BEGINNINGS OF ABOLITION MOVEMENT
• Emancipation = immediate freedom without repayment of
losses to slave owners
• Abolition = discontinuation of slavery
• The growth in reform and the view of individualized
responsibility led to growing belief that slavery was against
God’s will
• By 1820s – movements such as the AMERICAN
COLONIZATION SOCIETY wanted to relocate blacks to Africa:
– Issue of not wanting blacks in the country
– Similar argument used about Natives, that whites and blacks
could not live together (co-exist)
• However, many freed Africans fought that, believing they were
also Americans and had the same rights to the freedoms of the
country
– By 1850 the majority of slaves were American-born, not
African
• By the early 1830s, some
had taken up the cause of
“immediate” or radical
emancipation
• Theodore D. Weld wrote
pamphlet American
Slavery As It Is that had a
strong influence on others
• Lewis & Arthur Tappan
who helped financed the
movement
• Lyman Beecher, President
of Lane Theological
Seminary (father to Harriet
Beecher Stowe)
EARLY LEADERS
WILLIAM
LLOYD
GARRISON
• In 1828, while working for the
National Philanthropist,
Garrison first became
involved in the abolition
movement
• In 1830 he started an
abolitionist paper, The
Liberator
• In 1832, with the Tappan
brothers and over 60 others,
he helped form the New
England Antislavery Society
• Believed the Constitution was
a pro-slavery document
• By 1840 Garrison was convinced that slavery's
influence corrupted all society and a change was
needed in America's spiritual values to achieve
emancipation
• Garrison added equal rights for women within the
movement and encouraged people not to attend or
support "corrupt" political parties and churches
“Let Southern oppressors tremble-let their Northern
apologists tremble-let all the enemies of the persecuted
Blacks tremble. . . . Urge me not to use moderation in a
cause like the present. I am in earnest-I will not equivocate-I
will not excuse-I will not retreat a single inch-AND I WILL BE
HEARD!"
DAVID
WALKER
• He wrote a pamphlet Appeal…to the
Colored Citizens of the World…
(1829), urging slaves to fight for
their freedom
• Owned a used clothing business
that sold clothes to sailors. He
concealed copies of the pamphlet in
the clothing
• When the smuggled pamphlets
began to appear in the South, states
reacted with legislation prohibiting
circulation of abolitionist literature
• Warned that his life was in danger,
Walker refused to flee to Canada.
His body was found later near his
shop, and many believed he had
been poisoned
• Born into slavery but he did
gain an education
• Finally managed to escape
when he was 21 years old,
helped by a free black
woman who would later
become his 1st wife
• Became active in the
Abolition movement and
subscribed to Garrison’s
newspaper
• Garrison later encouraged
him to become a lecturer at
meetings
FREDERICK
DOUGLASS
• 1845 – published his autobiography Narrative of the Life of
Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
• Because of the success of the book, Douglass was forced to
move to Europe to escape recapture
• Supporters raised the money needed to purchase his legal
freedom
• 1848 – returned to America and began his own Abolitionist
paper The North Star
• Believed in using politics and the law to end abolition –
different than Garrison
• Became active in the women’s movement and attended the
Seneca Falls Convention
• During the Civil War, used his influence to encourage Lincoln
to allow African-Americans to join the military and receive
equal treatment
Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where
ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that
society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade
them, neither persons nor property will be safe
NAT TURNER REBELLION & EFFECTS
• Nat Turner was a preacher who believed he was chosen by
God to lead people to freedom
• 1831 – his group attacked plantations in Virginia, killing 60
people before being caught and later hung
• Fear of uprisings led to backlash against blacks in the South
• States like Virginia, which had a large population who did not
own slaves, discussed abolition – but not enacted
• Southern slave states tightened controls SLAVE CODES on
blacks, such as education, assembly in public, ownership of
property – to discourage freed blacks from remaining
• 1836 – Congress passed the GAG RULE limiting debate on
an issue and preventing submission of abolition petitions
– (Not overturned until 8 years later in part through efforts of
John Quincy Adams – a member of Congress at this time)
AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
• 2nd Great Awakening brought Christian views to
more blacks – and idea that all are equal
• 1816 – Start of the Bethel African Church in
Philadelphia, later the AME Church
• Blacks start separate churches of worship:
– Place of safety and support
– Strong sense of community
– Place of opposition to slavery
– Push for political and social equality
• Development of political power and organization of
national convention in Philadelphia
DIFFERENCES IN SLAVERY
• By the 1830s almost all slaves were American-born
• Rural Slavery = Hard labor in fields, restricted where
could go, frequent punishment, families separated,
living conditions poor
• Urban Slavery = More opportunities to earn
independent money, more freedom of movement,
social pressures reduced level of punishment, more
interaction with free people, white and black
http://answersinhistory.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/slavery.gif
http://mrhureausclass.com/ushistory/slavery%202.jpg
http://www.mostateparks.com/statecapcomplex/statemuseum/se_pics/goodbye.jpg
JUSTIFICATION / SUPPORT OF SLAVERY
• The Bible talked about slavery, so it must be
acceptable according to God
• Slaves are Christians instead of heathens – so
slavery and Christianity could co-exist
• The idea that slaves actually lived better than if freed
– Used conditions of northern factory workers as an
example of differences in treatment
– Southerners cared for their slaves during their
entire life (some actually did)
historyproject.
ucdavis.edu