out here. attempting to sustain the A. and F. A. S. Society. but can neither sustain it nor myself. My salary is in arrears $600.. for which I am in a great strait.?5 .After 18h1 the Emancipator was published in Boston.26 Examination of its issues for the years 18h} to 18h9 reveals it to be a Liberty 23Goodell. gp, gig.. h65n. and Garrisons. II. 3&2-3. 21‘See The Liberator. Sept. 22. Oct. 27. Nov. 10. Dec. 8. 18h}: oct. 11, Oct. 18. Nov. 18. lath; Nov. 3. lens. 25Qnoted in Harlow. p. 933.. p. 161. 26Garrisons. III. 36. 258 paper which changed titles with the party's political progress. By 18h3 it had absorbed Charles Torrey's Free épprican to become the Eggpv gipator and Free American. and later it was known as the Emancipator and Free Soil Press and the EmanCipgppg;gpdhfigpppligpp. It expired in 1850. Leavitt remained as editor until his retirement in August. 18h7. to return to New York. During a portion of his time as editor of the paper he was a correspondent in Washington?7 During his last years as editor of an anti-slavery Journal. Leavitt endured the scorn of the Garrisonians on one hand. and received great approbation from the political actionists on the other. On one occa- sion Garrison placed one of Leavitt's editorials in the Liberator‘s “Refuge of Oppression” department. a position reserved for advocates of'slavery. and.added this remark: The following article. from the pen of Joshua Leavitt. we consider strictly apprOpriate to this department in our paper; because it illustrates the compromising character of its author. and shows how little he is to be trusted in the anti-slavery cause. either in his individual capacity. or as a prominent member of the 'Liberty Party.‘ 2 Editors who supported political action. however. had high praise for Leavitt's contributions to their cause. Gamaliel Bailey. objecting to Leavitt's criticisms regarding an error made by Ohio Liberty men. 27Liberty Standard. Apr. 6. Dec. 7. 18h2. 28 The Liberatgp. Mar. 222. 181th. nevertheless felt constrained at the end of his editorial in the Cin- cinnati P ilanth ist of March 1. 18h}, to make amends: We can assure our friend of the Emancipator. that noth- ing that we have said has been uttered in an unkind spirit. His good Opinion of us. cannot exceed the estimate we place upon his energy and ability. and devotion to the cause of Human Liberty. There are few whose esteem we so much covet. or who have so much of our regard as Joshua Leavitt. Austin Willey. editor of the Hallowell. Maine. Liberty Standgpg. wrote an editorial in his February h. 18h7, number eXpressing fear that the Emancipator'might be absorbed by the Washington National Era: We fear most for the Emancipator.... The calamity would be irreparable. To no other man does the Liberty Party owe so much as to Mr. Leavitt. and in no other man could it lose more. His profound ability. integrity. modesty and forecast, ,Justly distinguish him among the ablest editors in the U. States. He has stood by the cause through storms before which most men of his class quickly fled from the field at the outset. The Emancipator must pg sustained. Willey, in another part of the editorial. said the Emancipato: “has had considerable circulation in Maine. and we hope it may still have.” Figures in scattered copies available in the Oberlin collec~ tion show that the Emancipatg£_did have a circulation considered large for the time. but also that it suffered from financial difficulties. On June 8. 18h}. the Journal reported a distribution of 260.000 cep— ies yearly. or 5.000 a week. This increased to 1h.h00 weekly by Aug- ust 7. lShh. and ”about“ 15.000 by November 3. l8hh. However. the 15,000 figure was qualified by a statement that the November 3 issue was the last number of a ”campaign issue.‘I distributed barely at cost. Without doubt the circulation was a temporary increase contrived to promote Liberty party candidates in the 18hh elections. because a note 260 in the October 2 number said that papers were being sent to “persons. who were not heretofore subscribers.“ The campaign of l8hh was costly. An appeal to subscribers printedin the February 12. 18h5. issue com— plained that accounts were more than $10,000 in arrears. In the April 2. 18h5. number. a similar "Appeal to Subscribers” recalled that a year previously a list had been published naming 133 subscribers ”more than three years behind in their payments." and non-paying readers were threatened with another list. Leavitt. meanwhile. had sold his inter— est in the paper. for a change of ownership reported in the September PM. 18h5 issue. did not give his name. although it appeared in the masthead as editor. The Emancipator of August 18, 18h7. carried Leavitt‘s valedictory editorial. and at the same time reported that he would continue asso- ciation with the paper as a contributor. He wrote of the “certainty that the paper will not at present yield me an adequate support.” of duties to his family. of his ten years of service as editor. and of the accomplishments of the Liberty party. In 18h8 Leavitt became editor of the New York Independent. a re« ligious Journal. In 1856 his position with this publication was de- scribed by Garrison's sons as that of ”office editor of the Independent. which. for the rest. had an honorable distinction among the religious 2 press for its views on slavery.‘0 9 Leavitt's brief biography in the 2 9Garrisons. III. h38n. 261 Lictipnaryip§_American Biography does not tell how long he remained with the Independent. which in 186830 employed Oliver Johnson as an associate editor and Garrison as a contributor. C. Gamaliel Bailey ’ Gamaliel Bailey (1807-1859) was a physician who abandoned his pro- fession for the rewards of anti-slavery Journalism. After graduating from Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia in 1827. Bailey sailed to China as a seamen to improve his health. On his return he spent a brief’period as editor of a short-lived Journal. the Baltimore Mgpppy ggpp.Protestant. and then Journeyed to St. Louis to practice medicine. He was a lecturer in physiology at Lane Seminary in Cincinnati in 183% when the dispute over freedom of expression brdke out between Lyman Beecher. head of the Seminary. and Theodore Weld. an argument which sent a sizeable group of abolitionists to Oberlin College and led to its emergence as a center of abolitionism. In 1836 Bailey Joined Birney as an editorial associate in publishing the Cincinnati gpglpp; thrOpist. assuming full editorial control the following year. .After ten years as editor in Cincinnati. Bailey moved to Washington where he established the National Era. He died.in 1859.31 30Garrisons. IV. 236. 31Roger S. Boardman. "Gamaliel Bailey.“ QA_.'_B_, and Nye. pp. _c_i__t_.. p. 88. 