Final answer:
William Lloyd Garrison apologized for his prior 'timidity, injustice, and absurdity' because he eventually saw gradual abolition as inadequate, influenced by black activists towards immediate emancipation and racial equality. Garrison, through The Liberator, championed a militant approach to ending slavery, refusing moderation in his activism.
Step-by-step explanation:
William Lloyd Garrison felt the need to apologize for his previous stance on slavery due to a profound shift in his ideological perspective. Once advocating for gradual abolition and black colonization, Garrison's viewpoint transformed through the influence of black activists like David Walker and James Forten. He recognized colonization as a sustainment of racism and recognized African Americans' right to American liberty. Therefore, in 1831, Garrison established The Liberator, taking a strong stance towards immediate emancipation and racial equality, which he pursued unapologetically until slavery's end in the United States.
Garrison's earlier 'timidity, injustice, and absurdity' refers to his previous more moderate approaches to ending slavery, which he later saw as inadequate and complicit. Instead, by founding The Liberator and the New England Anti-Slavery Society, Garrison pursued a radical and uncompromising path. He believed that the cause of abolition and racial equality should be pursued as urgently as one would react to a house on fire or rescuing a person in peril.