Section 2: The Antislavery Movement
South banned antislavery publications & made it illegal to teach slaves how to read
Earliest came from the Mennonites in 1688 1700’s several societies appeared in the north & south , every state north of Maryland passed laws that gradually abolished slavery
Legal importing of slaves ended in 1808 Antislavery newspaper The Genius of Universal Emancipation Favored stoppage of slavery in new states
Some people favored a program to send free blacks & emancipated slaves to Africa Founded the American Colonization Society in 1817 Plan offended most African Americans
Considered themselves Americans By 1831 only 1,400 immigrated Radical Abolitionism William Lloyd Garrison Published The Liberator Founded the American Antislavery Society By 1835 had 150,000 members
One of the most popular speakers & a key leader of the American Antislavery Society Sent to be a house slave in Maryland at 8 Owners wife tutored him Eventually forbade, he taught himself
17- sent to a “slave breaker” One day he fought back escaped to New Bedford, Mass. Wrote his biography, Life & Times of Frederick Douglass Published an abolitionist newspaper, The North Star
Division over women’s participation Garrison insisted women be allowed to speak Some members resigned in protest
Divisions over race For Africans the movement was personal Some felt inferior to the whites Douglass broke with Garrison & founded his own paper Division over tactics Garrison believed the Constitution supported slavery
A Dangerous Operation Railroad- paths the slaves traveled either on foot or in wagons across the north/south border & into Canada Underground- carried out in secret on dark nights
“Conductors” gave them money, supplies, & medical attention Harriet Tubman African Americans some with family & friends still enslaves made up the majority of conductors Escaped slave herself
Rescued more than 300 slaves Nicknamed “the Black Moses” The River Route Mississippi River using a riverboat Dangerous because of slave hunters
Through the Eastern Swamps Faced hazards such as poisonous snakes & disease bearing mosquitoes
The Mountain Route Appalachian Mountains 2 reasons Forests & limestone caves sheltered fugitives Acts as a barrier for western runaways
Ohio, Pa, Ind.- safe places Southern Illinois was more dangerous Remained proslavery Slave owners offered a $40,000 reward for the capture of Harriet Tubman
Opposition in the north Worried it would sour relations between north & south, harm trade Feared competition for lower wages
Eventually turned violent Mob assaulted Garrison & paraded him around Boston with a rope around his neck Abolitionist building burnt down in Philadelphia
Alton, Illinois- Elijah Lovejoy wrote editorials denouncing slavery Printing press destroyed many times He was shot & killed trying to defend it
1830’s became dangerous & rare for southerners to speak out in favor of freeing the slaves Southerners in Congress passed the gag rule