On November 10, 1836, delegates from southeast Michigan gathered at theFirst Presbyterian Church in Ann Arbor for an ‘Anti-Slavery State Convention.’ After two days, delegates established theMichigan State Anti-Slavery Society, adopted resolutions denouncing slavery, and decided to publish an antislavery newspaper. Purchasing a printing press and selling subscriptions in the Michigan Territory was challenging – and risky.

In the fall of 1837, newspaper publisher Elijah Lovejoy was attacked by a pro-slavery mob in Alton, Illinois. Lovejoy was shot and killed when he refused to give up his printing press. Antislavery lecturers in Michigan faced angry crowds throughout the 1830s. In spite of the difficulties, brothers William and Nicholas Sullivan published the first antislavery newspaper,American Freeman, in 1838 in Jackson, Michigan. The following year, Seymour Treadwell agreed to act as the editor and publisher of theMichigan Freeman. Both newspapers were issued only sporadically.

Theodore Foster and Rev. Guy Beckley launched theSignal of Liberty inApril 1841 and managed to go to press nearly every week. The printing office was located on the second floor ofJosiah Beckley’s mercantile shop on Broadway Avenue in Ann Arbor. Guy Beckley helped in his brother’s store and worked tirelessly to promote the newspaper. Theodore Foster was co-editor and publisher of theSignal of Liberty until 1848.

Foster and Beckley were strong abolitionists who wrote in theSignal of Liberty of helping people escaping from slavery. The editors interviewed self-emancipated men and women, hoping to arouse sympathy for abolitionism. They publishedthe story of Robert Coxe, helpless to stop the beatings of his sister and mother, grief-stricken as his family was sold and separated. The newspaper covered the“kidnapping outrages” of African Americans in Detroit,Marshall and Cass County, Michigan.

TheSignal of Liberty achieved its goal of bringing the issue of slavery into the hearts and minds of the people. Nearly every issue includedan antislavery poem,national news, andlocal notices.Minutes from antislavery meetings reveal a proliferation of organizations across the state and a growing desire to see slavery end in America. The events and movements described in theSignal of Liberty help us understand the issues that led people to resist slavery, change their churches and political parties, and fight for freedom.

~Carol E. Mull

Old News has digitized issues and articles of the Signal of Liberty and Michigan Liberty Press from 1841-1848.Browse Signal of Liberty & Michigan Liberty Press issues and articles.