Masthead of The Liberator

Artwork, Published Works

March 8, 1834

Rare Books Department at the Boston Public Library via Digital Commonwealth

Color image in sepia tones of a clip of the masthead of the front page of the Liberator newspaper. At the bottom are the words "The Liberator. Volume Four. Our country is the world, our countrymen are all mankind. Number 10. Boston Massachusetts, Saturday March 8, 1834." Above these words, and slightly overlapped by the title of the Liberators is an etching. This etching depicts a slave auction separating a Black family. Four white gentlemen wearing tailcoats and top hats as well as a horse surround the Black family and one white gentleman in a top ha tstands tall at a podium on the far right holding a gavel. The podium has a sign on the front that reads "slaves, horses, and other cattle to be sold at 12:00." A Black mother stands in the center of the image, right under a sign that reads "horse market." She uses her right hand to cover her face, presumably in great distress, and has her left hand to her side clutching the hands of a child. Another child clings to her right side. A Black man behind her on her right reaches toward her as if to comfort her but is held back by one of the white gentlemen. The white man rests his left hand on a cane. In front of the podium, a Black man sits. He covers his face in a white cloth and holds his head in his hands with his elbows resting on his knees. He is slouching in a defeated position. Presumably he is the father in this family. On the far left of the etching at the bottom, there is a banner lying on the ground that reads "Indian Treaty." Above this banner, in the background, a white man whips a Black slave who is tied to a standing post. Behind them is the Capital Building topped with a flag that reads "liberty."

This masthead illustration, in use from April 1831 through February 1838, depicts a slave auction separating a Black family. In the background, a slave owner whips a Black man in front of Capitol Hill, where a flag reading "Liberty" flies. Later Liberator mastheads were more optimistic, focusing on a future of emancipation.

Color image in sepia tones of a front page of the Liberator newspaper. The page

Each Liberator issue had four full pages, with the masthead serving as the only substantial break in text. Regular sections in The Liberator included an editor's note by Garrison; news from locally and abroad; letters from supporters (and detractors); and antislavery poetry and literature.

Abolitionism

Demonstration

Words

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