This assignment has two parts. First, you will use the Digital Commonwealth website (https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search?f%5Bcollection_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=The+Liberator+%28Boston%2C+Mass.+%3A+1831-1865%29&f%5Binstitution_name_ssi%5D%5B%5D=Boston+Public+Library) to locate ONE issue of The Liberator newspaper. Second,
you will write a 250-500 word essay addressing the following questions: How does this
newspaper attempt to convince white Americans of the need to abolish slavery? Also, why did
white slaveholders in the South find this paper so offensive that they tried to censor it?
In your analysis think about the following guiding questions and remember that you do not need
to address all of them in your paper, just the ones that you think are most important to answer the
question:
a.) What topics, issues, or subjects are addressed in the newspaper article(s) you
examined? What kinds of articles, editorials, or speeches are present? If an author or
speaker is identified (not always the case), you should at least identify them or (even
better) explain who they are.
b.) Why was this document written? For whom was this document written? A particular
group in the community or the general public?
c.) When and where was the document written? What was the context? In other words,
think about what weve covered in class and what other issues or trends were going
on at that time.
