No Compromise with Slavery

William Lloyd Garrison, 1854.

He starts out noting a lot of people don't like him. He refers to slavery as '...the most frightful system of oppression every devised by humanity...'

He notes that the Declaration of Independence says that 'All men are created equal.' He is against anything will would turn a man into a 'thing.' He adds that 'freedom is of God, and slavery is of the devil.'

He notes that there is no slavery in Europe. He compares this to the U.S. where freedom and personal liberty are underlying principles of the nation. He claims that there are many more pro-slavery speakers, etc, than there are anti-slavery.

He then notes the arguments that are given in favor of slavery:

1. The victims are black.
2. The slaves belong to an inferior race.
3. Many of them have been fairly purchased.
4. Others have been honestly inherited.
5. Their emancipation would impoverish their owners.
6. They are better off as slaves then they would be as freemen.
7. They could not take care of themselves if set free.
8. Their simultaneous liberation would be attended with great danger.
9. Any interference in their behalf would excite the ill-will of the South, and thus seriously affect Northern trade and commerce.
10. The Union can be preserved only by letting slavery alone.
11. Slavery is a lawful and constitutional system, and therefore is not a crime.
12. Slavery is sanctioned by the Bible.

He then points out various European countries that would not accept these pro-slavery beliefs. He then says that his form of abolition is absolute and allows no exceptions. 'Every slave is a stolen man.' He points out the Biblical version that God created man in his own image, and he says that this should do away with any form of argument that says one group is inherently superior to another.