Abolitionists Movement

Opposition to slavery in North America dates to slavery’s beginnings there. Enslaved men and women were constantly seeking ways to use the religious and civil values espoused by enslavers to argue for their own freedom.

Indigenous people in the early British and Spanish colonies tried to use the courts to gain freedom, but few succeeded. 

Some colonists argued for abolition very early, including Bartolomé de las Casas in the 16th-century Spanish colonies and some white Quakers in 18th-century British colonies.

During the Revolution, many enslaved people actively sought their freedom by escaping to the British or by adopting the language of inalienable rights and challenging white American colonists to live up to their liberty-loving rhetoric.

Many prominent white people, including Thomas Jefferson and James Madison (both enslavers), thought slavery would eventually end but did not support abolition. In the early 19th century, they joined a majority of white Americans supporting the removal of African Americans to Africa. 

The American Colonization Society raised money to facilitate this removal, which they said would include both free and enslaved African Americans. African American opposition to the American Colonization Society was part of a new, centralized movement to promote abolition and work toward citizenship rights.

 William Lloyd Garrison and black allies launched the radical abolitionist movement in 1831 using the ideas of all of these predecessors. Garrison began promoting immediate abolition as an alternative to gradual emancipation or colonization.

Many prominent white people, including Thomas Jefferson and James Madison (both enslavers), thought slavery would eventually end but did not support abolition. In the early 19th century, they joined a majority of white Americans supporting the removal of African Americans to Africa.