262 Bailey was not associated with Birney on the PhilanthrOpist when its presses were demolished by mobs in July. 1836. but Joined the staff later in the year’at Birney's request. In May of the same year the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society. of which Bailey was corresponding secretary. as— sumed ownership of the Journal. When Birney left Cincinnati in 1837 to pursue his anti-slavery career in New York. Bailey became editor of the paper and business manager of the Society at a salary of $600 ayear.32 Examination of cepies of the Philanthropist of 1838 reveal a fourb page paper of folio size. six columns to the page. distributed at $2.50 per year. The Journal contained the usual anti-slavery matter. divided into departments concerned with communications. notices. poetry. and miscellaneous items. Although Bailey was a member of the Ohio Society's political—action committee in 1838 and 1839.33 there was little in the PhilanthrOpist until the end of the latter year to indicate more than passing interest in political theories of anti-slavery men. This is perhaps accounted for because of Bailey's interest in local affairs. especially a bill concerning fugitive slaves before the Ohio legisla— ture. and his interest in the Washington scene. Bailey's concern with anti-slavery political action became more pronounced after the first Albany convention. July 31. 1839. By Decem- ber of that year he was carrying on an editorial campaign to defend his 3gAnnualBeport. Ohio Anti-Slavery Society (1837). pp. 53-55. 3 Ibid.. (1838. 1839). 26} his conservative political-action point of view against those more rad- ical Eastern editors and readers who agreed with them. Although de- scribed as one of the first to recommend political action. Bailey by 18h0 was holding back. Whittier. writing in the ZEEEEZlKEEi§:§£ERQEEA made the accusation: Our esteemed friend and fellow laborer of the Cincinnati Philanthropist dissents. not only from the formation of a po- litical party in favor of Liberty. (which by the by he was one of the very first to recommend.) but is strongly Opposed to the determination. so generally expressed by abolitionists. to vote for no man for any important office who is not in favor of im- mediate emancipation. We regret this-~for there are thousands of voting abolitionists who will feel themselves justified by the course of t fi Philanthropist, in following their mere par— ty preferences. Bailey's defense was the assertion that a blanket condemnation of all legislators who refused to acknowledge belief in immediate emancipation was an untenable position. He wrote: So long as our legislators in the free states have nothing to do in their legislative capacity with the abolition of slav— ery in the states. electors have nothing to do with their Opinions on this question.. He added that rejecting a man for political office because he did not believe in immediatism correspondingly implied that all citizens who were not members of anti-slavery organizations were also "either too ignorant. or too corrupt. to be intrusted with power.” He asked: 3n;eprinted in The PhilanthrOpist. Dec. 31. 1539. Can any man in his senses believe it? It is in vain he would blink the fact: we are y_e_t in 5 $29,139.54 minority: and. unless we are willing to claim for ourselves all the intelligence and honesty in the country. we must believe that there are many well-informed men of ggod principle Opposed to us. The truth is. almost every abolitionist can number many within the range of his acquaintance who. though no abolitionggts. he knows might be safely in- trusted with power. In ensuing months. Bailey found it frequently necessary to defend his position. In his issue of February h. 18h0. Bailey answered ques- tions posed by both Leavitt. in the New York Emancipator. and Whittier again in the Freeman. He wrote that Leavitt wished "to cast gdium_upon the doctrines of the PhilanthroPist. that it is inexpedient to form a third.political party." and his editorial answering Whittier was titled ”Our Position. Once More." When the split occurred in the American Anti-Slavery Society. Bailey sided with those who objected to Garrisonism. In April. lShO. a month before the actual division in the parent society. Bailey sug= gested that the organization be disbanded. Garrison rebuked him. writ- ing in the Liberator: "That Society must and will be sustained. under the guidance of a trustworthy committee. let who will plot to destroy it. whether treacherous friend or Open foe.” Bailey reprinted Garri- son's statement in the PhilanthrOpist of April 28. 18h0. replying: "whether the editor of that paper meant the last remark to apply to Mr. lhittier36 and ourselves or not. is a matter of indifference.“ In 35The PhilanthrOpis3. Dec. 31. 1539. ‘35123g,. May 19. l8hO. carried a brief notice that Whittier was no longer editor of the Freeman. 205 the rest of the editorial he expressed satisfaction with the New York executive committee. and reproved Garrison for the Boston editor's de- nunciation of Leavitt. After the division occurred he provided.WA Brief Review of Events.“ and without mentioning Garrison's name. wrote: It is needless to enter into an explanation of these causes. but they may be ranged under the general heads of. non-resis- tance. woman' 9 rights. denunciation of the clergy. personaT ambition. unavoidable sectarian affinities and prejudices. By January 6. 1831. Bailey had changed his mind about independent political action by abolitionists. On that date the Philanthropist' presented an editorial more than three columns long titled “INDEPENDEHT NOMINATIONS-~POLITIGAL.A. 8. ACTION.” First Bailey clarified his views on political activities by organized anti-slavery societies. asserting his belief that political action was not the prOper course for organi- zations to take; that it was proper to discuss the principles of po- litical activity. as they would discuss social and ecclesiastical du- ties. but they were committed-~in Ohio. if not in the East-—to pursue their objective by "moral means. technically so called." In appealing for political action. he wrote. he was addressing ”abolitionists. not as members of anti-slavery societies. but as American citizens...having individually certain duties to perform in behalf of human rights." Writing of the ”obvious necessity for political action.” he rebutted those who argued against third parties because ”parties always become corrupt.” by admitting that they did and asserting that the evil could 3 \ 7The Philanthropist. June 16. 1840. 266 be remedied by “regenerating the individual.” Still. Bailey did not come out emphatically for a third party. Continuing the discussion in th%ssue of January 13th. he made suggestions about proper selection of candidates ghggld a third party make nominations. Whatever fears Bailey had regarding the selection and support of a prOperly qualified candidate. they were dissipated when his former editorial associate. James G. Birney. and Thomas Morris. of Cincinnati. were nominated for President and Vice-President at a convention of Lib- erty party men in New York. Bailey. in his May 26. 