American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
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 ...
newspaper, at first published in New York City and later in Boston. It was founded as the official newspaper of the
American Anti-Slavery Society
The American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS; 1833–1870) was an abolitionist society founded by William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan. Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave, had become a prominent abolitionist and was a key leader of this society ...
(AASS). From 1840 to 1850 it was published by the Liberty Party; the publication changed names several times as it merged with other abolitionist newspapers in Boston.
Contributors to the paper included
Lewis Tappan
Lewis Tappan (May 23, 1788 – June 21, 1873) was a New York abolitionist who worked to achieve freedom for the enslaved Africans aboard the '' Amistad''. Tappan was also among the founders of the American Missionary Association in 1846, which ...
James McCune Smith
James McCune Smith (April 18, 1813 – November 17, 1865) was an American physician, apothecary, abolitionist, and author who was born in Manhattan. He was the first African American to hold a medical degree from the University of Glasgow in Sco ...
Samuel Edmund Sewall
Samuel Edmund Sewall (1799–1888) was an American lawyer, abolitionist, and suffragist. He co-founded the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, lent his legal expertise to the Underground Railroad, and served a term in the Massachusetts Senate as ...
,
Henry Brewster Stanton
Henry Brewster Stanton (June 27, 1805 – January 14, 1887) was an American abolitionist, social reformer, attorney, journalist and politician. His writing was published in the '' New York Tribune,'' the ''New York Sun,'' and William Lloy ...
, Horace Edwin Smith,
William Ellery Channing
William Ellery Channing (April 7, 1780 – October 2, 1842) was the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century and, along with Andrews Norton (1786–1853), one of Unitarianism's leading theologians. Channi ...
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
by
Arthur Tappan
Arthur Tappan (May 22, 1786 – July 23, 1865) was an American businessman, philanthropist and abolitionist. He was the brother of Ohio Senator Benjamin Tappan and abolitionist Lewis Tappan, and nephew of Harvard Divinity School theologian ...
, a wealthy
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 ...
and president of the
American Anti-Slavery Society
The American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS; 1833–1870) was an abolitionist society founded by William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan. Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave, had become a prominent abolitionist and was a key leader of this society ...
. The March 1833 publication marked the beginning of the abolitionist movement in New York state. ''The Emancipator'''s first editor was
Charles Wheeler Denison
Charles Wheeler Denison, (November 11, 1809, New London, ConnecticutNovember 14, 1881) was an American cleric, author and newspaper editor.
Life
Before he was of age he edited a newspaper in his native town. He afterward became a clergyman, ...
.
African-American
sales agents
Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale.
The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in r ...
selected to represent the new publication included:
*
David Ruggles
David Ruggles (March 15, 1810 – December 16, 1849) was an African-American abolitionist in New York who resisted slavery by his participation in a Committee of Vigilance and the Underground Railroad to help fugitive slaves reach free stat ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, who was the general agent
* John D. Closson,
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...
*
Abraham Doras Shadd
Abraham Doras Shadd (March 2, 1801 – February 11, 1882) was an African-American abolitionist and civil rights activist who emigrated to Ontario, Canada, and became one of Canada's first black elected officials. He was the father of prominent act ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
* John Carlisle, Pennsylvania
On October 25, 1835, in a nationally publicized spectacle, a
Tuscaloosa County, Alabama
Tuscaloosa County is a county in the northwest-central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama and is the center of commerce, education, industry, health care, and entertainment for the region.
The county's population was 227,036 as of the 2020 c ...
,
grand jury
A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...
issued a
true bill
True most commonly refers to truth, the state of being in congruence with fact or reality.
True may also refer to:
Places
* True, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States
* True, Wisconsin, a town in the United States
* Tr ...
against Robert G. Williams, agent and publisher of ''The Emancipator,'' for allegedly "circulating
seditious
Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establis ...
pamphlets in Alabama" "tending to excite our slave population to insurrection and murder." On November 14, 1835, the Alabama Governor, John Gayle demanded that New York Governor William Learned Marcy
extradite
Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdict ...
Williams, "a fugitive," to stand trial. Marcy refused.
From 1836 to 1840, the editor was
Theodore Dwight Weld
Theodore Dwight Weld (November 23, 1803 – February 3, 1895) was one of the architects of the American abolitionist movement during its formative years from 1830 to 1844, playing a role as writer, editor, speaker, and organizer. He is best known ...
. After Weld left this position,
Joshua Leavitt
Rev. Joshua Leavitt (September 8, 1794, Heath, Massachusetts – January 16, 1873, Brooklyn, New York) was an American Congregationalist minister and former lawyer who became a prominent writer, editor and publisher of abolitionist literature. ...
succeeded him as editor.
