Reshaping America in the Early 1800s

Lesson 5 The Abolition Movement

Reshaping America in the Early 1800s

Lesson 5 The Abolition Movement
Key Terms

freedman
Nat Turner
abolition movement
William Lloyd Garrison
Frederick Douglass
Gag Rule

Life as an Enslaved African American

During the period of reform that swept the United States in the early and
middle 1800s, reformers tried to improve life through campaigns to help
children, families, and disadvantaged adults. Soon, reformers also set
out to help another group of exploited people: enslaved African
Americans in the South.

Life as an Enslaved African American

Cruel Treatment
Brutal work routines, punishing through physical beatings,
humiliation, or threatening to take them away from their families
Basics were barely adequate for survival
Spirit and Strength
Many remained hopeful throughout the condition
Worked to maintain networks of family and friends
Resistance
Saboage, breaking tools, escape, underground railroad
Denmark Vesey- leader of planned slave revolt- planned to take
over Charleston
Found out before the revolt
Vesey and followers were hanged
Nat Turner- leader of slave revolt
Tried to capture an armory
Killed 60 before stopped by militia
Executed with his followers
South passed even harsher laws against slave revolts

Life as an Enslaved African American

Analyze Data Between the years 1820 and 1840, how much was the enslaved
population increasing per decade?

Life as an Enslaved African American

Enslaved workers spent long, back-breaking hours stooping to pick cotton in the
fields.

Life as an Enslaved African American

Analyze Maps Where did the earliest rebellion take place? Where did most
rebellions take place?

Life as an Enslaved African American

Analyze Information Which three states had the largest number of enslaved people
during the period shown?

Free African Americans

Not all people of African descent in the United States were held as
slaves. Beginning with Massachusetts and Pennsylvania in the 1780s,
northern states had gradually outlawed slavery by the 1840s. In
Maryland and Virginia, many slaveholders were slowly manumitting, or
officially freeing, their slaves. The net result was a large and growing
population of free African Americans. Despite their freedom, however,
they suffered from persistent racial discrimination.
American colonization society- goal was to encourage migration of free
African Americans to Africa
established Liberia
Many Free African Americans established churches and schools
David Walker- Pamphlet using religious reasoning against slavery

Free African Americans

Analyze Maps Which regions of the nation had the most and fewest numbers of
free African American residents? What factors likely explain these differences?

Free African Americans

A certificate of membership in the American Colonization Society

The Antislavery Movement Grows

Misgivings about slavery had been spreading across the nation since
Revolutionary times. Many northerners objected to it on moral grounds.
By 1804, all states north of Maryland had passed legislation to end
slavery. In 1807, bringing new slaves to any part of the United States
from Africa was banned. Still, slavery was an established institution in
the South, where slave labor played an important role in the economy.

The Antislavery Movement Grows

Abolitionists Demand Emancipation

William Lloyd Garrison- printer- leading abolitions- The Liberatorantislavery newspaper
Immediate emancipation
Founded American Anti-Slavery Society
Insisted that holding slaves was counter to most Americans
religious ideals
Other Abolitionist Leaders
Theodore Weld- work through churches- Married Angelina Grimke
(wrote against slavery with her sister)
Frederick Douglass- former slave- told stories of difficult life as a
slave

The Antislavery Movement Grows

Antislavery activists like these in Virginia faced violence from supporters of

slavery.

The Backlash Against Abolition

Despite the growing call of abolitionists, most Americans continued to
support slavery. The voices against abolition came from both the slave
states of the South and the free states of the North.

The Backlash Against Abolition

Southerners Defend Slavery

Argument that slave labor was better than wage labor
Claimed the bible supported slavery
Resistance to Abolition in the North
Burning printing presses
Worried it would cut off supply of southern cotton for northern
textile mills
Gag Rule- a law which prohibited debate and discussion in
Congress on the subject of slavery 1836-1844
Slavery Divides the Nation
Divided Americans
Showed cultural difference in the United States

The Backlash Against Abolition

Many southerners opposed abolitionism. This illustration shows the burning of

abolitionist newspapers by South Carolina slavery supporters in 1835. Infer How
did slavery create an atmosphere of violence even for those who were not
enslaved?

Quiz: Life as an Enslaved African American

Who was Nat Turner?
A. a freedman who led a successful slave revolt near Charleston, South
Carolina
B. a former enslaved African American who became a brutal slaver
overseer
C. a former enslaved person who organized the Underground Railroad
D. an enslaved African American who organized a slave revolt near
Richmond, Virginia

Quiz: Free African Americans

What was the main goal of the American Colonization Society?
A. to return all free African Americans to Southern states
B. to return all enslaved people in the South to Liberia
C. to encourage the migration of free African Americans to Africa
D. to establish colonies within Northern states for free African
Americans

Quiz: The Antislavery Movement Grows

How did the Second Great Awakening affect the institution of slavery?
A.
B.
C.
D.

All the traveling preachers were abolitionists.

People began opposing slavery on religious grounds.
Free African Americans began preaching against it.
More African Americans joined Baptist congregations.

Quiz: The Backlash Against Abolition

What was the Gag Rule?
A. a law which prohibited debate and discussion in Congress on the
subject of slavery
B. a rule passed in the South that outlawed African Americans from
speaking in public
C. a congressional decision to prohibit abolitionists from publishing
antislavery materials
D. a federal law that prohibited arguments in support of slavery's
economic benefits