Benjamin Lundy letter to Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana, December 30, 1833   Save
Benjamin Lundy Papers
Description: Letter from abolitionist publisher Benjamin Lundy to Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana, President of the United States of Mexico. Lundy's letter praises Santa Ana's stance on slavery, and includes a gift portrait of George Washington for Santa Ana "as a token of ... profound respect and sincere Reagard." Lundy extends his great hopes and well-wishes for Santa Ana's Mexico and also includes an issue of his abolitionist periodical, The Genius. Lundy closes by apologizing for writing to Santa Ana without a proper introduction. He describes his recent travels to Mexico and regrets that circumstances prevented him from greeting the President in person, and notes that he would greatly appreciate a written receipt of the letter. Benjamin Lundy (1789-1839) was a prominent Quaker abolitionist best known for his development of abolitionist periodicals. His Genius of Universal Emancipation was first published in 1821 from his home in Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, and enjoyed a wide circulation across the antebellum United States. In the 1820s, the young William Lloyd Garrison came to work for The Genius. Benjamin Lundy traveled widely seeking subscriptions to The Genius, giving talks about the anti-slavery movement, and observing and documenting the conditions of enslaved people across the Americas. He was also involved in the establishment of freed slave colonies in Mexico. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: MSS112_B01F01_18331230_01
Subjects: Abolition; Anti-slavery periodicals -- 19th century; United States--Foreign relations--Mexico; Lundy, Benjamin, 1789-1839; U.S. colonization; Land settlement
Places: Monclava (Mexico); Texas