If the Union must be dissolved slavery is precisely the question upon which it
ought to break
John Quincy Adams
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Background of Abolitionists
MishMosh of Beliefs
• Reformers.
– Saw slavery as a blight
on American society
and a roadblock to
progress.
– 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
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Background of Abolitionists
MishMosh of Beliefs
• 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.
Map of US after
MO Compromise
http://www.americanforeignrelations.com/images/en
an_0001_0002_0_img0141.jpg
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Background of Abolitionists
Key Terms
• Emancipation.
– Freeing of slaves.
• Abolition.
– The immediate
and total end of
slavery.
An Emancipated Slave
http://eprentice.sdsu.edu/S03X2/pasenelli/Emancipation.jpg
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Abolitionist Opinions
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.
Benjamin Lundy
http://images.virtualology.com/ac/4/i/ency0027.jpg
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Abolitionist Opinions
Colonization
• 1817, American
Colonization Society.
– Gradual emancipation
of slaves, with freed
slaves to be sent to
colonies in Africa.
– Founded the colony of
Liberia.
– Would be a long and
expensive process.
– Slave owners would
have to voluntarily
take a loss.
Liberia
http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=62283&rendTypeId=4
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Frederick Douglas
• runaway slave
• self – educated
• wrote and spoke the
evils of slavery
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Quote
8
Abolitionist Opinions
Former Slaves: Frederick Douglass
• Background.
– Most well-known escaped
slave.
– 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 AntiSlavery Society.
– Would associate with
leading abolitionists of the
time period.
Frederick Douglass
http://www-tc.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/images/4fred16b.jpg
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Freedom Child
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Abolitionist Opinions
Former Slaves: Frederick Douglass
• Narrative of the Life of
Frederick Douglass.
– Freedom required not
only emancipation, but
also full social and
economic equality.
Frederick Douglass
http://www.ls.cc.al.us/blackhistory/douglass2.jpg
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Abolitionist Opinions
Former Slaves: Frederick Douglass
• 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.
Frederick Douglass
http://img.timeinc.net/time/2002/bhm/history/images/douglas.jpg
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Quote
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Abolitionist Opinions
William Lloyd Garrison
• Assistant of Benjamin
Lundy, would become
a leading abolitionist.
William Lloyd Garrison
http://images.acswebnetworks.com/1/934/garrison_portrait.jpg
– Became leader of the
radical view.
– Wanted the immediate
emancipation of
slaves.
– Did not care about the
political, social, and
economic
consequences.
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Abolitionist Opinions
William Lloyd Garrison
• 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.
William Lloyd Garrison
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Will
iam_garrison.jpg/250px-William_garrison.jpg
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Abolitionist Opinions
William Lloyd Garrison
• Garrison was so
radical that he
burned the
Constitution.
– Called it an
“agreement with
Hell.”
William Lloyd Garrison
http://www.arfalpha.com/PushToTheFront/Volume1_HTM/41e4c670.jpg
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Abolitionist Opinions
William Lloyd Garrison
• 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
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Abolitionist Opinions
William Lloyd Garrison
• 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.
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Harper’s Ferry (1859)
•
•
•
•
led by John Brown
wanted to free slaves
stormed the arsenal
convicted of treason
and murder
• Bought attention to
slavery again
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20
Slave Resistance
1. “SAMBO” pattern of behavior used as a
charade in front of whites [the innocent,
laughing black man caricature – bulging
eyes, thick lips, big smile, etc.].
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Slave Resistance
2. Refusal to work hard.
3. Isolated acts of sabotage.
4. Escape via the Underground Railroad.
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Runaway Slave Ads
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Slave Rebellions Throughout the Americas
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Slave Rebellions
in the Antebellum South
Gabriel Prosser
1800
1822
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Slave Rebellions in the Antebellum South:
Nat Turner, 1831
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Southern Pro-Slavery
Propaganda
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Follow the Drinking Gourd
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A. Underground Railroad
1. not underground
2. not a railroad
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3. What was it?
a) a system of loosely organized
group of people working against
slavery and for freedom
b) Approximately 100,000 slaves
escaped on the Underground
Railroad
c) operated from early 1800s
through the Civil War
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4. Special Terms
a) conductors – people who helped guide
escaping slaves to freedom
i.
most famous: Harriet Tubman
b) stations – safe house (hiding places)
c) Heaven, Promise Land, Canaan=
Canada
d) Passengers, Cargo – fugitive slaves
e) station masters – person in charge of
the hiding places
f) Big Dipper / North Star were used 31
5. Maps were not used . . .
– routes were passed on through songs and
quilts
– Follow the Drink Gourd
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Quilt Patterns as Secret Messages
The Monkey Wrench pattern, on the left,
alerted escapees to gather up tools and
prepare to flee; the Drunkard Path
design, on the right, warned escapees not
to follow a straight route.
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