Abolitionism

Abolitionism was the movement to end slavery. Slavery, which has existed since ancient times, became more prevalent than ever from the 1500s to the 1800s. In the late 1700s, reformers seeking to end slavery began spreading their beliefs and organizing abolitionist societies. Britain and other nations soon limited or eradicated their links to slavery, but the practice remained strong in the United States. Through the 1800s, slavery became increasingly important to the agricultural economy of the South but increasingly repugnant to the North. Abolitionists used direct and indirect means—ranging from writing and speaking to inciting insurrections—in the hope of ending slavery. Ultimately, only the victory of northern states over southern states in the Civil War officially abolished slavery in North America.

Background

In ancient times, many cultures practiced various forms of slavery, which is the keeping of other human beings as property. In much of Europe, slavery was common during the time of the Roman Empire but began to decline in the medieval period. However, the Age of Exploration, which started around the beginning of the fifteenth century, created a new burgeoning of slavery.

During their travels, explorers found new potential sources of and uses for slaves. European sailors began discovering new lands, most notably the Americas. Many of these new places had vast tracts of arable land that could support enormous amounts of agriculture. But colonizers would need many thousands of laborers to fully exploit this potential. The easiest source of inexpensive labor was a slave system.

At the same time, Europeans were also exploring Africa. Starting around the 1500s, some sailors and traders began kidnapping or purchasing Africans to use as slaves. This practice continued and grew to immense proportions until the slave trade, the buying and selling of slaves, had become a major international industry. Millions of Africans were taken from their homeland and sold to Europeans as well as to American colonists.

Most of these enslaved people were put to work on farms and plantations. Others were taken to towns and cities to work as servants in homes and laborers in a wide variety of fields. The slaves' living conditions varied greatly; some were treated humanely but many others were terribly abused. The slave system became an influential part of the American colonies and the United States, particularly the southern regions where conditions were best for large-scale farming.

By the 1600s, some people had begun criticizing slavery, mainly on religious grounds. These religious-minded reformers posited that keeping humans as property went against the teachings of Christianity and other major religions. Although this early criticism did not have much impact, it sowed the seeds of the much greater opposition that would begin forming in the 1700s in Europe, the Americas, and other lands. This opposition would be known as the abolitionist movement.

Overview

By the late 1700s, abolitionism had become an increasingly influential force in many countries, and slavery began to wane. In 1807, Britain ended its role in the slave trade, and other European nations and their overseas colonies soon followed. In the United States, however, where slavery had become a fundamental institution in some regions, the abolitionists would face a much more difficult struggle.

During the American Revolutionary War, as colonists reflected upon the sanctity of freedom, many colonies began to end the slave trade and abolish slavery. Throughout the late 1700s and early 1800s, colonies in the North placed limits on slavery or banned it outright, but southern colonies held on tightly to their traditions. The US Constitution tacitly accepted the institution of slavery, although it declared an end to the country's active participation in the slave trade as of 1807.

As the southern agricultural economy grew, the demand for slaves only increased. Meanwhile, the industrializing North became further detached from slavery and increasingly in favor of abolition. Abolitionist meetings, societies, speeches, and writings flourished. Although the national government strained to appease and accommodate both sides, a rift formed between the North and the South that grew to crisis levels by the mid-1800s.

Throughout the North, many abolitionists gained widespread attention with their speeches and writings. Among the most famous was William Lloyd Garrison, who founded the abolitionist publication The Liberator in 1831. In 1852, writer Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom's Cabin, a novel that highlighted the abuses faced by many enslaved people in the South. The formerly enslaved reformer Frederick Douglass founded his own newspaper, The North Star, and created other writings and speeches demonstrating the need for abolition. Another former slave, Sojourner Truth, spoke stirringly not only about the plight of slaves, but also about the struggles of women, thus helping to link abolition with the fledgling women's movement.

Other abolitionists took a more physical approach. Many, including escaped slaves such as Harriet Tubman, formed the Underground Railroad, a secretive network of hiding places used by escaped slaves as they traveled to safety in northern states or Canada. Others, such as David Walker and John Brown, believed that armed uprising was the only way to bring an end to slavery. This extreme type of abolitionism inspired grave concern and resentment in slave states. Some abolitionists were restrained by government policies or anti-abolition groups.

The growing conflict over slavery became the most pressing political topic of the era. Controversial court cases, questions over the slavery status of newly established states, and legislation attempting to appease both pro- and anti-slavery factions only brought more enmity. The presidential election of Abraham Lincoln, who opposed the spread of slavery, in November 1860 seemed intolerable to many southerners. In the coming months, southern states began to secede from the United States, intent on forming a new, pro-slavery country, the Confederate States of America.

The Civil War (1861–1865) pitted the United States versus the Confederate States. Although the war had many causes, slavery was foremost among them. In 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, an order freeing all enslaved people in all states. This act was meant to strengthen the northern war effort and justify the war as a crusade for human freedom.

With the defeat of the Confederacy in 1865 and the eventual readmission of the rebel states into the Union, the Proclamation could finally be enacted. On December 18, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution declared the official and permanent end of slavery in the United States.

Bibliography

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