2015年12月29日, 我们将纪念美国废除奴隶制史诗般的斗争历史上一个奇怪的矛盾时刻150周年. On that day, William Lloyd Garrison ceased publication of the 解放者, the pre-eminent abolitionist newspaper that he had printed in 波士顿 for 35 years. Garrison chose to end the weekly with its 1803rd number, 1865年的最后一期, 与第13条宪法修正案的通过相一致——美国奴隶制的法律终结. It turned out to be a close-run thing; the 13th Amendment was not ratified by the requisite number of states until 6 December, or formally proclaimed to the nation until 18 December 1865. The final issue of Garrison's 解放者, dated 29 December 1865, exists in two editions, the first of which is featured here.

威廉·劳埃德·加里森 解放者

1805年生于纽伯里波特, 麻萨诸塞州, 威廉·劳埃德·加里森(William Lloyd Garrison)在一个破碎的家庭长大，15岁时给当地一家报纸印刷工当学徒. After stints as a newspaper editor in Newburyport, 波士顿, 本宁顿(佛蒙特州), 和巴尔的摩, Garrison returned to 波士顿 where, with his partner Isaac Knapp, 他开始 解放者 1831年1月1日. 加里森已经是一个众所周知的热情的公众倡导一系列的道德改革, but none as strong and controversial as his support for immediate abolition. In his famous opening editorial for the first issue of 解放者 他写道:

… Urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. 我是认真的——我不含糊其辞——我不找借口——我一寸也不后退——我一定会被倾听的.

The years that followed were extraordinarily eventful. Opposition to the antislavery movement was so strong in 波士顿 that in October 1835, when Garrison attempted to address the Female Anti-Slavery Society, he was mobbed and almost lynched. 起初，他在很大程度上依赖于波士顿的非裔美国人社区的经济支持 解放者但他坚持了下来，他的报纸从很小的起点发展成为全国重要的报纸. 解放者 成为了加里森攻击一系列他认为被奴隶制腐蚀的美国机构的工具，包括有组织的宗教、州和联邦政府. 他看到了美国。.S. 宪法被视为保护奴隶制的“死亡契约”，并主张北方从蓄奴的南方分离出去. 除了编辑 解放者 each week—often providing text and, 起初, 加里森是一个活跃的公众演说家，也是包括美国反奴隶制协会在内的地区和国家反奴隶制组织的创始人和官员. Non-participation in politics, anti-sectarianism (his opponents called it atheism), 妇女的权利, and non-resistance (pacifism) all became tenets of "Garrisonian" abolitionism.

解放者 在争议中结束

Although Garrison was only 60 in 1865, he was worn out from a lifetime of continuous labor and political struggle. 1865年12月初，他结束了为期六周的中西部巡回演讲回来，开始准备最后几期 解放者 for the press since the abolitionist crusade had ended in victory. 他遭到了包括温德尔·菲利普斯在内的一些老朋友和最亲密盟友的反对, a fellow antislavery orator and social reformer 谁 had been one of 解放者's most reliable financial backers Garrison, 谁 had named a son for Phillips, 在去年五月的美国反奴隶制协会年会上与他的老朋友决裂了吗. With ratification of the 13th amendment underway, Garrison had attempted to disband the organization that he had founded, but was defeated by Phillips and his supporters. Nevertheless, Phillips could not prevent the termination of 解放者. Even after Garrison and Phillips divided over whether, with the ratification of the 13th Amendment, the work of the abolitionists really was finished, 飞利浦宣布, “我从来没有说过一个反对奴隶制的词，而这都归功于他(加里森)的启发. I have never done an anti-slavery act of which the primary merit was not his."

A second printing of the last issue of 解放者

最后一期 解放者 is, 也许, 最引人注目的是，除了来自老同志和忠实支持者(包括莉迪亚·玛丽亚·查尔德)的贺信和赞美之外，信中所包含的大部分信息都是平淡无奇的, 塞缪尔·E. 席沃, 伊丽莎白·卡迪·斯坦顿, and notices of its impending demise that had appeared in other sympathetic newspapers, the pages of the last number do not differ in any dramatic way from earlier issues. 多年来, 报纸的版面大大增加，报头也作了一些改动, but the reform agenda of the paper, centered on immediate abolition, 一直保持不变. 南北战争的最后几场战役见证了反奴隶制事业的巨大胜利, but victories won at great cost—and not without personal anguish for Garrison, 一个真诚的和平主义者.

加里森在最后一期杂志上的大部分字体都是手工排版的，就像他35年前那样 解放者 开始, but also prepared a "Valedictory" that is printed on the second page, together with a prefatory "Salutatory." He was extremely gracious in his praise for the cadre of volunteer editors, 打印机, 编辑助理, 和“代理," including members of his family, 谁, 和一群志同道合的金融天使一起，包括温德尔·菲利普斯 解放者 going week-after-week, year-after-year. 最后一期的最后一页以一个令人心酸的注释结尾:一则小广告，说明印刷字体和报纸所需的所有其他工具和设备现在都在出售 解放者 办公室.

Perhaps in the rush to get the last number to the press, Garrison failed to thank one of his most faithful supporters, 牧师. 小塞缪尔·梅., 谁se own tribute to Garrison had appeared in the 22 December issue. 加里森修复了这个疏忽，并借此机会在报纸上添加了一封公开信，通过出版的方式重新设置和重印了第三和第四页 a second edition of the last issue. 他删除并压缩了广告，以便为第3页的大量感谢May腾出空间, and also to reprint a long letter from William C. 内尔，他在波士顿非裔美国人社区最有力的支持者之一在第4页. Nell, 谁 also was a 波士顿 printer, had published his "告别 解放者," dated to mark the 30th anniversary of the mob attack on Garrison in October 1835, 作为一张印刷的大报. Now, in essence, Garrison gave him the last word. Nell vividly illustrated "the wonderful progress of that cause which the 解放者 通过描述报纸早期的艰苦斗争和波士顿的废奴运动来支持, 最后他回忆道:

我怀着一颗充满感激的心，感谢你一生为那些因肤色和状况而与我相似的人所做的贡献,
永远是你的兄弟，
威廉·C. 内尔

No sooner had the terminal issue of 解放者 appeared than Garrison wrote a New Year's greeting to Wendell Phillips, 感谢他多年来的厚爱:“愿我们的友谊像太阳一样永恒, 月亮, 和星星,他写道, "but without their occasional obscuration!"

加里森一直活到1879年, celebrated as the "preeminent agitator of the century," but without the platform provided by 解放者, admired—even venerated—but less often heard. 1879年他去世时，马萨诸塞州州长托马斯·塔尔博特宣布哀悼日. Lucy Stone and John Greenleaf Whittier spoke at the funeral; the pallbearers included Lewis Hayden, 塞缪尔·E. 席沃, and Wendell Phillips—the last survivors of 波士顿's abolitionist vanguard.