US History
Fort Burrows
15.2 - Opposing Slavery
READ - pgs 439 – 443
Main Idea:
In the 1830s and 1840s, reformers became more active in calling for an end to
slavery in the United States.
Vocabulary:
American Colonization Society – early 1800s organization that proposed to end
slavery by helping African Americans move to Africa
abolitionist – person who wanted to end slavery completely in the United States
The Liberator – most influential antislavery newspaper; began in 1831
Underground Railroad – network of black and white abolitionists who secretly
helped slaves escape to freedom in the North or Canada
Setting the Scene:
As the spirit of reform spread, many young people joined antislavery efforts. In
Providence, Rhode Island, white and black girls met together every week, starting in
1834. As they sewed, one member would read aloud from an antislavery newspaper.
By selling their needlework, the girls raised $90 for the antislavery cause in a single
year.
The idea quickly spread. In Albany, New York, black students pledged six cents
a month. Members of the Pittsburg Juvenile Society pledged a “cent a week.”
Today, a penny a week doesn’t seem like much. But it was a great deal for a boy
or girl whose family was lucky to earn fifty or a hundred dollars for the entire year.
The spread of such organizations showed that in the North, many black and white
Americans had come to believe that slavery must end.
Roots of the Antislavery Movement
 Declaration of Independence stated, “All men are created equal”
 Thomas Jefferson and others believed this statement was NOT meant to include
enslaved African Americans
 Reformers of the 1800s began to think and act differently
 Early Efforts
 Religious beliefs led reformers to oppose slavery
 A ‘sin’ against GOD to own a human being; all people are equal in GODs eye
 Second Great Awakening called for Christians to join a crusade to stamp-out
slavery
 By 1804, all Northern states from Pennsylvania to New England committed to
gradually free their slaves
 In 1800, 50,000 slaves in the North – nearly one million in the South
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 Colonization Movement
 American Colonization Society proposed to end slavery in America by setting
up an independent colony in Africa for them to relocate and live
 President Monroe helped the movement
 He founded the nation of Liberia in Western Africa
 Some African Americans favored moving
 Most African Americans opposed the colony; they had been born in the
United States and wanted to stay in their ‘new’ homeland
 Only a few thousand settled in Liberia
¿¿ How did the abolitionist movement begin ?
Political___________________________________________________________________
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Religious__________________________________________________________________
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The Abolitionist Movement Grows
 Abolitionist wanted to end slavery completely in the US
 Some would settle for a gradual end to slavery by not allowing slavery in the new
Western territories
 Others demanded an end to slavery everywhere; AT ONCE
 African American Abolitionists
 Free African Americans tried to end slavery through lawsuits and petitions
 1820, Samuel Cornish and John Russwurm created an abolitionist newspaper,
Freedom’s Journal
 They printed stories about brutal treatment of enslaved African Americans
 David Walker encouraged enslaved African Americans to free themselves by
any means necessary in his writing,
‘An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World’
 Maria Stewart, 1st American women to make public political speeches
opposing slavery
 Frederick Douglass
An American Profile
Even while he was still an enslaved, Frederick Douglass bravely fought slavery. He
suffered beatings for resisting commands and was once jailed for trying to escape.
Even after he finally did escape, Douglass was in constant danger of being captured
and returned to the South. Despite the risk, he did not hesitate to speak out against
slavery.
In 1845, Douglas wrote his autobiography. Fearing for Douglass’ life, an
abolitionist friend warned him not to publish it. Douglass did so anyway. Two years
later, friends raised money to buy Douglass his freedom at last.
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Frederick Douglass is the best known African American abolitionist
Born a slave in Maryland
As a child, he ignored ‘slave-codes’ by learning to read
He escaped to New England in 1838
At an antislavery meeting, he talked about the sorrows of slavery and his
meaning of freedom
 The audience was moved to tears
 He began lecturing across the United States and Great Britain
 In 1847, he began publishing an antislavery newspaper, The North Star
 William Lloyd Garrison
 Garrison is known as the most outspoken white abolitionist
 He believed slavery should end IMMEDIATELY
 He wrote the most influential antislavery newspaper, The Liberator
 Front Page, First Issue – “…I will be as harsh as truth, and as
uncompromising as justice… I am in earnest… I will not excuse – I will not
retreat a single inch – and I WILL BE HEARD.”
