In the first issue of The Liberator, William Lloyd Garrison wrote: "I am in earnest – I will not equivocate – I will not excuse – I will not retreat a single inch – and I will be heard." Describe how this reflects the time period in which he was writing. Your answer should be at least 150 words. See below for the full excerpt.

I AM aware that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as Truth, and as uncompromising as Justice. On this subject I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation. No! No! Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen—but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest—I will not equivocate—I will not excuse—I will not retreat a single inch—and I will be heard. The apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal and hasten the resurrection of the dead.