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Critically appraise the abolitionist movement
Introduction, slavery and abolition abstract
Introduction of the Abolitionist movement into American politics
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African American reform and resistance shaped sectional relations and national politics by laying the foundation to end slavery. The Immediatist and Gradualist movements were the two schools of abolitionism that influenced and divided the country. Both abolitionist movements began to become more pronounced, but the Immediatist movement laid the foundation to abolish slavery by the end of the nineteenth century. African-American reform, which included abolitionism, essentially divided the country philosophically to cause rebellions a violence, because it was revolutionary. The revolutionary form of abolitionism was Immediatism, and it was propagated by a vocal minority that kickstarted the emancipation of slaves. Immediatism Immediatism was …show more content…
the abolitionist movement for the immediate emancipation of slaves with influences from two American spiritual movements. The sources for the Immediatist movement were The First Great Awakening and The Second Great Awakening, however, the movements proved that abolitionism had a universal appeal. Alternatively, the Immediatist movement was partially inspired by the British Parliament's gradual response to end slavery in the 1780s. In fact, William Lloyd Garrison, a prominent figure in the American abolition movement, was probably influenced by the British to create the American Anti-Slavery Society and the abolitionist newspaper named The Liberator. Both the newspaper and the society gained notoriety in America as an opposing force of the American Colonial Society. On the other hand, another partial influence was the First and Second Great Awakenings in the United States. The First Great Awakening was a revival of Protestantism in Europe and the Thirteen Colonies in the 1730s and 1740s. At this time, Protestantism grew in popular in British America, but the Southern African-Americans converted to create their own churches that followed the messages to foster a deep, personal relationship to Jesus Christ for their salvation. Eventually, African-American Immediatists actually incorporated Christian texts that included Bible quotes when they addressed the public with their anti-slavery rhetoric.Then, the Second Great Awakening erupted into the social sphere at the end of the 18th century until its peak in the 1850s. The Second Great Awakening was substantially influenced by the Romanticism, because it rejected rationalism and deism, which were derivatives from the Enlightenment. The Second Great Awakening was focused on the subjective emotive experience and the supernatural. This movement was connected to the Pennsylvania Anti Slavery Petition in 1790. In fact, the document used inclusive and Immediatist rhetoric with phrases like “without distinction of Colour”, “relieving from bondage a large number of their fellow Creatures of the African Race”, and “bound to use all justifiable endeavours to loosen the bands of Slavery”. The Pennsylvania Anti Slavery Petition was based on principles that arose from The second Great Awakening, because the document addressed the Divine Providence of african-american people so that they could remove the “inconsistency of the American People”, which was the enslavement of African-Americans. The Second Great Awakening directly caused the creation of the African Methodist Ethiopian Church and American Methodism, and the Temperance movement. The Temperance movement intended to curb the consumption of alcohol for Americans. The African Methodist Ethiopian Church, or AME church was the first African-American run church in the United States, which was inspired by The Haitian Revolution. The Haitian Revolution was arguably the most relevant inspiration for the immediate abolishment of slavery in the United States for African-Americans. African Americans in the United States were deeply inspired by leaders of the Haitian Revolution like Toussaint L'Ouverture. For example, the Nat Turner Rebellion in Virginia was an unsuccessful attempt to end slavery in Virginia. This definitely sparked outrage for African Americans and abolitionists, so Freedom’s Journal and other newspapers garnered attention for the Immediatist movement in the North. Freedom’s Journal was actually founded by Reverend Peter Williams, Jr. and three other black men. Immediatists used morals and religion in their rhetoric to shame slavery and slave owners. African-Americans in the North were more likely to be free, but were still a vocal minority without whites. Immediatists fought for slavery in the South against Gradualists. Immediatists were opposed by Gradualists that saw slavery as an economic and race issue to improve their country. Gradualism Gradualist abolitionism intended to abolish slavery at a slower pace, which was seen as more beneficial from a long-term perspective.
