SLAVERY AND ITS ABOLITION

SLAVERY AND ITS ABOLITION

By Chukwuma Chinaza Adaobi 

During the 19^th 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.