Question

What was a commonality between William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass?

Answer 1

From my understanding, their relationship was stressed when Douglass left for a lecture tour in the British Isles after he published the first edition of his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, in May of 1845. Before this time Garrison acted as a sponsor or mentor for Douglass, supporting his carrier as a abolitionist speaker and vouching for the credibility of Douglass’s Narrative. While Garrison still presented himself as a mentor to Douglass, the physical separation from America and other American abolitionists gave Douglass a bit more freedom to cultivate his own style of abolitionism.

(Note: In the antebellum period, Garrisonians believed the emancipation of enslaved people could be achieved though non-violent moral suasion tactics, appealing to pro-slavery advocates through moral and religious arguments instead of political action.)

Beginning with Douglass’s departure from America, here are some ways that he began to distance himself from Garrison:

1. Even before he published his Narrative in 1845, Douglass never staunchly adhered to Garrisonian beliefs. For instance, in June of 1842 Douglass “asked of the people of the North ... to make it known throughout the length and breadth of the land, that, henceforth and forever, they, one and all, withdraw all countenance and support from the institution of slavery. Compact or no compact, Constitution or no Constitution, Union or no Union, they [the people of the North] will never again restore the slave to his master, and ... they will never lift a finger to crush the slave, should he rise and assert his liberty by force of arms.” This statement suggests that the North consider secession and not punish enslaved people for violent resistance—including ideas of political action and violent resistance that Garrison did not support.
2. In September of 1845 and February of 1846, Douglass published new editions of his autobiography. While the Narrative itself was the same, the new Dublin editions contain new prefaces and appendixes that historicize Garrison’s patronage.
3. Against Garrison’s advisement, Douglass allowed Ellen and Anna Richardson to purchase his freedom on December 12, 1846. Garrison viewed the purchasing of fugitive enslaved people as a validation of the slave system. Even though they made the payment in order to free Douglass, Garrison saw the action as participating in the slave system instead of resisting it.
4. In 1847, Douglass established his own newspaper, the North Star. These publications competed against Garrison’s The Liberator for the attentions of abolitionist readers.
5. In Douglass’s Farewell Address to the British Isles on March 30, 1847, he references Irish Pat and Mike routines and makes a vailed statement about the inability of moral suasion tactics to solely end slavery.
6. Douglass officially announced his break from Garrisonianism in 1851 after Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law. At this point, he saw Garrisonianism as ineffective in ending slavery. With the new Fugitive Slave Law, slavery reentered the political sphere. Douglass could not hold with Garrison’s ideas that abolitionist arguments should remain separate from political arguments.