Letter from Aaron Macy Powell, Ghent, [N.Y.], to William Lloyd Garrison, March 30, 1868

Aaron Macy Powell informs William Lloyd Garrison that his refraining from commenting upon Garrison's "answers to Mr. Phillips" in either his note to Garrison or in the pages of the "National Anti-Slavery Standard" was not "by direction" of Phillips, but stemmed from his total "disinclination to write or speak of the differences between" Garrison and Phillips. Powell asserts that he does not plan to detail this subject in either the pages of the Standard, nor in his private correspondence with Garrison. Powell asserts that, concerning the matter of the Republican Party "and other agencies" constituting a suitable replacement for the American Anti-Slavery Society, he finds Garrison to be "radically, fundamentally wrong" in his judgement. Powell states that he knows "little beyond" what has appeared in the Standard concerning the "Jackson-Will-Case", and states that, in his judgement, he believes that Jackson's wishes would have been to consecrate a "very large proportion, if not the entire fund in question to the Standard". Powell declares his "painful surprise and regret" of Garrison's "change of recommendation to the Court" on the matter, and asserts that until there exist Constitutional guarantees of the "equal political rights" for African-Americans that he cannot consider fundamental change to been achieved in American society. Powell asserts that Garrison is mistaken to assume that in the period of his command of the Standard there has been no favorable recognition of Garrison in its pages, and argues that claiming so does both him and the newspaper an injustrice.

Courtesy of Boston Public Library

anti slavery collection boston public library rare books department antislavery movements united states history 19th century abolitionists correspondence social reformers trusts and trustees newspapers equality before the law african americans civil rights reconstruction u s history 1865 1877 american anti slavery society republican party u s 1854 garrison william lloyd 1805 1879 powell aaron m aaron macy 1832 1899 phillips wendell 1811 1884 jackson francis 1789 1861 national anti slavery standard liberator boston mass 1831 letters correspondence manuscripts english aaron m aaron macy powell 1832 1899 aaron macy powell william lloyd garrison high resolution slavery

1868

Boston Public Library

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