18hl. Philanthrof pist. wrote. somewhat paradoxically: ”We need not say. that we shall sustain this nomination. This our friends might know from our past course.m His editorial closed with the words: For one. I would rather stand with abolitionists. and be de- feated twice sixteen years. and at last succeed. than go on truckling to the slave—power. and voting for its candidates. till the country is ruined without remedy. Henceforth the PhilanthrOpist was a Liberty party paper. supporting the party's candidates for state and national offices. In 18h3 the Philanthropist became the Cincinnati Weekly Herald and.PhilanthrOpist. a sisterbpublication of the daily Herald. which Bailey edited too. The same year he began publishing Facts for the People. a monthly anti-slavery tract. In 18h5 his Journal first men- tioned a monthly publication for children. Youth“s Visiter'Lsic]. ed- ited by Mrs. Bailey. In his weekly number of September 9. l8h6. Bailey announced the end of ten years of publication fer the Journal. and re- vealed some circulation figures. writing that during the first eight years of the paper's life the average number of subscribers was between 2.000 and 2.500, a circulation which grew to an average of ”nearly b.000" during 18h5-13h6. Bailey's last editorial on political action to appear in the Weekly Herald and Philanthropist was a farewell address to the public in the issue of November 25. 18h6. He wrote: The one great object of my editorial labor is the peaceful and constitutional extinction of American slavery; the means to be urged. principally. political action. As the most fit instrument. to apply this means to that egg, it will be my duty to support the Liberty party. the only political agency organized with direct reference to such a result. reserving to myself. at all times. the right to criticise its action, whenever. in my Opinion. its policy may fail in embodying the principles. upon which it was founded. A week earlier he had announced that he was removing the paper to Wash- ington. where it would reappear in January under the title of 222 fig: tional Era. retaining the same subscription list. The first number of the National_Era. a handsome paper 13 and one-half inches wide by 25 and one-half inches deep with seven columns. appeared January 7, 18h7. with introductory matter by Bailey explain- ing the Eggis policies. It would support the Liberty party. Bailey wrote. but independently of organized anti-slavery societies. It would not be confined to the discussion of one subject. but would ex- amine political questions of general interest. and give full. though condensed reports of congressional proceedings. In addition. it would give a ”large share of attention” to literary matters. and keep up a record of current events. F0 ON 09 Examination of the fourteen.volumes of the 333 {it expired with the issue of March 2?. 1860) reveal that it lived up to its promises. Politically. it supported the short-lived Liberty party. and held to principle by asserting in the issue of September 21. lShS: Released from all party-obligations by the absorption. or translation. of the Liberty party into the Free Soil move- ment. we shall nevertheless earnestly urge the claims of Martin Van Buren and Charles F. Adams to the offices for which they have been nominated by the Buffalo Convention. because they are the best representatives of our political creed. During the elections of 1852 the §£§_reaffirmed its support of independ— ent anti-slavery political action. but carefully pointed out. in the issue of July 1. 1852. that although described by some as the "great central organ" of the Abolitionists. and by others as the ”national organ of the I"ree-—Soilers.*1 it was entirely independent of both. In the issue of November 27. 1856. its prospectus for Volume 11 said that the EEE."haS supported and will continue to support the Republican movement. so long as it shall be true to FREEDOM." 'hen the Egg appeared there were misgivings among those who be- lieved an anti-slavery Journal in the nation's capital would imperil the existence of other anti-slavery papers elsewhere. In his first number Bailey reprinted a paragraph by Leavitt from the Boston Emapgif pa£2£_expressing this fear. Bailey. in his comments on the item. said he had too much confidence "in the good sense of anti-slavery men to suppose that they will dispense with any efficient advocate of their cause." and that ”The State papers must be sustained.” Anti-slavery peeple were able to support both. he affirmed. 269 In answering Leavitt. Bailey made a point of clariPying the Bos- ton editor's assertion that the §5§_was ”secured of a support for three years." assuring him that the Egafs main support was its subscription list, and this was not as yet large enough to guarantee its success. Actually. the washington paper was owned in the beginning by the Amer— ican and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. the "new organization" political action group. whose officers included Arthur and Lewis Tappan, James G. Birney, and A. A. Phelps. With the beginning of the second volume. January. lzhs. the Society transferred ownership of the paper to Bailey. for a sum he paid with interest during the year. The Society in addi- tion sold the physical equipment to the paper's printers.3g Thus. the Egg was owned by Bailey after the first year. and continued to remain in his possession until his death. when his wife assumed the editorship for a short period. Because of its political principles. and its obvious ties to the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. the Egg was bound to incur the disapproval of Garrison. The first occasion for Garrisonian in- vective against it came when an editorial entitled "Portraits of Re- formers” appeared in the Egg of June 17. 13h7, with Bailey's classifi- cation of reformers--some "constituionally'hot—blooded and hasty." some of“narrow mind. and honest purpose;' constitutional declaimers. metaphys— ical reformers. timid reformers. and ambitious reformers. Garrison's 3gnighth Annual Report gf_the American and Foreigp Anti-Slavery Society flNew York. ISUS). p. 16: and Ninth Annual Re ort gf_thg_Amer— ican and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society (New York. 18 9 . p. 23. I I _. I I I .‘ I l I‘. I a ‘ II I ‘l! 27o opening salvo appeared in the Liberator of June 25th, in which he ac- cused Bailey of being so little disturbed by the large slave traffic in washington that he had ”ample leisure“fl to draw portraits of reform- ers. and though a reformer himself. “fiif you will take his word for it.)" he was far from being either an agitator or a fanatic. In addi- tion. Garrison wrote. although surrounded by "bloody and cruel men.” Bailey manages so discreetly. writes so smoothly. utters himself so inoffensively. and studies to behave so gentlemanly. that he creates no alarm. excites no clamor. and is regarded even by the traffickers in human flesh with stolid indifference. On the same page Garrison made biting remarks on Bailey's visit to Virginia. where he saw slaves who. in his words. were "generally treated V with humanity.