An Analysis of Rhetoric Used in The North Star

 Free Black people were a crucial audience for anti slavery presses. This was especially true for The North Star, which Douglass created with his idea of educating Black people in mind. The printing of Black newspapers like this spans the Antebellum Period in America, mainly beginning in the late 1820s and continuing through the Civil War. There was tension within the abolitionist newspaper community since some white authors such as Douglass’ ex-mentor, William Lloyd Garrison, believed that the Black-run newspapers were reducing the readership of established journals. Many of these white authors did not recognize the importance of also sharing anti slavery sentiments from a Black perspective (Shortell, 83).

Interestingly enough, part of what made Black papers, such as The North Star, so effective was the fact that their Black authors were able to share first-hand experiences in a way that not only brought to light the atrocities of slavery, but also empowered other Black people to use their voice. Authors were able to use emotional tones in their writing to pull on the humanity of readers in an effort to convince them of the necessity of abolition. Similarly, anti slavery authors used strong and empowered language in their writing. Since these authors were attempting to dismantle a centuries-old societal structure, this tone and language choice was crucial for conveying the dire circumstances at hand and sharing these papers as a call to action.

An example of this writing style was included in an edition of The North Star from 1848: 

"The object of the NORTH STAR will be to attack SLAVERY in all its forms and aspects; advocate UNIVERSAL EMANCIPATION; exalt the standard of PUBLIC MORALITY; promote the moral and intellectual improvement of the COLORED PEOPLE; and hasten the day of FREEDOM to the THREE MILLIONS of our ENSLAVED FELLOW COUNTRYMEN."