SLAVERY AND ITS ABOLITION
By Chukwuma Chinaza Adaobi
During the 19th
century, as slavery grew rampantly, abolitionists such as William Garrison and
Fredrick Douglass stood out to condemn enslavement and women’s suffrage. Abolition
aimed to put an end to slavery and to liberate all enslaved people. Abolitionists
included white people against this abomination, religious Americans, and
prominent bold black rebels who had managed to free themselves from servitude
(Bradford 21). These individuals worked tirelessly in support of the abolitionist
movement.
Abolitionists
saw slavery as an atrocity and an affliction on the United States; hence their
goal became eradicated. They focused attention on slavery which by that time
had proved to be excessive and amplified the rift that had threatened to
destroy the unity of the nation. Abolitionists united to form many antislavery societies.
They organized and sent many petitions with thousands of signatures to Congress,
held meetings and conferences, boycotted using products made with slaved labor,
printed many literature books to bring awareness, and gave innumerable speeches
and songs for their cause (Garrison 19).
Even though
black and white abolitionists worked together, they had a different philosophy
and method. Being indifferent caused them to differ in the 1840s since while
whites only focused on slavery, the black abolitionists also included demands
for racial equality and justice.
Abolitionists were faced with several challenges, especially from the law. Congress passed the controversial slave act, which required all slaves who had escaped to be recaptured and returned to their owners. Several years later, in the Dred Scott Decision, the Supreme Court ruled that all black people did not have legal citizenship rights. It was this inhuman legal action on the black slaves that ignited outrage among abolitionists. Abraham Lincoln issued his emancipation proclamation and called for freedom of the enslaved to end servitude in 1863. In 1865 the constitution approved the thirteenth amendment, which officially banned forms of slavery in the United States.
Works
Cited
Garrison L.W.: Sonnet to Liberty: Manuscript,
December 14, 1840. Manuscript Division, Library of Congress. //www.loc.gov/exhibits/african-american-odyssey/abolition.html#obj8
Bradford S.H.: Harriet, The Moses of Her People: New York:
J.J. Little and Company 1901.Susan B. Antony collection, Rare Book and Special
Collection Division.
