William Lloyd Garrison's Liberator & Frederick Douglass' North Star

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White and Black Abolitionists Newspapers Compared: William Lloyd Garrison's Liberator & Frederick Douglass' North Star

The abolitionist movement reached its peak between 1830 and 1860. During this period, abolitionists, those who "insisted slavery undermined the freedom, righteousness, order, and prosperity of all society" (McInerney, 8) sought to identify, denounce and abolish this cruel institution using their rights of free speech and free press. With free press and free speech "abolitionists depicted slavery as raw, aggressive power carrying in it's wake the seeds of political, social, economic, and moral dislocation" (McInerney, 18). In other words, the evils of slavery were expressed by abolitionists in an attempt to convince American society that slavery was not only morally wrong, but it also went against the goal of the republic, which was liberty and equality for all. Two prominent abolitionists during this period who utilized the right of free press were William Lloyd Garrison with the Liberator and Frederick Douglass with the North Star. When examining Garrison and Douglass it is apparent that they had different approaches to writing against slavery because of their separate background. However, these differences can also be attributed to the fact that their writing audiences, inspirations and motivations for publishing their respective papers were distinct. Garrison and Douglass also had different but very influential effects on the Abolitionist Movement. These do not make Garrison and Douglass opponents; instead they demonstrate how white and black abolitionists had different approaches, methods, and styles of conveying their common message of abolishing slavery.

William Lloyd Garrison and the Liberator

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