“ Bailey responded by asserting there was ”not a personal allusion or inuendo in a single line” of the article on reformers. that it was a mere “fancy sketch." In an editorial titled "A Fanciful Editor" in the Liberator of July 16th. Garrison quoted these remarks and denied he found his own likeness in Bailey's gallery of reformers. explaining that his criticism of his Washington rival was ”provoked by the world- lybwise policy he has seen fit to pursue.“ adding: Our charge against the Era is. that it fails to represent the anti-slavery cause in earnestness of spirit. and fidelity of impeachment.... If he did not claim to be a thoroughgoing. uncompromising abolitionist--if his paper had not been estab- lished as the leading organ of a party assuming to embody all the practical abolitionism in the country--we should not sub- Ject the editor of the Era to a rigid anti-slavery test. 271 Denying that he wished any harm to come to Bailey or his paper. and admitting that publishing an anti-slavery journal in Washington was more perilous than a similar venture in Boston or New York. Garrison argued that a genuine anti-slavery journal would not be tolerated twenty- four hours in that District; and that there is no law there to be enforced. in regard to such a journal. excepting lynch law. Hence. as the Era has suffered no molestation. and ex» cited no agitation. either in the District or out of it. it is not only primapfaggg. but we think demonstgative evidence. that that paper is not what it should be. 39. Garrison added another argument when. in the Libggaggg of March 10. lShS. after reasserting that the §£§_was not ”an anti-slavery paper, in the genuine sense of that term," he reported a rumor that the Egg already had a larger circulation than either the Washington §g39§_or Washington National Intelligepggg. adding. ”If this be true. it indi- cates what sort of abolitionism is impressed upon its pages. and is a biting satire upon its anti-slavery pretensions.” Benjamin S. Jones and his wife. editors of the Garrisonian épfii:_ Slavery Bugle in Ohio. similarly paid their respects to Bailey when they wrote in the Egglg of January 29. 18h7. after examining his first two issues. that his course was ”exceedingly judicious.” and that he Mneed be under no fear of being indicted for incendiarism, fanaticism. 39It was not until April. thS. nine months after Garrison's ed- itorial. that the offices of the Nggippa} Egg were assailed by a mob in the belief that Bailey was responsible for the escape of slaves who seized a s100p and sailed off. (See Chap. V. pp. 22h—5. above}. 272 and we had almost said. abolitionism..." In their number of April 23. 18h7. the Joneses reprinted (in italics) a comment on the Era from the Cincinnati Herald. which in turn quoted "the Christian Intelligencer. of Virginia” as follows: Dr. Bailey's paper is a great improvement upon the publica- tions of the Abolitionists. There is no abuse nor slander of Southern slaveholders. nor any disposition evinced to do injustice to any one. However. after three years of profiting from the Era*s coverage of anti-slavery affairs in the nation's capital. the Joneses were will- ing to relent a little. In the Buglg_of January 12. 1850. they praised the Liberator. the ”'old pioneer”I sheet-«for its 19 years of Wfidelity to principle." although it could not. like the Era. boast of 15.000 cir~ culation. Then. in another editorial on the Era. they wrote: How does it happen. that while The Liberator. National Anti- Slavery Standard. Etc. have a hard struggle to live. the Era is a source of revenue to its preprietor? We concede the great ability, industry and tact of Dr. Bailey. and bear a ready tes— timony to the high literary character of his paper; but the secret of the Era's success. in our judgment. lies chiefly in this--that it meets the wants of a numerous class. whose minds have been awakened in some degree to the enormities of Slavery, who feel impelled to do something for its abolition. but who have not yet attained to clear and thorough views of the ques- tion. nor become prepared to follow truth without regard to consequences. Their analysis was followed by criticism. mixed with praise. They said the Egg was “tainted...with the spirit of Compromise.” and "swayed too much by policy. and too little...by high moral principles.” yet it did a great deal of good "in watching and exposing the arts of the Slave Power in Congress.” Finally. they adrnoledged their indebtedness to Bailey for valuable information. and for his "able discussions of var» ious collateral topics relating to Slavery.“ Despite the Garrisoniansu claim that the §£a_was not a true anti- slavery paper. Southerners thought otherwise. Southern representatives in Congress. disturbed by the Egafs representation of anti—slavery inn terests in the nation's capital. met on May 7. 1850. to prOpose the establishment of a Washington newspaper to be ”devoted to the support and defense of Southern interests." Bailey immediately wrote ”to cone gratulate the South on the determination of its leading men to meet the Opponents of Slavery in the arena of Free Discussion."' at the same time taking a sly thrust at the editors of the Washington Epigp, a pro-slavery paper. whose loyalty. he said. was impugned by the new pro- posal. The new paper. The Southern Press appeared in June. 1850. with Ellwood Fisher and E. deLeon as editors. Its appearance was a "grudg- ing compliment to Bailey's editorhsip.” For an anti-slavery paper. the circulation of the gga was unusually large. In April. 18M7. when the §£a_absorbed the Baltimore Saturday Visiter. the latter paper”s editor. Dr. J. E. Snodgrass (who became a correspondent of the Egg). described Bailey's journal as having a "very large circulation...particularly westward.” In 1850 Bailey estimated circulation of the §g§_to be about 15.000; in 1851. 17.000; in 1852. 20.000; and in 1853. 28,000. The paper's circulation of 28,000 was hoThesNational Era. May 16, May 23. June 20. 1850. and.Nye. pp. 'gi§.. p. 9 . 27h grounds for an editorial in the number of April 21. 1853. in which Bailey complained that although the Ega’s circulation was greater than the combined circulations of washington's Union. National Intelligencer. and Republig (not over 2h,000). still it was assigned no legal adver- tising by the Federal government. Circulation dropped in l85h and 1855 because of Bailey's stand against the political group known as the Know Nothing party. but in January. 