To the Public

“To the Public” is a foundational manifesto for radical abolitionism. It sets forth the moral principles for, Garrison says, “the immediate enfranchisement of our slave population” while anticipating counterarguments from those who favor a gradualist approach (Paragraph 4). The call for “immediate enfranchisement” serves as a rallying cry in an era when many abolitionists proposed two very different solutions: gradual emancipation and/or colonization, that is, the deportation of former slaves to Africa or elsewhere. Both gradual emancipation and colonization were viewed as “practical” solutions to slavery, the least upsetting to the social order and the beliefs that supported it. Garrison associated with both these schools of thought, though by 1831 both had become morally repugnant to him. Both gradual emancipation and colonization were advanced as methods of abolition into the 1860s.

Garrison’s manifesto joins the debate over slavery in medias res. The first sentence presumes that the reader is not only familiar with debates on abolition in general but also knowledgeable about Garrison’s writing and work. Garrison directs his arguments toward those who are predisposed to believe in some sort of abolition, and he wants to arouse their passions in favor of a radical and immediate end to slavery. He acknowledges what he calls “the coarseness of [his] invective” (Paragraph 6). In doing so, he embraces the rhetoric of pathos (emotional appeal) over that of logos (logical appeal), even as he deploys the rhetoric of ethos (an appeal to his status and authority) as a grounding principle.

He further attempts to bolster his argument by admitting he made mistakes in the past. He often does so in highly emotional ways, such as when he, referring to his former gradualism, seeks “publicly to ask pardon of my God, of my country, and of my brethren, the poor slaves, for having uttered a sentiment so full of timidity, injustice, and absurdity” (Paragraph 5). This technique of linking morality, emotion, and personal responsibility became a mainstay of abolitionist rhetoric over the next several decades. He sees genuine emotion is the path to genuine political transformation.

Because he relies on emotion to connect with his audience, Garrison eschews rehashing his previous writings, claiming, “I deem the publication of my original Prospectus unnecessary, as it has obtained a wide circulation” (Paragraph 3). Such a strategy, while useful in its own time, makes a full understanding of the manifesto difficult for readers today who are not familiar with this debate. Garrison counts on his audience being versed in ephemeral works of the day, things like newspaper articles and speeches, which lived in the public memory of his time but may not have been preserved for posterity.

Garrison wants his ideas to be “felt” in both literal and metaphorical senses. To Garrison, slavery is cowardly and unjust. He wants his readers to grasp that point abstractly but also to sense it emotionally. When he turns to poetry to end his manifesto, he embodies the political rhetoric of social reform in a literary form that speaks to human emotion. He writes about a time when “Afric’s chains / Are burst, and Freedom rules the rescued land” (Paragraph 7). It is a political vision but one that Garrison thinks is best expressed in sonnet form. Readers must feel in their hearts that abolition is the only moral path.