In order to understand the significance of the abolitionist press, it is important to look at some examples. One of the most influential and well-known abolitionist newspapers was The Liberator, <\/em>published by William Lloyd Garrison. Garrison firmly believed in the \u201cpower of the press to disturb the peace of the complacent\u201d, illustrating that the general public had a role to play in the abolitionist movement and that there was no such thing as neutrality in this debate.[7]<\/a> Brennan\u2019s biography of Garrison reveals that Garrison devoted his life to influencing morality through his press. Garrison began as a printer and then worked for different newspapers, eventually publishing The Liberator <\/em>beginning in 1831.[8]<\/a> His first edition contained the infamous line \u201cand I will be heard\u201d, illustrating Garrison\u2019s belief in the power of the press.[9]<\/a> Garrison\u2019s work was influenced by two nineteenth century press trends. The first was the \u2018penny press\u2019, where newspapers were marketed specifically to consumers, a strategy that he rejected.[10]<\/a> The second was the push for political influence in newspapers through the inclusion of different sections such as editorials. Garrison strongly subscribed to this second trend as he worked to \u201creplace the preacher\u2019s pulpit and the politician\u2019s platform.\u201d[11]<\/a><\/p>\n Garrison began his activism through the press during his time as editor of William Collier\u2019s National Philanthropist, <\/em>beginning in 1828. That newspaper focussed on social reform and had two main causes: women\u2019s political influence, and the importance of education and the press.[12]<\/a> This experience shaped Garrison\u2019s work fighting for emancipation as a moral cause through the written word. In fact, one of his biggest targets for criticism in his writings was the American Colonization Society, revealing that he also believed in full integration of freed slaves into American society.[13]<\/a> The Liberator <\/em>ceased being published in 1865, upon the end of the Civil War and the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment. Garrison had used the press as his vehicle for bringing about the abolition of slavery.<\/p>\n Another important example is Frederick Douglass\u2019 The North Star<\/em>, published in Rochester beginning in 1847. Douglass, a former slave, was strongly influenced by Garrison\u2019s work, describing The Liberator <\/em>as \u201cin [his] heart second only to the Bible.\u201d[14]<\/a> The North Star\u2019s <\/em>slogan was \u201cRight is of no Sex \u2013 Truth is of no Color \u2013 God is the father of us all, and we are all Brethren\u201d, illustrating that Douglass, like Garrison, advocated for full equality.[15]<\/a> Fee Jr. explores the context of Douglass\u2019 paper and the fate of journalism in the mid-nineteenth century. Similar to Brennan who situates Garrison within the broader journalistic trends, Fee Jr. argues that Douglass\u2019 press was influenced by the \u201cchanges in the craft as it moved from political organs of the early century toward an independent press.\u201d[16]<\/a> Furthermore, the mid-nineteenth century saw increased professionalization of journalism as fellow editors distinguished their own ideas from the broader methods. While many editors disproved of Douglass\u2019 abolitionist stance, they approved of his use of the written word to express his ideas.[17]<\/a> In fact, the editors viewed their work as a \u201cmutual calling\u201d, articulating that they had a \u201csense of being part of a larger enterprise \u2013 journalism.\u201d[18]<\/a> This time period saw an increased sentiment amongst editors about their important role in society, thereby enabling journalists such as Douglass to articulate controversial viewpoints.