The Genius of Universal Emancipation was an abolitionist newspaper founded by Benjamin Lundy in 1821, in Mount Pleasant, Ohio. History The newspaper was originally Elihu Embree's The Emancipator in 1820, before Lundy purchased it the following year. Lundy's contributions reflected his Quaker views, condemning slavery on moral and religious grounds and advocating for gradual emancipation and the resettlement of freed slaves in other countries, including Haiti, Canada, and Liberia. The paper attracted few readers in Ohio, so Lundy moved his base of operations to Greeneville, Tennessee, in an attempt to spread his ideas in a slave state. Although the paper gained national circulation through twenty-one states, Tennessee slave owners were not very receptive to Lundy's publications, and he realized the newspaper could have greater impact on the East Coast. In 1824, he moved The Genius to Baltimore, Maryland, where it would spend most of its publishing life. The paper would later be moved to Washington and then Philadelphia, and Lundy continued to publish irregularly until his death in 1839. Editors Benjamin Lundy Benjamin Lundy, considered by some as "The First Abolitionist", was born to Quaker parents in 1789, in Sussex County, New Jersey. Lundy was taught to be opposed to slavery at a young age. While working as a saddle maker in Wheeling, Virginia, Lundy witnessed the slave trade for the first time, thus beginning his career in abolitionism. At the time, the abolitionist movement had been losing momentum. In 1815, Lundy revived the movement by establishing The Union Humane Society, which sought gradual emancipation of slaves through legislation and to provide aid to freed slaves. Six years later, Lundy founded The Genius. The paper alternated between monthly and weekly publications, as Lundy spent much of his time traveling to give speeches or to other countries for potential freed slaves. While on a trip to Haiti, Lundy's wife, Esther, died in childbirth, leaving him a single father of twins. As Lundy found himself with less time to devote to the paper, he met William Lloyd Garrison, and offered him an editing position. After Lundy and Garrison parted ways over the "Black List," Lundy began working closely with John Quincy Adams to establish freedman's colonies in Mexico, after Mexico abolished slavery completely in 1829. However, Texas revolted in 1836, and effectively ended any chances of such colonies being established. During this time, Lundy hired multiple assistants to keep the paper going,