8.4

 Society in the early 1800’s had a rigid gender hierarchy  Women were expected to stay out of politics and were given few opportunities for public action  Church organizations were one of the few arenas where women could participate

 Charlotte Forten and Maria W. Stewart began the Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society in 1833  Stewart became the first American women to address male audiences in public  She encouraged men to stand up and actively oppose slavery  Her speech accused men of not doing enough and she was received a great deal of negative backlash for her speech

 Most black women were poor and uneducated and did not have the social opportunity to be public advocates against slavery  They acted as practical abolitionists whom risked everything to harbor fugitive slaves and worked to purchase freedom for themselves and many others

 In Baltimore a group of African American abolitionists convinced prominent white abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison to take a more radical stance against slavery  Including denouncing the ideas of colonization in Africa, and gradual emancipation  William Watkins, Jacob Greener and Hezekiah Grice wrote letters advocating emancipation and greatly influenced the direction of the abolitionist movement  Garrison began a famous anti-slavery newspaper The Liberator where he pushed for immediate emancipation without compensation to slaveholders and without expatriation to Africa

 Two other black abolitionists shaped Garrison’s opinions; David Walker and Nat Turner  David Walker wrote an Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World in 1829 which was widely read and circulated throughout the South  In this writing he attacked racism and attacked slavery, he also suggested slaves use violence to secure their freedom

 In 1831, Nat Turner, a privileged slave from Virginia initiated a large- scale slave uprising  Turner led a group of between 60 and 70 killed 57 whites before the militia put down his rebellion  This was the largest number of white casualties in a slave revolt  Turner and 17 of his associates were hanged for treason, but his revolt inspired many others

 Northern abolitionists of both races became committed to nonviolence after the white reaction to Turner’s rebellion  Turner however gained respect among these abolitionists and was often compared to revolutionary leaders like George Washington  The ideas of preaching peaceful abolition but admiring violence against slavery characterized the anti-slavery movement for years to come

Assignment  1. What role did black women play in the abolition movement?  2. What was the Baltimore Alliance?  3. Who was William Lloyd Garrison? What were his contributions to the abolition movement?  4. What was David Walker’s Appeal and why was it important?  5. What was the significance of Nat Turner’s revolt?