The Origins and History of the Abolitionist Movement
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The most significant event in American history was undoubtedly the U.S. Civil War. The Civil War was, of course, the result of the institution of slavery, which had existed for generations by that time. But by the same token, the opposition to slavery had existed for just as long. The opposition to slavery began amongst devoutly religious people, but eventually spread into a mass social and political movement.

Learn more about the abolitionist movement, its origin, and its growth on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. This episode is sponsored by Chubbies. If you're like me, you probably dress casually most of the time. I almost never have to wear a suit and tie, which is one of the perks of being a podcaster. If you're interested in casual men's clothing that doesn't compromise on quality, then let me recommend Chubbies.

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On my list of episode ideas are a host of topics that deal with the early abolitionist movement in the 18th and 19th centuries. That list includes notable people like Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, John Brown, and Sojourner Truth. It includes events such as the Harper's Ferry Raid and the Amistad Case. And it also includes organizations, both formal and informal, such as the Underground Railroad and the American Anti-Slavery Society.

Before I got into the specifics of those subjects, I felt it was necessary to do an overview of the entire abolitionist movement, so this is that episode. Normally, if a topic is interesting enough, I'll say that it might be the subject of a future episode. I'm not going to say that on this episode because I would be saying it constantly. So, let me just make a blanket statement that many of the things I'll be mentioning briefly in this episode will be explored more in depth in future episodes.

My goal here is simply to provide a very high-level overview of the pre-Civil War abolitionist movement and how it developed. The start of the transatlantic slave trade dates back to the 15th century with the establishment of Portuguese sugar plantations on islands such as São Tomé and Madeira.

The same economic model was brought to the Americas with the discovery and colonization of the New World. The first recorded shipment of enslaved Africans to the New World occurred in 1518 when Spanish traders transported slaves directly from Africa to the Caribbean.

From the start, there were some who objected to slavery on philosophical and religious grounds, but for the most part, those people never made the trip across the Atlantic. They remained in Europe, where they were thousands of miles away from the harsh reality that was chattel slavery. Slavery eventually spread to North America, which also happened to be the destination of several Protestant sects that fled Europe, in particular the Quakers.

The Quakers were not a large group, but their theology was intrinsically at odds with slavery. The Quaker objection to slavery was rooted in their religious beliefs, particularly their commitment to equality, pacifism, and the idea that every individual possessed an inner light or divine presence. In 1688, Quakers in Germantown, Pennsylvania issued the Germantown Quaker Petition against slavery, arguing that slavery was incompatible with Christian teachings.

It was one of the first formal denouncements against slavery in the Americas. By the mid-18th century, Quakers formally prohibited members from owning enslaved people, making them one of the first organized religious groups to take a strong stance against slavery. Their activism played a crucial role in the broader abolitionist movement, influencing both British and American efforts to end the transatlantic slave trade and slavery itself.

In the 1730s and 1740s, the first Great Awakening took place in the American colonies. This expanded abolitionist sentiments to other Protestant groups such as Methodists and Baptists. To be fair, not everyone involved in the Great Awakening supported the full abolition of slavery. But most at least supported better conditions for the enslaved, as well as the evangelization of enslaved blacks and teaching basic literacy so they could read the Bible.

This was still not an organized abolitionist movement at this point, just a shifting of opinions. With the outbreak of war between the colonies and Britain, the inherent contradictions between the Americans fighting to be free while at the same time enslaving people were not lost on many, particularly in the North.

In 1755, the Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage was established in Philadelphia by Quakers, becoming the first formal abolitionist group. Soon after signing the Declaration of Independence, several northern states began to outlaw slavery. It had never been a popular practice compared to the South, but slavery was indeed legal. In 1777, Vermont became the first U.S. territory to prohibit slavery in its constitution.

Pennsylvania followed in 1780 with a gradual emancipation law. Other northern states, including Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey, followed with gradual abolition laws. The early 19th century saw a rapid increase in abolitionist sentiments and the start of formal abolitionist organizations.

The American Colonization Society was founded in 1816 with the goal of resettling freed African Americans in Africa based on the belief that they would have better opportunities there and to address tensions between freed black communities and white society in the U.S. It was supported by a mix of both abolitionists and slaveholders, and they were instrumental in the establishment of the nation of Liberia, which I covered in a previous episode.

While they were technically abolitionists, they were also pretty racist insofar as they wanted to remove all black people from the United States, both free and slave. Frederick Douglass later became highly critical of the organization. The Second Great Awakening swept the country in the 1820s and 1830s. The Second Great Awakening played a crucial role in fueling the abolitionist movement by emphasizing moral responsibility, individual salvation, and social reform.

This religious revival spread throughout the United States, inspiring many to view slavery as a grave sin that contradicted Christian teachings. Evangelical preachers such as Charles Grandison Finley urged their followers to take active steps to eradicate societal evils, including slavery. Many abolitionists, particularly in the North, were deeply influenced by this revival, leading to the formation of religiously motivated anti-slavery groups, such as the American Anti-Slavery Society.

The American Anti-Slavery Society was founded in 1833 by William Lloyd Garrison, along with other prominent abolitionists like Arthur and Louis Tappan and Frederick Douglass. The society was much more radical than previous abolitionist groups, and advocated for the immediate and uncompensated abolition of slavery, rejecting gradual approaches. It used pamphlets, newspapers such as the Liberator, lectures, and petitions to spread its anti-slavery message across the country.

