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William Lloyd Garrison was a well-known American abolitionist admired and despised for his unwavering opposition to enslavement in the United States. Garrison was at the forefront of the anti-slavery movement as the editor of The Liberator, a fervent anti-slavery daily, from the 1830s until he believed the 13th Amendment‘s enactment following the Civil War settled the issue.
See the fact file below for more information about William Lloyd Garrison, or download the comprehensive worksheet pack, which contains over 11 worksheets and can be used in the classroom or homeschooling environment.
Key Facts & Information
Early Life & Career
- William Lloyd Garrison, the son of a merchant sailing master, was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, in 1805. The Garrison family fell on hard times when William was still young, owing in large part to the Embargo Act, which Congress approved in 1807.
- William’s father abandoned the family in 1808, leaving them to scavenge food from more fortunate households and forcing William to labor, selling handmade molasses sweets and transporting wood.
- Garrison only received a basic education before beginning to work as an apprentice in various industries, including cabinet and shoemaking. He eventually learned the craft while working for a printer, rising to the position of printer and editor of a regional newspaper in Newburyport.
- Garrison developed the abilities necessary to establish his own newspaper through his work at other newspapers. When Garrison was 20 years old and had completed his apprenticeship in 1826, he borrowed money from his former employer and bought The Newburyport Essex Courant. The newspaper was renamed by Garrison the Newburyport Free Press, and he utilized it as a political tool to represent the views of the previous Federalist Party.
- Garrison relocated to Boston, where he worked in print shops and was active in social concerns, including the temperance movement after an unsuccessful attempt to run his own newspaper. While serving as the editor of a temperance journal in the late 1820s, Garrison, who tended to view life as a war against sin, started to discover his voice.
- While employed for the National Philanthropist in 1828, Garrison met Benjamin Lundy. The anti-slavery editor of the Genius of Emancipation introduced Garrison to the abolitionist movement. Garrison gladly accepted Lundy’s invitation to become the editor of Genius of Emancipation in Vermont. The position served as Garrison’s introduction to the abolitionist cause.
- Garrison had joined the American Colonization Society by the time he was 25 years old. According to the group, Black people should relocate to Africa’s west coast. Initially, Garrison thought that the society’s mission was to further the freedom and welfare of Black people. But as soon as Garrison saw that their ultimate goal was to reduce the number of free enslaved people in the US, he lost hope. Garrison realized that this tactic did little more than strengthen the system of slavery.
- Garrison gained a reputation for chasing controversy, yet he was reserved and extraordinarily kind in his private life. Five of the seven children he and his wife bore after their 1834 wedding lived into maturity.
‘The Liberator’
- Garrison left the American Colonization Society in 1830 and founded his own abolitionist publication, The Liberator. The Liberator, whose slogan was “Our nation is the world—our countrymen are humankind,” as it appeared in its debut issue, is credited with establishing Garrison’s reputation as an abolitionist.
- Garrison was a founding member of the New England Anti-Slavery Society in 1832, the first society to ask for instant freedom. The American Anti-Slavery Society, established in 1833 with Garrison’s assistance, was the second group advocating for immediate freedom. Several abolitionists, including Arthur Tappan, Lewis Tappan, and Theodore Dwight Weld, put up the American Anti-Slavery Society.
- He thought that the United States’ present Constitution was unlawful since it permitted enslavement. The group broke apart as a result of these extremist opinions. Garrison and his supporters aimed to establish a new kind of government that forbade enslavement and guaranteed equal rights to all men. From 1843 through 1865, Garrison presided over this new group, the Liberty Party.
- Garrison was unwavering and unwavering in his convictions. According to him, the Anti-Slavery Society should not support any one political party. He thought that women ought to be able to join the Anti-Slavery Society. In his opinion, the U.S. Constitution supported slavery.
- Garrison was influenced by his interactions with Black People in Boston and Baltimore to reject gradualism and colonialism. Garrison officially endorsed the Black Peoples’ abolitionists’ demands for an immediate, unexcused end to slavery as well as for political and social equality in 1831, back in Boston, with his new publication, The Liberator.
Supports Nat Turner’s Rebellion
- Southern media accused Garrison of aiding Nat Turner‘s revolt in 1831. He has nothing to do with it. In truth, it is unlikely that Turner made any more acquaintances outside his little circle in rural Virginia.
- When word of the insurrection reached northern periodicals, Garrison, however, wrote pieces in The Liberator that applauded the uprising.
- Because of Garrison’s admiration for him and his followers, Turner drew notice. A grand jury in North Carolina also issued an arrest warrant for him. According to the Raleigh newspaper, the accusation was seditious libel, and the punishment was “flogging and imprisonment for a first offense and execution without the benefit of clergy for a second offense.”
