If the Union must be dissolved slavery is precisely the question upon which it
ought to break
John Quincy Adams
Background of Abolitionists
MishMosh of Beliefs
• Reformers.
– Saw slavery as a black
mark on American
society and a limiting
our growth.
– Mostly came from the
middle-class, who
were already
reforming prisons,
education, equality for
women, mental health,
government, and
services for the poor.
Susan B. Anthony
http://ncwhs.oah.org/images/YoungSusanB.jpg
• Moral grounds.
– Declaration of
Independence
declared all people are
created equal.
– The Bible preaches
equality.
– A byproduct of the
Second Great
Awakening and
Charles Finney.
Charles Finney
http://demo.lutherproductions.com/historytutor/basic
/modern/people/images/Finney.jpg
Background of Abolitionists
Why Abolition?
• Political reasons.
– Democrats protested the denial of political
and civil rights to blacks.
– By 1805, all of the Northern states had
either outlawed slavery or set out gradual
emancipation.
– Northerners believed that the slave South
was gaining power and trying to push north
of the Missouri Compromise line.
Abolitionist Opinions
Option 1: Colonization
• Benjamin Lundy.
– Quaker publisher, tried to
persuade Southerners to
free their slaves.
– Once freed, he explored
the possibility of
colonization in Canada or
Haiti.
Abolitionist Opinions
Option 2: Violent Uprising
Former Slaves: David Walker
• Born to freed slaves,
moved to
Massachusetts
• David Walker’s
Appeal.
– A pamphlet that urged
African-Americans to
use violent means, if
necessary, to win their
freedom.
– Known as the
“diabolical pamphlet”
throughout the South.
David Walker
http://cache.eb.com/eb/thumb?id=78425
Abolitionist Opinions
Option 3: Work within the System
Former Slaves: Frederick Douglass
• Background.
– Most well-known escaped slave. He
learned to read and write and
mastered a trade while a slave.
– Earned enough money from lectures
and writing to send to his former
master and legally purchase his
freedom.
• Became part of the
Massachusetts Anti-Slavery
Society.
--He believed freedom
required not only
emancipation, but also full
social and economic
equality.
• Changing opinions.
– Originally wanted emancipation
by violent means.
– Late 1840s, decides to break
with the “radical abolitionists.”
• Believed that the Constitution
needed to be upheld.
• If it was not, then emancipation
meant nothing because blacks
would not be treated as equals.
– Destroy slavery by working
within the system.
Abolitionist Opinions
Option 4: Free them now, to heck with the consequences
William Lloyd Garrison
• Assistant of Benjamin Lundy, would
become a leading abolitionist.
– Became leader of the radical view.
– Wanted the immediate
emancipation of slaves.
– Did not care about the political,
social, and economic
consequences.
– Refused to engage in political
activity to end slavery.
– Compromises have failed in the
past.
– Laws made to protect slavery were
illegal under God’s law.
– Prepared to destroy the Union to
gain their ends.
• The Liberator.
– Key abolitionist
newspaper.
– Extremely
controversial in both
the North and the
South.
– Would be banned in
the South.
– Set out the reasons
for abolition in a
graphic manner.
William Lloyd Garrison
http://www.olemiss.edu/courses/his105/images/liberator.jpg
• Importance of Garrison.
– Did not have many followers, but opened up
new views on abolition.
– Abolition was not a reform movement, but a
revolution.
– Achieving racial equality, not just ending
slavery, will lead to the true goal: full justice
for blacks.
• Saw blacks as true equals.
• Supported the efforts of female
abolitionists and the women’s rights
movement.
Abolitionist Opinions
Option 5: Moderate Approach—one step at a time
• Origins & beliefs.
– Broke with Garrison in 1840.
– “Immediate emancipation… gradually
achieved” through political activity.
– Did not want female abolitionists to take an
active role.
• Believed that slavery was enough of an issue to
antagonize people.
• Would lose support.
• Created the Liberty Party.
– Would be one of the numerous “third parties”
created to fight for the end of slavery.