By age 23, David Ruggles (1810-1849), a free black, was working for The Emancipator, an anti-slavery paper. He was traveling, selling subscriptions, and seizing the opportunity to lecture. Ruggles’ speeches were famously impassioned and a stirring experience for his audiences. Nevertheless, unmitigated loathing for the abolitionist cause and racism ruled New York, the state Ruggles […]
