Many have said that his entire life was a “Sermon of Freedom.” Thomas Wentworth Higginson’s strong faith motivated him to fight for freedom for all. His desire for all to be free found Higginson working as an abolitionist, author, and minister. Later in his life, he fought in the Civil War and encouraged writers like Emily Dickinson.
Higginson was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1823 to a distinguished family whose roots could be traced back to some of the original colonists to settle on the shore of the Massachusetts Bay. Higginson’s father died when he was 10, but his family’s wealth and influence allowed him to attend Harvard College when he was 13.
After he graduated, he worked as a teacher for a short while before deciding to attend Harvard Divinity School. However, his religious studies made him feel called to be an activist for the abolitionist movement.
Higginson quit school to join protests, but he returned to Harvard to finish his studies and graduated in 1847. He opposed a war with Mexico because he saw it as an excuse to expand slavery. He wrote several anti-slavery poems and columns for the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator.
Active Abolitionist
He helped to free slaves who were imprisoned and supported their escape. He also sent supplies to Kansas to aid settlers who wanted the territory to be a free state.
Higginson allied himself with abolitionist John Brown, who led the fight in Kansas. Higginson was one of the “Secret Six,” a group of abolitionists that secretly funded Brown’s 1859 raid of Harper’s Ferry when Brown tried to lead a slave rebellion.
Higginson tried to raise money for Brown’s defense, but after Brown was captured and executed for his involvement in the incident, all of the members of the Secret Six, except for Higginson, fled to Canada. Even though it was known that Higginson was involved, he was never arrested.
After the Civil War started, Higginson signed up to fight. He served as a captain in the 51st Massachusetts Infantry until a wound caused him to retire in 1864.
He then served as colonel of the First South Carolina Volunteers, the first group of freed slaves who fought for the Union in the Southern theater of the war. At that time, the Union Army would let freed slaves fight in the war, but they had to be commanded by white military officers.
After the war, Higginson wrote a book entitled “Army Life in a Black Regiment” about his experiences leading the regiment in the Civil War. “We, their officers, did not go there to teach lessons, but to receive them,” Higginson wrote. “There were more than a hundred men in the ranks who had voluntarily met more dangers in their escape from slavery than any of my young captains had incurred in all their lives.”
After the war, Higginson devoted his time to literature and continuing his fight for freedom.
He also became known for befriending and encouraging poet Emily Dickinson. He met with her twice, spoke at her funeral, and helped edit many of her poems that were published after her death.
