While the earliest abolitionsts were the slaves themselves, the first abolition society was organized by the Quakers in 1775. By 1790 support in Connecticut had grown, resulting in the formation of the Society for the Promotion of Freedom and for the Relief of Persons Holden in Bondage.   Antislavery newspapers, journals, political broadsides and other popular print forms depicted the North as the preserve of liberty. They were very important devices for rallying the North against the South in the years preceding the Civil War. Popular iconography, such as the masthead of The Liberator, an antislavery newspaper, played an important role in diminishing the memory of slavery in the North. Click on the image for a detail of the masthead.

Image: The Liberator, Boston, 8 March 1861. Courtesy Mr. Craig Kelly.