The Liberator

The Liberator, a newspaper running from 1831 to 1865, started in Boston, Massachusetts. The papers’ main topics were the inhumanity of slavery and rebellions led by African Americans. The Liberator was the most anti-slavery paper in the 19th century. 

The publisher and editor was William Lloyd Garrison. He was in his position for 35 years before ending the paper. Lloyd was known as a printer, pacifist, civil rights activist, suffragist, and racial abolitionist. He gave many anti-slavery speeches and denounced the national sin of slavery. Garrison considered himself a "Black abolitionist that demands uncompensated end to slavery and for political and social equality.” 

The Liberator was able to start publishing thanks mainly to African American groups raising funding. About 3,000 copies were published weekly, primarily distributed in the north and read mainly by African Americans. They published articles from African American poets and writers, sermons, and treatment of enslaved people in the South, wanting equality for African Americans. 

The first copy of the paper was published on January 1, 1831. It was an introduction of himself and what the paper focused on. Largely defining quotes from the paper were:

“My name is ‘LIBERATOR’ ! I propose to hurl my shafts at freedoms deadliest foes!”

“I am in charge to save Man from his brother! - to redeem the slave !”

“ I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice” 

The impacts of this paper were extremely different; either it was strongly supported or simply criminal. In the North, it was supported, but in the South, it was criminal

In the north, The Liberator was strongly supported and produced. It gained more support for the freeing of slaves and equal treatment. In the South, simply reading the paper was considered criminal. Not only was the paper criminal, but Georgia offered a reward of $3,000 for Garrison's capture, and he was indicted in North Carolina for distributing anti-slavery material. 

The Liberator's major events covered were the Nat Turner Rebellion, the John Brown Raid, The Civil War, and the Boston Underground Railroad. Although Garrison was a pacifist, he did not shyly cover news, even gruesome news. He also worked with key figures such as Fredrick Douglass, Lucy Stone, Wendell Phillips, and Aby Kelly Foster.

The Liberator's last post was in December 1865. The end of the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the 13th Amendment led to the end of the paper. Garrison's fight for the freedom of slaves was over; therefore, he felt that his and The Liberators’ jobs were complete.