Which of the following best describes the origins of the abolitionist movement

Black and white abolitionists in the first half of the nineteenth century waged a biracial assault against slavery. Their efforts proved to be extremely effective. Abolitionists focused attention on slavery and made it difficult to ignore. They heightened the rift that had threatened to destroy the unity of the nation even as early as the Constitutional Convention.

Although some Quakers were slaveholders, members of that religious group were among the earliest to protest the African slave trade, the perpetual bondage of its captives, and the practice of separating enslaved family members by sale to different masters.

As the nineteenth century progressed, many abolitionists united to form numerous antislavery societies. These groups sent petitions with thousands of signatures to Congress, held abolition meetings and conferences, boycotted products made with slave labor, printed mountains of literature, and gave innumerable speeches for their cause. Individual abolitionists sometimes advocated violent means for bringing slavery to an end.

Although black and white abolitionists often worked together, by the 1840s they differed in philosophy and method. While many white abolitionists focused only on slavery, black Americans tended to couple anti-slavery activities with demands for racial equality and justice.

Anti-Slavery Activists

Christian Arguments Against Slavery

Plea for the Suppression of the Slave Trade

Anthony Benezet. Observations on the Inslaving, Importing and Purchasing of Negroes. Germantown, Pennsylvania: Christopher Sower, 1760. American Imprints Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (3–1)

The Conflict Between Christianity and Slavery

Jonathan Edwards, D.D. The Injustice and Impolicy of the Slave Trade and of the Slavery of Africans . . . A Sermon. New Haven, Connecticut: Thomas and Samuel Green, 1791. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (3–2)

Harriet Tubman—the Moses of Her People

Increasing Tide of Anti-slavery Organizations

William Lloyd Garrison—Abolitionist Strategies

• William L. Garrison. “Sonnet to Liberty.” Manuscript, December 14, 1840. Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (3–19a)

• William L. Garrison. “Song of the Abolitionist.” November 10, 1841. Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (3–19b)

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Popularizing Anti-Slavery Sentiment

Abolitionist Songsters

George W. Clark. The Liberty Minstrel. New York: Leavitt & Alden [et al.], 1844. General Collections, Library of Congress (3–17)

Abolitionist Songsters

The Anti-Slavery Harp: A Collection of Songs for Anti-slavery Meetings. Compiled by William Wells Brown. Boston: Bela Marsh, 1848. Music Division, Library of Congress (3–16)

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Fugitive Slave Law

North to Canada

• Mission to Fugitive Slaves in Canada: Being a Branch of the Operations of the Colonial Church and School Society . . . 1858–9. [London]: Society's Offices, 1859. Pamphlet. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (3–4a)

• Mission to Fugitive Slaves in Canada: Being a Branch of the Operations of the Colonial Church and School Society . . . 1858–9. [London]: Society's Offices, 1859. Copyprint. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (3–4b)

The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850

Anthony Burns--Capture of A Fugitive Slave

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Growing Sectionalism

Antebellum Map Showing the Free and Slave States

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Militant Abolition

Frederick Douglass on John Brown

• Frederick Douglass. “A Lecture on John Brown.” Autograph corrections and drafts, 1860. Frederick Douglass Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (3–8b)

  The practice of slavery is one of humankind's most deeply rooted institutions. Anthropologists find evidence of it in nearly every continent and culture dating back to ancient times and even the Neolithic period of human development. In Europe, the first significant efforts to ban human trafficking and abolish forced labor emerged in the 18th century.

  Enslaved Africans supplied the free labor that helped the British Empire prosper for much of the 18th century. The practice took hold in the English colonies in North America, too. Before, during, and after the United States Revolutionary War, several of the original 13 British colonies abolished slavery. The agricultural-based plantation economy of Southern colonies like Virginia and the Carolinas required a large labor force, which was met via enslaving people of African descent.

  In the New England states, many Americans viewed slavery as a shameful legacy with no place in modern society. The abolitionist movement emerged in states like New York and Massachusetts. The leaders of the movement copied some of their strategies from British activists who had turned public opinion against the slave trade and slavery.

  In 1833, the same year Britain outlawed slavery, the American Anti-Slavery Society was established. It came under the leadership of William Lloyd Garrison, a Boston journalist and social reformer. From the early 1830s until the end of the Civil War in 1865, Garrison was the abolitionists' most dedicated campaigner. His newspaper, the Liberator, was notorious. It was limited in circulation but was still the focus of intense public debate. Its pages featured firsthand accounts of the horrors of slavery in the South and exposed, for many, the inhumane treatment of enslaved people on U.S. soil. Garrison was a close ally of Frederick Douglass, who escaped his enslavement and whose 1845 autobiography became a bestseller.

  Abolitionists were a divided group. On one side were advocates like Garrison, who called for an immediate end to slavery. If that were impossible, it was thought, then the North and South should part ways. Moderates believed that slavery should be phased out gradually, in order to ensure the economy of the Southern states would not collapse. On the more extreme side were figures like John Brown, who believed an armed rebellion of enslaved people in the South was the quickest route to end human bondage in the United States.

  Harriet Tubman was like Douglass, she too had escaped enslavement and became a prominent abolitionist. She was active in the Underground Railroad, the clandestine network of safe houses and abolitionists that helped escapees reach freedom in the North. In the late 1850s, she assisted Brown in his planning for the disastrous raid on a federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

  The threat of an armed revolt alarmed Americans on both sides of the debate over slavery. In the 1860 presidential election, voters chose Republican Party candidate Abraham Lincoln. The senator from Illinois opposed slavery but was cautious about supporting the abolitionists. Thirty-nine days after Lincoln's inauguration, the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, which marked the onset of the U.S. Civil War. Five years later the war ended and the ratification of the 13th Amendment formally ended slavery in December 1865.

  What were the origins of the abolitionist movement?

  The abolitionist movement began as a more organized, radical and immediate effort to end slavery than earlier campaigns. It officially emerged around 1830. Historians believe ideas set forth during the religious movement known as the Second Great Awakening inspired abolitionists to rise up against slavery.

  What were the main ideas of the abolitionist movement?

  The Abolitionist movement in the United States was an attempt to eliminate slavery in a country that valued individual liberty and believed that “all men are created equal.” Slave owners dug in as abolitionists became louder in their demands, aggravating regional tensions that eventually led to the American Civil War.

  Which best explains why the abolitionist movement?

  Which best explains why the abolitionist movement grew stronger as result of the Scott v. Sandford ruling? Many people were angry at the decision and thought it meant slavery would spread. Many people agreed with the decision but felt that slavery had spread far enough.

  What are 3 facts about the abolitionist movement?

  Many slaves ran away. Some slaves did fight back against cruel masters. Many times, an abolitionist would help runaway slaves escape to free states in the North. The abolitionists were part of the Underground Railroad.