Abolinationism

[|Abolitionism Politics][|Abolitionism]

Songs of Freedom

Traditional spiritual
Michael, row the boat ashore, hallelujah! Michael, row the boat ashore, hallelujah!

The Jordan River is deep and wide, hallelujah! Milk and honey on the other side, hallelujah! (or: Save the souls on the other side, Get my freedom on the other side)

Sister, help to trim the sail, hallelujah! Sister, help to trim the sail, hallelujah!

The river Jordan is chilly and cold, hallelujah! Chills the body but not the soul, hallelujah!

Black and white abolitionists in the nineteenth century waged an assault against slavery. Their efforts proved to be extremely effective. Abolitionists focused attention on slavery and made it difficult to ignore. They heightened the rift that had threatened to destroy the unity of the nation as early as the Constitutional Convention.

Anthony Benezet. //Observations on the Inslaving, Importing and Purchasing of Negroes.// Germantown, Pennsylvania: Christopher Sower, 1760. American Imprints Collection, [|Rare Book and Special Collections Division]. (3-1) || In this plea for the abolition of the slave trade, Anthony Benezet, a Quaker of French Huguenot descent, pointed out that if buyers did not demand slaves, the supply would end. "Without purchasers," he argued, "there would be no trade; and consequently every purchaser as he encourages the trade, becomes partaker in the guilt of it." He contended that guilt existed on both sides of the Atlantic. There are Africans, he alleged, "who will sell their own children, kindred, or neighbors." Benezet also used the biblical maxim, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," to justify ending slavery. Insisting that emancipation alone would not solve the problems of people of color, Benezet opened schools to prepare them for more productive lives. || The Abolition movement happened in the 1800’s to end slavery. The majority of abolitionists activity happened in the United States and Great Britain, but it also happened in other countries as well. Antislavery began in the colonial days in the United States. The American Colonization Society was founded in 1817. It led antislavery protests during the early 1800’s. Its goal was to send the free slaves to Liberia, Africa. The abolition movement slowly went throughout the Northern United States, even though the southern states didn’t want that to happen. Most of the well known abolitionist leaders came from New England. Some of these being women who played an important role. Some of these men and women are: James Russell Lowell, John Greenleaf Whittier, Wendell Phillips, Theodore Weld, Arthur and Lewis Tappan, Lucretia Mott, James Forten, Robert Purvis, and others. This movement entered a new stage in 1840, when some of its leaders entered politics and founded the Liberty Party. A man by the name of James G. Birney, ran for president of this party in 1840 and 1844. Abolitionists became important to the Free Soil Party in 1848. After 1854, many abolitionists supported the Republican Party. Abolitionists were more interested in their cause than in political offices, once they entered politics. They linked political protest with direct action. Sometimes their homes even became stations on the underground railroad. This helped slaves that were trying to get to the free states or to Canada. Once the Civil War began in 1861, abolitionists rallied to the Union Cause. They were glad when President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. This meant that slaves were free in many parts of the south. In the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution got rid of slavery in the country in 1863. Lucretia Coffin Mott was a notable abolitionist. She was known then for her speaking abilities. She became strongly against slavery. She began to support William Lloyd Garrison and his American Anti-Slavery Society. Sometimes she was even threatened with physical violence because of the radical views she had. Her and her husband went to the famous World’s Anti-Slavery Convention held in London in 1840. This convention did not want women to be full participants. Because of this she decided to join Elizabeth Cady Stanton in Seneca Falls Concention in New York, in 1848. It was from that point that Lucretia was dedicated to women’s rights. She continued to work for advocating the rights of African-Americans after the Civil War. One of the famous men of the abolition movement was Wendell Phillips. Wendell Phillips was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He dedidcated himself to lectures about abolition. A lot of times he was considered the most radical of all the abolitionists. He also supported causes like the women’s rights and humane treatment of the mentally ill, and he earned a national reputation as well. He turned to looking for social justice for blacks after the Civil War. He grew interested with the welfare of all workers, and became more and more radical. He also established violence as a labor tactic.
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