The Abolitionist Movement

1. The Abolitionist Movement Calhoun Academy Fourth Grade

2. What is an abolitionist? • An abolitionist is a person who wants to abolish or end slavery. • The national government protected slavery. • Most Northerners were not abolitionists. • Many Northerners actually opposed the work of abolitionists. • The roles and accomplishments of the leaders of the Abolitionist Movement led to the abolition (end) of slavery.

3. William Lloyd Garrison • Publisher of the abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator. • He used the newspaper to tell everyone slavery was wrong and it should be ended immediately! • The newspaper was banned in the south. • He and others formed the American Anti-Slavery Society. • The society published books and papers supporting the emancipation of ALL slaves. • Many Northerners opposed his views and Garrison was harassed!

4. Sojourner Truth • The first African American woman anti-slavery speaker. • Born as a slave in New York, was freed through gradual emancipation. • Powerful speaking style, and drew in large audiences when she lectured about slavery and women’s rights. • President Abraham Lincoln appointed her as a counselor to the freedmen during the Civil War.

5. Frederick Douglass • Taught himself to read and write as a slave. • Escaped slavery and became an persuasive spokesmen for the Abolitionist Movement. • Published an anti-slavery newspaper, The North Star. • Wrote an autobiography telling the conditions of slavery. • During the Civil War he recruited African Americans to join the Union Army.

6. Harriet Tubman • Escaped slave who became a successful ‘conductor’ of the Underground Railroad. • Chain of homes where escaped slaves could ask for help, find shelter for the night, or catch a ride to the next stop. • Chain of houses ran from the South all the way to Canada where slaves could start a new life. • Known as ‘Moses’ of her people. • Led more than 300 slaves out of the South to freedom!

7. Harriet Beecher Stowe • Author of the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin. • Revealed the cruelty of slavery to many Northerners. • Book became a best seller. • Was a response to the Fugitive Slave Act. • During the Civil War, she often disagreed with Abraham Lincoln on preserving the unity of the nation and postponing freeing the slaves.

8. John Brown • Migrated to Kansas after it became a slave state. • Brown and his sons participated in the violence that gave the territory the name “Bleeding Kansas”. • Led a raid on the US arsenal at Harper’s Ferry in Virginia to capture guns leading to a slave revolt. • After an unsuccessful raid, he an his followers were captured. • He was tried, found guilty of treason and hanged. • Named as a martyr (suffer for a cause) by abolitionists.