Gradualist abolitionism, or gradualism, was more pronounced in the South amongst politicians in the Union. Disagreements between Gradualist and Immediatist abolitionists made the Whig Party dissolve, and they reflected the tensions between the Whig Party and the Democratic Party. The Whig Party that aimed for moral improvement and economic improvement.The Whig Party was influenced by the deep spirituality of the Second great Awakening, and some members were anti-slavery, Nativists, and xenophobic while defending moral reform. The Whigs were also evangelical, but they focused on many aspects but largely ignored the abolitionist movements. The Whigs included people like Abraham Lincoln. People like Lincoln in the Whig Party shared the “free soil” philosophy that opposed both slavery and abolitionism. The Whig Party ultimately faded into non-existence when slavery gained national attention for the presidential debates. Whigs vehemently disagreed, so there was a lack of uniformity between the slavery and antislavery factions of the Whig Party. Meanwhile, Jacksonians formed the Democratic Party, which originated from the Democratic-Republican Party that opposed the Federalist Party of Alexander Hamilton. Andrew Jackson, from the Democratic Party, supported slavery when he was president, and this showed how little progress was generated to abolish slavery. Some historians argue that Jackson had a Gradualist attitude towards the abolition of slavery. Jackson served as the first Democratic president from 1829 to 1837. However, the Democratic Party was composed of mostly Jacksonian politicians that favored Thomas Jefferson’s ideal of an agrarian society for Southern farmers, a weak federal government, and strict adherence to the Constitution. Jackson clearly had a Republican point of view in politics. The Democratic Party also aimed for
homogeneity for cultures and cultural heterogeneity without elitism. Nonetheless, in 1837, the Panic of 1837 caused the attention to shift away from slavery debates to the financial crisis. There was a recession from 1837 to 1844 after the brief economic expansion from 1834 to 1836. Jackson and other politicians shifted the attention away from the slavery debate to the country’s economy. Jackson and his followers blamed the national bank for the Panic of 1837, so Jackson refused to reauthorize the national bank. Jackson transferred the power of the banks to small group of the financial elite at the time. In the same year, Elijah Lovejoy was an abolitionist journalist for The Observer killed by a mob of people in Alton, Illinois after leaving St. Louis, Missouri for threats of mob violence. In 1838, The Pennsylvania Hall in Philadelphia was created as an area to discuss slavery publicly with locals. The Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women met on the third day of the building’s existence and was destroyed by anti-black protestors. These same protesters burned down a black orphanage and intentionally damaged a Black church in Philadelphia. Andrew Jackson evidently did not have a strong public opinion against the protestors, the destruction in Philadelphia, and the Lovejoy mob killing. Jackson and the Gradualists probably had knowledge about the abolition protests and connections to the events in Philadelphia, but neither prevented nor react in opposition. Then, the general public’s view on slavery gradually changed, but many people still took the middle ground in the slavery debate. Many Democrats at this time took a middle ground for the slavery debate at this time, but the middle ground of the slavery was maintained through the 1850s. In fact, Abraham Lincoln argued for the middle ground by saying that states like New York has a right slavery while states like Virginia have the right to abolish slavery in his 1858 debates with Stephen Douglas. Gradualism perpetually slowed down the progress of abolishing slavery and resisted Immediatism, which decreased the widespread embracement of Immediatism. Immediatism was more revolutionary and extreme stance against slavery with moral and religious justifications. Immediatists were actually inspired by the Haitian Revolutionaries, but the Gradualists were barely abolitionists, because they halted progress from the Immediatist abolitionists. The arguments for the abolition of slavery eventually became more diverse, and white nationalist arguments to abolish slavery became popular. The Wilmot Proviso was a proposal for banning slavery in southwestern states; David Wilmot intended to have free white labor for the entire country. Wilmot’s intriguing argument for the abolition of slavery was as racist as slavery itself in America, but the argument over slavery further complicated the debate of slavery for the general public in America.
At first, Andrew Jackson started off as a democrat, serving the people with his actions. For instance, in the document Indian Removal Document three, Jackson appeals to the indians and congress. He told them that the indians needed somewhere to go in an eloquent manner. To congress, it sounded like he was being morale for the indians, but in reality, he was still forcing the indians off their lands. Guarenting land for the indians is not as fair as letting them stay on their current ground and already beings to show his inner autocratic side.
