Antislavery movements had existed in the United States since the Revolution. They had even received occasional support in the South, on moral grounds; but the invention of the cotton gin in 1793 made slavery a seeming economic necessity. In addition, slave revolts like the Nat Turner uprising of 1831 stirred old fears among Southern whites, entangling the slavery question in a web of moral, social, and economic issues. As the South was uniting to defend and preserve slavery, William Lloyd Garrison began to preach a new kind of abolitionism in the North. Rejecting the efforts of colonization societies to deport freed slaves to Africa, Garrison insisted on the gradual emancipation of the slaves. (This position he was to publicly renounce in September 1829, when he became the most militant of crusaders for “abolition now.”) Garrison delivered the following address, “The Dangers of Slavery,” on July 4, 1829, when he was only 24 years old.

It is natural that the return of a day which established the liberties of a brave people should be hailed by them with more than ordinary joy; and it is their duty as Christians and patriots to celebrate it with signal tokens of thanksgiving.

Fifty-three years ago, the Fourth of July was a proud day for our country. It clearly and accurately defined the rights of man; it made no vulgar alterations in the established usages of society; it presented a revelation adapted to the common sense of mankind; it vindicated the omnipotence of public opinion over the machinery of kingly government; it shook, as with the voice of a great earthquake, thrones which were seemingly propped up with atlantean pillars; it gave an impulse to the heart of the world, which yet thrills to its extremities. . . .

I speak not as a partisan or an opponent of any man or measures when I say that our politics are rotten to the core. We boast of our freedom, who go shackled to the polls, year after year, by tens and hundreds and thousands! We talk of free agency, who are the veriest machines, the merest automata, in the hands of unprincipled jugglers! We prate of integrity and virtue and independence, who sell our birthright for office, and who, nine times in ten, do not get Esau s bargain—no, not even a mess of pottage!

Is it republicanism to say that the majority can do no wrong? Then I am not a republican. Is it aristocracy to say that the people sometimes shamefully abuse their high trust? Then I am an aristocrat.

It is not the appreciation but the abuse of liberty to withdraw altogether from the polls, or to visit them merely as a matter of form, without carefully investigating the merits of candidates. The republic does not bear a charmed life; our prescriptions, administered through the medium of the ballot box—the mouth of the political body—may kill or cure, according to the nature of the disease and our wisdom in applying the remedy. It is possible that a people may bear the title of freemen who execute the work of slaves. To the dullest observers of the signs of the times, it must be apparent that we are rapidly approximating to this condition. . . .

But there is another evil which, if we had to contend against nothing else, should make us quake for the issue. It is gangrene preying upon our vitals, an earthquake rumbling under our feet, a mine accumulating materials for a national catastrophe. It should make this a day of fasting and prayer, not of boisterous merriment and idle pageantry; a day of great lamentation, not of congratulatory joy. It should spike every cannon and haul down every banner. Our garb should be sackcloth, our heads bowed in the dust, our supplications for the pardon and assistance of Heaven.

Last week this city was made breathless by a trial of considerable magnitude. The court chamber was inundated for hours, day after day, with a dense and living tide which swept along like the rush of a mountain torrent. Tiers of human bodies were piled up to the walls, with almost miraculous condensation and ingenuity. It seemed as if men abhorred a vacuum equally with nature; they would suspend themselves, as it were, by a nail and stand upon air with the aid of a peg. Although it was a barren, ineloquent subject, and the crowd immense, there was no perceptible want of interest, no evidence of impatience. The cause was important, involving the reputation of a distinguished citizen. There was a struggle for mastery between two giants, a test of strength in tossing mountains of law. The excitement was natural.

I stand up here in a more solemn court, to assist in a far greater cause; not to impeach the character of one man but of a whole people; not to recover the sum of $100,000 but to obtain the liberation of 2 million of wretched, degraded beings, who are pining in hopeless bondage, over whose sufferings scarcely an eye weeps or a heart melts or a tongue pleads either to God or man. I regret that a better advocate had not been found to enchain your attention and to warm your blood. Whatever fallacy, however, may appear in the argument, there is no flaw in the indictment; what the speaker lacks, the cause will supply.

Sirs, I am not come to tell you that slavery is a curse, debasing in its effect, cruel in its operation, fatal in its continuance. The day and the occasion require no such revelation. I do not claim the discovery as my own, that “all men are created equal,” and that among their inalienable rights are “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Were I addressing any other than a free and Christian assembly, the enforcement of this truth might be pertinent. Neither do I intend to analyze the horrors of slavery for your inspection, nor to freeze your blood with authentic recitals of savage cruelty. Nor will time allow me to explore even a furlong of that immense wilderness of suffering which remains unsubdued in our land. I take it for granted that the existence of these evils is acknowledged, if not rightly understood. My object is to define and enforce our duty as Christians and philanthropists. . . .

