- Henry Highland Garnet
Henry Highland Garnet (
December 23 ,1815 –February 13 ,1882 ) was anAfrican American abolitionist andorator . An advocate of militant abolitionism, Garnet was a prominent member of the abolition movement that led againstmoral suasion toward more political action. Renowned for his skills as a public speaker, he urged blacks to take action and claim their own destinies. Garnet was the first black minister to preach to theUnited States House of Representatives .Early history and education
Garnet was born a slave near New Market in
Kent County, Maryland , to George and Henrietta. His grandfather was an African warrior prince, captured in combat, which might have been the source of Garnet's fiery spirit. Receiving permission to attend a funeral, he and his family instead escaped to free-statePennsylvania in 1824. He spent two years at sea, as a cabin boy, cook, and steward, traveling to Cuba. When he returned, he discovered that his family had split up due to threats of slave catchers. When Garnet was ten years old, the family reunited and moved toNew York City , where from 1826 through 1833, Garnet attended theAfrican Free School , and thePhoenix High School for Colored Youth . While in school, Garnet began his career in abolitionism. With fellow schoolmates, he established theGarrison Literary and Benevolent Association . It garnered mass support among whites, but the club ultimately had to move due to racist feelings. Two years later, in 1835, he started to attend theNoyes Academy in Canaan,New Hampshire , where he met his wife, Julia Williams. Together, they had three children, of which only one survived to adulthood. Due to his abolitionist activities, Henry Garnet was ultimately driven away from the Noyes Academy by an angrysegregationist mob. He went on to further his education at theOneida Theological Institute in Whitesboro, which had newly opened its doors to all races. Here, he was acclaimed for his wit, brilliance, and rhetorical skills. After graduation in 1839, the following year, he injured his knee playing sports. It never recovered and his leg was amputated in 1840.Ministry
In 1839, Garnet moved to
Troy, New York where he taught school and studied theology. In 1842, Garnet became pastor of the Liberty Street Presbyterian church, a position he would hold for six years. During this time, he published papers that combined both religious and abolitionist themes. Closely identifying himself with the church, Garnet supported thetemperance movement and became a strong advocate of political antislavery. He later joined theAmerican Anti-Slavery Society and frequently spoke at abolitionist conferences. One of his most famous speeches, "Call to Rebellion," was delivered August 1843 to the "National Negro Convention " inBuffalo, New York . The speech echoed his views that slaves should act for themselves to achieve total emancipation. Garnet made references to some slave rebellions, stating that it could be a quick way for abolition if the slaves were brave enough.Frederick Douglass andWilliam Lloyd Garrison , along with many other abolitionists, thought his ideas were too radical. He supported the Liberty Party, a party of reform that was eventually absorbed into the Republican Party, whose views Garnet disagreed with.Anti-slavery role
By 1849 Garnet began to support emigration of blacks to
Mexico ,Liberia , or theWest Indies , where they would have more opportunities. In support of this, he founded theAfrican Civilization Society . Mirroring the BritishAfrican Aid society , it sought to establish a West African colony inYoruba . He also advocated establishing separate sections of the United States as black colonies. In 1850, he went toGreat Britain on request of the Free Labor Movement, an organization that opposed the use of products produced by slave labor. He was popular, and spent two and a half years lecturing. In 1852 Garnet was sent toKingston, Jamaica , as a missionary. He spent three years there, until his health forced him back to the United States.When the
American Civil War erupted, his hopes for emigration dissolved. Instead, he turned his attention to the founding of black army units. In the New York draft riots of 1863, mobs were targeting blacks and black-owned buildings. Garnet was saved from death when his daughter quickly chopped their nameplate off their door before the mobs found them. When the authorization for black units came, Garnet helped with recruitingUnited States Colored Troops and then supported the black soldiers, preaching to many of them. Garnet served as the pastor of the Liberty (Fifteenth) Street Presbyterian Church from 1864 until 1866, and during this time he became the first black minister to preach to the House of Representatives.Legacy
After the war, Garnet was appointed president of
Avery College inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1868. Afterwards, he moved back toNew York City as a pastor at the Shiloh Presbyterian Church. Garnet had always been sickly, but his health started to badly deteriorate in 1876. Garnet’s last wish was to go to Liberia, live even just for a few weeks, and die there. His wish was granted and he became U.S. Minister to Liberia in late 1881, but died two months later. Garnet was given a state funeral by the Liberian government and was buried atPalm Grove Cemetery inMonrovia . [cite book|last=Barnes|first=Kenneth C.|title=Journey of Hope: The Back-to-Africa Movement in Arkansas in the Late 1800s|publisher=UNC Press|date=2004|pages=154|isbn=0807828793|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=lZIKsezkeqsC&pg=PA154&lpg=PA154&dq=%22Palm+Grove+Cemetery%22&source=web&ots=zVlpHg_7Ky&sig=v0ywMOOnyus7Zqffulp1PHvTwgU&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result] Fredrick Douglass, who had not been on speaking terms with Garnet for many years, mourned his loss.References
* [http://www.sarasota.usf.edu/StudentAffairs/Documents/FEB12BLKHIST.htm "Today in Black History February 12th"]
* [http://www.anb.org/articles/15/15-00253.html?a=1&n=Henry%20Highland%20Garnet&ia=-at&ib=-bib&d=10&ss=0&q=1 "American National Biography: Henry Highland Garnet"]External links
* [http://www.ugrworkshop.com/hgarnet.htm Underground Workshop]
* [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASgarnet.htm Spartacus Schoolnet]
* [http://www.startribune.com/stories/1389/646719.html Article from the Star Tribune]
* [http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/etas/8/ An Address to the Slaves of the United States of America, Buffalo, N.Y., 1843]
* [http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/etas/13/ The Past and the Present Condition, and the Destiny, of the Colored Race (1848)]
*gutenberg author| id=Henry+Highland+Garnet | name=Henry Highland Garnet
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