William Lloyd Garrison (1805–1879) is best known as the founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1832. The AASS called for immediate emancipation and, acting upon a belief in human equality, accepted men and women, black and white as members. Garrison was also the editor and publisher of The Liberator, a weekly anti-slavery paper that ran from 1831 to 1865 calling for the "immediate and complete emancipation of all slaves" in the United States. In 1832, William Lloyd Garrison met George Thompson a member of the UK Parliament and an anti-slavery orator while traveling in Scotland. Their close relationship led to Garrison naming his son, George Thompson Garrison, after his friend. Thompson returned to the U.S. in 1850 and presented William Lloyd Garrison with this engraved gold watch to commemorate the 20th anniversary of The Liberator.
William Lloyd Garrison (1805–1879) is best known as the founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1832. The AASS called for immediate emancipation and, acting upon a belief in human equality, accepted men and women, black and white as members. Garrison was also the editor and publisher of The Liberator, a weekly anti-slavery paper that ran from 1831 to 1865 calling for the "immediate and complete emancipation of all slaves" in the United States. In 1832, William Lloyd Garrison met George Thompson a member of the UK Parliament and an anti-slavery orator while traveling in Scotland. Their close relationship led to Garrison naming his son, George Thompson Garrison, after his friend. Thompson returned to the U.S. in 1850 and presented William Lloyd Garrison with this engraved gold watch to commemorate the 20th anniversary of The Liberator.
George Thompson (1804–1878) was a British antislavery orator/activist and member of Parliament. In 1834, on behalf of the Glasgow Emancipation Society, Thompson traveled to the United States, where he did not hesitate to confront American institutions and their connection to the evils of slavery. Continually threatened by anti-abolition editors and clergymen, in October 1835 The Liberator reported that Thompson was forced to escape a "gentlemanly mob" and flee the United States. After his return to Britain, Thompson took an active role in every major antislavery debate between 1836 and 1847.
In June 1831, William Lloyd Garrison (1805–1879) established The Liberator. In the first issue of The Liberator he stated his views on slavery vehemently: “I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation.… I am in earnest—I will not equivocate—I will not excuse—I will not retreat a single inch—AND I WILL BE HEARD.” Through The Liberator, which circulated widely both in England and the United States, Garrison was known as the most radical American antislavery advocate. In 1832, he founded the New England Anti-Slavery Society, and in 1833, he helped organize the American Anti-Slavery Society. In December 1865, he published the last issue of The Liberator and announced that “my vocation as an abolitionist is ended.” After he closed The Liberator, Garrison took up the cause of temperance, women’s rights, pacifism, and free trade.