Reformers &
Abolitionists
GOAL #8
Calls for freedom for slaves and women led to more
tension between Northerners and Southerners
Southern Society (1850)
6,000,000
“Slavocracy”
[plantation owners]
The “Plain Folk”
[white yeoman farmers]
Black Freemen
250,000
Black Slaves
3,200,000
Total US Population  23,000,000
[9,250,000 in the South = 40%]
I. Abolitionist Movement
1816 – AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY
•Raised $ to buywanted
slaves and
gradually
send to Africa
gradual,
voluntary
•Country of Liberia founded in 1847
freedom for all slaves
David Walker - free AfricanAmerican in Boston wrote pamphlet
urging slaves to fight for their
freedom rather than waiting to be
set free by whites
1829  Appeal to the Coloured
Citizens of the World
“Some of you whites on the continent of America
will yet curse the day you ever were born. You
want slaves and want us for your slaves. My colour
will yet, root some of you out of the very face of
the Earth!!”
Southern Abolitionists
2 sisters who set
their slaves free, moved
North to join
anti-slavery movement
Angelina Grimké
Sarah Grimké
Anti- Slavery Pamphlets
William Lloyd Garrison
(1801-1879)
e Antislavery newspaper
(1831) ”The Liberator” –
almost killed by mob
e Wanted immediate
freedom for ALL slaves
R2-4
Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) –
escaped slave
1845  book -The Narrative of the Life
Of Frederick Douglass
1847  newspaper -“The North Star”
R2-12
Sojourner Truth (1787-1883)
Escaped slave- became preacher
Truth is powerful
and it prevails.
-Sojourner Truth
1850  Book -The
Narrative of Sojourner
Truth – told of
experiences as a slave
R2-10
II. Opposition to
Abolitionist
Movement
 Viewed as a radical idea, even in the North
– feared escaped slaves would take jobs
away from whites
e Became more & more dangerous to speak out
e Printing presses destroyed
e Some Abolitionists killed
III. Women’s Rights – Women active
in abolition movement began demanding equal
rights
Sojourner Truth
Lucretia Mott
Susan B. Anthony
Elizabeth Cady
Stanton
•Seneca Falls Convention, NY 1848 – *Declaration of Sentiments
“All men AND women are created equal”
•Pushed for suffrage – right to vote
Early 19c Women
1. Unable to vote.
2. Legal status of a minor.
3. Single  could own her own
property.
4. Married  no control over her
property or her children.
5. Could not initiate divorce.
6. Couldn’t make wills, sign a
contract, or bring suit in court
without her husband’s permission.
III. Underground Railroad
 Thousands of slaves escaped using the Underground Railroad
– a system of paths which led to the northern states &
Canada
Some people sheltered and helped the escaping slaves
Others tried to catch the fleeing slaves for the reward money
The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad
e “Conductor” ==== leader of the escape
e “Passengers” ==== escaping slaves
e “Tracks” ==== routes
e “Trains” ==== farm wagons transporting
the escaping slaves
e “Depots” ==== safe houses to rest/sleep
Harriet Tubman
(1820-1913)
e Helped over 300 slaves to
freedom.
e $40,000 bounty on her head.
e Served as a Union spy during the
Civil War.
I had reasoned this out in my mind,
there was one of two things
I had a right to,
liberty or death;
if I could not have one,
I would have the other.
Harriet Tubman
“Moses”
Leading Escaping Slaves Along
the Underground Railroad
Quilt Patterns as Secret Messages
The Monkey Wrench pattern, on the left,
alerted escapees to gather up tools and prepare
to flee; the Drunkard Path design, on the right,
warned escapees not to follow a straight route.