Key People of the Reform Movements

He escaped from slavery and purchased his own freedom, then became a leader of the abolitionist movement. Well- known for his writing and public speaking, many found it hard to believe that he had once been a slave. Frederick Douglas

William Lloyd Garrison was a well-known abolitionist, writer, and social reformer. Best known as the editor of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, he helped found the American Anti- slavery Society and promoted “immediate emancipation” of slaves.

Harriet Tubman was an abolitionist and an anti- slavery activist, rescuing more than 70 slaves during 13 different missions into the South using the “Underground Railroad.” She also served as a spy for the Union during the Civil War and was later active in the cause for women’s rights.

Harriet Beecher Stowe was an American author and abolitionist. She was best known for her book Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which described life for African-Americans under slavery. When President Lincoln met her, he supposedly said, “Is this the little woman who made the great war?”

Stanton was an early leader in the women’s rights movement. Her Declaration of Sentiments, presented at the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York (1848) is often credited with initiating the first women’s rights and suffrage movements in the United States. Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Isabella Baumfree was born into slavery but escaped to freedom with her infant daughter in She went to court to recover her son, becoming the first black woman to win such a case versus a white man. In 1843, she changed her name to Sojourner Truth and worked for abolition and women’s rights.

Susan B. Anthony played a key role in the movement for women’s rights and co-founded the Women’s Temperance Movement with Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She also co-founded the women’s rights journal, The Revolution.

Horace Mann, called the “Father of the Common School Movement,” was a politician and advocate of school reform, insisting that universal public education was the best way to turn the nation's children into disciplined and well-informed republican citizens.

Best known as the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case Dred Scott v. Sandford, Dred Scott sued for his freedom after his owner died. Scott argued that he should be free since part of his captivity had been spent in Wisconsin (where slavery was illegal).

The decision of the Supreme Court dismayed Americans who opposed slavery. First, the Court said that Scott could not legally file a lawsuit because, as a slave, he was not a citizen. They went on to say that slaves were clearly property. Secondly, the Court ruled that Congress did not have the authority to outlaw slavery in the territories, rendering the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.

Henry David Thoreau was a writer, philosopher, abolitionist and civic activist. Among other works, he wrote the essay Civil Disobedience which expressed the idea that people have the right to disobey laws if their consciences demand it. He once went to jail for refusing to pay taxes in support of the Mexican- American war because he believed it promoted slavery.

Dorothea Dix worked tirelessly on behalf of criminals and the insane. In the course of 18 months, she inspected every jail, poorhouse and hospital in Massachusetts and presented her findings to the state legislature, prompting them to fund a new mental hospital there. When successful, she carried her crusade nationwide, causing changes in other states as well.

Lucretia Mott was an abolitionist and women’s rights advocate. A Quaker with 5 children, her quiet demeanor, organizational skills and persuasive logic won many converts to her cause. Mott was instrumental in organizing the Seneca Falls convention along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

The Capture of Nat Turner Nathaniel “Nat” Turner led a slave rebellion in Virginia on August 21, 1831 that resulted in the deaths of 60 whites and at least 100 African-Americans. His was the most deadly single uprising to occur prior to the Civil War.

John Brown, with his radical brand of abolition, contributed to “Bleeding Kansas” and then led a raid on the Federal Arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. Brown thought that his raid would stir a slave uprising; instead he was captured, tried, convicted, and executed.