Section 4-The Abolitionist Movement

Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. Chapter Objectives Section 4: The Abolitionist Movement I can list groups involved in the early abolitionist movement.  I can analyze how Northerners and Southerners viewed abolitionism.

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Early Opposition to Slavery Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. The movement to end slavery polarized the nation and contributed to the Civil War.  Many Americans opposed slavery, but they differed on ways to end it.  Some antislavery societies supported an approach known as gradualism. They called for a gradual end to slavery.  Some antislavery societies believed that ending slavery would not end racism. They believed that the best solution was to send African Americans back to Africa. (pages 284–285)

The American Colonization Society (ACS) was formed to move African Americans to Africa.  The ACS acquired land in West Africa, chartered ships, and moved some free African Americans to a colony that eventually became the nation of Liberia.  Colonization was not a realistic solution. The cost of transporting was high. Early Opposition to Slavery (cont.) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. (pages 284–285)

Also, most African Americans regarded the United States as their home and had no desire to migrate to another continent. Early Opposition to Slavery (cont.) (pages 284–285)

The New Abolitionists Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. In the 1830s, the idea of abolition began to take hold.  Abolitionists argued that enslaved Africans should be freed immediately.  The development of a large national abolitionist movement was largely due to the work of William Lloyd Garrison.  He founded the Liberator, an antislavery newspaper that advocated emancipation, or the freeing of all enslaved people. (pages 285–287)

With an increasing following, he founded the American Antislavery Society in  Free African Americans also played a prominent role in the abolitionist movement.  The most prominent was Frederick Douglass, who published his own antislavery newspaper, the North Star.  Sojourner Truth was another important African American abolitionist. The New Abolitionists (cont.) Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. (pages 285–287)

The Response to Abolitionism Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. Many Northerners, even those who disapproved of slavery, opposed extreme abolitionism, viewing it as a threat to the existing social system.  Many warned that it would produce conflict between the North and South.  Others feared a possible huge influx of African Americans to the North.  Still others feared that abolition would destroy the Southern economy, and thereby affect their own economy. (pages 287–288)

Most Southerners viewed slavery as essential to their economy, and therefore opposed abolition.  Some defended slavery by claiming that most enslaved people had no desire for freedom because they benefited from their relationship with slaveholders. The Response to Abolitionism Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. (pages 287–288) (cont.)

In 1831 Nat Turner led a revolt by enslaved people that killed more than 50 Virginians.  Southerners suppressed the circulation of the Liberator, and other abolitionist publications.  Southern postal workers refused to deliver such publications, and the House of Representatives, under pressure from the South, shelved all abolitionist petitions. The Response to Abolitionism Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information. (pages 287–288) (cont.)

Abolitionist Songs Abolitionists used songs to stir up enthusiasm for their cause. To make songs easier to learn, they often wrote new words for old tunes. Here is a stanza William Lloyd Garrison wrote to the tune of “Auld Lang Syne”: I am an abolitionist! I glory in the name; Though now by Slavery’s minions hiss’d, And covered o’er with shame; It is a spell of light and power– The watchword of the free:– Who spurns it in this trial-hour, A craven soul is he! Abolitionists used a wide variety of media to generate enthusiasm for their cause. Examples were included in a 1994 exhibit at the Library of Congress–“The African-American Mosaic.” At the library’s Web site, you can find electronic images of abolitionists’ publications. The address for the Library of Congress Web Site is:

Horace Mann carried his ideas on education from Massachusetts to Ohio, where he became the first president of Antioch College. There he fought for equal educational opportunities for women.

Oberlin College was the first coeducational college and one of the first to admit African American students. Among Oberlin’s first African American graduates was Fannie Jackson Coppin, who had been born enslaved. She went on to have a distinguished career as a teacher and school administrator.

Sisters Sarah and Angelina Grimké were daughters of a slaveholder and had learned about slavery from firsthand experience. They moved to Philadelphia, became Quakers, and were among the first women to speak out for both abolition and women’s rights.

On the Wagon The phrase “on the wagon,” referring to a recovering alcoholic, originated during the temperance movement. To publicize their cause, reformers pulled a water wagon through the streets and urged people to climb on. Over time “going on the wagon” came to mean accepting the temperance cause and staying sober.

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