The Abolitionist Movement of 1830 and William Lloyd Garrison

Slavery was a defining factor in aiding America to become an economic powerhouse by allowing affluent plantation owners to have a source of free labor, but opposition to slavery rose in the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century. Although there were antislavery movements prior to the Revolution, the movements affected slavery in the North but made little impact in the South. It was not until 1830 that the acts against slavery had become influential enough to change America’s acceptance to slavery. The abolitionist movement of 1830 had a greater impact on the nation as a whole than the antislavery movement before 1830 because it brought a revival to the topic of antislavery that seemed to be at a dead end. The abolitionist movement of 1830 was facilitated by William Lloyd Garrison and his transformation of abolition, the free black abolitionists such as Fredrick Douglass, and the emergence of abolitionist politics.

The abolitionist movement of 1830 had a more influential impact on the nation than the antislavery movement prior to 1830 because of William Lloyd Garrison and the ways that he transformed abolition. Before 1830, there were movements that were against slavery but none made an impact enough to stop slavery in the South or to call attention to the horrors of slavery. William Lloyd Garrison challenged the restricted fight against slavery by voicing his philosophy through his weekly newspaper, the Liberator. Garrison used his paper to show a new perspective on slavery. He stated the hardships that slaves had to go through and he quickly attracted a large group of antislavery followers known as the New England Antislavery Society. This society eventually grew across parts of the nation and became the American A...

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...ganda against slavery was a novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe titled Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The novel sold 300,000 copies in only a year of being published and the effects of the novel’s publication led to the rise in abolition support which influenced the attempted schism between the North and the South.

The abolishment of slavery was not an overnight occurrence and many events led to the increase of support to do away with slavery. Even though the preceding events before the abolitionist movement of 1830 did have support, they only had a minority and did not connect the nation as a whole like the revolution did. The revolution of 1830 had a greater impression on the entire nation than the movements prior to 1830 because of William Lloyd Garrison and the various ways he transformed abolition, the influence of black abolitionists, and the advent of abolitionist politics.