To begin with , Andrew Jackson was democratic and this can be proven in political ways. Andrew Jackson was a guy that supported the people and the
From the start of the American Civil War, 1860, until the end of the Reconstruction, 1877, the United States of America endured what can be considered a revolution. Prior to the year 1860, there was a lack of union because of central government power flourishing rather than state power. Therefore, there was a split of opposite sides, North and South, fighting for authority. One major issue that came into mind was of slavery. At first, there were enactments that were issued to limit or rather prevent conflict to erupt, such as the numerous compromises, Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. They did not fulfill the needs of the states, South states in particular; therefore, in the year 1860, the Civil War had commenced. There was the issue of inequality of Blacks in suffrage, politics, and the use of public facilities. However, much constitutional and social advancement in the period culminated in the revolution. To a radical extent, constitutional development between 1860 and 1877 amount to a revolution because of events like the Emancipation Proclamation, Civil Rights Act, the amendments that tried to change African Americans lives in American Society and contributed to get the union together. There is the social developments as well that to a lesser extent had amounted to the revolution because of organizations like the Klu Klux Klan, Freedmen’s Bureau lacking, and discrimination against African Americans that caused progression of violence and white supremacy.
Abolitionists thoughts became progressively conspicuous in Northern places of worship and politics in the 1830’s which contributed to the territorial ill will amongst the North and South, essentially dividing the nation in two. The southern economy grew increasingly dependent on “king cotton” and the system of slaves that sustained it.
... points in social reform from Jacksonian Democracy was abolition. The logic was that social reform also applied to slavery and almost more than any other institution. The reasoning behind this was that slaves resisted their own enslavement. Slavery was opposed in the 18th century by Quakers and few other whites, even though the American Revolution with its rhetoric about equal and universal rights called slavery into serious question. The Northern States abolished it and the Southern slave owners (upper south mind you) thought about liberating slaves. However it wasn’t until the 1830s that a number of middle class Norteños (northerners) began to demand immediate emancipation of slaves for their incorporation as equals in the Republic. Just as other social reforms had taken root with mostly radical Norteño Whigs, abolitionism soon found its way to them. This was a basis for the middle class revivals of the 1820s and 1830s.
The antislavery movement before 1830s was menial, partially slow and not well supported. The antislavery movement before the 1830s was the spark of fire that led to the abolitionist acts after the 1830s. Abolitionism of the 1830s and on led to a great movement in America. The division of a country came at hand, leading up to various riots white men themselves killing each other over the freeing of slaves. The subjugated Negros fighting for a true place in American society under the hands of various abolitionist leaders who gave it all to stand up for the African Americans. They were to be heard all over the union causing divisions and discomfort throughout a close to dividing nation. Abolitionist movement after the 1830s had a greater impact on the nation as a whole with a spark of the antislavery acts before the 1830s and the failure of this movement, the very well spoken and praised leaders, and the well spoken and touching propaganda against slavery.
Black and white abolitionists shared common assumptions about the evil of slavery, the "virtue of moral reform", and the certainty of human progress"(1). Schor, Garnet,1877, & Lanngston, 1989). This shared understanding provided "the basic for the interracial solidarity" and cooperation so vital in the crusade against slavery"(2). (Schor and Garnet, 1877). But blacks also brought a distinct perspective to the antislavery movement. Their abolitionism was shaped profoundly by their personal experience and racial oppression. Unlike most white abolitionists, they conceived of antidlavery as an all-encompassion struggle for racial equality, and they took a more pragramatic, less doctrinaire approach to antislavery tactics. The contrast between the two abolitionists -- black and white -- become increasingly apparent in the 1840s and 1850s as black expressed a growing militancy, asserted greater independence, and called for racially exclusive organization and initiatives.
It’s incredible to even imagine that only a century ago, black people were segregated by the color of their skin. They didn’t have the same right as the other white americans did. They had no control over their own lives. They served others instead of themselves, judged by being who they are. However abolitionists and civil right activists were able to change that. Abolitionists and Civil right activist had similar intentions but they both had different effects.
