Historical Profile: William Lloyd Garrison

Five years ago, the city of Boston celebrated the 200th anniversary of William Lloyd Garrison’s birthday. Garrison, who was born in December 1805 in Newburyport, Massachusetts, was a well known northern abolitionist and journalist. Garrison was a man of intense courage and passion. He was considered to be one of the most radical and influential abolitionists of his time. One example of Garrison’s radical nature occurred on Independence Day 1854. On this day, Garrison burned the U.S. Constitution & the Fugitive Slave Act in Framingham, Massachusetts, thus showing his disregard for how the U.S. government was still allowing slavery in the southern part of the country.

In 1831, Garrison began publishing The Liberator – a four page weekly Boston newspaper. At the time, Boston was one of the most ardent abolitionist centers in America. The focus of Garrison’s newspaper was to raise awareness about eradicating the institution of slavery. In 1832, Garrison founded the New England Anti-Slavery Society at the African Meeting House in the Beacon Hill section of Boston.

In 1886, sculptor Olin Levi Warner built a bronze on Quincy granite base sculpture of William Lloyd Garrison. The monument to Garrison is located on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall in Boston.

William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879) once said: “Enslave the liberty of but one human being and the liberties of the world are put in peril.”

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