1856. Bailey reported (without giving additional figures) that circulation was growing again. and he had hopes of recovering the loss.“1 Some hints have already been given to account for the pOpularity of the Egg. but aside from any consideration of its presentation of anti~slavery matters. three aspects of the paper explain its appeal to readers: its political coverage. its feature material. and its liter- ary presentations. Anti-slavery affairs frequently involved all three. The Egafs first issue demonstrated its capacity to review import- ant political develOpments by presenting first. a review of congression- al affairs for four weeks past. then another resume dated Monday. Jan- uary h (publication was on Thursday following). An editorial was de- voted to I""i'he Position of the Democratic Party." Page four carried 1The National Era. Apr. 15. 18h7; May 9. 1850; Sept. 9. 1852; Jan. 13, 1853; Apr. 21, 1853: hr. 8, 1855. and Jan. 2M. 1856. An in- teresting aspect of circulation and ”readership" was offered in the E25 of June 21. 1855. when. in referring to the paper's circulation of 17.000 in the spring of 1851. Bailey estimated. ”according to the usual calculation." that the figure represented 85.000 readers. This is a ratio of one to five. 275 ”Reports” of affairs in the offices of the Post Master General. and Secretaries of War. Navy. and Treasury. Under political. literary. and anti-slavery material may be classed the first of a series by Whittier142 called "Letter from the East." in which (in this issue} he discussed anti-slavery political action in New England. Subsequent issues of the §§g_continued to present a digest of governmental affairs. making the paper a weekly news magazine of value to politically-minded readers. In selecting his features. Bailey demonstrated an ability to pre- sent material appealing to intelligent readers. One of his regular contributors was ”John Smith the Younger." identified only as a citizen of the District of Columbia. Beginning in the issue of January 13. 18h7. Smith wrote a series called ”Portraits for the PeOple." a COIlEC“ tion of fanciful character sketches of government personalities. The first described ”Cld.Man Eloquent.” a member of the House of Represent— atives; others were "The Man with 'A.Claim on the Party.'" “The Work- ing Member." "The Washington Letter Writer.”--the Washing correspond- ent-~“The “Man who Pulls the Ropes.”I "The Chivalric Southern Member.” M'The Eastern Heiress.” ”The Private Claimant." and ”The Politician in Petticoats.” In the issue of May 27. 18h7. Smith wrote a "Literary 2lhittier was listed by the 3:9 as a ”Corresponding Editor" and remained so as long as the paper lasted. Similarly listed.as a corre- sponding editor. but only for the first six months. was Amos A. Phelps. a former editor of the New York Emancipator. Phelps died.July 29. 18h7. his obituary appearing in the Egg oftlugust.5. 276 Gossipw column discussing international cepyright law and telling of Didkens' profits from Eggbgy_§nd_§g§, In the June 17. 18h7. number he was represented by a "New York Letter” in which he discussed the penny press. particularly Bennett's New York gggglg. Other letters from flew York followed. and by January 13. lShS. Smith began a new series of ”Portraits for the PeOple." Numerous smaller items borrowed from Amer— ican and English newspapers and magazines. presented information of gen- eral interest. ranging from anti-slavery to financial and trade reports. from printing presses to a discussion of ”Teutonic Prefixes. in English." The excellent literary department of the Egg provided much to ac- count for the paper’s larger number of readers. Whittier’s "Letter from the East” was not always concerned with pslitics, but frequently treated of literary matters. He wrote reviews of the poem. “Urania.” by Helmes. and War Songs and Ballads from the Old Testament. by William Plumer. Jr.; and essays on John Bunyan. Charles Brockden Brown's lie— land. and the poetry of Andrew Marvell.“3 Beginning with the issue of June 8. 18h8. the Egg presented. in serial form. Whittier's Leaves from Margaret Smith’s Journal i2.th° Province gf_gassachusetts Bay. call- ing the series "Stray Leaves from Margaret Smith's Diary in the Colony of Massachusetts.“ In addition many of Whittier's poems appeared in the Era's pages. including the well-known ”Ichabod.” hBSee the National Era of Jan. 1h. Apr. 1. Apr. 8. 18h7; May 18. June 1. 18h8. 277 Besides Whittier's {33£g§l. the 233 published many works of fic- tion. the most famous being Egglg.29m;§_g§big. by Harriet Beecher Stowe. which appeared for the first time in its pages. beginning with the issue of June 5. 1851. and ending in the number of April 1. 1852. Bailey died at sea June 5. 1859. while en route to Europe to res superate from an illness.115 His wife. Margaret. undertook the duties of editing the Egg. editing the paper until March 15. 1860. when a notice of suspension appeared. Thus ended the publication of a Journal. which. among those dedicated to anti-slavery. Nye describes as: ...perhaps the best of the group by Journalistic standards. ...especially competent in its treatment of political and economic questions. while its literary department. reflect- ing the hand of Whittger. was probably the best of any news- paper of the decade.h The National Era. June 21. 1855. For comment on Mrs. Beecher's arrangements to publish the novel in the Egg. see Bailey's editorial. "1 Mistake in Literary Historyb-Uhcle Tom's Cabin." lElQ: u 5Bailey's obituary is found in the Egg of June 30. 1859. A week later. July 7. the paper printed a tribute to him by Whittier. 1L6 22, £35,. p. 96. E. Other Editors After the Liberty party was organized in lShO. numerous weeklies and some daily papers came to its support. Some. like Bailey's Phil; anthrgpist and Goodell's E£$£29.2£.M§£- were already established. and had only to shift their views slightly to be identified as Liberty 'party papers. Others. like the Liberty Standard of Hallowell. Maine. were continuations of anti-slavery papers but with a change in name for better identification; and some were newly established to support the party. Perhaps a typical example of a Liberty party paper was the Hallo- well Liberty Standard. Formerly the Advocateglereedom. it appeared in new dress and with a new editor on July 12. lshl. Joseph C. Lovejoy. its first editor. was described by Goodell as ”a true man. a friend to the Liberty Partyflw7 The Standard carried at the head of its editor- ial column a sketch of the ”cedar of Lebanon.” the symbol of the Liber- ty party. and below it listed the party's ticket for the ISMM elections. James G. Birney and Thomas Morris. Lovejoy was replaced as editor in August. 18h2. by Austin Willey. Both men leaned heavily on Liberty party affairs and personalities for editorial matter. An examination of the paper's pages shows frequent references to Goodell and Leavitt. and to party candidates. With the issue of.August 31. 