<\/p>\n Connecting the broader discussion of the significance of the abolitionist press to the context of the network in the Great Lakes Region, many of the key members actively used the press. Specifically, the press was used as a tool to coordinate and collaborate. Hiram Wilson\u2019s correspondents published letters and advertisements related to their cause in order to inform and recruit others. For example, in the 41st<\/sup> issue of The Colored <\/em>American, published on 14 October 1837, Augustus Wattles wrote an advertisement for teachers in \u2018colored\u2019 schools (figure 3). Furthermore, he published a letter written by a student about abolitionist debates at the Lane Seminary in The American Anti-Slavery Reporter <\/em>on 1 May 1834 (figure 4). Wilson\u2019s correspondents are anchored into the larger abolitionist movement in the United States and Canada through their contributions to the press.<\/p>\n Oberlin College is a focal point in the research on the abolitionist movement in the Great Lakes region and its own press played an important role. Morris details Oberlin\u2019s active leadership in the movement, and one way that this was evident is through its bi-weekly publication The Oberlin Evangelist. <\/em>The newspaper\u2019s editors responded to important legislation such as the Fugitive Slave Act and advocated courses of action including civil disobedience.[19]<\/a> The editors were also vocal about political parties, illustrating that the newspaper was influential on a local and national level.[20]<\/a> Oberlin was particularly radical because it advocated not only for abolitionism, but also for full equality, like Garrison and Douglass. With strong statements such as, \u201cthe degradation of the colored man at the north is one of the strongest bulwarks of slavery in the south\u201d, The Oberlin Evangelist <\/em>put forth effective argumentation for freedom and equality.[21]<\/a> The Evangelist <\/em>acted as a key vehicle through which abolitionists at Oberlin could advocate for their cause, leading the western abolitionist movement.<\/p>\n The abolitionist press was also part of the broader movement towards modern notions of freedom of the press. Reynolds discusses William Lloyd Garrison\u2019s and Benjamin Lundy\u2019s criminal libel case in order to illustrate that \u201cthe abolitionist movement helped define what constituted free speech\u201d and that freedom is often advanced through attempts at its suppression.[22]<\/a> Lundy is often considered to be \u201cthe pioneer of the abolitionist movement\u201d and he began publication of his newspaper Genius of Universal Emancipation <\/em>in January 1821.[23]<\/a> Lundy and Garrison had met in Boston and soon after moved to Baltimore to publish together.[24]<\/a> In an article published in Lundy\u2019s newspaper on 20 November 1829, Garrison condemned ship owner Francis Todd of Newburyport, Massachusetts for transporting slaves.[25]<\/a> Garrison depicted those complicit in the system of slavery as \u201chighway robbers and murderers\u201d, a statement for which he was tried and found guilty of criminal libel, while charges against Lundy were dropped.[26]<\/a><\/p>\n The status of free speech in the nineteenth century was complicated as the Supreme Court did not issue major rulings until the twentieth century and state courts did not rule in favour of legal protection if the speech \u201cdisrupted the social order.\u201d[27]<\/a> In the case of abolitionist free speech, it is important to judge the impact based on the reaction to it. The \u2018Gag Rule\u2019 and mail censorship of the 1830s and 1840s illustrate the fear amongst pro-slavery advocates of the power of free speech, particularly as the number of abolitionist newspapers significantly increased during these decades.[28]<\/a> In fact, by 1831, there was a division between Northerners and Southerners over the extent of freedom of the press.[29]<\/a> Every state in the south, except Kentucky, prohibited abolitionist literature by law.[30]<\/a> There were also riots in the mid-1830s leading to violent results, such as the destruction of The Liberator.<\/em>[31]<\/a> Garrison recognized the power of his words, writing a pamphlet from prison in which he argued that \u201cthe best weapon against suppression was more speech.\u201d[32]<\/a> Significantly, the \u201ctraditional press of the time joined their cause even when most were opposed to the message.\u201d[33]<\/a> Similar to Douglass\u2019 experience, most editors defended Garrison\u2019s and Lundy\u2019s right to free speech although they disagreed with their position.