Bellwork Who are abolitionists? Why do they believe what they believe?

American History Section 10, Unit 4 Crusade for Abolition

Objectives Explain how African Americans changed the focus on the antislavery efforts Identify what helped spark the call for immediate abolition Describe the obstacles abolitionists faced Describe how Southern slave owners (among others) reacted to the calls for abolition

Changing times With the revolutions in transportation, market, and industrial industries, regional differences began to heighten. Tensions increased between the North and the South and the division was often pronounced between slave and free labor regions. Overtime, Northerners began to increasingly support abolition.

Early abolitionists Most northern states abolished slavery by the 1800s. After working for abolition in their own states, many northern abolitionists wanted to end slavery across the country. To achieve this goal, many northerners supported the American Colonization Society’s plan for ending slavery. Question: What was the American Colonization Society? What was their plan?

American Colonization Society As discussed before, the American Colonization Society tried to get both the North and South to support freeing the slaves by sending them off to Liberia, a colony in Africa. Many abolitionists and southerners supported this idea because they believed that even free Africans were “ignorant” and could not live with whites.

African Abolitionist Societies Northern free blacks did not agree to this idea. To oppose this, by 1826, they formed more than 143 antislavery societies as an alternative to the American Colonization Society’s plan. In 1827, Samuel Cornish and John Russwurm started the first African American newspaper, Freedom’s Journal.

Freedom’s Journal This newspaper was designed to oppose slavery and push public opinion against the American Colonization Society.

Freedom’s Journal These efforts worked. By 1831, only 1,400 African Americans had settled in Liberia in West Africa. The America Colonization Society was unable to persuade enough slave holders, slaves, or free Africans to leave the U.S. Samuel Cornish

Call to Action Early black and white abolitionists did not originally share common strategies. Despite that, however, by the 1830’s they began to join forces to call for an immediate end to slavery.

David Walker In 1829, David Walker– a Boston businessman and free black– published the Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World, in which he demanded immediate, universal abolition. He called for blacks– free and enslaved– to take action for freedom and equality. He also criticized slaveholders who used the bible to justify their having slaves.

David Walker David Walker’s Appeal represented a new mood amongst abolitionists. Many were tired of waiting and lack of progress in promoting abolition.

William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison, a journalist, took action. With the backing of wealthy Africans and whites, he launched an abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator, in In the first issue, Garrison expresses that he wishes to end slavery as quickly as possible.

William Lloyd Garrison Garrison soon became one of the most articulate supporters of abolition. He argued that slavery is a sin and a crime– contradicting the Bible and the Constitution, respectively. He also argued that slaves should enjoy immediate freedom and equality with whites.

American Anti-Slavery Society In 1833, prominent black and white abolitionists formed the first antislavery organization devoted to immediate abolition– the American Anti-Slavery Society. The society claimed more than 200 branches across the nation.

American anti-slavery society The society papered the country with countless abolitionist papers and organized petitions to protest legislation that supported slavery. As well, the society also sponsored lecture tours so speakers could go throughout the nation and speak against slavery.

Frederick Douglass Among one of the best speakers during this tour was a fugitive slave from Maryland, Frederick Douglass. He was the first runaway slave to speak publicly against slavery. His speeches convinced many people to support abolition.

Frederick Douglass Aside from public speeches, Douglass also wrote several books and articles condemning slavery. – His works helped push for more support of the abolitionist movement of the time. As well, Douglass and his wife– Anna Murray Douglass– opened their home to fugitive slaves during the Underground Railroad.

Sojourner Truth Another ex-slave who worked tirelessly for the American Anti-Slavery Society was Sojourner Truth (Isabella Baumfree). In 1827, she managed to escape from her slave master and, after her escape, she joined a religious reformers group who preached on the streets.

Sojourner Truth In 1843, she reported having a religious vision in which God instructed her to find a new mission and new identity. Adopting the name Sojourner Truth, she traveled on foot, preaching the “truth” of abolition and women’s rights.

Resistance By 1840, abolitionists recruited some 200,000 northerners to their cause. Southern slaveholders felt threatened by this movement. However, even northerners opposed the movement.

Resistance As abolition grew in the 1830s, mob violence against abolitionists grew. Garrison was almost killed by a mob while an editor was killed in Illinois for trying to protect his printing press. Question: Why do you think many Northerners opposed abolition? They already abolished slavery, so why wouldn’t they want to remove it entirely?

Resistance Northerners opposed abolition because they held prejudices against African Americans. Many feared that blacks would compete for jobs, or that the loss of slavery would disrupt the economy. Others, following the beliefs of the American Colonization Society, did not believe Africans were capable of becoming part of American society.

Problems with the movement Abolitionists also faced problems within the movement. Some authors– like Garrison– attacked the church and government and others denounced the Constitution. These actions angered moderates, who thought they should push for abolition through voting.

Problems Just as troubling for some, some authors called for equal rights for women as well. Many white male abolitionists viewed women as inferior and did not like the increased role and visibility of women in the movement.

Problems While excluded from formal membership within the American Anti-Slavery Society, women still assumed important roles. Women like Maria W. Stewart, an African American journalist, won over converts to abolition.

Problems In response to the pushback from white male abolitionists, female abolitionists (both white and black), formed their own societies. However, other problems, including the nomination and subsequent appointment of a woman to the committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society, caused some splitting of the abolitionist movement.

Abolitionist Movement Despite some issues the movement faced, they continued to keep public attention focused on abolition and, by 1840, there were more than 2,000 local societies dedicated to the end of slavery.

Questions If you have any questions, please ask now.

Review 1.Why did the inclusion of women cause problems within the abolitionist movement? 2.Why did the American Colonization Society push for Africans to go to Africa? How did Africans react to this? 3.Describe two reasons why many northerners did not support the abolitionist movement? 4.How did David Walker and William Lloyd Garrison influence the abolitionist movement? 5.How did Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth promote the abolitionist movement? 6.How did some authors push moderates away from the abolitionist movement?

Next Lesson In the next lesson, we will be covered women’s rights movements during the 1840’s