Abolitionists
From Encyclopædia
In U.S. history, the abolitionists were those who sought to end the institution of black
slavery. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, groups of abolitionists in Britain and France acted vigorously and effectively, protesting
slavery in their
nations' colonies and exposing the horrors of the African slave trade. Their example was followed in the
United States, where abolitionists first achieved
prominence during the American
revolution; the opponents of slaveholding included some illustrious Founding Fathers. Certain that
slavery violated the ideals of the
Declaration of Independence,
Benjamin FRANKLIN, Alexander HAMILTON, John JAY, Thomas PAINE, and
Benjamin rush joined their antislavery efforts with those of the Quakers (Society of FRIENDS) and other religiously inspired Northerners.By 1804 emancipation on a gradual basis had been enacted by every Northern state legislature. Because, in part, of abolitionists'
pressure, measures were also taken on the national level to end U.S. participation in the African slave trade (1808) and to prohibit
slavery's expansion in certain Western territories (the
Missouri COMPROMISE, 1820). Some abolitionists also involved themselves in colonization societies, most notably the AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY, which sought to resettle freed slaves in
Africa. During this era, however, abolitionist efforts proved ineffective in the Southern states, where slaveholding was deeply entrenched. From 1790 to 1830 the advocates of abolition in the South, led by
Benjamin LUNDY, spoke mildly and favored gradual emancipation. A disruptive and radical abolitionism, however, had emerged by the early 1830s. Groups of New Englanders had begun branding
slavery as a horrible sin and demanding "immediate, complete, and uncompensated emancipation" everywhere in the
nation.These abolitionists constituted one of the most controversial movements in American history. Its leadership included famous blacks and women as well as white males and was typified by editors such as the fiery
William Lloyd GARRISON, orators such as Frederick DOUGLASS, Angelina GRIMKE, Wendell PHILLIPS, and Theodore WELD, and many other philanthropists, black agitators, and feminists. From the first, their aim was to transform the
conscience of each white American, Northerner and Southerner, by preaching against the sin of
slavery. They believed that through such agitation it was possible to convince slaveholders to show repentance by releasing their slaves. Abolitionists also called upon each white citizen to cast aside prejudice against blacks and to join the crusade against
slavery. In December 1833 the abolitionists formed the American Anti-
slavery Society, hoping to mount a national campaign, and by 1835 they had established networks of state and local societies. As they founded abolitionist
newspapers (for example, Garrison's The Liberator), held rallies, and distributed emancipationist tracts, these reformers also worked to improve conditions for Northern blacks by protesting segregation, founding schools and libraries, and protecting slaves who had escaped from the South. They also petitioned state legislatures and the U.S. Congress, demanding action against
slavery. Congress's attempt to stem the flow of petitions by GAG RULES only provoked stronger agitation.By the early 1840s, however, widespread and often violent opposition to the abolitionists' efforts had caused members of the movement to disagree profoundly about strategies and tactics. Abolitionists had also divided over controversial new issues such as women's rights, black separatism, and opposition to organized religion. They never again formed a united front. In 1840 some of the moderates formed the LIBERTY PARTY, which ran James BIRNEY as its presidential candidate in 1840 and 1844. These advocates of direct political action later supported the FREE-
soil PARTY and ultimately the
Republican party.After the passage of the new FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW in 1850, many abolitionists involved themselves in the UNDERGROUND
railroad, by which slaves escaped to the North. That law also provoked Harriet Beecher STOWE to write the abolitionist classic UNCLE TOM'S CABIN (1852). Passage of the
Kansas-NEBRASKA ACT (1854), with its provision that the settlers in these territories decide whether there should be
slavery, caused a migration of people dedicated to antislavery. They clashed with proslavery settlers, and a local civil war developed. One such antislavery settler was John BROWN, whose extremism led him to murder five proslavery settlers in
Kansas and subsequently (1859) to seize HARPERS
ferry.During the Civil War, as the organized movement dissolved, many individual abolitionists pushed Abraham Lincoln to issue the EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION (1863). After the war they still lobbied for constitutional amendments and civil rights laws to protect the newly emancipated slaves. Others raised funds to support black
education programs in the old slave states and served in the South as teachers, ministers, and political reformers. The intensity of effort ended, however, with the passage in 1865 of the 13th Amendment abolishing
slavery, the goal for which the abolitionists had fought.James Brewer StewartBibliography: Curry, Richard O., ed., Abolitionists (1965); Davis, David B., The Problem of
slavery in the Age of
revolution (1975); Hawkins, Hugh, The Abolitionists: Means, Ends, and Motivations, 2d ed. (1972); Magdol, Edward, The Antislavery Rank and File (1986); Quarles,
Benjamin, Black Abolitionists (1969); Soderlund, Jean R., Quakers and
slavery (1985);
James Stewart Brewer, Holy Warriors: The Abolitionists and American
slavery (1976); Walters, Ronald G., The Antislavery
appeal (1977).