I assume as distinct and defensible propositions:

That the slaves of this country, whether we consider their moral, intellectual, or social condition, are preeminently entitled to the prayers and sympathies and charities of the American people; and their claims for redress are as strong as those of any Americans could be in a similar condition.

That as the free states, by which I mean nonslaveholding states, are constitutionally involved in the guilt of slavery by adhering to a national compact that sanctions it, and in the danger by liability to be called upon for aid in case of insurrection, they have the right to remonstrate against its continuance and it is their duty to assist in its overthrow.

That no justificative plea for the perpetuity of slavery can be found in the condition of its victims, and no barrier against our righteous interference in the laws which authorize the buying, selling, and possessing of slaves, nor in the hazard of a collision with slaveholders.

That education and freedom will elevate our colored population to a rank with the whites, making them useful, intelligent, and peaceable citizens.

In the first place, it will be readily admitted that it is the duty of every nation primarily to administer relief to its own necessities, to cure its own maladies, to instruct its own children, and to watch over its own interests. He is “worse than an infidel” who neglects his own household and squanders his earnings upon strangers; and the policy of that nation is unwise which seeks to proselyte other portions of the globe at the expense of its safety and happiness. . . .

The condition of the slaves, in a religious point of view, is deplorable, entitling them to a higher consideration, on our part, than any other race . . . higher than our red men of the forest, for we do not bind them with gyves [shackles] nor treat them as chattels.

And here let me ask—What has Christianity done, by direct effort, for our slave population? Comparatively nothing. She has explored the isles of the ocean for objects of commiseration; but, amazing stupidity, she can gaze without emotion on a multitude of miserable beings at home, large enough to constitute a nation of freemen, whom tyranny has heathenized by law. In her public services they are seldom remembered, and in her private donations they are forgotten. . . .

I have said that the claims of the slaves for redress are as strong as those of any Americans could be in a similar condition. Does any man deny the position? The proof, then, is found in the fact that a very large proportion of our colored population were born on our soil and are therefore entitled to all the privileges of American citizens. This is their country by birth, not by adoption. Their children possess the same inherent and inalienable rights as ours; and it is a crime of the blackest dye to load them with fetters.

Every Fourth of July, our Declaration of Independence is produced, with a sublime indignation, to set forth the tyranny of the mother country and to challenge the admiration of the world. But what a pitiful detail of grievances does this document present in comparison with the wrongs which our slaves endure! In the one case, it is hardly the plucking of a hair from the head; in the other, it is the crushing of a live body on the wheel—the stings of the wasp contrasted with the tortures of the Inquisition. Before God, I must say that such a glaring contradiction as exists between our creed and practice the annals of 6,000 years cannot parallel. In view of it, I am ashamed of my country.

I am sick of our unmeaning declamation in praise of liberty and equality; of our hypocritical cant about the inalienable rights of man. I could not, for my right hand, stand up before a European assembly and exult that I am an American citizen, and denounce the usurpations of a kingly government as wicked and unjust; or, should I make the attempt, the recollection of my country"s barbarity and despotism would blister my lips and cover my cheeks with burning blushes of shame.

Will this be termed a rhetorical flourish? Will any man coldly accuse me of intemperate zeal? I will borrow, then, a ray of humanity from one of the brightest stars in our American galaxy, whose light will gather new effulgence to the end of time. “This, sirs, is a cause that would be dishonored and betrayed if I contented myself with appealing only to the understanding. It is too cold and its processes are too slow for the occasion. I desire to thank God that, since He has given me an intellect so fallible, He has impressed upon me an instinct that is sure. On a question of shame and honor—liberty and oppression—reasoning is sometimes useless, and worse. I feel the decision in my pulse: if it throws no light upon the brain, it kindles a fire at the heart.” . . .

I come to my second proposition, the right of the free states to remonstrate against the continuance and to assist in the overthrow of slavery.

This, I am aware, is a delicate subject, surrounded with many formidable difficulties. But if delay only adds to its intricacy, wherefore shun an immediate investigation? I know that we of the North affectedly believe that we have no local interest in the removal of this great evil; that the slave states can take care of themselves, and that any proffered assistance on our part would be rejected as impertinent, dictatorial, or meddlesome; and that we have no right to lift up even a note of remonstrance. But I believe that these opinions are crude, preposterous, dishonorable, unjust. Sirs, this is a business in which, as members of one great family, we have a common interest; but we take no responsibility, either individually or collectively. Our hearts are cold, our blood stagnates in our veins. We act, in relation to the slaves, as if they were something lower than the brutes that perish.

