The Abolition Movement

The Abolition Movement

Slavery and Equality

• Republicanism based on the equality of men
• “We came equals into this world, and equals shall we go out of it. All men are by nature born equally free and independent.” – George Mason
• Historically (in England) slaves and the poor not considered part of this equality
• Ideal citizen of a republic = landowner who had a stake in the system

Slavery and Equality (2)

• Greatest threat to Republicanism = the poor (few in America)
• If enslaved freed they would become a poor class = threat to future of the U.S. (in the minds of the Framers)
• In South, fear more immediate
• Slaveholder Landon Carter: “If you free the slaves, you must send them out of the country or they must steal for their support.”
• Thomas Jefferson agreed, believed if slaves freed, they must be exiled (assimilation not possible)

Slavery and Equality (3)

• Still, revolutionary war changed attitudes
• Many colonies/states ban slave trade
• Virginia legalizes manumission (freeing slaves) in 1782 (10,000 freed by 1790)
• Many in South hope for end of slavery
• Northern states begin to prohibit slavery
• No slaves in Massachusetts by 1790

Early Abolitionism

• ‘Abolitionists’ advocated the end of slavery
• American Colonization Society (ACS) founded in Virginia in 1817
• Called for gradual emancipation
• Slaveholders to be compensated
• Freed slaves to be taken to Africa
• Liberia founded 1830 (2.5% Americo-Liberian today)
• ACS fades away
• Refusal of freed slaves to leave, scope of slavery, increased profits from cotton

The Growth of Abolitionism

• Two factors led to growth of abolition movement in North in 1820s and 1830s
• Agitation of black abolitionists and signs of black unrest in the South inspired white abolitionists
• The Second Great Awakening (starts 1801) inspired a reform spirit in the North
• Revivalists argued that America was in need of moral regeneration by dedicated Christians, many see slavery as sin

Abolitionists

• William Lloyd Garrison
• White abolitionist journalist
• Began publishing
• The Liberator in 1831
• Helped to form the American Anti-Slavery Society
• Rejected “gradualism”

American Anti-Slavery Society

• Efforts
• Sent speakers around the country
• Sent petitions to Congress
• Sent abolitionist propaganda to the South
• Reaction
• Angry white mobs opposed changes in race relations
• Southern postmasters refused to deliver antislavery literature
• In 1835 President Andrew Jackson unsuccessfully petitioned Congress to ban the mailing of abolitionist pamphlets

Frederick Douglass

• Escaped from slavery in 1838
• Author (Narrative published 1845)
• Newspaper publisher (North Star) 1847
• Worked closely with radicals, particularly with the Underground Railroad
• Helped about 1,000 slaves every year escape to the North
• Raised awareness of conditions for slaves

Video Questions

• How is the North dependent on slavery?
• Where did Harriet Jacobs live rather than stay enslaved? How long did she live there?
• What connection did free African Americans have to slavery?
• Who was David Walker? Why is he a significant figure in the Abolition movement?
• How do Bostonians react to Garrison?
• Some argued that abolishing slavery would hurt the U.S. Describe the argument.
• How does slavery impact white children, according to the film?
• What difficulties did African Americans face when they moved North?
• How did slave fugitives impact the abolitionist movement?
• How did the Abolitionists connect back to the Revolution?