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William Lloyd Garrison - Sean Lee

Page history last edited by Sean 11 years, 4 months ago

William Lloyd Garrison

Reformer - Abolitionist - Journalist

 


 

 

 

Who was Mr. William L. Garrison?

Born on December 10, 1805, William L. Garrison was an intuitive and hardworking individual ever since he was young. As a child, he created a highly successful lemonade stand, and all of his earnings from the business went to supporting his family. Later, under the pseudonym of "Aristides," Garrison became a prolific journalist and wrote many articles concerning America's social and political problems. He even created his own newspaper company known as the Free Press, which was closed down shortly but nevertheless demonstrated the man's extensive knowledge and ceaseless inquisitiveness.

 

 

Criticisms of American Society

In the course of history, Garrison was best known as an avid social activist. As someone who grew up in a religious hold, he firmly clung onto his spiritual roots and their influences on his activism are evident. His first major advocacy was for the temperance movement. Aptly complemented by the onset of the Second Great Awakening, it advocated for an end to all alcohols and premarital sex in order to protect the purity of American society. Later, Garrison became one of the most fervent abolitionists at the time, denouncing slavery as the complete contradiction of the word of God. He called for immediate emancipation, rather than a gradual one, firmly believing that all people were born to a set of natural rights that cannot be violated by any other human being at any given time.

 

Methods of Improvement

Garrison was fully aware that to efficiently disseminate his abolitionist cause across the nation and into the homes of average "plebians," he would have to harness the powerful medium of text. Aided by his experience with journalism and writing prowess, he published The Liberator, an abolitionist newspaper, along with his colleague, Isaac Knapp. The articles were bold and daring, directly accusing the slaveholders of sinning and demanding for an immediate end to slavery. Of course, it did not garner as much popularity as corporate newspapers such as New York Times, but nevertheless shook the nation with its blunt truths about the wanton state of America's slavery system. Another method he utilized was founding the American 

Anti-Slavery Society, in which he could effectively gather those who held similar beliefs as him and spread the abolitionist school of thought even faster across the US. By 1838, there were over 250,000 members in nearly 1,500 local chapters. It is interesting to note that Frederick Douglass, another brilliant abolitionist of his time, was a key speaker within the group. 

 

 


 

Successes

While the circulation numbers of The Liberator averaged to only about 3000, it was still a watershed achievement for Garrison's career as an abolitionist, in that it grabbed the attentions of tens of thousands of Americans - including politicians of both the north and south. As well, he was an influential figure in the 

Anti-Slavery Society and with fiery speeches, galvanizing its 250,000 members to more passionately join his cause. Of course, the members of the group were obviously not slave-holders; thus, Garrison took a step further and reached out to the mass, giving his speeches wherever opportunity invited him to do so. Ironically, whereas he did not endorse any forms of violence to push for abolition, his fiery rhetoric often incited followers to riot. It is no doubt that the eradication of slavery through the drafting of the 13th Amendment was largely in part to Garrison's refusal to yield at a time where all odds seemed to be against him.

 

 

Noteworthy for?

Garrison is best known for his extensive, impassioned efforts into the quick and complete abolition of slavery. As such, his rhetoric was both revered (by his followers) and notorious among the pro-slavery force in America, since it succeeded in capturing the attentions of the average Americans and greatly boosting the once-stagnant abolitionist movement. His prized possession, The Liberator, admittedly did only have a small number of loyal subscribers at the time, there were still a vast number of people who took cursory glances at the paper and immediately become engrossed in the issue of slavery and its horrendous reality. Finally, Garrison will forever remembered in the course of history for the establishment of the American 

Anti-Slavery Society, which procured valuable, pro-abolition members such as the famed Frederick Douglass. On the other hand, Garrison garnered infamy and accusations of insanity through his open critcisms of the Constitution's inadequacies, and strongly supported the North separating from the "ungodly" South.

 

 

 

Impractical & Fanatical Solutions

While Garrison was no doubt wholly dedicated to his lifelong cause of ending slavery, the immediate effectiveness of his activism is questionable. While the idea that The Liberator and Garrison's persuasive speeches inspired the mass to join him in his cause is indeed romantic, in reality, it was impractical. Without any sort of tangible action - compare John Brown's use of force to get his message across - it is arguable whether or not it was Garrison who directly lead the nation to gradually adapt the pro-abolition stance, or rather the general trend at that time. Furthermore, later in his life, Garrison began to commit what was considered the worst sin of all in America during his era - accusing the Constitution of being flawed. This lead him to embrace the idea of secession, which was, in hindsight, completely foolish. It was no wonder why many laypeople - including some of his former followers - started to question his sanity.

 

 

Lasting Impact

Garrison was a leading figure during the nineteenth century's abolitionist movement. As such, his contributions - despite some of his more eccentric ideas - firmly held their roots through the course of time. His compelling arguments for the quick and complete abolition of slavery were built upon the foundations of morality (he called this the "moral suasion.") As such, his school of thought challenged the pathos, logos, and ethos of the bystanders who were once apathetic to the cause by explicitly pointing out why slavery tainted the morality of any compassionate human being. His forceful articles regarding the issue were read by many politicians, and his gifted rhetoric galvanized followers to form protests across the country. The creation of the American Anti-Slavery Society formed a bulwark for the abolitionist movement and became home to stalwarts such as Frederick Douglass. Ultimately, Garrison's passionate efforts culminated with the ratification of the 13th Amendment.

 

 

 

Works Cited:

 

"William Lloyd Garrison: The Liberator (1831)." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 7 Nov. 2012.

http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/254318?terms=William+Lloyd+garrison 

 

McGuire, William, and Leslie Wheeler. "William Lloyd Garrison." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 7 Nov. 2012. "http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/246860?terms=William+Lloyd+garrison" 

 

 

 

 

Comments (1)

Jeanne Scheppach said

at 11:53 pm on Nov 22, 2012

Wow wow wow!!! This is superb work. Well written and well written.

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