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Phillips (1811 - 1884) was a delegate to the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London (1840), opposed the Mexican War and annexation of Texas, advocated dissolution of the Union, and vehemently denounced slaveholding. He held that the government owed African-American slaves not only freedom but land, education, and full civil rights. After the 15th amendment to the U.S. Constitution enfranchised African Americans, Phillips continued his agitation for social reforms, including prohibition, women's sufferage, abolition of capital punishment, currency reform, and labor rights.