Question

What was the Liberator?

Answer 1

Hint: It urged the readers to demand immediate freedom for slaves. It played an important role in promoting women’s rights.

Complete answer:
The Liberator was a weekly published newspaper during the 19th century. It was printed and published by William Lloyd Garrison and Isaac Knapp from 1831 to 1865. It was an abolitionist newspaper and helped in abolishing slavery from America. The paper printed and reprinted reports, sermons, letters, and stories related to American slavery and became a weekly community bulletin board for the participants of the abolitionist movement.

The paper was published continuously for 35 years, from the 1st of January 1831 to the 29th of December 1865. Three of the subscribers of the newspaper were African Americans. Soon the Liberator also became a women’s rights newspaper and in 1838 the newspaper declared that its objective was ‘to redeem men and women from a servile and to an equal condition’. It also stated that it would support women to their utmost extent.

The Liberator newspaper also received very harsh resistance from various legislative bodies and other local groups. In 1835, a Boston mob formed which destroyed the antislavery sign and even attempted to lynch Lloyd Garrison. Garrison managed to escape, after which the mayor put him in the city jail for protection.

Note:
- The Liberator was a very inspirational paper and it even inspired Angelina Grimké to join the abolitionist movement.
- She wrote a letter to Garrison about her experiences as a member of a slaveholding family.
- This letter was soon after, printed on the Liberator.