SpealcittgOut
Against Slavery
LessonOulline
. TheAbolition Movement
. EscapingSlavery
. AbolitionandWomen'sRights
VOCABULARY
abolitionist
Underground
Railroad
Falls
Seneca
Convention
PEOPLE
WilliamLloyd
Garrison
HarrietB.Stowe
Grimke
Angelina
SaraGrimkd
LeviCoffin
HarrietTubman
LucretiaMott
Cady
Elizabeth
Stanton
Truth
Sojourner
BUITDBACKGROUND
Asthe practiceof slaverygrewduringthe 1800s'
moreand morepeoplespokeout againstit. ln 1831
in Bostdl
WilliamLloydGarrisonbegana newspaper
calledTheLiberator.lts strongwordsagainstslaverl'
"Onthis
causeda stirthroughoutthe UnitedStates.
subjectldo not wishto think,or speak,or writewid!
ANDI WIL LBEHEARD."
m o d e r a tio n ...
READING
STRATEGY
Use
a (hartlikethe
to list
onebelow
between
similarities
and
theabolition
w0men
5movemen$.
afr
ia
YouAreHere
18tl-1860
EABOLITION
MOVEMENT
Peoplewho spokeout againstslavery
calledabolitlonists.An abolitionist
someonewho wanted to abolish, or
, slaveryin the United States.
ding the Word
Thep nted word playedan important
in gettingpeopleto join the abolit movement. By 1860about l7
icanAmericannewspapersalonewere
inted in the United States,Peoplewho
osed,or wereagainst,the abolitiontried to stop theseand other abolinist newspapers.
In someplacescopies
TheLiber&torwercburnedand mail
ieISrefusedto deliver it,
TheI iberatoralsoupsetsome Nofrh-
Garrisondemandedthat blacks
e dre same rightsas nhires.Although
did not own slaves,many of
did not believein equalrightsfor
and whites.
the most famousabolitionistnewspagrew to be The North Stq,r,stafiedby
kederick Douglassin 1847.The others
bcluded the Freeman'sAd.uocate,
Freebm's lournal, alld TheMirror of Liberty.
llncle Iomt Cabin
Oneofthe most popularstatements
:gainstslaveryin the UnitedStateswas
in 1852by an abolitionistin MassatrDade
chusetts.Ifarriet BeecherStow€wrote a
rovel calledUncleTom'sCabin.It
describedthe livesofthe enslaved.One
draracter,ElizaHarris,escapedto prerent her youngsonfrom beingsoldaway
from her.Anothe! UncleTom,diedunder
the whip of the crueloverseerSimon
Legree,The book soldmorethan 300,000
copieswithin its first yearofpublication.
SouthernAbolitionists
A number ofSouthemwhitesfought
for the abolitionof slavery.Amongthem
wereAngellnaGrlnk6 and SaraGrimk6,
daughtersof a wealthySouthCarolina
judge and plantationor,vner,
Theyhad
seenthe evilsof slaveryfircthand.Sara
"believedtheir bondagefslavery]inconsistentwith justiceand humanity."Eventually,the two sistersmovedto the North
wheretheyworkedopenlyfor the end of
slavery.Theretheywereamongthe first
womento speakpubliclyfor abolition.
w
How did UncleTom'sCabin
supportabolition?
Uncle
fon'sCabin
by
Harriet
Beeder
Stowe
and
the
news{left)
papetfheNofthSttr
(farleft)spoke
out
against
slavery.
l
. 1 'r'
Like ltredcrick Dottglass,many Aliican
Americans risked their lives to escapeto
thc free Northern states.lhe,v also \,\'ent
to thc WesternTen itories, Canada,Mexico, and the Caribbeanlslands. \4any
travcled for $reeksol months crossing
hundrcds of miles almost entirehrat
nit{ht. During thc day they bid from slave
catchersroaming the fields ard tbrests
searchingfor escaPedslaves.
r, ' :
The Underground Railroad
Someabolilionistsworkedto cnd slav
cry legall)' Others took direct action to
)relp those rvbo lvcre ensl:rved.One rn'ay
was through the Underground Railroad
Ncither underground nor a railroad, the
Ilnderground Railroad \'\iasa system ol
secretrcules that escapingcaptivestir lowedto r-eedom.The escapingslaveand those rvho helpcd them used railr
terms as code ',vords.Those n'ho guide
and lransported escapingslavesrvele
called "conductors."The slal cs lver.
called "passengcrs."The placesr'vhere
slaveshid along the rvay ivere called
"stations."Peoplewho lbd and shelter.
them $rerc"station masters."
