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American abolitionists who dissented from religious orthodoxy, who withdrew from a number of
established churches because the churches were not progressive enough on the issue of abolition.
A come-outer would not join a church which held a neutral position on the issue of slavery, and he
would not vote, or run for office, or otherwise take part in a government that let slavery happen. The
phrase was derived from the Bible verse, II Corinthians 6:17 which read "Wherefore come out from
among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive
you."[2]
Garrisonian anti-institutionalism[edit]
William Lloyd Garrison was an influential Boston abolitionist who founded the New England Anti-
Slavery Society and the American Anti-Slavery Society in the early 1830s. Garrison advocated an
immediate end to slavery, rather than a step-by-step process working through the political system. In
1832, he printed an anti-slavery tract called Thoughts on African Colonization which included the
"come out from among them" verse from the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, and a quote from a
recently deceased Reverend Doctor Thomson of Edinburgh: "To say that we will only come out of
the sin by degrees—that we will only forsake it slowly, and step by step... is to trample on the
demands of moral obligation..."[3] At the New England Anti-Slavery Convention in 1836, Garrison
proposed that only churches willing to help fight slavery should be considered "the true and real
church of God."[4] This was viewed by many as too divisive, so other means were tried until the 1837
convention when a resolution was adopted urging abolitionists to leave unresponsive churches, "to
come out from among them and be separate."[4] Garrison's radical ideas defined a strong split within
the anti-slavery societies, and Garrison was abandoned by all but a dedicated core group of like-
minded abolitionists. The Boston-based group of reformers began to be called "come-outers".[5]
Garrison's newspaper, The Liberator, served to spread his view of abolition and anti-institutionalism.
From time to time, news items about come-outers would appear, some culled from other journals. In
1851, Garrison quoted an article entitled "Come-outers in jail" which appeared in The Barnstable
Patriot: "Several of these poor deluded beings in Barnstable, whose actions we have before noticed,
are now on trial in that town for an assault upon a constable when in the discharge of his duty…the
poor creatures are insane, and can hardly be held responsible for their acts. ….the most fitting place
for these unfortunate beings is in the Insane Hospital."[6] Garrison offered his opinion that the 'poor
deluded beings' were quite properly "laboring under religious insanity."[6]
Other regions of the United States that held pockets of "come-outerism" included Cape Cod, New
Hampshire and New York.[7]