18h8. the par perb-like the changing tide of political events--changed its name to the Free Soil Republican. On June 7. 1819. it announced that "Our 1+7The‘Friend g§_y§g, July 27. lShl. 279 labors" were ”closed in Maine." and noted that the subscription list was being transferred to the Portland Inguirer. a Free Soil paper. So lived and died a paper which grew with the Liberty party and expired with the Liberty party. Of more than passing interest is the publishing career of Freder» ick Douglass. a former slave who. aided by Garrison. became a familiar figure on the lecture platforms and subsequently a journalist toe.“8 In 1838 Douglass escaped to New York from slavery in Maryland. married. and settled in New Bedford. Massachusetts. where he became a subscriber to the Liberator. After meeting Garrison. he became an agent of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. and a correspondent of the National Anti-Slavery Standard. On December 3. 18h7, he became a publisher in his own right (against the wishes of Garrison). estab— lishing The North Star in Syracuse. New York. in the basement of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.“9 For more than three years Doug- lass remained on friendly terms with the Garrisonians. but in 1851. at the eighteenth annual convention of the American Anti-Slavery Society in Syracuse. Douglass announced his belief in the necessity of advocat- ing political action as well as moral suasion for the overthrow of iSkaterial following is from Benjamin Queries. Fredegigg_Douglass (Washington. 19M8). u 95cc a prospectus of The North Star. printed in the Anti-Slavegy Bpgle. Sept. 2“. 18h7. indicating the paper was originally planned for Cleveland. Ohio. 280 slavery. In the same year. 1851. Gerrit Smith. who two years before had established a weekly called thegggggtzhgariyLPapeg, merged his pa- per with Douglass' EEEEEM§£§E3 The new paper was called Eggggrigg 22%19‘fi' Mklz. Before long Douglass was carrying on a feud with the Garrisonian group. using a column with the caption. "Groans from the Wounded,” to present excerpts from hostile periodicals. In his issue of December 9. 1853. he reprinted articles attacking him from the col- umns of the gigggaiqg. the Siandggd, the 1333131. and the Maxillary-1a Ezgemag. then proceeded to devote twelve columns to a counter-attack. His weekly. always in financial difficulties despite assistance from devoted friends and-~later--from Gerrit Smith. was suspended on July 2. 1860.50 Quarles writes that Douglass' paper was but one of seventeen newspapers published by Negroes prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. and that when the North Star first appeared there were then in exist» ence only four other Journals edited by Negroes.51 In this study of anti-slavery journals and editors. we must not omit the Rev. Charles C. Torrey (1813-18h6). a graduate of Yale College. and the theological seminary at Andover.52 After preaching at Salem. 50For additional details of Douglass' editorial career. see Philip 8. Paper. Thg_§i£g_and Writings gf_Frederick_Douglass (New York. 1850). I. 8 100. 5192. cit.. p. 80. See p. 88 for names of papers published by Negroes. 52Material on Torrey is from Goodell. 22, cit.. pp. hhl-h: Garri- ' sons. III. 37. 63; and Harlow. pp, 9&33. p. 275. 281 Massachusetts. Torrey became an anti-slavery lecturer in 1839. and turned to writing for the abolitionist Journals. During the winter of l8hl-18h2 he worked in Washington as a reporter for several papers. In January. 18h2. he attended a pro-slavery convention at Annapolis. Maryland. was excluded from the "press box." arrested and imprisoned. Released on bail of $500 to 91keep the peace” until April. he returned to Washington. He incurred Garrison's enmity during this period for "vilifying the old anti—slavery organization and its friends. and man- ufacturing political moonshine for a third party." In the fall of 18h2 he established the Syracuse Eggggg'g£_Liberty. a Liberty party paper. renaming it the Patriot in January. l8hh. while engaged in this work. he was asked by an efbaped slave to free the latter's wife from bond— 5/ age in Virginia. The effort failed.'but Torrey went on to engage in similar attempts. some of them successful. However. his activities in aiding fugitives led to his arrest and trial in Baltimore in lShh. He was convicted. and sentenced to six years in the penitentiary. where he died of consumption on May 9. 18h6. Some idea of the number of Liberty party papers may be obtained from lists which were published occasionally by Liberty editors. In the Hallowell Liberty Standard of December 8. l8hl. Lovejoy listed nineteen papers which were decidedly members of the Liberty party press. six religious Journals which favored the party. and ten others which were ”not hostile." In the Boston financipatpr and Weekly Chron- ‘iglg of July 31. lShh. Leavitt listed thirty Liberty papers. of which three were dailies. The papers were published in Maine. New Hampshire. 282 Massachusetts. Connecticut. Vermont. New York. Pennsylvania. Ohio. Michigan. Illinois. Indiana. and ”Wiskonsan.” The editor apologized for not having the names of ”four or five" other papers that also be- longed to the list. Bailey. in the National_Era of September 21. lShE. listed fifteen "New Free Soil papers not yet noticed." and.added a list of more than twenty which were changing over in favor of Free Soil Despite all the efforts of their promoters. the Liberty party and the Free Soil party movements. in terms of political effectiveness. were failures. Charles A. Beard and his wife. the American historians. state emphatically that at no time did the abolition creed rise to the dignity of a first rate political issue in the North. Nobody but agitators. beneath the contempt of the towering statesmen of the age. ever dared to advocate it. No great political organization even gave it the most cas— ual indorsement. They also point out that it was the "radical platform” of abolition that accounted for Birney's receiving only 65.000 votes out of the more than two and a half million ballots cast in 18h“; that Van Buren's 300.000 votes on a free-soil platform in 18h8 was "evidently" due to personal influence because his successor on a similar ticket in 1852 had a.poor showing: and that the Republican party in 1856 won little more than one-third the active voters to the cause of restricting the 5k slavery area. Professor Harlow. biographer of Gerrit Smith-~who 53Charles A. and.uary R. Beard. Th3 Rise 22 American Civilization (New York. 1930). II. 38. 5hlbid.. II. 35-9. 233 labored up to September. 135M, to keep the Liberty party alive—~de- votes a chapter of his book to "The Failure of Political Abolitionism.“ asserting the movement "was an experiment. serving its purpose perhaps in providing a medium through which the anti—slavery forces could work for a time. but ineffective in bringing about the freedom of the slaves.