William Lloyd Garrison
1805-1879) This journalist and evangelical abolitionist did not have an
active part in the Matson Slave Trial, though his beliefs and teachings
were an significant influence to men like Ashmore and Rutherford. In
fact, Garrison was a friend of Dr. Rutherford's brother, Dr. William W.
Rutherford of Pennsylvania. Garrison stayed at William's home when he
visited Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1848 and 1858. He was from
Massachusetts which is where he started his newspaper, The Liberator,
in 1831. The following year he founded the Anti-Slavery Society that
advocated for immediate emancipation of slaves. Garrison made a name
for himself as one of the most articulate, as well as most radical,
opponents of slavery. His approach to emancipation stressed nonviolence
and passive resistance, and he attracted a vocal following. On July 4,
1844, he publicly burnt a copy of the Constitution condemning it as
"pro-slavery". After the abolition of slavery in the United States,
Garrison continued working on other reform movements, especially
temperance and women's suffrage.