<\/p>\n The abolitionist press connects to the course theme of the extension and restriction of freedom in American history. The changing definition of freedom in the context of the mid-nineteenth century abolitionist press relates to the debate about abolition and equality, and to the right to free speech. The abolitionist press connected the movement and illuminated the cause, anchored Wilson\u2019s correspondences into the broader movement, and illustrated the larger context of the importance of the press and free speech in American society.<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Ford Risley, Abolition and the Press: The Moral Struggle Against Slavery <\/em>(Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 2008), 3.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Ibid., 14.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Denis Brennan, The Making of an Abolitionist; William Lloyd Garrison\u2019s Path to Publishing The Liberator<\/em> (Jefferson: McFarland & Company Inc., 2014), 19.<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Risley, Abolition and the Press<\/em>, 168-69.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Ibid., 78.<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> Ibid., 190.<\/p>\n [7]<\/a> Brennan, The Making of an Abolitionist, <\/em>7.<\/p>\n [8]<\/a> Ibid., 8-9.<\/p>\n [9]<\/a> Risley, Abolition and the Press, <\/em>24.<\/p>\n [10]<\/a> Brennan, The Making of an Abolitionist, <\/em>18.<\/p>\n [11]<\/a> Ibid.,\u00a0<\/em>19, 27.<\/p>\n [12]<\/a> Ibid., 70<\/p>\n [13]<\/a> Risley, Abolition and the Press, <\/em>36.<\/p>\n [14]<\/a> Frank E. Fee Jr., \u201cIntelligent Union of Black with White,\u201d Journalism History <\/em>31, no. 1 (2005): 35.<\/p>\n [15]<\/a> Risley, Abolition and the Press, <\/em>116.<\/p>\n [16]<\/a> Fee Jr., \u201cIntelligent Union of Black with White,\u201d 34.<\/p>\n [17]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n [18]<\/a> Ibid., 38.<\/p>\n [19]<\/a> Brent J. Morris, Oberlin, Hotbed of Abolitionism<\/em> (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2014), 98.<\/p>\n [20]<\/a> Ibid., 143.<\/p>\n [21]<\/a> Ibid., 83.<\/p>\n [22]<\/a> Amy Reynolds, \u201cWilliam Lloyd Garrison, Benjamin Lundy and Criminal Libel: The Abolitionist Plea for Press Freedom,\u201d Communication Law and Policy <\/em>6, no. 4 (2001): 578, 581.<\/p>\n [23]<\/a> Ibid., 583, 586.<\/p>\n [24]<\/a> Ibid., 588.<\/p>\n [25]<\/a> Ibid., 591.<\/p>\n [26]<\/a> Ibid., 592.<\/p>\n [27]<\/a>\u00a0Ibid.,\u00a0577, 580.<\/p>\n [28]<\/a> Ibid., 581, 583.<\/p>\n [29]<\/a> Ibid., 604.<\/p>\n [30]<\/a> Risley, Abolition and the Press, <\/em>44.<\/p>\n [31]<\/a> Ibid., 56.<\/p>\n [32]<\/a> Reynolds, \u201cWilliam Lloyd Garrison, Benjamin Lundy and Criminal Libel, 596.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.huronresearch.ca\/antislavery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2017\/03\/IMG_6340.jpg\")
Figure 1 Image of Mary Ann Shadd Cary\u2019s personal printing press, connecting the abolitionist press to the local context in Southwestern Ontario. This image was taken at the Buxton National Historic Site and Museum. Shadd Cary was the first black female publisher in North America.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.huronresearch.ca\/antislavery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2017\/03\/IMG_6341.jpg\")
Figure 2 Image of a printing press from a funeral home in Merlin Ontario, depicting what a press would have looked like during the abolitionist movement. This image was taken at the Buxton National Historic Site and Museum.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.huronresearch.ca\/antislavery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2017\/03\/Screen-Shot-2017-03-22-at-11.15.24-PM.png\")
Figure 3 Wattles, Augustus. \u201cNotice to those who wish to engage in Colored schools.\u201d The Colored American\u00a0(1837). From the Oberlin College Library.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.huronresearch.ca\/antislavery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2017\/03\/Screen-Shot-2017-03-22-at-11.13.54-PM.png\")
Figure 4 Wattles, Augustus. \u201cWe invite public attention to the following letter from a student in the Lane Theological Seminary, recently published in the Western Recorder.\u201d The American Anti-Slavery Reporter\u00a0(1834). From the Oberlin College Library.<\/p>\n