Abolitionist movement
The abolitionist movement was a social and political push for the emancipation (freeing) of all slaves and the end of racial discrimination and segregation. There were some abolitionists who called for unequivocal and immediate emancipation and others who called for gradualism, meaning groups of enslaved people would be freed over time. There were some "Free Soil" advocates who favored limiting slavery to where it already was, but making sure new states would be free states and that slavery wouldn't spread west. The abolitionist movement became increasingly prominent in Northern churches and Northern politics beginning in the 1830s, which contributed to the regional animosity between North and South leading up to the Civil War.
Although abolitionist feelings had been strong during the American Revolution and in the North during the 1820s, the abolitionist movement did not coalesce (come together) into a militant crusade until the 1830s.
In the previous decade, there were two major changes that took place leading to the abolition movement: the Industrial Revolution and the Second Great Awakening (a religion revival). As much of the North underwent industrialization, this lead to social disruption. The powerful evangelical religious movements (The Second Great Awakening) tried to impart spiritual direction to society. In other words, both of these changes led people to question the role and value of humans as a whole.
Led by abolitionist, William Lloyd Garrison, the American Anti-Slavery Society, began publishing the famous newspaper, the Liberator in Boston. In December 1833, Garrison and sixty other delegates of both races and genders met in Philadelphia to found the American Anti-Slavery Society, which denounced slavery as a sin that must be abolished immediately, endorsed nonviolence, and condemned racial prejudice.
In the previous decade, there were two major changes that took place leading to the abolition movement: the Industrial Revolution and the Second Great Awakening (a religion revival). As much of the North underwent industrialization, this lead to social disruption. The powerful evangelical religious movements (The Second Great Awakening) tried to impart spiritual direction to society. In other words, both of these changes led people to question the role and value of humans as a whole.
Led by abolitionist, William Lloyd Garrison, the American Anti-Slavery Society, began publishing the famous newspaper, the Liberator in Boston. In December 1833, Garrison and sixty other delegates of both races and genders met in Philadelphia to found the American Anti-Slavery Society, which denounced slavery as a sin that must be abolished immediately, endorsed nonviolence, and condemned racial prejudice.
By 1835, the American Anti-Slavery Society had received substantial moral and financial support from African-American communities in the North and had established hundreds of branches throughout the free states, flooding the North with antislavery literature, agents, and petitions demanding that Congress end all federal support for slavery.
All these activities provoked widespread hostile responses from North and South, most notably violent mobs, the burning of mailbags containing abolitionist literature, and the passage in the U.S. House of Representatives of a “gag rule” that banned consideration of antislavery petitions.
Despite this, abolitionist ideas continued to spread. Speakers such as Frederick Douglass, Wendell Phillips, and Lucy Stone in particular became extremely well known. The autobiographies of fugitive slaves such as Douglass spread as well. Frederick Douglass published a newspaper called the North Star. Women also did their part to bring an end to slavery. Sojourner Truth, Prudence Crandall, Lydia Child, Susan B. Anthony, and Angelina and Sarah Grimke all worked to end slavery.
Abolitionists were not satisfied with just encouraging slaves to work for freedom. They helped thousands of slaves escape to the North or into Canada. This journey to freedom was called the Underground Railroad. It was a series of stops along routes to the North. Slaves traveled on foot at night using the North Star as their guide. By day they hid out in the homes of abolitionists who were called conductors. Levi Coffin and John Fairfield were especially successful conductors. The most famous of all, however, was Harriet Tubman. She made nineteen trips back to the South and led over three hundred people to freedom. During the Civil War she served as a nurse on the battlefield. She was also a Union spy. After the war she opened her home to former slaves who were in need.
All these activities provoked widespread hostile responses from North and South, most notably violent mobs, the burning of mailbags containing abolitionist literature, and the passage in the U.S. House of Representatives of a “gag rule” that banned consideration of antislavery petitions.
Despite this, abolitionist ideas continued to spread. Speakers such as Frederick Douglass, Wendell Phillips, and Lucy Stone in particular became extremely well known. The autobiographies of fugitive slaves such as Douglass spread as well. Frederick Douglass published a newspaper called the North Star. Women also did their part to bring an end to slavery. Sojourner Truth, Prudence Crandall, Lydia Child, Susan B. Anthony, and Angelina and Sarah Grimke all worked to end slavery.
Abolitionists were not satisfied with just encouraging slaves to work for freedom. They helped thousands of slaves escape to the North or into Canada. This journey to freedom was called the Underground Railroad. It was a series of stops along routes to the North. Slaves traveled on foot at night using the North Star as their guide. By day they hid out in the homes of abolitionists who were called conductors. Levi Coffin and John Fairfield were especially successful conductors. The most famous of all, however, was Harriet Tubman. She made nineteen trips back to the South and led over three hundred people to freedom. During the Civil War she served as a nurse on the battlefield. She was also a Union spy. After the war she opened her home to former slaves who were in need.