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Primary sourceNewspaper articleJanuary 1, 1831

The Liberator, Issue No. 1

William Lloyd Garrison · January 1, 1831

The first issue of Garrison's anti-slavery newspaper, published in Boston on January 1, 1831, stating his founding mission.

The founding issue of Garrison's own abolitionist newspaper, in his own hand as editor and publisher.

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Scan of the front page of The Liberator, Vol. I, No. 1, published in Boston, Massachusetts, Saturday, January 1, 1831, by William Lloyd Garrison and Isaac Knapp. The page is densely printed in multiple columns of text, with the masthead title in large letters across the top and the motto 'Our country is the world. Our countrymen are mankind' beneath it.
William Lloyd Garrison and Isaac Knapp, The Liberator, Issue No. 1, January 1, 1831.

About this source

What it is

This is the front page of the very first issue of The Liberator, a newspaper founded by William Lloyd Garrison along with Isaac Knapp. It was printed in Boston on January 1, 1831, and is densely filled with columns of text under a large masthead carrying the motto "Our country is the world. Our countrymen are mankind."

Why it matters

This issue marks the start of Garrison's decades-long campaign through the press against slavery. The Liberator became one of the most important abolitionist newspapers in American history, and this first issue shows Garrison's own words and purpose at the very beginning of that project.

Look closer

  • What might the motto "Our country is the world" tell you about how Garrison saw the fight against slavery?
  • Why do you think Garrison chose a newspaper as his tool to fight slavery, rather than another method?
  • What does the dense, text-heavy layout suggest about who Garrison expected to read it?

This newspaper article 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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