*55 It must be admitted. therefore. that politically the Liberty party movement was a failure. but it dig_”provide a medium through which anti-slavery forces could work for a time.” and one of those forces was the‘abolitionist political action press. As abolitionists. Goodell. Leavitt. Bailey and the others were aware that their ideal could not be accomplished overnight because the Slave Power was too long entrenched in Iashington: however. as prOpagandists they were confident that they were spreading an idea-fpolitical action as the only effective means of curbing the spread of slavery--which would eventually take hold in the minds of Northern voters. If they did not use the harsh tactics of the Garrisonian moral suasionists. it was because they hoped for a larger audience. an audience that could be swayed by reason. not emOn tion. They were successful in this respect. They were able to appeal- through a larger number of papers. and in at least one case a paper with a very high circulation. comparativelyb~to a wider audience than 55 QR- gli- pp- 191—2.. oldestyle abolitionist journalism could command. The Liberty party grew in strength. and if it did not give-birth to the Republican party. at least there was retained a vital relationship between them. and the final victory over slavery was. in.part. inspired by the loyalty of Liberty party editors to their cause. ,lI‘I I ullx 285 CHAPTER VII CONCLfiSIOR Anti-slavery journalism appeared on the early nineteenth_century American scene as the culmination of two important social developments The first of these was a wave of humanitarian reform. born of idealism and liberalism. encompassing many reforms lesser than the abolitionism which came to occupy a major position. The other was the tradition of freedom of the press. a tradition which a young Republic had made into constitutional law. Both movements shaped the character of anti-slavery journalism. and the r61e the press has played in American life. In the second decade of the century. pioneers like Lmndy estab— lished both a pattern of journalistic practices and a tradition of in- dependence in the face of Opposition which served to guide others in their anti-slavery propaganda. Among those who followed. Garrison was preeminent. and in his turn carried the banner of abolitionism forward. “here Lundy had created agitation in local communities. Garrison now expounded the tenets of anti-slavery idealism throughout the nation. The Boston Liberator. filled as it was with Garrisonian invective aimed at an evil institution and at those who defended it. aroused a compla— cent South and goaded it into defensive and offensive actions which served the aims of the propagandists better than they themselves could have accomplished with their Journals of limited circulation. Northerners. disturbed by the violence of the reaction in the South to anti-slavery propaganda. at first took steps to suppress the 286 sources of that prOpaganda. However. while powerful pro-slavery int- erests of the South. supported by public opinion, succeeded in sup- pressing freedom of expression by legal measuresin their regions. the North failed. Despite the sympathetic economic ties of Northern with Southern interests. despite the mob actions against Birney. Garrison. Lovejoy and the rest. despite efforts to legislate against anti-slav— ery propaganda as the South had done. despite a pro-slavery. reaction- ary daily press Operating in Northern cities. the abolitionists suc— ceeded by 13h0 in winning their battle for freedom of the press. Supa ported by a stronger tradition of liberalism than prevailed in the slave states. their victory was won when the North at large realized that the threat to destroy freedom of the press was a threat to all civil liberties and to the tradition of individual freedom. The border states. particularly Kentucky. followed by a few years in reestablish~ ing the same traditions of free speech and a free press. While the struggle for freedom of the press was taking place. another struggle was being decided in anti-slavery organizations. By lSNO the parent association. the American Anti-Slavery Society-~sponsor of numerous publications filled with anti-slavery propaganda.issued from its national headquarters and hundreds of state and local branches-- split over the issue of Garrisonism versus political action. The di- vision. although it weakened the structure of anti—slavery organizatim. nevertheless injected strength into older publications like the Garri- sonian Anti-Slavegy Bugle in Ohio. and in addition created a whole new segment of the anti-slavery press. the political action journal. 237 Although these two factions frequently quarreled with each other. they faced a common foe and had in common a single objective. differ~ ing only in their means of attaining it. Freed of the threats which endangered their rights to a free press. supported by a growing public opinion critical of slavery and the forces that supported it-~a public Opinion which they had helped to create-~the anti-slavery editors rem sumed their weapons to continue the battle. The new group of journals. dedicated as they were to political action and untainted by association with the name of Garrison.--a name tinctured in both abolitionist and non-abolitionist circles with une pleasantness——were able to appeal to a larger group of people. peeple who did not mind. perhaps. being called liberals. but who may have ob~ jected to being called reformers. One Of these papers demonstrated what may well be a tenet in the science of propaganda. the principle of catching more flies with sugar. The circulation of the Washington National Era soared to great heights because it refused to restrict itself to local affairs and devoted itself to the national scene; and because its editor (aided by Whittier) was successful in providing the quality and variety of material that appealed to readers. As a result. Gamaliel Bailey had an audience much larger than could be reached through old-style anti—slavery journalism; although criticized by Gar- rison for not conducting a true abolitionist paper (in the Garrisonian sense of total condemnation of everyone and everything associated with slavery) Bailey nevertheless was an anti-slavery editor. Establishment of the pro-slavery Southern Press to combat him proved that. 288 But more significant than these develOpmental stages in the cru- sade undertaken by anti—slavery journalists. in the larger sense. is the victory of those journalists over the forces of Oppression that would have destroyed their freedom of expression. For it was the anti— slavery press that tested not only the validity of the first amendment to the Constitution. but also the peOple's willingness to sustain that guarantee of freedom of the