Era of Reforms

The Fight Against Slavery

• Many northerners objected to slavery on moral grounds.
• By 1804, all states north of Maryland had passed legislation to end slavery.
• The Atlantic Slave trade was outlawed in 1808
• Unfortunatly the Industrial Revolution and the invention of the cotton gin made both the North and the South dependent on slavery
• A growing number of Americans opposed to slavery began to speak out and wanted slavery abolished, or ended, so they became known as abolitionists.

Failed Freedom

• The American Colonization Society, founded in 1817, wanted to help free African Americans.
• The society set up a colony for free African Americans in Liberia, in western Africa.
• It was not successful because many African Americans wished to remain in the United States, their home.

Abolitionist Movement

• By the 1830’s people began asking “how can America be ‘the land of the free’, and still allow slavery”
• By 1830, nearly 2.5 million enslaved people lived in the South.
• Although the North profited from plantation systems and slavery, some white Northerners joined the Abolitionist Movement
• In 1831, William Lloyd Garrison founded “The Liberator”, a Boston anti-slavery newspaper.
• Garrison demanded the immediate emancipation, or freeing, of all enslaved persons and urged abolitionists to take action without delay

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American Anti-Slavery Society

“Uncle’s Tom Cabin” 1852

• Fugitive Slave Acts – Passed in 1793 and called for the seizure and return of runaway slaves
• “Uncle’s Tom Cabin” 1852 – written by Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Uncle Tom Was a slave who was whipped to death by his master
• Shows the evils of slavery and the injustice of the Fugitive Slave Act.
• Book becomes a best seller in the north: saw slavery as a moral issue
• Book was banned in the South “did not show the true picture of a slave’s life”

Famous Abolitionists

• Abolitionists were both whites and African Americans
• Grimke Sisters (Sarah and Angelina): Grew up on a plantation but believed slavery was morally wrong
• Moved north and joined the movement
• Spoke out against slavery publicly even at a time when women were not supposed to speak in public

Sojourner Truth

• The North had many prominent African American abolitionists.
• Isabella Baumfree, although born into slavery in New York, gained her freedom when New York abolished slavery.
• She changed her name to Sojourner Truth and vowed to tell the world about the cruelty of slavery.
• Drew huge crowds throughout the North as she spoke for abolition

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Frederick Douglass

• The most important spokesperson for the cause was Frederick Douglass.
• Born into slavery, Douglass secretly taught himself to read, although Southern laws prohibited it.
• He escaped from slavery in 1838 and settled in Massachusetts.
• He began speaking out and writing about the horrors of slavery

Frederick Douglass

• Started his own newspaper North Star – to speak out about the injustices faced by free African Americans.
• People who heard him considered him to be too educated and well-spoken to have ever been a slave
• In response, he wrote three very moving autobiographies.
• He captivated audiences by talking about his life in bondage.

The Underground Railroad

• Abolitionists, like Douglass, wanted to do more than just campaign for laws
• Many abolitionists became “conductors” on the Underground Railroad.
• The Underground Railroad began around 1817.
• It was not an actual railroad but a series of houses where conductors hid runaway enslaved persons and helped them reach the next “station.”

Reaction to Abolitionist Movement

Northern Reaction

• Feared large migration of African Americans to the North
• Feared an upset of the social system would lead to war with the South
• Many Northerners sympathized with slaves – did not want to return them to slave owners

Southern Reaction

• Slave holders defended slavery as vital to their economic stability
• Argued slaves enjoyed a close, friendly relationship with their owners
• Demanded suppression of abolitionist material

Free Blacks in the South

• By 1860, about 500,000 free black lived in the US. About half lived in the North, half in the South.
• Free blacks often faced discrimination: unfair treatment of particular groups.
• State laws limited the rights of free blacks (ex. Couldn’t travel without permission)

Free Blacks in the North

• African Americans in the North also faced discrimination. However, they could travel freely, organize groups, and publish newspapers.
• These rights made it possible for free blacks to talk openly about slavery.
• Free blacks joined whites in creating the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833.
• This group fought for the end of slavery. Many free blacks gave money to the group.