 1832, he helped found the New England Antislavery Society
 He was joined by a young minister Theodore Weld who brought the energy of
a religious revival to antislavery meetings
¿¿ Discuss the roles of Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison in the
abolitionist movement…
Douglas___________________________________________________________________
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Garrison__________________________________________________________________
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 The Grimké Sisters
Angelina Grimké
 White sisters, Angelina and Sarah Grimké, daughters of a South Carolina slave
holder, hated slavery so much they moved to Philadelphia to lecture at antislavery
meetings
Sarah Grimké
 Some male abolitionists, opposed females speaking out in public
 Sarah responded, “Whatsoever it is morally right for a man to do, it is morally right
for a woman to do”
 Strong speaking sisters sparked
a crusade for women’s rights
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The Underground Railroad
 Not a real railroad, but a network of black and white abolitionists secretly helping
runaway slaves escape slavery by moving the freedom seekers to ‘safe’ houses, or
stations, were the slaves could spend the night, get something to eat, and rest as
they made their way North and to Canada
 Conductors safely guided the run away slaves to a series of homes, churches, or
even caves along the route, like a railroad rest stop
 Some hid slaves in hay wagons with false bottoms; the slave would hide under
stacks of hay as the conductor traveled North – incognito!!!!
 Harriet Tubman, an escaped slave, was a very successful conductor; she was
responsible for leading more than 300 slaves on their trip to freedom
 Nicknamed, ‘Black Moses’; Moses was the leader of the Israelites and led them
out of slavery from Egypt
 Slave owners offered a reward of $40,000 for her capture
 She was good! A real good conductor!
Opposition to Abolition
 By mid-1800s, slavery only existed in the South
 Abolitionist Douglass and Garrison had made enemies not only of Southern slave
holders, but also some whites in the North
 Reaction in the North
 Northern mill owners, bankers, and merchants depended on cotton for their
livelihood
 Northern blue-collar workers feared that free African Americans would come
North and take their jobs for lower pay
 NOTE TO STUDENT -- Never mess with someone’s paycheck
 In some Northern cities, angry mobs would break up antislavery meetings
 In Boston, a mob dragged William Lloyd Garrison through the streets at the
end of a hanging rope
 Sometimes, this scare tactic backfired; a person in the crowd saw Garrison
being treated so harshly and commented, “I am an abolitionist from this very
moment”
 Reaction in the South
 Most anti-abolitionist white Southerns accused abolitionists of
‘preaching violence’
 White Southerns blamed Nat Turner, Garrison, and David Walker for
leading major slave revolts
 Turner did -- his rebellion led to the deaths of 60 white men, women, and
children
 They used knives, hatchets, axes, and blunt instruments instead of firearms
 Nat called on his group to "kill all whites”
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 Nat Turner died a slave at the age of 30; he was first hanged, then beheaded,
then his body was cut into four pieces
 Southern Plantation owners – “if slaves were treated well, they would love
their masters and serve him faithfully”
 …“slaves are better off than Northern factory workers that work long hours
in dusty, airless factories”
 Even non-slave owners in the South feared a ‘personal’ economic loss if
slavery was abolished
1. Who would have been most likely to make this statement ?
“My suffering only whetted in me my appetite for the sweetness of freedom.”
A. John Russwurm
C. Maria Stewart
B. Frederick Douglass
D. William Lloyd Garrison
2. How did the antislavery movement begin and grow ?
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3. How did the Underground Railroad help slaves reach freedom ?
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4. Why did many white Northerns and Southerns oppose the campaign to abolish
slavery ?
Northerns_________________________________________________________________
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Southerns_________________________________________________________________
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