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Sarah Grimke (1792-1873) and her sister Angelina (1805-1879) were the first women in the United States to publicly argue for the abolition of slavery. They were also strong proponents of women's rights, brought about in part, because they were women participating in the man's domain of public speaking. This paragraph is an excerpt from a long article that was published in William Lloyd Garrison's anti-slavery newspaper, The Liberator. Sarah advocates equality of the sexes including the responsibility of women to financially support their families. The piece was written in Brookline, Massachusetts while Sarah and Angelina were on a lecturing tour of the northeast in 1837. The Liberator was first published on January 1, 1831 and continued until December 29, 1865. It was the most influential anti-slavery publication in the years before the Civil War.

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