Abolitionists in the Fight Against Slavery
Slavery is an idea used by the oppressors and colonialists to make the oppressed feel as if they are property that can be owned by someone. It is also considered a form of forced labor. The sad thing is that some slaveowners never saw the crime of having a slave working for them (Narrative of the life, n.d, 31).
This paper seeks to outline the influences of the civil war and slavery on the abolitionist movement in 1850-1865.
The idea of doing away with slavery in the United States brought a revolution in many sectors political, financial, and other matters related to society. The colonists could not believe their power was being put to the test. This, however, was bound to happen sooner rather than later. The slaves were in a state of unrest and they began to act up. They picked fights with their superiors and gave them a hard time. One master who could not take this kind of behavior was Colonel Lloyd. He could not let a slave say anything contrary to what he said (Narrative of the life,26). Some even resorted to escaping the premises of their masters. Those that did not manage to get away led revolutions among the rest of the black slaves in the north. This gave birth to the uprisings of angry slaves. They knew they were free only they had to show the colonists that they were aware of that. [1] The slaves were determined and in the unfreed state they still were in rebellion and protested all they could (McKivigan 2). since they knew they had support from the whites in the south and some freed blacks, they continued in the same behavior, some escaped were caught, brought back and they escaped again, the struggle continued to freedom (Rebellious slaves, free blacks &abolitionists, 69).
Since the blacks were set free, some moved south. They met up with the abolitionists of which most were white. They could not overlook this issue. There were strained relationships in fact and so they had to start living with each other in peace. Their peaceful coexistence was essential since all the whites were doing was pushing for the blacks that were still in slavery to be set free. The blacks seemed to have the situation under control especially at the Underground Railway road. They manned it themselves and rescued so many slaves to freedom through this escape route (McKivigan 2). Harriet Tubman is written down in history to have helped over 200 to 300 slaves escape through the track to the freedom that so easily was eluding some who were not lucky enough( Rebellious slaves, free blacks &Abolitionists,72).
Another aspect that affected the process of abolition was the issue of assigning roles. They were not sure how to assign roles based on gender. This led to conflicts in assigning ranks and hence troubled their abolitionist activities shortly (2).
When they discovered that racism[2] was the backbone and the main drive for slavery, they began to attack that. They mobilized groups and associations to achieve this. It was at the same time that there was a religious revival so they keyed in.they used the clergy to appeal to the humane senses of the listeners. They even urged them to tell the slave owners to pay for their sin of enslaving others by repenting which meant they had to release all their human property. They were even stopped from going to church unless they gave up the slaves (McKivigan 5). Some of the merchants that assisted in this process by funding it were Arthur and Lewis Tappan(Rebellious Slaves, free blacks, and Abolitionists,84).
Garrison was an anti-slavery activist that pushed for anti-slavery. He proposed that the blacks in the North protest the government’s constitution that supports slavery by not voting. One of his other passions was gender equality so he pushed for women’s rights and many of the followers were uncomfortable with his view. They split up and went ahead to form other groups (7).
Many parties were formed from there all trying to fight terrorism by going up against proslavery candidates. They lost most of the time. After several attempts by different parties, The Kansas –Nebraska act was passed which gave a platform that would decide whether slavery was to be stopped or not (14). The movement became militant at this point. Some of the names involved were James Buchanan and Franklin Pierce. The ruling by the court in 1857 that it had no powers to declare a ban came as a shock to the abolitionists, some lost hope in ever getting it done through the legal system(14). This did not stop John Brown. He formed militant crews and continued the help slaves escape. After some of these operations, some abolitionists gave up on using violent means. In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president, it sparked fear in many anti-slavery activists because he was republican but they endorsed anyway.
From then for some reason, the Southerners recessed from the fight. Herbert Apther is recorded to have experienced revolts from his slaves, 200 in number leading to the civil war (Rebellious slaves, Free blacks & Abolitionists, 75). Then the civil war happened and the abolitionists took the opportunity to voice their requests just after the war had subsided. They pushed for the emancipation of slaves and abolition of slavery. Lincoln did something, though not exactly what they expected, they saw it as a step in the right direction. He issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in the year 1862, September. It was effected on the 1st of January 1863 (16).
Further reforms were done in the successive governments and mostly in the amendments (Meager 2). This left the abolitionists with the satisfaction of accomplishing their long-lived dream of emancipation. What they had pending was racial equality which they had to pursue and possibly pass on the dream to the following generations.
The Meaning of the Civil War in the Fight Against Slavery
The United States civil war of 1861-1865 gave the abolitionists a chance to push for their agenda and to follow through. Though it took long, eventually the materialization was sure. The “Juneteenth” was a confirmation of this struggle that took them 246 years was finalized on the 19th of June 1865(Reconstruction: the first civil Rights era,93). The slavery that was prevalent during that time was a huge challenge and forced them to deal with the indirect issues that led to slavery-like racism and gender equality. This meant they had to focus their energy on making sure these issues were dealt with so that they could get headway on their main agenda.
Cited work
McKivigan, John R. “Abolitionist Movement” Introductory overview Essay. p.1-20. Web.
Meager, David,”Slavery-The abolitionist Movement” Crossway issue summer 2007, no.105, p. 1-3. Web.
Rebellious Slaves, free blacks & Abolitionists, p. 88-91.
Reconstruction: The first Civil Rights Era, p.93.
The Narrative of The life of Frederick Douglass,p15-99.