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Letter from Oliver Johnson, Craftsbury, V[ermon]t, to William Lloyd Garrison, 1832 June 4

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Holograph, signed.Title devised by cataloger.On verso, the letter is addressed to "Mr. William Lloyd Garrison, Ed. Liberator, Boston. (Mass.)".Oliver Johnson writes to William Lloyd Garrison notifying him of his "movements in relation to the subjects of slavery and colonization." He says that his work has assured him that "the principles of the New England Anti-Slavery Society are destined, ere long, to supercede the heretical philosophy of the Colonizationists." Johnson tells Garrison about lecture in Montpelier and his conversations with Chester Wright, "formerly minister of that place, and Secretary of the Vermont Colonization Society." He details how Wright had come to see that the "arguments in favor of immediate abolition seemed almost irresistable" and that he did not object to Johnson lecturing on the subject and sharing his views of the American Colonization Society. Johnson then describes his lecture in Montpelier in-depth, listing his arguments and how they were received by his audience, as well as a weak rebuttal by a representative of the Colonization Society, which "only made the matter worse, and I believe it had a good effect" in increasing support for immediate abolition. Chester Wright was further convinced by Johnson's arguments, and Johnson tells Garrison that previously Wright had "done more to promote the objects of the [American Colonization] Society in Vermont than any other man ... If he should come out, he would have an important influence throughout the country." Johnson advises Garrison to send him the Liberator and says that he has no doubt that after...
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Correspondence Manuscripts
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