Abolitionists and States' Rights

Abolition Abolitionist: one who believed slavery was morally wrong and wanted to end it. Abolitionists were often treated badly even in the North. 1833: Great Britain abolished slavery What words are used to describe the abolitionist in the poster?

Abolitionists William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison: published an abolitionist newspaper Fredrick Douglass: gave speeches in favor of abolition Harriet Tubman: active in the “Underground Railroad”, which helped fugitive slaves escape to Canada Fredrick Douglass Harriet Tubman

Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862 Student of Ralph Waldo Emerson Arrested for not paying his taxes. He did not pay his taxes in protest of a government that allowed slavery and had gone to war with Mexico to extend slavery. He wrote “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience” in which he argued the moral necessity of resisting slavery. He believed that it was the duty of citizens to disobey unjust government policies. Thoreau said that more than just words were needed. Citizens must back up their words with actions through nonviolent acts of civil disobedience.

Transcendentalism Emerson and Thoreau believed that people had a inner sense to recognize moral truths. People can make own moral decisions without outside influence. Laws that offended peoples consciences should be resisted. This idea influenced future leaders such as Mohandas Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Thomas Cole’s “The Oxbow” is the quintessential Hudson River School painting showing how man can improve nature. Transcendentalist painters tried to show how man can better the wilderness.

The Underground Railroad Vast network of people who helped slaves escape to Canada. People allowed slaves to stay in their basements, barns, or cellars, called “stations”. “Conductors” led the slaves from station to station, usually at night. They used the natural resources such as swamps, bayous, forests, and waterways to stay hidden while traveling.

States’ Rights and the Defense of Slavery States’ Rights: idea that a state could ignore a federal law that unfairly hurt the state. Southerners felt that the Congress was creating laws to favor the North and West but that hurt the South. Southerners said that slavery was in the Bible and that slaves in the South were far better off than workers in the North. Southerners argued that slave owners looked after the slaves while factory owners could not care about the workers at all. John C. Calhoun in 1828 said the state had the right to nullify a federal law within its borders or secede from the Union if it wished.