The society emphasized moral persuasion, believing that exposing slavery's cruelty would convince Americans to end it. It also supported racial equality, which was a radical stance at that time. The abolitionist movement wasn't just about advocacy. They were also about taking action. The Underground Railroad was a secret network of routes, safe houses, and individuals that helped enslaved African Americans escape to free states in Canada before the Civil War.

It was neither underground nor an actual railroad, but rather a loosely organized system supported by abolitionists, free black communities, and formerly enslaved individuals. Beginning in the late 18th century and expanding in the early 19th century, it became especially active in the 1830s and 1840s as opposition to slavery grew. Slaves, often traveling at night, were guided by conductors who led them from one safe house or station to another until they reached freedom.

Some of the most famous conductors included Harriet Tubman, who made multiple trips to rescue enslaved individuals, earning the nickname Moses. Free black communities, Quakers, and other anti-slavery activists provided food, shelter, and guidance along the way. Here I should probably introduce a name that I have already mentioned, and perhaps the most notable abolitionist, Frederick Douglass.

Frederick Douglass was an African-American abolitionist, writer, and orator who became one of the most influential voices against slavery in the 19th century. Born into slavery in Maryland in 1818, he endured harsh conditions before escaping to freedom in 1838. His autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, published in 1845, became a bestseller and was instrumental in exposing the horrors of slavery.

During the Civil War, he advised President Abraham Lincoln and played a key role in advocating for the enlistment of black soldiers. While the abolitionist movement was overwhelmingly a northern phenomenon, there was a small underground movement in the South as well. The abolitionist movement in southern states before the Civil War was small, highly dangerous, and faced extreme opposition due to the region's deep economic and social dependence on slavery.

Unlike in the North, where abolitionist organizations flourished, in the South they had strict laws and cultural norms that suppressed anti-slavery sentiment.

Notable Southern abolitionists included Hinton Rowan Helper, a North Carolinian who wrote The Impending Crisis in the South, published in 1857, arguing that slavery harmed poor white Southerners, and the Grimke sisters, Angelina and Sarah, who were raised in a wealthy South Carolina slaveholding family but became outspoken abolitionists after moving north.

By the 1830s, Southern states had enacted harsh censorship laws, banning abolitionist literature and persecuting those who spoke against slavery. The passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 further emboldened pro-slavery forces and forced many remaining Southern abolitionists into silence or into exile. In the 1830s, the American abolitionist movement was spurred on by the British movement.

Britain's successful campaign to end the transatlantic slave trade in 1807, and later abolish slavery in its empire in 1833, demonstrated that legal emancipation was indeed possible. The British Anti-Slavery Society also worked closely with American activists, providing funding, literature, and support.

Additionally, the success of abolition in the British Empire strengthened the moral and political arguments of American abolitionists, particularly those who pushed for immediate emancipation rather than gradual reform. The American movement became even more organized and more political as time went on. The Liberty Party, established in 1840, was the first political party in the United States dedicated to the abolition of slavery.

It emerged from frustration with mainstream political parties, particularly the Whigs and Democrats, which were seen as complicit in maintaining slavery. The party's central platform was immediate abolition and opposition to the expansion of slavery into new territories. It nominated James G. Burney as its presidential candidate in both 1840 and 1844, although he received only a very small percentage of the vote.

Despite its limited electoral success, the Liberty Party played a crucial role in shaping anti-slavery politics. It influenced later movements like the Free Soil Party in 1848 and eventually merged into the Republican Party in 1854, which took a stronger stance against slavery. Its formation marked a shift from moral persuasion to political action in the fight against slavery.

As the country inched closer to open conflict, the abolitionist movement became more radicalized as more and more laws were passed to protect slavery. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was a federal law that required citizens and law enforcement in free states to assist in the capture and return of escaped slaves, denied fugitives the right to a jury trial, and imposed harsh penalties on those who aided them, intensifying sectional tensions between the North and the South.

The Dred Scott case of 1857 was a landmark Supreme Court decision in which Chief Justice Roger B. Taney ruled that African Americans, whether free or enslaved, were not U.S. citizens, and that Congress had no authority to prohibit slavery in federal territories, and that Dred Scott, an enslaved man who sued for his freedom, remained property. This frustration culminated with the raid on Harper's Ferry.

The raid on Harper's Ferry was an armed insurrection led by the radical abolitionist John Brown on April 16-18, 1859, in an attempt to initiate a slave uprising. Brown and a group of 21 men, including both black and white supporters, seized the federal arsenal in Harper's Ferry, Virginia, now West Virginia, with the goal of arming enslaved people and sparking a widespread rebellion.

His plan was to create a stronghold in the Appalachian Mountains where escaped slaves could take refuge and join the fight against slavery. However, the raid quickly failed as Brown and his men were surrounded by local militia and later by U.S. Marines under the command of Colonel Robert E. Lee. After a brief but intense battle, Brown was captured and 10 of his men were killed, including two of his sons. He was tried for treason, murder, and inciting rebellion and was hanged on December 2, 1859.

With the election of Abraham Lincoln and the start of the war, the southern states left Congress, and the abolitionists finally had their moment. Through their influence and the election of abolitionist members of Congress, they were able to get the president to issue the Emancipation Proclamation as well as to pass the 13th and 14th Amendments. There's obviously much more to the abolitionist movement than what I've covered in this episode.

But what you should come away with is that the abolitionist movement was one of the most important in American history and shaped the direction of the country in the 19th century. There were thousands of people, some famous but most unknown, who worked to end slavery and to free the enslaved people in the United States. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Austin Oakton and Cameron Kiefer.

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