ABSTRACT
The Whig Party continued to attract the wide support of blacks until the formation of the Liberty Party in April 1840. This new political body reflected the belief that neither the Whigs nor the Democrats could ever strike a blow at slavery because their memberships included hundreds and thousands of slaveowners. The Liberty Party was a direct outgrowth of the controversy within the anti-slavery movement as to whether political action or moral suasion on the part of the abolitionists could best overcome the constitutional and legal obstructions to emancipation. While some African-Americans in New York continued to support the Free Soil Party, many remained guarded in their political affiliations. Garrison’s position created a split in his movement which led to the formation of the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society in 1840. The Liberty Party, founded in the same year, was the political expression of abolitionism.
