Lecture 1: Abolition Movements and People

People and political movements

In this lecture you will learn about different people (Sojourner Truth, etc.) and the political movement of abolitionists (Coloniztion Plan, Gradualism, etc.). Take notes on these different things (people and political movements).

Sojourner Truth’s real name was Isabella Baumfree. Born into slavery in Ulster County, New York, she ran away from her owner in 1826, shortly before slavery ended in that state. Isabella moved to New York City and cleaned houses. In 1843 she changed her name to Sojourner Truth and left New York, telling her friends, “The Spirit calls me, and I must go.” She wanted to travel the country as a preacher. Over time, Sojourner Truth became a popular public speaker, calling for an end to slavery. She also defended women’s rights. Truth’s courage and powerful message helped advance the rights of African Americans and women in the United States.

Sojourner Truth

Massachusetts abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison had a great influence on the antislavery movement. In 1831 he started a newspaper called The Liberator.

Garrison was one of the first white abolitionists to call for an immediate end to slavery. He attracted enough followers to start the New England Anti-Slavery Society in 1832 and the American Anti-Slavery Society the next year. By 1838, the groups Garrison started had more than 1,000 local branches.

William Lloyd Garrison

Her 1852 novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, became a wildly popular best-seller. The book portrayed slavery as a cruel and brutal system. Some people, however, strongly opposed the book and its message. Sale of Uncle Tom's Cabin was banned in the South. Beecher had a major impact on public opinion.

Harriet Beecher Stowe

The sisters were born in South Carolina to a wealthy slaveholding family. They both moved to Philadelphia in 1832. While living in the North, the Grimké sisters spoke out for both abolition and women's rights.

To show their commitment to abolition, the Grimkés asked their mother to give them their family inheritance early. Instead of money or land, the sisters wanted several of the family's enslaved workers. The sisters immediately freed them.

The Grimkés, along with Angelina's husband Theodore Weld, wrote American Slavery As It Is in 1839. This book collected firsthand stories of life under slavery. The book was one of the most powerful abolitionist publications of its time.

Early Abolitionist Movements

Early antislavery societies generally believed slavery had to be ended gradually. First they wanted to stop the slave trade. Then they would phase out slavery itself. Supporters believed that ending slavery gradually would give the South's economy time to adjust to the loss of enslaved labor. This gradual ending of slavery is called Gradualism.

The Gradual Abolition Act of 1780, the first extensive abolition legislation in the western hemisphere, passed the Pennsylvania General Assembly on March 1, 1780. To appease slave owners, the act gradually emancipated enslaved people without making slavery immediately illegal.

First Actions

In 1816 a group of powerful whites formed the American Colonization Society. They planned to send free African Americans to Africa to start new lives. The society raised money to send free African Americans out of the country. Some went to the west coast of Africa, where the society acquired land for a colony. The first settlers arrived in Liberia ("place of freedom") in 1822. In 1847 Liberia declared itself an independent republic.

The American Colonization Society did not stop the growth of slavery. It helped resettle only about 10,000 African Americans by the mid-1860s. Only a few African Americans wanted to go to Africa, while most wanted to be free in America.

Colonization Plan