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Preface to Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

William Lloyd Garrison · 1845

Garrison's own preface to Frederick Douglass's 1845 slave narrative, praising Douglass and the abolitionist cause.

Garrison personally wrote this preface, showing his direct support for Frederick Douglass and the abolitionist cause.

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What it is

This is the preface William Lloyd Garrison wrote for Frederick Douglass's 1845 autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. In it, Garrison recalls meeting Douglass at an anti-slavery convention in Nantucket in 1841.

Why it matters

Garrison's preface helped introduce Douglass's story to a wide audience and shows the close ties between the two men in the abolitionist movement. It reveals how white abolitionists like Garrison used their influence to support formerly enslaved writers.

Look closer

  • Why might Garrison's endorsement have mattered to readers in 1845?
  • What does his enthusiastic language reveal about his own views on slavery?
  • What is left unsaid about Douglass's own voice versus Garrison's framing of it?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of William Lloyd Garrison on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Yellowed title page of the 1845 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Text reads 'Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself', 'Boston: Published at the Anti-Slavery Office, No. 25 Cornhill, 1845'.Book

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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

Frederick Douglass · 1845

Title page of 'Thoughts on African Colonization' (Boston, 1832). Large heading reads 'Thoughts on African Colonization: or an impartial exhibition of the doctrines, principles and purposes of the American Colonization Society', with text 'together with the resolutions, addresses and remonstrances of the free people of color'. Epigraphs from the Bible appear below, followed by 'By Wm. Lloyd Garrison'. Imprint: 'Boston: Printed and published by Garrison and Knapp, No. 11, Merchants' Hall, 1832'.Book

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Thoughts on African Colonization

William Lloyd Garrison · 1832

Oil portrait of a balding older man with wire-rimmed spectacles, wearing a black coat, white shirt, and black neckcloth, against a dark brown background. He faces forward with a neutral expression.Painting

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Nathaniel Jocelyn · 1833

Masthead of The Liberator newspaper, an engraved illustration with the title THE LIBERATOR in large letters across the bottom. Scenes include an auction of enslaved people with a sign reading slaves, horses, sheep, and other goods, a central robed figure with arms raised breaking chains, enslaved people working in fields, and a gate at right. Below the title is the motto Our Country is the World, our Countrymen are all Mankind.Newspaper article

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The Liberator, 15 December 1854

Hammatt Billings · 15 December 1854

Front page of The Liberator, Boston, Friday, January 3, 1862, Vol. XXXII, No. 1, Whole No. 1619. A woodcut vignette of figures, including a standing woman, sits above the masthead. Dense columns of small printed text fill the page.Newspaper article

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The Liberator

William Lloyd Garrison · 1831-1865

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