Black Abolitionist Archive

Title: Edward Wilmot Blyden

Speaker or author: Blyden, Edward Wilmot, 1832-1912.

Newspaper or publication: African Repository

Speech describing the geographical and cultural aspects of Ethiopia, Liberia and other explored areas of Africa. The speaker encouraged an evangelical approach to colonization of Africa.

Description of file(s): PDF 18 page, 7,230 word document (text and images)

Title: Edward Wilmot Blyden

Speaker or author: Blyden, Edward Wilmot, 1832-1912.

Newspaper or publication: African Repository

Inaugural speech given at the founding of the first college in West Africa. The speaker stressed the importance of education in the formation of Liberia.

Description of file(s): PDF 22 page, 8,619 word document (text and images)

Title: Edward Wilmot Blyden

Speaker or author: Blyden, Edward Wilmot, 1832-1912.

Newspaper or publication: African Repository

The speaker described life in Africa with the U.S. colonization efforts taking place there. He encouraged freed slaves to immigrate and participate in the colonization of Liberia and Ethiopia.

Description of file(s): PDF 4 page, 1,331 word document (text and images)

Title: Edward Wilmot Blyden

Speaker or author: Blyden, Edward Wilmot, 1832-1912.

Newspaper or publication: African Repository

Speech delivered on the 18th anniversary of Liberian Independence. The speaker stressed the accomplishments of the nation of Liberia and suggested amendments to its constitution.

Description of file(s): PDF 10 page, 4,406 word document (text and images)

Title: William Jones

Speaker or author: Jones, William

Newspaper or publication: American Freeman

Anecdotal speech regarding one man's experience with slavery and his praise of Gerrit Smith's benevolence.

Description of file(s): PDF 2 page, 292 word document (text and images)

Title: William Howard Day

Speaker or author: Day, William Howard, d. 1900

Newspaper or publication: Anglo-African

Speech given on the anniversary of the emancipation of slaves in the British West Indies. The speaker emphasized that now the U.S. could claim its place among the countries that had abandoned slavery. He expressed gratitude for those who had fought and died in the Civil War in the cause of freedom.

Description of file(s): PDF 7 page, 1,697 word document (text and images)

Title: William Wells Brown

Speaker or author: Brown, William Wells, 1814?-1884

Newspaper or publication: Anti-Slavery Advocate

Anecdoatal speech regarding the speaker's encounter with the Reverend Dr. Richard Fuller, a slaveholding minister from South Carolina. The speaker emphasized the kindness and courtesy he had received from Dr. and Mrs. Fuller during his visit. (Includes MP3 audio file.)

Description of file(s): PDF 2 page, 609 word document (text and images)

Title: William Andrew Jackson

Speaker or author: Jackson, William Andrew, b. 1832

Newspaper or publication: Anti-Slavery Advocate

Brief overview of speech by the coachman of Jefferson Davis (who had recently escaped and settled in England) describing his experience with slavery. (See duplicate speech 26152.)

Description of file(s): PDF 1 page, 301 word document (text and image)

Title: John Sella Martin

Speaker or author: Martin, J. Sella (John Sella), b. 1832

Newspaper or publication: Anti-Slavery Advocate

Brief speech praising the work of William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, and John Brown. The speaker said that just because there is no news of discontent from the slaves in the South does not mean that they are happy with their situation.

Description of file(s): PDF 1 page, 134 word document (text and image)

Title: William J. Watkins

Speaker or author: Watkins, William J.

Newspaper or publication: Anti-Slavery Advocate

Speech denouncing the doctrine of "Compensated Emancipation."

Description of file(s): PDF 2 page, 533 word document (text and images)

Title: William Wells Brown

Speaker or author: Brown, William Wells, 1814?-1884

Newspaper or publication: Anti-Slavery Bugle

Speech regarding the influence of religion and the Church in the continuation of slavery. The speaker noted that "The teaching of religion has always favored slavery," and he noted two theologians who had publicly taught that "...God ordained the institution (of slavery)."

