ABSTRACT
Birney was a staunch anti-Garrisonian and was a leader in the failed attempt to force the radicals out of the national Anti-Slavery Society. Birney was also one of the leading advocates for greater abolitionist involvement in politics, and he was eventually appointed as the presidential nominee of the Liberty Party in 1840 and 1844. The debate that follows between Birney and Garrison represents one of the dramatic turning points in the abolitionist movement. At its core, their exchange came down to one question: Are members of the American Anti-Slavery Society obligated by the society’s constitution to vote for antislavery candidates? Abolitionists, by belonging to the Anti-Slavery Society, are pledged only to what is required in the Constitution.