press in the face of p0pular disapproval of reform measures which threatened social and economic security. Herein lies the real significance of anti-slavery journalism. It is true that the constitutional guarantee Of freedom of the press was endangered by the Alien and Sedition.Acts, but those Acts nevertheless were temporary measures designed for security purposes in the face of impending war with France. Attempts to throttle abolitionist spokesmen represented. on the other hand. a concurrence of reactionary interests and public sentiment-~a combination that might well have succeeded in destroying a liberty basic to all individual liberties. If this movement to aw bridge the freedom Of the press had succeeded in the North. as it did under pressure of vested interests and public Opinion in the South. the loss of other traditional civil liberties would surely have followed. In this victory lies the significance of the abolitionist press. As Edmund Quincy. an abolitionist editor himself. phrased it. If it were possible that the anti-slavery movement could fail of final success.... still this nation and the world would owe a lasting debt to it. for the vindication of the free press and free speech which they have achieved.... the _ great incidental victory of the anti-slavery movement. The success of anti-slavery editors in asserting and reestablish- ing the tradition of press freedom refurbished a principle and provided a body of practices which American journalism has followed ever since. Though it is true that the threat to freedom of the press rose again during the Civil war when “Copperhead“ newspapers criticized Lincoln’s administration. Lincoln himself saw the injustice and the dangers of suppression except for the sake of national security. But wartime measures and security measures are understood as being in a different class from measures taken to suppress newspapers whose editors have Opinions contrary to the Opinions of either a minority or a majority. The principle of minority--or even individual-«rights to freedom of expression was firmly established in American tradition by abolition- ist editors. Less significant. but certainly related to the larger issue of the individual's right to liberty and happiness. is the sensitivity of the press to social injustices. a sensitivity having its inception in re- fonm journalism. The press in the later nineteenth century was partic~ ularly sensitive to social injustices. and to a degree continues so to— day. although its motives may not always be clear. -___ l 222 National Anti-Slavegy Standard. Jan. 12. 1857. BIBLIOGRAPHY I. Journals. Periodicals. and Series Publications A. Journals 2§£.§§£}:§EEX§EYC§EEAE° V. 1-12. Salem. Ohio. June 20. 18h5-1857. Edited by Benjamin S. and Elizabeth Hitchcock Jones to June 15. 18h9. then by Oliver Johnson. who was succeeded in 1851 by Marius Robinson. First published by the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society. In October. 18h7. it became the official organ-of the Western Anti- Slavery Society. First six issues of V. 1 published at New Lisbon. Ohio. 233 Emancipator. New York and Boston. 1833-1850. Edited by Charles W. Denison to Jan. 1h. 183M. then by William Goodell to June 30, 1835. Goodell was followed by A. A. Phelps. who. after a brief editorship. was succeeded by Joshua Leavitt. who remained till publication ceased. Published by the American Anti-Slavery Society until lSMO. when it was vauired by Leavitt. After lghl published in Boston. Weekly through June 30. 1835. Monthly from August. 1835 to May. 1836. when name changed to Zh§_Voice gprreedom. which ex- pired July. 1836. Meanwhile. weekly Emancipator resumed.May 5. 1836. as V. 1. No. 1. Title varies: Emancipator and Journal gf_Public Morals; The Emancipator; Emancipator and Free American; Emancipator and figgk}y,§§gggiglgj Emancipator and Free Soil Press: Emancipator and Republican. E3 s Friend gflggg. V. 1-6. Utica. New York. June 23. 1836-18h1. l Edited by William Goodell to Mar. 30. 18h1. and then by Stanley P. Rough (who changed his name. May 11. lShl. to Hough P. Stanley). Official organ of the New York State Anti-Slavery Society. "I 291 The Gerrit Smith Banner. No. 1°13. New York. Oct. lG-Nov. l. 1858. l'u- .. ‘-‘.‘- Edited by William Goodell. Daily. Egg Elbggatgr. V. l-35. Boston. Jan. 1. l831-Dec. 29, 1865. Edited by William Lloyd Garrison. Published by Garrison and Isaac Knapp to Jan. 2. 1836. then by Knapp until Jan. h. 1839. At this time a committee of three men. Francis Jackson. Edmund Quincy. and William Bassett assumed financial responsibility. The three were joined by Ellis Gray Loring and Samuel Philbrick a year later. After Jan. 3, lShO. Garrison was listed as both editor and publisher. Liberty §§anda£g. V. 1-8. Hallowell. Maine. July 12. lShl-June 7. lshg. Edited by Joseph C. Lovejoy to Aug. 3. l8h2. and then by Austin Willey. title varies= £29322 iisaésacl: Fiat §011 Republissn- The Ngtignal énti:§lgyegy Standard. V. 1-30. New York. 18hO-l870. Editors include Nathaniel P. Rogers (lShO—hl). Lydia.Maria Child (lshl—MB). David Lee Child (lsu3—hh). Sydney Howard Gay (l8hh—5h). Gay and Oliver Johnson (185h-58). Oliver Johnson (1858- 65}. and others. Edmund Quincy and James Russell Lowell were for a short time in l8hh contributing editors. Published as the official organ of the American Anti»Slavery Society. The Natipnal Era. V. l-lh. Washington. Jan. 7, lSHY-Mar. 22. 1860. Edited by Gamaliel Bailey. Published by L. P. Noble. Established by funds provided by the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. then purchased by Bailey at the end of 18h7. ghe_Philanthrgpist. V. l-ll. Cincinnati. Jan. 1. 1836-Dec. 9. 18h6. Edited by James G. Birney to 1837. and from 1837 by Gamaliel Bailey. Published after May 3, 1836. by the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society. Name changed after Oct. u. 18h}. to the Cincinnati Weekly gerald and PhilanthrOpist. 292 B. Periodicals The Abolitionist: Or Record of the New England Anti~Slavery Society. -"m- “e— V. ml Boston. mJan.-Dec.. 1833“ William Lloyd Garrison was principal editor. although period— ical was "Edited by a committee." Published by Garrison and Knapp. The Afr ican Repository. V. 1-67. 68. No. 1. Washington. Mar.. 18?5- Jan. . 1892. Edited by R. R. Gurley and others. .‘ol. 1‘25 have title: The African 339°91§23212E§-9912E}§l Journal; superseded by Liberia. met-w— Published by the American Colonization Society. The American Jubilee. Vol. 1. New York. March. 185h-ipri1. 1855. Edited by William Goodell. Continued as Rgdical Abolitionist. Christian Investigator. V. 1.1-6. Boston; Wlitesboro, N. Y.. and ”Honeoye. N. Y. April.18h1-Aug.. 18h8. Edited by William Goodell. Published by J. W. Alden. V. 1. No. 1. dated Boston, June 1. 18h1. V. 1, No. ?-6. published at Whitesboro. N. Y. V. 1. No. l. 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