The Slave's Friend

The American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS), established in 1833 by William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan, was one of the leading abolitionist organizations in the United States during the first half of the 19th Century.

These were to include three adult periodicals —The Emancipator, Human Rights, The Anti Slavery Record — as well as a monthly for young readers, The Slave's Friend.

[1] With a view to producing a periodical that could be comfortably handled by diminutive readers, a small physical format was used for the magazine.

[2] The magazine included a mix of original anti-slavery writing, poetry, and reprints of relevant material from other popular periodicals of the day.

[2] Each issue of the publication included woodcut illustrations, which typically revolved around the theme of the cruelty and abuse which inevitably accompanied forced physical servitude.

[2] These depictions of beatings and the implements of violence were frequently contrasted to other happier images of black and white children attending school and playing together.

[2] Some 200,000 issues of The Slave's Friend were distributed during the first year of the magazine's existence, with an additional sale of 5,000 bound volumes.

[2] The Slave's Friend was highly moralistic, equating slavery with sinfulness and making a strong religious appeal to its young readers.