On this question I ask no support from the injunction of Holy Writ which says, “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” I throw aside the common dictates of humanity. I assert the right of the free states to demand a gradual abolition of slavery, because, by its continuance, they participate in the guilt thereof and are threatened with ultimate destruction; because they are bound to watch over the interests of the whole country without reference to territorial divisions; because their white population is nearly double that of the slave states, and the voice of this overwhelming majority should be potential; because they are now deprived of their just influence in the councils of the nation; because it is absurd and anti-republican to suffer property to be represented as men and vice versa; because it gives the South an unjust ascendancy over other portions of territory, and a power that may be perverted on every occasion. . . .

Now I say that, on the broad system of equal rights, this monstrous inequality should no longer be tolerated. If it cannot be speedily put down, not by force but by fair persuasion; if we are always to remain shackled by unjust constitutional provisions when the emergency that imposed them has long since passed away; if we must share in the guilt and danger of destroying the bodies and souls of men as the price of our Union; if the slave states will haughtily spurn our assistance and refuse to consult in the general welfare, then the fault is not ours if a separation eventually takes place. . . .

It may be objected that the laws of the slave states form insurmountable barriers to any interference on our part.

Answer: I grant that we have not the right, and I trust not the disposition, to use coercive measures. But do these laws hinder our prayers or obstruct the flow of our sympathies? Cannot our charities alleviate the condition of the slave, and perhaps break his fetters? Can we not operate upon public sentiment (the lever that can move the moral world) by way of remonstrance, advice, or entreaty? . . .

Suppose that, by a miracle, the slaves should suddenly become white. Would you shut your eyes upon their sufferings and calmly talk of constitutional limitations? No, your voice would peal in the ears of the taskmasters like deep thunder; you would carry the Constitution by force if it could not be taken by treaty; patriotic assemblies would congregate at the corners of every street; the old cradle of liberty would rock to a deeper tone than ever echoed therein at British aggression; the pulpit would acquire new and unusual eloquence from our holy religion. The argument that these white slaves are degraded would not then obtain. You would say: It is enough that they are white and in bondage, and they ought immediately to be set free. You would multiply your schools of instruction and your temples of worship, and rely on them for security. . . .

But the plea is prevalent that any interference by the free states, however benevolent or cautious it might be, would only irritate and inflame the jealousies of the South and retard the cause of emancipation.

If any man believes that slavery can be abolished without a struggle with the worst passions of human nature, quietly, harmoniously, he cherishes a delusion. It can never be done unless the age of miracles returns. No, we must expect a collision full of sharp asperities and bitterness. We shall have to contend with the insolence and pride and selfishness of many a heartless being. But these can be easily conquered by meekness and perseverance and prayer. . . .

If it be still objected that it would be dangerous to liberate the present race of blacks, I answer [that] the emancipation of all the slaves of this generation is most assuredly out of the question. The fabric which now towers above the Alps must be taken away brick by brick and foot by foot, till it is reduced so low that it may be overturned without burying the nation in its ruins. Years may elapse before the completion of the achievement; generations of blacks may go down to the grave, manacled and lacerated, without a hope for their children; the philanthropists who are now pleading in behalf of the oppressed may not live to witness the dawn which will precede the glorious day of universal emancipation; but the work will go on, laborers in the cause will multiply, new resources will be discovered, the victory will be obtained, worth the desperate struggle of a thousand years. Or, if defeat follow, woe to the safety of this people! The nation will be shaken as if by a mighty earthquake. . . . The terrible judgments of an incensed God will complete the catastrophe of republican America.

And since so much is to be done for our country; since so many prejudices are to be dispelled, obstacles vanquished, interests secured, blessings obtained; since the cause of emancipation must progress heavily and meet with much unhallowed opposition, why delay the work? There must be a beginning and now is a propitious time, perhaps the last opportunity that will be granted us by a long-suffering God. . . . Let us not look coldly on and see our Southern brethren contending single-handed against an all-powerful foe: faint, weary, borne down to the earth. We are all alike guilty. Slavery is strictly a national sin. New England money has been expended in buying human flesh; New England ships have been freighted with sable victims; New England men have assisted in forging the fetters of those who groan in bondage. . . .

I will say, finally, that I despair of the republic while slavery exists therein. If I look up to God for success, no smile of mercy or forgiveness dispels the gloom of futurity. . . . Why should we slumber at this momentous crisis? . . . If we had any regard for our safety and happiness, we should strive to crush the vampire which is feeding upon our lifeblood. All the selfishness of our nature cries aloud for a better security. Our own vices are too strong for us and keep us in perpetual alarm. How, in addition to these, shall we be able to contend successfully with millions of armed and desperate men, as we must eventually if slavery does not cease?