Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison begins his career in Baltimore

1829

William Lloyd Garrison, the best-known white American to publicly devote his life to freeing enslaved people, coedits a newspaper “The Genius of Universal Liberty” with Quaker Benjamin Lundy (1789-1839). Garrison is born in Massachusetts but moves to Maryland, joining the abolitionist cause. He advocates immediate emancipation while Lundy favors gradual manumission. Garrison publishes a “Black List” of individuals involved in the “barbarities of slavery.” One dealer of enslaved people, Francis Todd, sues Garrison who is found guilty and sentenced to a fine that he refuses to pay. After spending seven weeks in confinement, another abolitionist pays his fine and he leaves for Boston. In 1831, William L. Garrison begins publishing “The Emancipator,” which becomes the most famous and influential abolitionist newspaper.

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Baltimore City Historical Society

William Lloyd Garrison, Wikipedia

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Marylander Roger B. Taney hands down the Dred Scott decision.

Roger Taney, Maryland native and Supreme Court Chief Justice, delivers 7-2 opinion in 1857, in the Dred Scott case, declaring that Blacks in the US are not considered citizens nor entitled to government protection, and that Congress cannot prohibit slavery. The decision becomes a major factor leading to the Civil War.

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Land Recognition

We acknowledge the enduring presence of many American Indian tribes who once lived in Maryland and who now, having lost their lands, live in a diaspora. Read more.

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