Conflict With Frederick Douglass
- His views occasionally put him at odds with Frederick Douglass, a major opponent of slavery who had himself been an enslaved person. Douglass finally paid his old captor for his release in order to avoid legal issues and the prospect of being detained and sent to Maryland as an enslaved person.
- As it effectively proved the idea that enslavement itself was legitimate, Garrison believed that buying one’s own freedom was wicked. That kind of thinking was simply unworkable for Douglass, a Black person who was always in danger of being sent back into servitude.
- At an anti-slavery protest in Framingham, Massachusetts, in 1854, Garrison, who was growing more radical, caused a stir by burning a copy of the Constitution in front of the crowd. He questioned the morality of John Brown’s use of force at Harper’s Ferry in 1859, but his journal infamously endorsed his deeds. Garrison had a pure outlook that always favored opposing slavery, but not by means of political structures that recognized its legitimacy.
Later Years, Death & Legacy
- Garrison continued to speak out against enslavement as the debate over slavery evolved into the main political issue of the 1850s as a result of the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and several other conflicts. Garrison continued to criticize the federal government for tolerating enslavement.
- When the Civil War started, Garrison sided with the Union side. Garrison stopped publishing The Liberator when the war ended, and the 13th Amendment made slavery illegal in America. He believed the fight was over at that point. Garrison resigned from public life in 1866, though he continued to periodically write essays supporting equal rights for Black people and female citizens. On May 24, 1879, he passed away.
- Garrison received several death threats because of his opinions, which were widely regarded as quite radical during his lifetime. He was once sentenced to 44 days in prison after being sued for libel and was frequently accused of taking part in different schemes that were at the time regarded as felonies.
- Due to the institutionalization of slavery in its original form, the United States Constitution was seen by Garrison as an invalid constitution as a result of his public battle against slavery.
- Garrison enthusiastically backed Lincoln‘s Emancipation Proclamation despite the fact that it was a government order. Garrison released his final issue of the Liberator in 1865, following the end of the Civil War. Garrison published 1,820 issues over 35 years without missing a single deadline.
William Lloyd Garrison Worksheets
This bundle contains 11 ready-to-use William Lloyd Garrison Worksheets that are perfect for students who want to learn more about William Lloyd Garrison, who was a well-known American abolitionist admired and despised for his unwavering opposition to enslavement in the United States.
Download includes the following worksheets:
- William Lloyd Garrison Facts
- Liberator’s Biography
- WLG Advocacies
- Famous Abolitionists
- Mapping Slave and Free States
- The Dred Scott Decision
- Garrison’s View
- Political Newspapers
- Kansas-Nebraska Act
- The Liberator
- Emancipation Proclamation
Frequently Asked Questions
What was William Lloyd Garrison known for?
William Lloyd Garrison was a well-known American abolitionist admired and despised for his unwavering opposition to enslavement in the United States. Garrison was at the forefront of the anti-slavery movement as the editor of The Liberator, a fervent anti-slavery daily, from the 1830s until he believed the 13th Amendment’s enactment following the Civil War settled the issue.
What did William Lloyd Garrison do for slavery?
Garrison was a founding member of the New England Anti-Slavery Society in 1832, the first society to ask for instant freedom. The American Anti-Slavery Society, established in 1833 with Garrison’s assistance, was the second group advocating for immediate freedom.
Who was William Lloyd Garrison and what did he believe?
Garrison was unwavering and unwavering in his convictions. According to him, the Anti-Slavery Society should not support any one political party. He thought that women ought to be able to join the Anti-Slavery Society. In his opinion, the U.S. The U.S. Constitution supported slavery.
What made William Lloyd Garrison so controversial?
At an anti-slavery protest in Framingham, Massachusetts, in 1854, Garrison, who was growing more radical, caused a stir by burning a copy of the Constitution in front of the crowd. He questioned the morality of John Brown’s use of force at Harper’s Ferry in 1859, but his journal infamously endorsed his deeds. Garrison had a pure outlook that always favored opposing slavery, but not by means of political structures that recognized its legitimacy.
How did William Lloyd Garrison feel about slavery?
Garrison was influenced by his interactions with Black People in Boston and Baltimore to reject gradualism and colonialism. Garrison officially endorsed the Black Peoples’ abolitionists’ demands for an immediate, unexcused end to slavery as well as for political and social equality in 1831, back in Boston, with his new publication, The Liberator.
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Link will appear as William Lloyd Garrison Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, December 6, 2017
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