Songsh'ere often used to signal ll'-'
plan to cscape.The song on Pagc4l !'
"Follow the Drinking Gourd," gavc d::.
tions tbr escapiugnotth in code. Ear'
lhe fiver \ in tlte.onSr r a. ln actui.
For c)(amplc,the "great big river" r'ra.
Ohio River.The "drinking gourd" l':,.
Howmanymlle!
might an escap.
slavefrom Mon:
gomery,Alabahaveto travelIa
reachDetroit,
Michigan?
CANADA
lhe unclerqround
€
M:jor rolte of
th e Un de rqro un d
Co
NY
Whichbodieso'
watermight al.
escapingslaveto crossto reaaCanada?
NC
- '-
vannah
A7 !,ttTU:
\_\,:.4,:";;"
t_ici.,ix
l
I
take me back alive."
'de Dipper. One of the stars in
':e Little Dipper is the North
which escapingslaves
-..,1r,
Althoughher husband
refusedto join her Tubman fled from the plantation in the middle of the
night. Sheheadedfor
the houseof a white
womanknownto help
thoseescapingslavery.
'fhe womangaveher
two slipsofpaper u,ith
the namesof familieson
-ied to guidethem
:lrth.
::',eriuerendsbetween
nuohills,
:tlloLuthedrinking
gourd.
.rcre's&notherriueron
tlY otherside,
::,llow thedrinkinggourd.
,,henthegreatbig riuer
nleetsthe little riuer,
2llowthedrinking gourd..
or theold man is a-waititlgfor
ti).cqrryyou tolieedom
follow thedrinkinggourd.
_'1,ou
the route north who would
help her. Tubman traveled at
night,mostlythroughswamps
HarrietTubman and woodlands.After traveling90
A Quakerfrom Indiana, Levi Coflin,
,zs knou"nasthe "presidentofthe
JndergroundRailroad."Flishomewas
:ong one ofthe major transportation
j ,uIe\.Hi\ wifeCalherine
Coffinfer
:iothed,and hid morethan 3,000slaves
] their home.
o n th e U n d e rMos t o I t h e v o l u n te e rs
lound Railroad were African American.
iome of them were still enslaved.
HarrietTubman
One ofthe best known volunteers on
he Underground Railroad was Ha$iet
Tubman. In 1849Tubman heard that she
nd other slaveson her Maryland plantaiion were to be sold farther south. Tubman knew that life was harder there. She
rold her husband, lohn, "There'str'vo
ihings I've a fight to: death or liberty. One
or the other I mean to have. No one will
miles, she reachedthe free soil of
Pennsylvania.Shelater said,
"I looked at my hanfu, to seeif I
was the s&mepersonnow that I w&s
free . . . I felt like I tuas in heeuen.'
Tubman returned 19 times to guide
her lamily and many others to fteedom.
Shewas given the nickname "Moses,"
after the Hebrew prophet who led his
people out of slaveryin Egl?t. "l never
run my train off the track, and Tnever lost
a passenger,"said Tubman. More than
300 slaveso\Medtheir freedom to her
Southern slaveo\ ''nersoffered $40,000
reward for her capture.William Still, secretary ofthe Underground Railroad rn
Philadelphia, said ofTubman "in point of
courage. , . she was without equal."
.lNG
*,"ffi:E! Howdid the Underground
p.y
helpHarriet
Railroad
ctr!-
Tubman?
