Abolitionism in the United States was a righteous cause that aimed to dismantle the institution of slavery from the colonial era through the Civil War, culminating in the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865.
The Abolition movement, rooted in the ideals of the Enlightenment, initially targeted the trans-Atlantic slave trade, marking its inception with the 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery. As the cause gained momentum, diverse advocates, from evangelical colonists to social reformers like James Oglethorpe, championed the abolition of slavery and the slave trade on both humanitarian and political grounds.
Despite the Revolutionary era seeing the abolition of the international slave trade by all states, albeit temporarily reversed by South Carolina, only Northern states enacted laws for its gradual or immediate end. It wasn’t until the mid-19th century that leaders like William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, and John Brown escalated the fight, leading to the Civil War, where emancipation became a paramount objective, finally achieved with the 1865 amendment.
Continue reading to learn more about the Abolition Movement and some of the nation’s major Abolitionist figures. If you are in Virginia, consider taking your study of the Civil War era to the next level with a Guided Battlefield Tour in Virginia, led by historian guides.
Overview of the Abolition Movement in the United States
Abolitionism in Colonial America traces its roots back to before the establishment of the United States, with early laws such as Rhode Island’s 1652 act against prolonged servitude marking the start of legislative opposition to slavery.
Despite such laws often being ignored, the spirit of resistance was kindled, notably with Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676, where indentured servants and Africans united against colonial governance, setting a precedent for interracial collaboration towards liberation.
This period also saw the 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery, an early, explicit condemnation of slavery by the Quaker community. This petition laid the groundwork for the Quaker’s later abolitionist efforts.
Prominent Quaker figures like Benjamin Lay and Anthony Benezet were instrumental in attacking the slave trade and influencing future generations of abolitionists, including prominent figures like Benjamin Franklin and John Wesley. Samuel Sewall’s “The Selling of Joseph” (1700) stands as the earliest-recorded anti-slavery tract in what would become the United States, criticizing the transition from indentured servitude to outright slavery.
The colony of Georgia’s initial ban on slavery, advocated by founder James Edward Oglethorpe, represented an early, though ultimately temporary, victory against the practice. Oglethorpe’s opposition to slavery was partly tactical, to prevent alliances between runaway slaves and Spanish forces, but also moral, aiming to prevent the suffering of enslaved people.
Significant revolts, such as the Stono Rebellion in 1739, highlighted the agency of enslaved individuals in the abolitionist movement. These acts of resistance underscored the potential for self-liberation and influenced the trajectory of abolitionism.
As abolitionist sentiment grew, legislative actions began to reflect a shift in attitudes toward slavery. The gradual abolition laws in Northern states, starting with Pennsylvania in 1780, marked a slow but definitive move towards the end of slavery in the North. Massachusetts took a more radical stance with its constitution in 1780, leading to legal challenges that effectively ended slavery in the state. Meanwhile, states like New York and New Jersey passed gradual emancipation laws.
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia: Site of John Brown’s Famous Raid
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The abolitionist movement’s early phase demonstrated a complex interplay of moral, political, and legal strategies against slavery. It laid the foundation for the more organized and widespread abolitionist efforts that would intensify in the 19th century, ultimately contributing to the end of slavery in the United States with the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865.
The abolitionist movement gained unprecedented momentum in the decades leading up to the Civil War. The publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852, a novel that depicted the brutal realities of slavery, stirred public sentiment and brought the abolitionist cause into the homes of ordinary Americans. Meanwhile, the contentious Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which mandated that escaped slaves be returned to their owners even from free states, further polarized the nation and galvanized abolitionist efforts.
John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry in 1859 marked a radical departure from the nonviolent tactics that characterized much of the abolitionist movement. Brown, a fervent abolitionist, believed that slavery could only be overthrown through armed insurrection. His attempt to initiate a slave rebellion by seizing the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, failed, and Brown was executed, but the event sent shockwaves through the country. To many in the South, Brown’s raid was a harbinger of the violence and upheaval that abolitionism threatened to bring. To abolitionists and many in the North, it was a call to action that underscored the moral and political imperative to end slavery.
The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, on a platform that opposed the expansion of slavery into new territories, was the final catalyst for secession. As Southern states left the Union to form the Confederacy, the stage was set for the Civil War. While the war began as a struggle to preserve the Union, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and the valor of African American soldiers highlighted the central role of slavery in the conflict. The eventual Union victory and the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865 abolished slavery, achieving the goal that abolitionists had fought for tirelessly through decades of advocacy, sacrifice, and struggle.
Leading American Abolitionists
Having traced the story of the Abolition Movement from its origins until the end of the Civil War, we’ll now turn our attention to some of the most significant abolition thinkers and activists in the history of the United States.
Benjamin Lay
Born in 1681, Benjamin Lay was a radical British Quaker whose profound opposition to slavery was sparked by the horrors he witnessed in Barbados, including an enslaved man’s suicide to escape further beatings. Lay’s Quaker beliefs deeply informed his passionate opposition to slavery, driving him to undertake theatrical demonstrations to highlight the cruelty of the institution and the complicity of those who tolerated it. Lay also happened to be a dwarf, and the prejudice he likely faced for his dwarfism surely informed his dedication to the causes of society’s less fortunate.
