Signal of Liberty
Signal of Liberty was an abolitionist newspaper that appeared in Ann Arbor , Michigan , from 1841 to 1848 . The newspaper was published by the Michigan State Anti-Slavery Society under the direction of Guy Beckley . It was also the organ of the short-lived Liberty Party .
History and appearance
The first issue of Signal of Liberty appeared on April 28, 1841. It was a subscription newspaper . The purchase costs initially amounted to 2 US dollars per year, or to 2.50 $ for a six-month subscription (although payment in kind was also offered in the May 5, 1841 edition). Later, an annual prepaid subscription was $ 1 (1844) or $ 1.50 (1846), otherwise $ 2. The newspaper appeared weekly and each issue had four pages.
The editor-in-chief was Guy Beckley, his deputy Theodore Foster. The editorial office and print shop were above Beckley's brother Josiah's store on Ann Arbor's Broadway Avenue.
When editor Guy Beckley died in late December 1847 at the age of only 42, it became clear how much the newspaper depended on him. After his death, Theodore Forster brought out six more issues, the last on February 5, 1848, then Signal of Liberty ceased to appear.
A follow-up project, the Michigan Liberty Press , also published by the Anti-Slavery Society, only had 18 issues between April and August 1848 and was then discontinued.
content
In general, the first two or two and a half pages of the newspaper contained editorial content, the rest being announcements and advertisements. A special feature of the newspaper was its political concern, the fight against slavery, a topic to which articles were regularly devoted, be it reports of atrocities in the southern states (“Another Slave Burning”, September 8, 1841), arrests and repatriation fled slaves ("Horrible Outrage", April 17, 1847), from meetings of abolitionists or poems ("Universal Emacipation", June 2, 1845).
As was customary for the time, closely printed (first five, later seven columns) different formats and topics stood next to each other, i. H. national and international news and reports appeared alongside anecdotes, sermons and opinions. In the advertising section, there were death news as well as advertisements for land sales, miracle cures, books and boots, legal services, grass seeds and ashes.
Web links
- Complete digital archive for Signal of Liberty at the Ann Arbor District Library
Individual evidence
- ^ Extract from the May 5, 1841 issue of Signal of Liberty
- ^ Photo of the row of houses in which the Signal of Liberty office was located
- ↑ Ann Arbor District Library - Digital Archive of the Michigan Liberty Press ( Memento of the original from January 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Report on the kidnapping of a free African American in Pennsylvania
