Undoubtedly a man is to labor to better his condition, but first to better himself.

In 1835 Channing wrote the book entitled SLAVERY James Munroe and Company publiWilliam Ellery Channingr. However the struggle continued through two years during which Channing lived in Richmond working as a tutor. He lived through the increasing tension between religious liberals and conservatives and took a moderate position rejecting the extremes of both groups.

William Ellery Channing (April 7 1780 – October 2 1842) was the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century and along with Andrews Norton one of Unitarianism's leading theologians. He was known for his articulate and impassioned sermons and public speeches and as a prominent thinker in the liberal theology of the day.