The Abolition Movement

As we already noted – in the 1800s expediency of slavery was disputed. While industrial North almost abandoned bondage, by the early 19th century, slavery was almost exclusively confined to the South, home to more than 90 percent of American blacks (Barney W., p. 61). Agrarian South needed free labor force in order to stimulate economic growth. In particular, whites exploited blacks in textile production. This conditioned the differences in economic and social development of the North and South, and opposing viewpoints on the social structure. “Northerners now saw slavery as a barbaric relic from the past, a barrier to secular and Christian progress that contradicted the ideals of the Declaration of Independence and degraded the free-labor aspirations of Northern society” (Barney W., p. 63).

The Abolitionist movement during the Antebellum period, was a critical time in American history. The goal of this movement was to emancipate all slaves immediately, and end discrimination, as well as segregation. The brave men and women involved in this movement were called abolitionists and antislavery advocates. The antislavery advocates stood for freeing slaves gradually, and abolitionists wanted slavery gone immediately. No matter how fast, these people all wanted to spread opposition against slavery across the United States. Northern churches started liking this whole idea of abolishing slavery, which started conflict between the North and South. These arguments led up to the Civil War.

also the value of non-violent resistance supported by the transcendentalists and, There were many prominent figures in the Abolition movement that made great strides to freedom. Most took the route of political campaigning, but a few decided to take a more direct approach. One said individual is John Brown. John Brown was a white abolitionist born in Connecticut who simply grew tired of the pacifist approach and took up arms with a few volunteers against slavery.

The North is popularly considered the catalyst of the abolitionist movement in antebellum America and is often glorified in its struggle against slavery; however, a lesser-known installment of the Northern involvement during this era is one of its complicity in the development of a “science” of race that helped to rationalize and justify slavery and racism throughout America. The economic livelihood of the North was dependent on the fruits of slave labor and thus the North, albeit with some reluctance, inherently conceded to tolerate slavery and moreover embarked on a quest to sustain and legitimize the institution through scientific research. Racism began to progress significantly following the American Revolution after which Thomas

Black and white abolitionists shared common assumptions about the evil of slavery, the "virtue of moral reform", and the certainty of human progress"(1). Schor, Garnet,1877, & Lanngston, 1989). This shared understanding provided "the basic for the interracial solidarity" and cooperation so vital in the crusade against slavery"(2). (Schor and Garnet, 1877). But blacks also brought a distinct perspective to the antislavery movement. Their abolitionism was shaped profoundly by their personal experience and racial oppression. Unlike most white abolitionists, they

Throughout the history of mankind, slavery has existed in one form or another. Since the times of ancient civilizations to modern era subjugations, there have forces who feel strongly of its necessity and purpose, while others have devoted themselves to seeing the ideas and acts of slavery abolished. America is not an exception to the concept of slavery and during the nation’s early history, parties from both sides have been made famous for their beliefs in the continuation or the denouncement of slavery in the United States. To understand the contrasting views of pro-slavery advocates versus abolitionists in antebellum America, a comparison of the individual positions must be made to further understand the goals of each party.

Prior to the 1830s most antislavery activists focused on gradual emancipation. Most of these activists were Southern whites, who thought that it would progressively wither away. Only black abolitionists demanded an immediate end to slavery. The abolitionist movement called for the end of slavery and had existed in one form or another since colonial times; the early case had been stated most consistently by the Quakers. Most Northern states abolished slavery after the War for Independence, reacting to moral concerns

The abolitionists of the first half of the 19th century sought to make the Union a lot more perfect by fighting for an end to slavery.

In the early years of the 19th century, slavery was more than ever turning into a sectional concern, such that the nation had essentially become divided along regional lines. Based on economic or moral reasoning, people of the Northern states were increasingly in support of opposition to slavery, all the while Southerners became united to defend the institution of slavery. Brought on by profound changes including regional differences in the pattern of slavery in the upper and lower South, as well as the movement of abolitionism in the North, slavery in America had transformed from an issue of politics into a moral campaign during the period of 1815-1860, ultimately polarizing the North and the South to the point in which threats of a Southern disunion would mark the beginning of the Civil War in 1861 (Goldfield et. al, The American Journey, p. 281).

