Henry Highland Garnet (December 23, 1815 – February 13, 1882) was an African American abolitionist and orator. He was the first black minister to preach to the United States House of Representatives.
Contents |
Early history
Garnet was born a slave near New Market in Kent County, Maryland. His grandfather was an African warrior prince, captured in combat, which might have been the source of Garnet's fiery spirit. Receiving permission to attend a funeral, he and his family instead escaped to free-state Pennsylvania in 1824. He spent two years at sea, as a cabin boy, cook, and steward. When he returned, he discovered that his family had split up due to threats of slave catchers. When Garnet was ten years old, the family reunited and moved to New York City, where from 1826 through 1833, Garnet attended the African Free School, and the Phoenix High School for Colored Youth. With several abolitionist friends, he established the Garrison Literary and Benevolent Association, but had to move the club because of racist feelings. Two years later, in 1835, he started to attend the Noyes Academy in Canaan, New Hampshire, but was driven away by an angry segregationist mob. The next year he injured his knee playing sports. It never recovered and his leg was amputated in 1840.
Personal life
In 1839, after graduating from the Oneida Theological Institute in Whitesboro, Garnet moved to Troy, New York. The next year, Garnet married Julia Ward Williams, four years his elder. Out of his three children, one died in childhood, and one has been lost to history. He adopted a fugitive slave girl.
Ministry
In 1842, Garnet became pastor of the Liberty Street Presbyterian church, a position he would hold for six years. He joined the American Anti-Slavery Society and frequently spoke at abolitionist conferences. One of his most famous speeches, "Call to Rebellion," was delivered August 1843 to the National Negro Convention in Buffalo, New York. The speech shared his views that slaves should act for themselves to achieve total emancipation. Garnet made references to some slave rebellions, stating that it could be a quick way for abolition if the slaves were brave enough. Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison, along with many other abolitionists, thought his ideas were too radical. He supported the Liberty Party, a party of reform that was eventually absorbed into the Republican Party, whose views Garnet disagreed with.
Anti-slavery role
By 1849 Garnet began to support emigration of blacks to Mexico, Liberia, or the West Indies, where they would have more opportunities. He also advocated establishing separate sections of the United States as black colonies. In 1850, he went to Great Britain on request of the Free Labor Movement, a group against slave-produced goods. He was popular, and spent two and a half years lecturing. In 1852 Garnet was sent to Kingston, Jamaica, as a missionary. He spent three years there, until his health forced him back to the United States. When the American Civil War erupted, his hopes for emigration dissolved. Instead, he turned his attention to the founding of black army units. In the New York draft riots of 1863, mobs were targeting blacks and black-owned buildings. Garnet was saved from death when his daughter quickly chopped their nameplate off their door before the mobs found them. When the authorization for black units came, Garnet helped with recruiting United States Colored Troops and then supported the black soldiers, preaching to many of them. Garnet served as the pastor of the Liberty (Fifteenth) Street Presbyterian Church from 1864 until 1866, and during this time he became the first black minister to preach to the House of Representatives.
Legacy
After the war, Garnet was appointed president of Avery College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He had always been sickly, but his health started to badly deteriorate in 1876. Garnet’s last wish was to go to Liberia, live even just for a few weeks, and die there. His wish was granted and he became U.S. Minister to Liberia in late 1881, but died two months later. Garnet was given a state funeral by the Liberian government. Fredrick Douglass, who had not been on speaking terms with Garnet for many years, mourned his loss.
