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MHS Collections Online: The Liberator commenced January 1st 1831, Garrison antislavery banner
Banner graphic forBoston Abolitionists, 1831-1865

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The Liberator commenced January 1st 1831, Garrison antislavery banner

The Liberator commenced January 1st 1831, Garrison antislavery banner Cotton, paint, silk fringe
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This banner, honoring William Lloyd Garrison and his abolitionist newspaper, the Liberator, was displayed at antislavery fairs and festivals in the nineteenth century. The banner features an oakleaf wreath with "W. L. G." (the initials of William Lloyd Garrison).

One of the first American abolitionists to demand immediate and complete emancipation of slaves, Garrison gave full voice to his radically abolitionist ideas in his newspaper, the Liberator. Each issue bore the motto "Our Country is the World, our Countrymen are all Mankind," and the very first issue on 1 January 1831, concluded its lead story with Garrison's promise, "I am in earnest! I will not equivocate! I will not excuse! I will not retreat a single inch! And I will be heard!" The Liberator continued to publish on abolitionism until it closed in 1865, after the conclusion of the Civil War.