419
RIGTITS
ANE WOMENI'5
ABOKITIONV
Women in the early 1800salso had
very few dghts. As the abolition movement strengthened,so did the fight lbr
women's rights. In IB37 Angelina Grimkd
w.rote:"The discussionofthe rights of the
slavehas opened the way for the discussion of other dghts." Shemeant the rjghts
ofwomen.
The SenecaFallsConvention
In 1840a World Artislavery Convention was held in London. lt refusedto
allowwomen to take part. This angered
two of its delegates,Lucretia Mott and
Elizab€rh Cady Stanton. They decjded to
organizetheir olt'n convention to discuss
women's dghts. It would be held in
SenecaFalls, New York.
On luly 19, 1848,more than 240 People
attended the SenecaFalls Convention.
!rinary
source:
After t\ ro days of debate,the conventjol
approved a "Declaration oI Rights and
Sentiments."lt began rith thc statemer:
"All men and lvomen are createdcqual.
It went on to say "Thc historl, of manklr
is a historyofrepeatedinjuries. . . on rir.
part of man tou.ard\,\,omen."Then it lisli,
1Bights they believedn'omen should
have.Theseincluded the rlghts to vote
tootr tt pr opetn ilr ,
higheredlr calion.
ried, and to have equal riglrts with men
''lhese becane knor'l.nas equal riglrts.
sojournerTruth
Throughoutthe 1840sand 1850s
Soiourner Truth gavc spcechesarounc
the country about abolitionand wonre: I igh1..Boflr inIn ' la! erv ir t \ew \ otL
around 1797,she rt'asfreed in 1827.Ar
ageof4ti, shebcganspeakingout abor.
the evils of slaveryand r,omen's rights
Readthe excerpt belohr
ltuth
froma speech
bySojoutnet
excetpt
- atthe Women'sRightsConvention
in Akron,Ohio,1851
beingequal.I can carryas ntuclt
I hauehearrlabout the sexes
as any man, antl can e[t as much too, if I can get iL.I am
asstrongasany man that is now.Asfor intellect,all I con
say is,if q womanhaue& pint, an.da man cIquart why
cqn'tshehaveher little pint full? Youneednot beaftaid
to giue us our ri.ghtsfor fear we Luill take too much,for
wecan'ttakemorethan our pint'll hold . . . .
what do you think Truth is cqlling for when sheasked,
'\nhy can't shehave her tittte pint full?"
420
tallshonor
These
statues
insene(a
oflhewomen's
theearlyleaders
rights
movement.
PUTTINGIT TOGETHER
In 1851Truthhad attendedtheWomen's
RightsConventionin Alcon, Ohio.Shehad
Istened asmen spokeabout how a
n-oman'splacewasin the home and how
$omen wereweakerthan men.ThenTruth
q-entup to the platform and askedsimply,
'\4ay I saya few words?"Her few words are
sill quoted today
'(w
How did the women's
movementgrow out ofthe
abolitionmovement?
for eachvocabulary
1. Writeonesentence
term.
abolitionist
SenecaFallsConvention
Railroad
Underground
rightsdidwomen
2. In theearly1800s,what
not have?
and
oftheabolition
3. Whowerethe leaders
womenlrightsmovements?
of Rights
and
4. Howwouldthe Declaration
affectcitizen5'rights?
Sentiments
5. Predictwhateffectsconflictoverslavery
wouldhaveon the movementfor women's
rights.
Manypeoplefound that
the abolitionand the women's
ghtsmovementstogether
madeboth movements
stronger."I am for any movement wheneverand wherevet
thereis a goodcauseto promote,a riSht
to assertldefend],a chainto be broken,
a burdento be removed,or a u,Tongto
be redressedlcorrected],"saidFrededck
Douglassat the SenecaFallsConvention.
But asboth movementsgainedstrcngth,
the United Statesbecameevenmore
dividedthan it alreadywas.Somefeared
a divisionbetweenthe stateswould soon
leadto war
it to
Lookat the mapon page418.LJse
from
for
slaves
escaping
writedirections
to Minnesota.
Louisiana
andheading
S,r wri," u po"r uboutoneof the
peoplediscussed
in thislesson.
421