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Wendell Phillips (1811-1884), American slavery abolitionist

Sitter in 4 portraits
Wendell Phillips was an American abolitionist crusader whose eloquent speeches helped fire the antislavery cause during the period leading up to the American Civil War. Trained in the law, Phillips abandoned his legal career in order to join the antislavery movement. He became a close associate of the abolitionist leader William Lloyd Garrison and began lecturing for antislavery societies, writing pamphlets and editorials for Garrison's The Liberator, and contributing financially to the abolition movement. Phillips became recognised as one of the most brilliant orators of his day. In 1865 he succeeded Garrison as president of the American Anti-Slavery Society.