[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_5,3_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_gallery gallery_ids=”3455″ admin_label=”Engraving of HH Garnet” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” db_images_per_row=”1″ dbdb_version=”5.0.2″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_gallery][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.27.5″ global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Henry Highland Garnet was born in New Market, Kent County, Maryland. He and his family were enslaved by the enslaver and plantation owner Colonel Spencer [1]<\/a>.<\/p>\n When Garnet was nine, he and his family (11 members, including his mother, father, and sister), escaped slavery and fled to Bucks County, Pennsylvania [2]<\/a>.<\/p>\n Garnet studied at Noyes Academy in Canaan, New Hampshire in 1835 [3]<\/a>.<\/p>\n Garnet then continued his studies at Oneida Theological Institute and graduated in 1840. Despite Garnet\u2019s earlier experiences with white supremacist violence and the belief that violence must be met with physical resistance, throughout the early 1840s (1841-1842), Garnet \u201chad not yet taken a firm position on the question of slave revolts\u201d [4]<\/a>,\u00a0[5]<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, by 1843, Garnet became increasingly radical: he \u201cslowly came to believe that not only did slaves have the right to rebel, but that abolitionists had the right to support them” [6]<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the collectively authored \u201cAn Address To The Slaves Of The United States,\u201d delivered by Garnet at the 1843 National Convention in Buffalo, NY,<\/a> asserted that enslaved peoples had a \u201creligious duty\u201d to resist slavery [7]<\/a>, [8]<\/a>.<\/p>\n The oration ended with direct calls for resistance and reminders that \u201cno oppressed people have ever secured their liberty without resistance,\u201d and to \u201cremember that you are THREE MILLIONS\u201d [9]<\/a>.<\/p>\n Garnet\u2019s calls for resistance were met with a mix of approval and fear, and delegates at the 1843 Convention failed to pass Garnet\u2019s appeal by one vote [10]<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, by 1848, when the \u201cAddress\u201d was published in a pamphlet along with Walker\u2019s \u201cAppeal,\u201d the majority of abolitionists embraced Garnet\u2019s position [11]<\/a>.<\/p>\n Garnet\u2019s influence continued to spread, greatly shaping Black nationalist politics. Throughout the 1850s, tensions continued to mount, and it is during the Bleeding Kansas period (1854-1859) that Garnet most likely first heard of John Brown [12]<\/a>,\u00a0[13]<\/a>.<\/p>\n Although Garnet began to focus more on advocating for Black emigration from the United States, he was well aware of the increasing violence and \u201cthe deepening sectional crisis\u201d [14]<\/a>.<\/p>\n Brown was familiar with Garnet and had been since the 1843 \u201cAddress\u201d [15]<\/a>.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Page Body” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_divider _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_5,3_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n A brief timeline of events in the life of Henry Highland Garnet, focused on his interactions with and influence on John Brown and other Black Convention activists.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”1815″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Garnet was born in New Market, Kent County, Maryland. He and his family were enslaved by Colonel Spencer [16]<\/a>.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”1824″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Garnet, aged 9, and 11 members of his family, escaped slavery and fled to Bucks County, Pennsylvania [17]<\/a>.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Image – Garnet” _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] Henry Highland Garnet via Blackpast.org.<\/p><\/div>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_5,3_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”1835″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Garnet studied at Noyes Academy in Canaan, New Hampshire. The school is attacked by a white mob; \u201cthey dragged the school down with oxen and terrorized the students\u201d [18]<\/a>.<\/p>\n Black students were then forced to leave New Hampshire. This experience greatly shaped Garnet: \u201che realized that in any struggle it is necessary to be able to back up agitation with physical threats\u201d [19]<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Image – Noyes Academy” _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] Image: Painting by Mikel Wells portraying a white mob removing the school by its foundations. Courtesy of Canaan Historical Society.<\/p><\/div>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”1840″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Garnet graduates from Oneida Theological Institute [20]<\/a>.<\/p>\n Image: Special Collections and Archives, Knox College Library, Galesburg, Illinois.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”1843″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Garnet delivered “An Address To The Slaves Of The United States at the 1843 National Colored Convention in Buffalo, New York [21]<\/a>.<\/p>\n In this collectively authored speech, Garnet asserted that enslaved peoples had a \u201creligious duty\u201d to resist slavery [22]<\/a>.<\/p>\n The oration ended with direct calls for resistance and reminders that \u201cno oppressed people have ever secured their liberty without resistance,\u201d and to \u201cremember that you are THREE MILLIONS [later changed to four millions when published in the 1860s]\u201d [23]<\/a>.<\/p>\n Garnet\u2019s calls for resistance were met with a mix of approval and fear, and delegates at the 1843 Convention failed to pass Garnet\u2019s appeal by 1 vote [24]<\/a>.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”1848″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n The “Address” is published in pamphlet form alongside Walker’s “Appeal…”<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”1854-1859″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Garnet likely first heard about Brown during the Bleeding Kansas period. In the newspapers, Garnet read of the bloodshed in Kansas: \u201chis ears filled with stories about places like Pottawatomie Creek, where in the dead of night, a free soiler named John Brown and six companions had dragged five pro-slavery settlers from their cabins and murdered them\u201d [25]<\/a>.