National Anti-Slavery Standard Newspaper January 7, 1841

The ''National Anti-Slavery Standard'' was the official weekly newspaper of the American Anti-Slavery Society, established in 1840 under the editorship of Lydia Maria Child and David Lee Child. The paper published continuously until the ratification of the

Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Fifteenth Amendment (Amendment XV) to the United States Constitution prohibits the federal government and each state from denying or abridging a citizen's right to vote "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." It was ...

in 1870. Its motto was ''"Without Concealment—Without Compromise."'' It not only implies suffrage rights for colored males, but also women's suffrage as well. It contained Volume I, number 1, June 11, 1840 through volume XXX, number 50, April 16, 1870.

History

The ''Standard'' was a weekly newspaper that was published concurrently in

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 ...

and

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

(1854–1865). It published the essays, debates, speeches, events, reports, and anything newsworthy that related to the question of

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

in the United States and other parts of the world. Its audience were the members of the American Anti-Slavery Society and abolitionists in the north. Its two key focuses in the elimination of slavery were religion and politics, which considered slavery as an evil institution. Its strong religious appeal asserted that God was the only being that could end slavery. However, they did assign value to political action. The paper only contained six columns, but its personal accounts of slavery helped express the feelings and moods surrounding the controversy for thirty years. It began being published during a time that the American Anti-Slavery Society was torn over tactics of how to go about

emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranch ...

American Anti-Slavery Society

The newspaper's founder, the American Anti-Slavery Society, was founded in 1833 to spread their movement across the nation with printed materials. The ''National Anti-Slavery Standard'' and '' The Liberator'' became the official newspapers of the society. The paper featured writings from influential

abolitionists 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 Britis ...

fighting for suffrage, equality, and most of all emancipation. One activist that was featured most was Charles Lenox Remond, a free elite African American minister who traveled the country speaking out against slavery. Other abolitionists included

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

who gave powerful antislavery testimonies.

Editors

The paper had various editors: N. P. Rogers, 1840–1841; Lydia Maria Child, 1841–1843; D. L. Child, 1843–1844; S. H. Gay, 1844–1854; Oliver Johnson, 1863–1865; A. M. Powell, 1866-1870. Lydia Maria Child was also the editor of

Harriet Jacobs Harriet Jacobs (1813 or 1815 – March 7, 1897) was an African-American writer whose autobiography, '' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl'', published in 1861 under the pseudonym Linda Brent, is now considered an "American classic". Born int ...

' ''

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl ''Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, written by herself'' is an autobiography by Harriet Jacobs, a mother and fugitive slave, published in 1861 by L. Maria Child, who edited the book for its author. Jacobs used the pseudonym Linda Brent. The ...

'', reviewed in the edition of February 23, 1861, which is now widely regarded as an American classic.

Related papers

From May–July 1870, the paper's title changed to ''Standard: A Journal of Reform and Literature''. Then from July 30, 1870, to December 23, 1871, it ran as the ''National Standard: An Independent Reform and Literary Journal''. After the ratification of the fifteenth amendment, the paper changed its title from ''The National Anti-Slavery Standard'' to ''The National Standard: A Temperance and Literary Journal'' from January to December in 1872.Junius P. Rodriguez, ''Slavery in the United States: A Social, Political, and Historical Encyclopedia'', Volume 2, pp. 398-399. The motto changed to ''An Independent, Reform and Literary Journal Justice and Equal Rights for All.''

References

External links