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Abolition. If the Union must be dissolved slavery is precisely the question upon which it ought to break John Quincy Adams. Background of Abolitionists MishMosh of Beliefs. Reformers . Saw slavery as a black mark on American society and a limiting our growth.
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Abolition If the Union must be dissolved slavery is precisely the question upon which it ought to break John Quincy Adams
Background of AbolitionistsMishMosh of Beliefs • Reformers. • Saw slavery as a black mark on American society and a limiting our growth. • Mostly came from the middle-class, who were already reforming prisons, education, equality for women, mental health, government, and services for the poor. Susan B. Anthony http://ncwhs.oah.org/images/YoungSusanB.jpg
Moral grounds. • Declaration of Independence declared all people are created equal. • The Bible preaches equality. • A byproduct of the Second Great Awakening and Charles Finney. Charles Finney http://demo.lutherproductions.com/historytutor/basic/modern/people/images/Finney.jpg
Background of AbolitionistsWhy Abolition? • Political reasons. • Democrats protested the denial of political and civil rights to blacks. • By 1805, all of the Northern states had either outlawed slavery or set out gradual emancipation. • Northerners believed that the slave South was gaining power and trying to push north of the Missouri Compromise line.
Abolitionist OpinionsOption 1: Colonization • Benjamin Lundy. • Quaker publisher, tried to persuade Southerners to free their slaves. • Once freed, he explored the possibility of colonization in Canada or Haiti.
Abolitionist OpinionsOption 2: Violent UprisingFormer Slaves: David Walker • Born to freed slaves, moved to Massachusetts • David Walker’s Appeal. • A pamphlet that urged African-Americans to use violent means, if necessary, to win their freedom. • Known as the “diabolical pamphlet” throughout the South. David Walker http://cache.eb.com/eb/thumb?id=78425
Abolitionist OpinionsOption 3: Work within the SystemFormer Slaves: Frederick Douglass • Background. • Most well-known escaped slave. He learned to read and write and mastered a trade while a slave. • Earned enough money from lectures and writing to send to his former master and legally purchase his freedom. • Became part of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. --He believed freedom required not only emancipation, but also full social and economic equality.
Changing opinions. • Originally wanted emancipation by violent means. • Late 1840s, decides to break with the “radical abolitionists.” • Believed that the Constitution needed to be upheld. • If it was not, then emancipation meant nothing because blacks would not be treated as equals. • Destroy slavery by working within the system.
Abolitionist OpinionsOption 4: Free them now, to heck with the consequencesWilliam Lloyd Garrison • Assistant of Benjamin Lundy, would become a leading abolitionist. • Became leader of the radical view. • Wanted the immediate emancipation of slaves. • Did not care about the political, social, and economic consequences. • Refused to engage in political activity to end slavery. • Compromises have failed in the past. • Laws made to protect slavery were illegal under God’s law. • Prepared to destroy the Union to gain their ends.
The Liberator. • Key abolitionist newspaper. • Extremely controversial in both the North and the South. • Would be banned in the South. • Set out the reasons for abolition in a graphic manner. William Lloyd Garrison http://www.olemiss.edu/courses/his105/images/liberator.jpg
Importance of Garrison. • Did not have many followers, but opened up new views on abolition. • Abolition was not a reform movement, but a revolution. • Achieving racial equality, not just ending slavery, will lead to the true goal: full justice for blacks. • Saw blacks as true equals. • Supported the efforts of female abolitionists and the women’s rights movement.
Abolitionist OpinionsOption 5: Moderate Approach—one step at a time • Origins & beliefs. • Broke with Garrison in 1840. • “Immediate emancipation… gradually achieved” through political activity. • Did not want female abolitionists to take an active role. • Believed that slavery was enough of an issue to antagonize people. • Would lose support. • Created the Liberty Party. • Would be one of the numerous “third parties” created to fight for the end of slavery.
