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William Lloyd Garrison was born
On December 12, 1805 William Lloyd Garrison was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Garrison is the son of immigrants from the British colony of New Brunswick, which today is located in Canada. William's family included himself, his mother, Frances Maria Lloyd, his father, Abijah Garrison, and his four siblings, Caroline, Mary Ann, Maria, and James. When William was only three years old, his father Abijah abandoned him and his family, so Lloyd had to live with his mother. -
Garrison's Apprenticeship
Garrison was appointed to a seven-year apprenticeship to write and be an editor under Ephraim W. Allen, an editor of the Newburyport Herald, when he was 13 years old. Through his years as an apprentice Garrison developed enough skills to be able to control his own newspaper company. In 1826 when his apprenticeship was done he purchased The Newburyport Essex Courant and renamed it the Newburyport Free Press. He used the newspaper as a political instrument. -
The Genius of Universal Emancipation
Benjamin Lundy of the Quaker newspaper Genius of Universal Emancipation in Baltimore, Maryland, offered Garrison a position and he soon also became co-editor of the paper. While co-editor, Garrison performed many extraordinary accomplishments with his experience as a printer and newspaper editor. After Lundy was freed to spend more time speaking about slavery, Garrison looked over Lundy’s gradualist views and he became convinced of the need to demand immediate and complete emancipation. -
American Colonization Society
When Garrison was 25 years old, he joined the American Colonization Society. The society had come up with the idea that blacks should be moved back west to Africa. Garrison did not agree with this idea because he believed the goal of this society was to promote the freedom of the blacks. But soon Garrison grew dissatisfied when he realized that the only goal of the society was to limit the amount of slaves in the U.S, however the idea led to further support the mechanism of slavery. -
The Liberator
In 1830, Garrison resigned from his spot in the American Colonization Society and created The Liberator with Isaac Knapp, his own abolitionist paper. Garrison and Knapp produced The Liberator’s articles in Boston, Massachusetts. Garrison made The Liberator motto before the first issue, “Our country is the world-our countrymen are mankind.” The motto became very popular and was widespread after the first issue was released. The Liberator also widened Garrison’s reputation as an abolitionist. -
Abolitionist movements
In 1832 Garrison helped form the New England Antislavery Society, once he realized that the abolitionist movement needed to be well organized and not taken for granted. Also, in 1840 once Garrison traveled to England he created another organization, the American Antislavery Society, which was now a national organization that dedicated towards achieving abolition. But a conflict occurred which led to organizations that fought against his cause. -
Anti-Union speeches with Frederick Douglas
While many abolitionists were pro-Union, Garrison, viewed the Constitution as pro-slavery, thought the union should be dissolved. Garrison thought slave states should be separated than the states that were free and had banned slavery. Garrison was passionately in contradiction of the annexation of Texas and strongly protested towards he Mexican American War. So in August 1847, Garrison and Frederick Douglass who was a former slave created a series of 40 anti-Union dialogues in the Alleghenies. -
Garrison fought against the Constitution
The American Civil war broke out, in 1861, while Garrison kept on insulting the U.S Constitution, by writing a numerous amount of text in The Liberator. Garrison used the process of criticizing in The Liberator over a span of nearly 20 years. Also, Garrison used his journalism to support Abraham Lincoln (the president at that time) and his war guidelines, which some people found surprising. Garrison did this even though it was prior to the Emancipation Proclamation in September of 1862. -
13th Amendment
When the Civil War came close to ending William Lloyd Garrison’s dream came true. The 13th Amendment was finalized, and slavery was outlawed throughout the United States. The addition of the 13th amendment was a large part of Garrison’s Reputation. The amendment states, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” -
William Lloyd Garrison died
On May 24th, 1879 William Lloyd Garrison died. Before he died he spent most of his time at home with his family, writing letters to his children, and caring for his ill wife. His wife Helen died on January 25, 1876, after a harsh pneumonia. The depression he had from the death of his wife was a slow process. Three years later Garrison suffered from kidney disease through April 1879, and moved to live with his daughter Franny and her family. Then during late May he lost consciousness and died.
