The Liberator Files

January 1, 1831

Garrison makes his now-famous statement:  “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 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.”

Jan 1, 1831

 “ The south may reasonably be alarmed at the circulation of Mr. Walker’s  Appeal; for a better promotion of insurrection was never sent forth to an oppressed people.  In a future number we propose to examine it, as also various editorial comments thereon  — it being one of the most remarkable productions of the age.  We have already publicly deprecated its spirit.”

Jan 8, 1831 

While commenting on the truth that “there is an effort to inflame the minds of the working classes against the more opulent”,  and concerned that there be no violence, he speaks warmly of the working class, “The industrious artisan, in a government like ours, will always be held in better estimation than the wealthy idler.” 

Jan 8, 1831

Lists 24 “TRUISMS”, of which here is a sampling:

“All men are born equal, and entitled to protection, excepting those whose skins are black and hair wooly…..and their decendants”.

“If white men are ignorant and depraved, they ought freely to receive the benefits of education; but if black men are in this condition, common sense dictates that they should be held in bondage, and never instructed.”

“ The color of the skin determines whether a man has a soul or not.  If white he has an immortal essence; if black he is altogether beastly. Mulattoes, however, derive no benefit from this rule.”

“The blacks ought to be held in fetters, because they are too stupid to take care of themselves; at least we are not so stupid as to suffer them to make the experiment.”

“The slaves are kept in bondage for their own good. Liberty is a curse to the free people of color  — their condition is worse than that of the slaves.! Yet it would be very wicked to bind them with fetters for their good.!”

“To deny that a man is a Christian or republican, who holds slaves, and dooms their children to bondage, is most uncharitable and inconsistent.”

“To doubt the religious vitality of a church, which is composed of slaveholders, is the worst species of infidelity.’

“The Africans are our slaves, not because we like to oppress or to make money unjustly – but because Noah’s curse must be fulfilled, and the scriptures obeyed.”

Jan 8, 1831

G deprecates the spirit of vengeance in Walker,  “Nevertheless, it is not for the American people as a nation, to denounce it as bloody or monstrous.  Mr. Walker but pays them in their own coin, but follows their own creed, adopts their own coin, but adopts their own language.”
G goes on to remind Americans that every time they complain about foreign oppression, “is a call for their slaves to destroy them.”  ….every 4th of July celebration, “must embitter and enflame the minds of the slaves.”

Here also, G comments on the suspicion that Walker may not have written the Appeal himself:  … “the Appeal bears the strongest internal evidence of having emanated from his own mind . No white man could have written in language so natural and enthusiastic.”

Jan 22, 1831

A letter from “A Man of Color”. with no namer, offers encouragement. Here are excerpts: “I see before you a mountain over which you have to travel, steep and dark, and pregnant with deep-rooted prejudice of long duration … hope that by the force of truth, sound and mild reasoning, many will come up to your assistance in this great work of human rights, of which we are not so ignorant as many have supposed … public opinion is a masterly engine, and I hope you will secure it in your present enterprise…”

Jan 29, 1831

A letter to the editor, from “Leo”,  from Philadelphia, indicates opposition to the Appeal, because he does not believe Walker wrote it, not because he is a man of color, but because “the matter brought forward  in said pamphlet is the result of more reading than could have fallen to the lot of that man , and at the same time, have left so vulgar as he has been represented to me”….”he never could have read all the authors quoted in his book, and seen of what true greatness consisted….to say nothing of the most excellent criticisms upon the speeches of the most talented men of the age…”  He then goes on to disparage the circulation of the pamphlet….”why cast this firebrand so injudiciously among the stubble  Behold its injurious effects! …. I am opposed to the pamphlet …. Because I believe it to be at the bottom of the recent enactment of severe laws in the southern states…..”

Garrison in notes to above letter,  reminds his readers that ‘we have repeatedly expressed our disapprobation of its (the pamphlet’s) general spirit. It contains , however, many valuable truths and seasonable warnings.’  …….Then he assures readers that he does not question the authorship of the pamphlet……”We are assured, by those who intimately knew him, that his Appeal was an exact transcript of his daily conversations; that, within the last four years, he was hurtfully indefatigable in his studies; that he was not ‘vulgar’, either in manners or language; and that he was a blameless professor of religion.  The historical facts which he has collected were too familiar to have required extraordinary research.  Besides the internal evidence of the pamphlet clearly substantiates its authorship.”

Jan 29, 1831

An article from the Greensborough (N. C.) Patriot - In reference to Walker’s pamphlet urges its suppression, but says, “we do not believe that it contains all that deep damnation that has been attributed to it..”…. then it goes on to speak of the fear spread among southern Governors and Statesmen, which it calls “misplaced alarm” …..”let us not overlook the burning volcano that lies but partially concealed beneath, the ultimate explosions of which cannot be prevented by adding to the cause which produced it …..If the legislatures of southern states wish to guard effectually against insurrection, they cannot do it by abridging the already limited privileges of the slave.  They will, of course be successful for a while, but they will only be drawing tighter that cord of oppression which will ultimately  burst asunder. …….their misguided efforts will only serve but to bend that bow which will hurl the arrows of destruction through our country…….Human beings were never made to submit to absolute and unconditional despotism: they never have done it, they never will do

Jan 29, 1831 

A letter to the Editor,  from  “W” makes a strong statement that the conditions of the working class merit a dedication to change as much as the condition of the slaves.  Garrison introduces the article with words which  discourage teaching “the poor and vulgar”  to “consider the opulent as their natural enemies”….he acknowledges that there “is an abuse of wealth as well as of talent, office  and emolument”  ….but denies “evidence that our wealthy citizens, as a  body, are hostile to the interests of the laboring classes”…..He concludes the introduction of the article with a plea that he has more to say on the matter, but is running out of space, and an appeal that wherever there is “public abuse”, there must be a speedy and judicious remedy

Feb. 12, 1831

From a Colored Philadelphian, Feb 3, 1831

“I would ask some of our pretended white friends , and members of the American Colonization Society, why are they so interested in our behalf as to want us to go to
Africa?  They tell us that it is our home; that they desire to make a people of us, which we can never be here; that they want Africa civilized…….Will some of these guardian angels of the people of color tell me how it is that we, who were born in the same city or state with themselves,  can live any longer in Africa than they?…… we consider the United States our home and not Africa as they wish to make us believe……..”

From Paul Cuffee, Philadelphia

Words from Cuffee are addressed to The People of Color.  “Awake from your lethargy … for too long you have been worshipping at the shrine of ignorance … are you not men … formed like any other of the human species … moulded after the pure image of your Creator …”  Cuffee cautions his friends against thinking that “all that is needful for the betterment of your condition will be effected by your benevolent white friends … there is a great deal more to be done, and you can do it by putting your shoulders to the wheels.”

From James Barbadoes, a letter to Garrison, “Esteemed Friend”:

Barbadoes refers to a Garrison  address to colored citizens, on December 10, 1830.  He says, “nothing was ever uttered more important and beneficial to our color … full of virtue and consolation … perfect in explanation, and furnished a rule to live by and to die by.”