Description of file(s): PDF 3 page, 859 word document (text and images)

Title: William Wells Brown

Speaker or author: Brown, William Wells, 1814?-1884

Newspaper or publication: Anti-Slavery Bugle

The speaker addressed the issues of slave trading and "slave raising," and stressed that the acceptance of these had been passed down from generation to generation. As a mulatto, he believed he offered a type of bridge between races. He related a story of the kindness shown to him in Massachusetts that he hadn't known before, but stressed that this bit of kindness had not stopped him from working to end slavery.

Description of file(s): PDF 3 page, 878 word document (text and images)

Title: William Wells Brown

Speaker or author: Brown, William Wells, 1814?-1884

Newspaper or publication: Anti-Slavery Bugle

The speaker emphasized the prejudice that had come about as a result of slavery. He noted that the prejudice of the times was based on race, not color, and this related directly to slavery, not appearance.

Description of file(s): PDF 2 page, 353 word document (text and images)

Title: William Wells Brown

Speaker or author: Brown, William Wells, 1814?-1884

Newspaper or publication: Anti-Slavery Bugle

The speaker asked for all present to agree that the government had become a conspiracy against freedom. He read an excerpt from a southern newspaper demonstrating the fear of emancipated slaves that the southern states held, and that they used to continue slavery there. He expressed that recent government legislation was compelling those who were fighting for emancipation to take a more radical approach.

Description of file(s): PDF 5 page, 1,438 word document (text and images)

Title: William J. Watkins

Speaker or author: Watkins, William J.

Newspaper or publication: Anti-Slavery Bugle

The speaker emphasized that he was not in favor of dissolving the union. He was in favor of ending slavery at all costs, however, including revolution.

Description of file(s): PDF 6 page, 1,575 word document (text and images)

Title: William Howard Day

Speaker or author: Day, William Howard, d. 1900

Newspaper or publication: Anti-Slavery Reporter

Brief overview of speech in which the speaker addressed the issue of fugitive slaves who had escaped to England. He urged these fugitives to be careful to follow British law and to be on guard for kidnappers.

Description of file(s): PDF 1 page, 163 word document (text and image)

Title: William G. Allen

Speaker or author: Allen, William G., fl. 1849-1853

Newspaper or publication: Belfast Newsletter

Overview of a speech regarding the history of American slavery. The speaker noted that American Indians had been at one time considered for slavery, but that they were not as suited for it as African captives. The speaker said that what was wanted was not so much emancipation as it was the "...eradication of the principles of slavery, and the prejudice against slaves, which existed in American breasts..." He wished for an end to slavery as well as the effects of slavery on a society that had grown strong from slave labor. (Includes MP3 audio file.)

Description of file(s): PDF 2 page, 405 word document (text and images)

Title: William G. Allen

Speaker or author: Allen, William G., fl. 1849-1853

Newspaper or publication: Belfast Newsletter

Overview of speech presented at the Belfast Ladies' Association meeting arguing the speaker's belief that art, culture and religion had their origins in Africa. (Includes MP3 audio file.)

Description of file(s): PDF 1 page, 199 word document (text and image)

Title: William Wells Brown

Speaker or author: Brown, William Wells, 1814?-1884

Newspaper or publication: Bristol Mercury

Anecdotal speech given before a meeting on American slavery held in Bristol, England. The speaker recounted his own escape to freedom and stories of others who had done the same. He spoke of the horrors and injustices of slavery, and stressed the importance of the support of the British people in the abolition of slavery in the U.S.

Description of file(s): PDF 5 page, 1,626 word document (text and images)

Title: William Wells Brown

Speaker or author: Brown, William Wells, 1814?-1884

Newspaper or publication: Bristol Times

Anecdotal speech given before a meeting on American slavery held in Bristol, England. The speaker recounted stories from his life and the lives of others who had experienced the cruelties of slavery. He spoke of the injustices of slavery, and stressed the importance of the support of the British people in the abolition of slavery in the U.S. (Includes MP3 audio file.)

Description of file(s): PDF 3 page, 995 word document (text and images)