''The Anglo-African'' and ''The Weekly Anglo-African'' were periodicals published by

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

brothers Thomas Hamilton (1823–1865) and Robert Hamilton (1819–1870) in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

era. For a short period, one paper was also named the ''Pine and Palm''.

History

Thomas and Robert Hamilton were the sons of abolitionist and founder of the New York African Society for Mutual Relief William Hamilton. The elder Hamilton lived through the 1834 anti-abolitionist riots in New York and was critical of pacifist abolitionist newspapers like '' The Liberator''. The two brothers held similar views, and they founded ''The Anglo-African Magazine'', a monthly, in January 1859. It had 32 pages and cost one dollar for a yearly subscription. The Hamiltons founded the ''Weekly Anglo-African'' six months afterwards. The newspaper and magazine were the first publications to run Martin Delany's serialized novel, ''

Blake; or the Huts of America ''Blake; or The Huts of America'': A Tale of the Mississippi Valley, the Southern United States, and Cuba is a novel by Martin Delany, initially published in two parts: The first in 1859 by '' The Anglo-African'', and the second, during the earli ...

''. Robert managed the magazine, while Thomas used his expertise as a reporter and journalist. The weekly's contributors included

Martin Delany Martin Robison Delany (May 6, 1812January 24, 1885) was an abolitionist, journalist, physician, soldier, and writer, and arguably the first proponent of black nationalism. Delany is credited with the Pan-African slogan of "Africa for Africans." ...

Mary Ann Shadd Cary Mary Ann Camberton Shadd Cary (October 9, 1823 – June 5, 1893) was an American-Canadian anti-slavery activist, journalist, publisher, teacher, and lawyer. She was the first black woman publisher in North America and the first woman publisher i ...

Edward Wilmot Blyden Edward Wilmot Blyden (3 August 1832 – 7 February 1912) was a Liberian educator, writer, diplomat, and politician who was primarily active in West Africa. Born in the Danish West Indies, he joined the waves of black immigrants from the ...

, and Sarah Mapps Douglass. William B. Gould also served as a financial backer and reporter for ''The Anglo-African''. The newspaper ran with four pages of text at four cents per copy. Its motto was, "Man must be free; if not through the law, then above the law." The paper had early successes in its coverage of slavery resistance, the ''

Dred Scott v. Sandford ''Dred Scott v. Sandford'', 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that held the U.S. Constitution did not extend American citizenship to people of black African descent, enslaved or free; th ...

'' case, and the Raid on Harpers Ferry. Its correspondents and subscribers stretched across the US, as well as Canada and Jamaica. ''The Anglo-African Magazine'' was published until March 1860 and the ''Weekly Anglo-African'' until March 1861. Due to financial troubles, the Hamiltons sold the weekly newspaper to George Lawrence, Jr., and

James Redpath James Redpath (August 24, 1833 in Berwick upon Tweed, England – February 10, 1891, in New York, New York) was an American journalist and anti-slavery activist. Life In 1848 or 1849, Redpath and his family emigrated from Scotland to a farm nea ...

, who renamed it to ''The Palm and Pine''. The Hamilton brothers quickly saw that, under its new owners, the newspaper would no longer serve the needs of the black community. Robert Hamilton, therefore, decided to start a new newspaper, also named the ''Weekly Anglo-African''. Its first issue was published in July 1861.

Legacy

Lost issues of the ''Weekly Anglo-African'' were uncovered in the Black Abolitionist Papers Project.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * Newspapers published in New York City Abolitionist newspapers published in the United States African-American newspapers Publications disestablished in 1865 African-American history in New York City Defunct newspapers published in New York City {{NewYork-newspaper-stub