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_5,3_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”February 1858″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Brown (pictured) wrote to Garnet, asking him \u201cto organize societies for the recruitment of blacks to his group” [26]<\/a>. Impressed with Brown\u2019s plans, Garnet organized a meeting in Philadelphia the following month in order to \u201cenlist the financial assistance of local Blacks\u201d [27]<\/a>. Brown had been aware of Garnet since the 1843 \u201cAddress\u201d and greatly admired him [28]<\/a>.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Image – John Brown” _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] John Brown c. 1856. Image courtesy of West Virginia State Archives.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n John Brown c. 1856. Image courtesy of West Virginia State Archives.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”March 16, 1858″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Brown met with Garnet, Douglass, and William Still<\/a> in Black attorney Stephen Smith<\/a>\u2019s home, \u201cto discuss a plan to incite a slave insurrection at Harpers Ferry, Virginia\u201d [29]<\/a>[30]<\/a>.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”1858″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n In a different meeting with Gerrit Smith, Brown asked Garnet for his opinion on the plan to raid Harpers Ferry, and Garnet replied that \u201cthe time has not yet come for the success of such a movement\u201d [31]<\/a>.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”May 1858″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Garnet did not attend the Chatham Convention in May of 1858, and \u201cbecame somewhat disillusioned with Brown when he was forced to cancel his plan of attack, which had been scheduled originally for the summer of 1858\u201d [32]<\/a>.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”December 2, 1859″ _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Garnet continued to admire Brown and delivered a eulogy for him in Shiloh Presbyterian Church and \u201cdeclared December 2nd [1859] to be Martyr\u2019s Day\u201d [33]<\/a>. Even though Garnet did not participate in the Chatham Convention or the Harpers Ferry Raid, his influence on and support of Brown greatly impacted both men and their allies.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Credits & References” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Credits” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Created by Jessica Thelen, PhD student in English, for P. Gabrielle Foreman’s ENGL\/HIST 677 class, Spring, 2019. Edited by P. Gabrielle Foreman.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”References” _builder_version=”4.27.5″ global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Ofari, Earl.\u00a0\u201cLet Your Motto Be Resistance\u201d: The Life and Thought of Henry Highland Garnet.<\/i> Beacon Press, 1972, p.\u00a0<\/span>2.\u00a0<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Ofari 2.\u00a0<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Ofari 5.<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Ofari 7-8.\u00a0<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Ofari 33-34.\u00a0<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> Ofari 34.\u00a0<\/p>\n [7]<\/a> For more on the 1843 \u201cAddress\u201d and its connections to the Colored Conventions Movement, see Graves, Harrison; Asplaugh, Jake; Spires, Derrick. \u201cHenry Highland Garnet\u2019s \u2018Address to the Slaves And Its Colored Conventions Origins.\u201d Omeka RSS.2016. https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/address\/<\/a> .<\/p>\n [8] <\/a>Bennett, Lerone Jr.\u00a0Pioneers in Protest.\u00a0<\/i>University of Michigan Press, 1969, p. <\/span>153.\u00a0<\/p>\n [9]<\/a> Garnet, Henry Highland. \u201cAn Address To The Slaves Of The United States,\u201d blackpast.org. Emphasis in original text.<\/p>\n [10]<\/a> Bennett 155.<\/p>\n [11]<\/a> Bennett 155.<\/p>\n [12]<\/a> Stuckey, Sterling. The Ideological Origins of Black Nationalism. <\/em>Beacon Press, 1972,\u00a0p. 17.\u00a0<\/p>\n [13]<\/a> Pasternak, Martin B. Rise Now And Fly To Arms: The Life Of Henry Highland Garnet.<\/em> University of Massachusetts Press, 1981, p. 83.\u00a0<\/p>\n [14]<\/a> Pasternak 94.\u00a0<\/p>\n [15]<\/a> Ofari 2.<\/p>\n [16]<\/a> Ofari 2.\u00a0<\/p>\n [17]<\/a> Ofari 5-6.\u00a0<\/p>\n [18]<\/a> Ofari 5-6.\u00a0<\/p>\n [19]<\/a> Ofari 6.\u00a0<\/p>\n [20]<\/a> Ofari 7-8.\u00a0<\/p>\n [21]<\/a> For more on the 1843 \u201cAddress\u201d and its connections to the Colored Conventions Movement, see Graves, Harrison; Asplaugh, Jake; Spires, Derrick. \u201cHenry Highland Garnet\u2019s \u2018Address to the Slaves And Its Colored Conventions Origins.\u201d https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/garnet-address-1843\/.\u00a0<\/p>\n [22]<\/a> Bennett, Lerone Jr. Pioneers in Protest<\/i>, p. 153. Print.<\/p>\n [23]<\/a> Garnet, Henry Highland. \u201cAn Address To The Slaves Of The United States,\u201d blackpast.org.<\/p>\n [24]<\/a> Bennett, Lerone Jr. Pioneers in Protest<\/i>, p. 155. Print.<\/p>\n [25]<\/a> Pasternak 83.<\/p>\n [26]<\/a> Ofari 106.<\/p>\n [27]<\/a> Ofari 106.<\/p>\n [28]<\/a> Pasternak 94.<\/p>\n [29]<\/a> Quarles 40.<\/p>\n [30]<\/a> Pasternak 94.<\/p>\nTimeline<\/h3>\n
1815<\/h3>\n
1824<\/h3>\n
![\"B&W](\"https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/john-brown\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2025\/06\/Henry_Highland_Garnet_ca_1881-223x300.jpg\")
1835<\/h3>\n
![\"painting](\"https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/john-brown\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2026\/02\/Aug10NoyesMikel-650x240-1.jpg\")
1840<\/h3>\n
1843<\/h3>\n
1848<\/h3>\n
1854-1859<\/h3>\n
February 1858<\/h3>\n
![\"John](\"https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/john-brown\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2019\/05\/John-Brown-c.-1856-210x300.jpg\")
March 16, 1858<\/h3>\n
1858<\/h3>\n
May 1858<\/h3>\n
December 2, 1859<\/h3>\n
Credits<\/h3>\n
References<\/h3>\n