On one occasion, Lay exposed the hypocrisy of the comfortable Quaker lifestyle by standing barefoot in the snow outside a Quaker meeting, illustrating the harsh conditions slaves endured. His audacity didn’t stop there; in a notorious protest, Lay kidnapped a slaveholder’s child to simulate the pain of African families torn apart by slavery.
His most infamous demonstration occurred during the 1738 Philadelphia Yearly Meeting in Burlington, New Jersey. Disguised as a soldier, Lay delivered a fiery denunciation of slavery, concluding with the dramatic plunging of a sword into a Bible concealing a bladder of pokeberry juice, and splattering the fake blood onto attendees.
Lay’s bold “guerilla theater” tactics were controversial. In 1737, he published “All Slave-Keepers That Keep the Innocent in Bondage, Apostates…”, a scathing critique of slavery and Quaker complicity, without the approval of Quaker oversight. The book, printed by his friend Benjamin Franklin, led to his formal disownment by the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, which publicly distanced itself from both Lay and his views.
Despite being ostracized, Lay’s legacy as a fervent abolitionist endures. His life exemplifies the lengths to which some individuals will go to confront injustice, standing in stark contrast to the more measured approaches of contemporaries like John Woolman.
William Lloyd Garrison
With a deep-seated belief in Christian morality, William Lloyd Garrison found his calling in the fight against slavery, founding The Liberator in 1831. This newspaper quickly became a cornerstone of abolitionist rhetoric, advocating for “moral suasion” and nonviolence. But Garrison’s influence extended beyond journalism; he was instrumental in forming the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833 and played a key role in introducing Frederick Douglass to the abolitionist stage.
Despite facing potential lynching in 1835, Garrison’s resolve only strengthened, leading him to denounce the Constitution as a pro-slavery document. His commitment saw him through the Civil War, culminating in a symbolic visit to Fort Sumter at the war’s end.
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass’s journey from a Maryland slave to a luminary of the abolitionist movement embodies the triumph of the human spirit over systemic oppression. Douglass’s eloquence and powerful autobiographies, especially Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845), debunked the myth of the intellectual inferiority of enslaved people, offering a personal testament to the inhumanity of the institution.
Douglass was also a fervent supporter of women’s suffrage and even found himself an unwitting vice-presidential candidate. His commitment to justice extended to championing the Constitution’s protection of free speech and the right to assemble, making him a pivotal figure in the struggles for both racial equality and civil liberties.
John Brown
John Brown’s life story encapsulates the belief that the scourge of slavery could not be eradicated by words alone. Witnessing the inhumane treatment of an enslaved boy in his youth instilled in Brown a deep-seated conviction that slavery was a monstrous evil. His commitment to the cause was galvanized by the murder of Elijah Lovejoy in 1837, leading him to dedicate his life to slavery’s destruction, by violence if necessary.
This commitment was starkly demonstrated in the Pottawatomie Massacre and the audacious raid on Harper’s Ferry, actions that branded Brown as a radical and a martyr. His trial and execution highlighted his unyielding dedication to the abolitionist cause, with his final words echoing the depth of his conviction. John Brown’s legacy is complex, embodying the fierce urgency and moral quandaries that defined the fight against slavery.
His violent raids and subsequent hanging are also often seen as a flame to a powder keg: events that created the conditions in which a Civil War could start. For this reason, John Brown has been referred to as “the meteor of war”.
Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth, originally Isabella Baumfree, was a towering figure in both the abolitionist movement and the early women’s rights movement. Escaping slavery in 1826 with her daughter, Truth became the first black woman to win a court case against a white man, reclaiming her son from kidnapping.
In 1843, answering a divine call, she adopted the name Sojourner Truth and became a powerful advocate for freedom and equality. Her speech at the 1851 Ohio Women’s Rights Convention, widely known as “Ain’t I a Woman?”, showcased her formidable oratory. Throughout the Civil War, Truth recruited for the Union Army and fought tirelessly for land grants for freed slaves.
Mum Bett
Elizabeth Freeman, known as Mum Bett, made history as the first enslaved African American to successfully sue for her freedom in Massachusetts, effectively challenging the legality of slavery under the state’s constitution. Her victory in Brom and Bett v. Ashley in 1781, alongside the concurrent case of Quock Walker, led to a judicial acknowledgment that slavery was incompatible with the principles of freedom and equality, marking a tacit end to slavery in Massachusetts. Mum Bett’s courageous stand propelled the state towards abolition.
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams served as the sixth President of the United States and was a vocal opponent of slavery. His post-presidential years in Congress were marked by fervent advocacy against the gag rule, which prevented discussion of anti-slavery petitions, and his opposition to slavery’s expansion into new territories.
Adams’s impassioned defense of the Amistad Africans before the Supreme Court highlighted his commitment to justice and liberty, reinforcing his role as a key player in the struggle against the institution of slavery.
Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman was born into slavery, though she later escaped and rose to become an iconic leader of the Underground Railroad, guiding many to freedom with unmatched bravery.
Tubman risked her life repeatedly to return to the South and lead others to safety. Despite suffering lifelong injuries from a brutal incident in her youth, she never wavered in her mission. Tubman’s strategic genius made her a key figure in the abolitionist movement and earned her the enduring title of “Moses of Her People.”
This brings an end to our overview of the Abolitionist Movement and some of its leading figures. If you have any questions, please contact us.
Want to continue exploring Civil War history? Read How Did the American Civil War Change Society? next.