Amid the post Civil War chaos, various political groups were scrambling to further their agendas. First, Southern Democrats, a party comprised of leaders of the confederacy and other wealthy Southern whites, sought to end what they perceived as Northern domination of the South. They also sought to institute Black Codes, by limiting the rights of Blacks to move, vote, travel, and change jobs,3 which like slavery, would provide an adequate and cheap labor supply for plantations. Second, Moderate Republicans wanted to pursue a policy of reconciliation between North and South, but at the same time ensure slavery was abolished.
The separation of the south and north was not the only separation the United States was going through, the Democratic Party had split. The northern and southern democrats turn on each other. After several delegates walk out of the democratic convention, Douglas, who was not supposed to be put up as a nomination for president because he would not support the idea to make all states have slaves, was nominated for president. After the fact that Douglas was nominated without the entire Democratic Party consent, the southern democrats nominated John C. Breckinridge, who believed that all the states should have slavery, thus a split in the Democratic Party. (Foner,496)
Previously Whigs would have benefited from this however; as Farmer argues, “the Whig collapse has often been seen as a direct result of the Kansas Nebraska Act”. This emphasises that all the factors are linked as the actions of politicians with the Kansas Nebraska Act and the decisions over slavery caused the Whig party failure. This all built up created the tensions that resulted in the Civil War. Another reason for Whig failure was their inability to deal with the two major issues of immigration and Catholicism. Americans detested the rapidly increasing political power that catholic voters had. It was claimed that Irish Catholics only voted for the party that their political leader/priest told them to vote for. This could be seen as a threat to democracy. This shows that the problems around immigrants cause Whig collapse and the start of the breakdown of the political system, which weakened the country in the lead up to the breakout of the war. Another Whig failure was their 1852 election, where they were actively pro-catholic, which was a mistake as it made traditional Whigs reluctant to vote. This highlights that Americans did not like the sudden change of viewpoint and protested this by not voting for them. Henry Adams Observed, “Of all the parties that have existed in the United States, the famous Whig party was the most feeble in ideas”. This proves that the Whig party was not strong enough to change their views as society changed in the lead up to the war, which lead to their collapse, which ultimately lead to the outbreak of
One of these movements was the Anti-Slavery movements. Antislavery movements helped women to start fighting for their rights. There had always been anti-slavery feeling in the US. Americans, both north and South, were aware of the hypocrisy that the United States had been founded on rhetoric of universal human liberty and yet
...ding the Jacksonian Democrats. Even government authorized establishments lent a hand in the continuation of slavery, such as the Post Office. It honored a request from the South Carolina legislature in 1835 to prevent the transmission of anti-slavery propaganda into the state. The Jacksonian Democrats, in attempts to guard the Constitution, had missed some points, such as "all men are created equal."
No time in America's history has seen greater efforts to reform society than the four decades preceding the Civil War. During those years, a variety of social problems came under attack. Many of Americans worked tirelessly to establish pubic schooling, reform the criminal justice system, improve care of the infirm and mentally ill, promote women's rights, and battle poverty and drunkenness. By the 1840's and 1850's, abolitionism, the attempt to end slavery, had become the greatest of these antebellum reform movements. There was, it seemed, an almost frantic effort during the antebellum years to perfect America and its people, to right wrongs and eradicate evils. There were many ideas and forces that motivated people to reform American society
During the 18th and 19th century, there were two main movements in America in regard to slavery. One being the Anti-Slavery movement from 1750 to 1860, and the other being the Abolitionist movement from 1830 to 1860. These two movements had many differences, yet few similarities as they swept across the United States. While both movements were somewhat motivated by religion, Abolitionists focused more on the brutality of slavery and its ethical implications. The Anti-Slavery movement, on the other hand, was motivated primarily by economic reasons as their main objective was the gradual removal of slaves to other countries through a colonization movement. The goal of the Abolitionists was an immediate emancipation of all slaves and they believed