One of the most, if not the most, controversial and heated debates following the United States independence was regarding the institution of slavery. In the introduction to his book Half Slave and Half Free, Bruce Levine quotes Carl Schurzs’ observation as the “slave question not being a mere occasional quarrel between two sections of the country divided by a geographic line, but a great struggle between two antagonistic systems of social organization (p.15)”. The Nouthern states that allowed slavery benefited from the agricultural labor that those slaves provided. The Northern states that prohibited slavery did so for moral and pragmatic reasons; they felt it was morally wrong to deny another human any form of rights, and did not like the economic advantage it gave to the Southern states. With the use of slavery largely concentrated in the South, the movement against it came from the North and was led by abolitionists; those who were committed to bringing an end to the practice. In this course we have defined “Practice” as the conduct of policy, such as opinion, election, parties and law-making (Lecture). We define Policy as the goals of politics, those being sovereignty, defense, and a collective well-being (Lecture). The following analytical essay will examine antislavery sentiment and practices in the Northern states and the reaction of Southern states. Additionally how the pressures from both sides influenced the Policy of the United States following independence then

Abolitionist Movement, reform movement during the 18th and 19th centuries. Often called the antislavery movement, it sought to end the enslavement of Africans and people of African descent in Europe, the Americans, and Africa itself. It also aimed to end the Atlantic slave trade carried out in the Atlantic Ocean between Africa, Europe, and the Americans. Black resistance was the most important factor. Since the 1500s Africans and persons of African descent had attempted to free themselves from slavery by force. Which let to revolts that are called Antislavery Organizations. The abolitionist movement includes things like colonization, antislavery newspaper, and there is some famous abolitionist.

“Slavery is such an atrocious debasement of human nature, that its very extirpation, if not performed with solicitous care, may sometimes open a source of serious evils.” (Benjamin Franklin, For the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, 1789). Like Franklin, many Northerners, both blacks and whites, were spreading a movement. The movement was called abolitionism and its goal was to eradicate slavery. Most of the abolitionists used protest rallies to protest and bring an end to slavery. Some of the abolitionists used other methods that were deemed unlawful. The Underground Railroad was one such form of abolitionism, where the Southern black slaves were helped to escape north to Canada, the popular refuge for slaves at the time. The “railroad” was in use from around 1810 to the 1860s, during the time of the Civil War.

December 6th 1865 was a big day for americans, seeing as that was the day slavery officially ended when the 13th amendment was ratified. There were plenty of people who contributed and fought for the abolition movement such as john adams, aaron burr, alexander hamilton, and Elijah P Lovejoy, A journalist, minister, publicist, and most importantly, someone who spoke his mind. Lovejoy saw through the views of what everyone around him was taught to believe, and was not afraid to speak out on what he felt strongly about, such as women's suffrage, labor rights, and Abolitionism. As a minister and godly man, “They saw chattel slavery as an offence in the eyes of god”.

Abolition was a movement to end slavery formally or informally. In the U.S., abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade of Africans and set them free. 17th century evangelical religious groups and English Quakers stated slavery was against Christian morals, and in the 18th century, the will to end slavery was the start of the First Great Awakening in the colonies; and in the same time period, Enlightenment thinkers criticized it for taking away the rights of man. Runaway slaves and the strong desire of seeking to gain freedom is directly correlated with the institution of slavery itself. In the history of slavery in the U.S., slaves who left their master without permission were labeled fugitive slaves; these slaves tried to reach countries where slavery was banned such as Canada. Laws were passed so that slaves had to carry official passes if they were traveling without their master. Passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 made penalties harsher for fugitive slaves and anyone who aided them. This caused fugitive slaves to try to leave the country altogether, escaping to Canada or Mexico. Advocates of slavery said most slaves preferred to stay safe in slavery, but, an estimated half a million people attained freedom, one in five men escaped. Many slaves did not know where to travel to or what to do in order to survive, and their number shows their strong desire for freedom.

New abolitionism is abolishing the white race by abolishing the privileges of white skin and the way for whites to get rid of their white dominance. However, it is hard to draw the line between which is the problem, the physical whiteness of a person’s skin or white racist domination. The new abolition focuses more on eliminating all whites and white power rather than reconstruction or self-evaluation which is brutal and shows signs of hopelessness and self-destruction.