In 1840, the
American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society
The American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society split off from the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1840 over a number of issues, including the increasing influence of anarchism (and an unwillingness to participate in the government's political proce ...
splintered from the
American Anti-Slavery Society
The American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS; 1833–1870) was an abolitionist society founded by William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan. Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave, had become a prominent abolitionist and was a key leader of this society ...
. ''The Emancipator'' then became Leavitt's personal publication and a leading journal of the Liberty Party, with Leavitt continuing as the editor of the newspaper until 1848.
The newspaper underwent several name changes between 1842 and 1848 as it slowly merged with other abolitionist newspapers located in Boston. Throughout this period, the publication was a continual exponent of abolitionism. In January 1842, the publication merged with ''The Free American'', the official newspaper of the
Massachusetts Abolition Society The Massachusetts Abolition Society was an abolitionist organization founded by a group of individuals who disagreed with the progressive, and often radical, politics of William Lloyd Garrison and his followers of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Soci ...
, and was published weekly as ''The Emancipator and Free American''. Leavitt (New York) and
Elizur Wright
Elizur Wright III (12 February 1804 – 22 November 1885) was an American mathematician and abolitionist. He is sometimes described in the United States as "the father of life insurance", or "the father of insurance regulation", as he campaigned ...
(Boston) served as co-editors until March 1844, when Wright left and the journal moved its headquarters to Boston.
The publication (at that point known as the ''Emancipator & Republican'') published its final issue on December 26, 1850.
Timelines
Editors
Publication name
Publishers
Gallery
File:Arthur_Tappan.jpg,
Arthur Tappan
Arthur Tappan (May 22, 1786 – July 23, 1865) was an American businessman, philanthropist and abolitionist. He was the brother of Ohio Senator Benjamin Tappan and abolitionist Lewis Tappan, and nephew of Harvard Divinity School theologian ...
File:Lundy.jpg,
Benjamin Lundy
Benjamin Lundy (January 4, 1789August 22, 1839) was an American Quaker abolitionist from New Jersey of the United States who established several anti-slavery newspapers and traveled widely. He lectured and published seeking to limit slavery's exp ...
File:Theodore_Dwight_Weld.jpg,
Theodore Dwight Weld
Theodore Dwight Weld (November 23, 1803 – February 3, 1895) was one of the architects of the American abolitionist movement during its formative years from 1830 to 1844, playing a role as writer, editor, speaker, and organizer. He is best known ...
Joshua Leavitt
Rev. Joshua Leavitt (September 8, 1794, Heath, Massachusetts – January 16, 1873, Brooklyn, New York) was an American Congregationalist minister and former lawyer who became a prominent writer, editor and publisher of abolitionist literature. ...
File:James_McCune_Smith.jpg,
James McCune Smith
James McCune Smith (April 18, 1813 – November 17, 1865) was an American physician, apothecary, abolitionist, and author who was born in Manhattan. He was the first African American to hold a medical degree from the University of Glasgow in Sco ...
File:1883_ElizurWright.png,
Elizur Wright
Elizur Wright III (12 February 1804 – 22 November 1885) was an American mathematician and abolitionist. He is sometimes described in the United States as "the father of life insurance", or "the father of insurance regulation", as he campaigned ...
File:Lewis_Tappan_portrait.jpg,
Lewis Tappan
Lewis Tappan (May 23, 1788 – June 21, 1873) was a New York abolitionist who worked to achieve freedom for the enslaved Africans aboard the '' Amistad''. Tappan was also among the founders of the American Missionary Association in 1846, which ...
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Frequently listed as one of the fireside poets, he was influenced by the Scottish poet ...
File:Samuel_E._Sewall.jpg,
Samuel Edmund Sewall
Samuel Edmund Sewall (1799–1888) was an American lawyer, abolitionist, and suffragist. He co-founded the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, lent his legal expertise to the Underground Railroad, and served a term in the Massachusetts Senate as ...
File:Henry_Brewster_Stanton.gif,
Henry Brewster Stanton
Henry Brewster Stanton (June 27, 1805 – January 14, 1887) was an American abolitionist, social reformer, attorney, journalist and politician. His writing was published in the '' New York Tribune,'' the ''New York Sun,'' and William Lloy ...
William Ellery Channing
William Ellery Channing (April 7, 1780 – October 2, 1842) was the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century and, along with Andrews Norton (1786–1853), one of Unitarianism's leading theologians. Channi ...
