William Lloyd Garrison and the United States Constitution: The Political Evolution of an American Radical

Abstract

On August 6, 1824, William Lloyd Garrison, not yet twenty years old, penned a letter to the Salem Gazette opposing John Quincy Adams's bid for the presidency and endorsing the candidacy of a dedicated Georgian, United States Senator William Crawford. There is no mention in the document of the slavery issue and no hint that the young Garrison viewed the Constitution as anything less than a triumph of the founding fathers. The “high and exalted character” of the elections proved the Federalist Party “worthy of its great leader, the immortal WASHINGTON” and spread “vigor and strength throughout the political fabric of our constitution and government,” Garrison wrote. “It is peculiarly gratifying, too,” he declared,to observe the dignified course pursued generally by the few sentinels of freedom, who advocate and uphold those principles, which were promulgated by the Father of his Country, and sanctioned by JAY and HAMILTON, and AMES, with a host of other distinguished patriots.Garrison went on to stress the civic duty of voting, arguing that although no citizen was legally required to support any of the presidential candidates, reason “dictates that we should” so as not to upset “the peace of the Union.” Federalists should make pragmatic political choices, he wrote, and not squander their votes on ideal but unlikely candidates.

Group Presence, Population, and Interest Group Theory: A Case Study of the American Anti‐Slavery Society

“…Founded in 1833 by William Lloyd Garrison and other devoted abolitionists in Boston, it worked to use moral suasion to shift Americans away from open or tacit support of slavery to staunch opposition. Garrison himself was “nonpolitical” in his approach, believing that slavery would end once Americans chose a morally upright path (Osborn, 2008/2009), but his approach to the slavery question was not shared by all other leaders and members.…”