Greatest American Civil Rights Leader

William Lloyd Garrison

Overview of ProblemAfrican –American slaves were treated as less than human. Not guaranteed any rights, abused, treated as cattle, and separated from their families. Went against American ideals of liberty and freedom.

Garrison’s Actions

• Genius of Universal Emancipation• 1831, The Liberator• On the 1st of January 1831, without a dollar of

capital, and without a single subscriber, vowing a "determination to print it as long as they could subsist on bread and water, or their hands obtain employment."

• American Anti-slavery Society

At the time…

• Most articulate, radical, abolitionist• Moved away from gradualist approach• Hated by a large number of proslavery

advocates throughout America• Stepped up for women’s suffrage

at an unpopular time

Short-Term Effects…

• Garrison inspired others throughout the country to join the abolitionist cause through his moral appeal

• Many new abolitionist newspapers and anti-slavery groups begin to sprout up until the Civil War, when freedom is eventually granted

Garrison’s legacy today

• Forever embedded in American history as one of the earliest, prominent advocates for African Americans

• Known for beginning the first abolitionist newspaper and antislavery society in the U.S.

My View

• Garrison deserves this award because….– He was outspoken, passionate, unyielding, and

fearless.– He didn’t belong to the disadvantaged groups he

advocated for…he was selfless.– He risked his fortune and life for the cause.

First issue of the Liberator

“I am aware that many object to the severity of my language; 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 to 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 gradually 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 – I will not excuse – I will not retreat a single inch – AND I WILL BE HEARD. The apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal, and to hasten the resurrection of the dead.”

William Lloyd Garrison• Publicly burned a copy of the Constitution– “A Covenant with Death, an Agreement with Hell”

• Served jail time for libel of a slave trader• Attempted lynching in Boston, 1835• Frequent death threats• Georgia had a $5000 reward on him

My Memorial

• Circular structure, open roof, monumental fire, reflection pool, engravings, seals

• Symbolic features:– Walls – holes symbolize entrapment/slavery– Hand – represents the offering of oneself to

another– Seals - represent liberty, Garrison’s work– Aerial View – symbolizes an open wound– Entrance – “Do Brave Deeds and Endure”

Sources

NNDB Profileshttp://www.nndb.com/people/966/000049819/

PBShttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1561.html

New World Encyclopediahttp://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/William_Lloyd_Garrison