File:Portraits_of_William_Stevens_Robinson,_ca._1860-1866._(28398043311).jpg, William Stevens Robinson
File:Henry_Wilson,_VP_of_the_United_States.jpg,
Henry Wilson
Henry Wilson (born Jeremiah Jones Colbath; February 16, 1812 – November 22, 1875) was an American politician who was the 18th vice president of the United States from 1873 until his death in 1875 and a senator from Massachusetts from 1855 to ...
File:DavidRuggles2.png,
David Ruggles
David Ruggles (March 15, 1810 – December 16, 1849) was an African-American abolitionist in New York who resisted slavery by his participation in a Committee of Vigilance and the Underground Railroad to help fugitive slaves reach free stat ...
(center)
File:Abraham_D._Shadd.jpg,
Abraham Doras Shadd
Abraham Doras Shadd (March 2, 1801 – February 11, 1882) was an African-American abolitionist and civil rights activist who emigrated to Ontario, Canada, and became one of Canada's first black elected officials. He was the father of prominent act ...
Extant holdings, re-prints, and digital facsimiles
* ''The Emancipator'' (–1834)
::
* ''The Emancipator, and Journal of Public Morals'' (1834–1835)
:: The Historical Society of Wisconsin (microfilm 1966);
::
Gale
A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).Gale
A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).Schomberg Collection (1967 microfilm);
* ''The Emancipator'' (1845–1848)
::
NewsBank
NewsBank is a news database resource that provides archives of media publications as reference materials to libraries.
History
John Naisbitt, the author of the book ''Megatrends'', founded NewsBank.Andrews 1998, p. 17. The company was launched i ...
(online);
::
Gale
A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).Gale
A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).microform
Microforms are scaled-down reproductions of documents, typically either films or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the original document size. F ...
);
* ''Emancipator and Weekly Chronicle'' (1844–1845)
:: Filmed from the
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...
(microfilm);
* ''Emancipator and Free Soil Press''
::
NewsBank
NewsBank is a news database resource that provides archives of media publications as reference materials to libraries.
History
John Naisbitt, the author of the book ''Megatrends'', founded NewsBank.Andrews 1998, p. 17. The company was launched i ...
(online);
::
Gale
A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).Gale
A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).Serials Solutions
Serials Solutions was a division of ProQuest that provided e-resource access and management services (ERAMS) to libraries. These products enabled librarians to more easily manage electronic resources that serve the needs of their users. Serials Sol ...
Routledge
Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...
New York Manumission Society
The New-York Manumission Society was an American organization founded in 1785 by U.S. Founding Father John Jay, among others, to promote the gradual abolition of slavery and manumission of slaves of African descent within the state of New York. ...
*
American Anti-Slavery Society
The American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS; 1833–1870) was an abolitionist society founded by William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan. Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave, had become a prominent abolitionist and was a key leader of this society ...
*
American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society
The American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society split off from the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1840 over a number of issues, including the increasing influence of anarchism (and an unwillingness to participate in the government's political proce ...
*
Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society
The Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (1833–1840) was an abolitionist, interracial organization in Boston, Massachusetts, in the mid-19th century. "During its brief history ... it orchestrated three national women's conventions, organized a mult ...
*
Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society
The Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, headquartered in Boston, was organized as an auxiliary of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1835. Its roots were in the New England Anti-Slavery Society, organized by William Lloyd Garrison, editor of ' ...
*
Boston Vigilance Committee
The Boston Vigilance Committee (1841–1861) was an abolitionist organization formed in Boston, Massachusetts, to protect escaped slaves from being kidnapped and returned to slavery in the South. The Committee aided hundreds of escapees, most o ...
*
Fall River Female Anti Slavery Society
The Fall River Female Anti-Slavery Society was an abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist group in Fall River, Massachusetts, formed in 1835. It was the second female anti-slavery society in the city. One of its founding members was Elizabe ...
*
Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society
The Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society was established in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1838. Founders included James Mott, Lucretia Mott, Robert Purvis, and John C. Bowers.
In August 1850, William Still while working as a clerk for the Society, ...
*
Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society
The Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society (PFASS) was founded in December 1833 and dissolved in March 1870 following the ratification of the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. It was founded by eighteen women, including Mary ...
*
Vigilant Association of Philadelphia
The Vigilant Association of Philadelphia was an abolitionist organization founded in August 1837 in Philadelphia to "create a fund to aid colored persons in distress". The initial impetus came from Robert Purvis, who had served on a previous '' ...
*
Ohio Anti-Slavery Society The Ohio Anti-Slavery Society (1835-1845) was an abolitionist society established in Zanesville, Ohio, by American activists such as Gamaliel Bailey, Asa Mahan, John Rankin, Charles Finney and Theordore Dwight Weld.
Background Beginning
The O ...