What are three methods abolitionists used to try to end slavery?

In the late 18th century abolitionists led by William Wilberforce campaigned to end the slavery. There was opposition to their movement from those who wanted the slave trade to continue.

See how American abolitionists, such as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and Thomas Garrett, helped enslaved persons escape to freedom

Learn about the abolition movement in the United States, including the role of the...

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Underground Railroad Video Transcript NARRATOR: Before the American Civil War, slavery was legal in the Southern part of the United States but illegal in the North. People opposed to slavery were called abolitionists, because they wanted to abolish the practice throughout the entire country. Abolitionists used a variety of methods to try to end slavery: abolitionist editors published antislavery newspapers; politicians, clergymen, and other community leaders gave speeches and sermons; poets and authors denounced slavery in their literary works. Abolitionists also outright defied the institution by helping enslaved Black people in the South escape to freedom in the North. The journey for people escaping slavery was long and dangerous. Many of them had to travel hundreds of miles across unknown terrain and rivers, with little or no resources. They all ran the risk of being caught and sent back south. The Underground Railroad was a secret organized system established in the early 1800s to help these individuals reach safe havens in the North and Canada. The network extended through 14 Northern states. The system used railway terms as code words: safe houses were called stations and those who helped people escape slavery were called conductors. Conductors included formerly enslaved Black people, such as Frederick Douglass, a prominent abolitionist who directed activities in Rochester, New York, and Harriet Tubman, who made some 13 journeys back south to lead others north. Tubman risked her own freedom each time she helped others escape and became known as the “Moses of her people.” Conductors also included white abolitionists, such as Thomas Garrett, who may have helped about 2,700 [ARF1]people fleeing slavery, and Congressman Owen Lovejoy, who spoke openly of his involvement in the Underground Railroad before Congress. The unofficial "president of the Underground Railroad" was Levi Coffin, whose home was known as the Grand Central Station. Many enslaved people—perhaps 2,000 or more[ARF2]--passed through Coffin's care. They included Eliza Harris [ARF3]and her child, who made the perilous journey during winter and were forced to flee across the frozen ice of the Ohio River. Harris’s story served as the inspiration for the character of Eliza in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. Stowe—a friend of the Coffins—used her familiarity with the Underground Railroad to fill her novel with vivid depictions of the suffering endured by enslaved Black people. Her words helped inflame many white Northerners against slavery. Participating in the Underground Railroad could have dire consequences. The Fugitive Slave Acts provided for the capture and return of people who fled slavery, even from free states and U.S. territories. Upon return, freedom seekers faced harsh and potentially violent punishments. Anyone caught helping someone escape slavery could be sentenced to a fine or jail time. One abolitionist, Jonathan Walker, had his hand branded with "SS"—for slave stealer—for his efforts to help enslaved people escape to freedom. Because of the danger involved, few people kept records of the activities of the Underground Railroad, but it is estimated that 40,000 to 100,000 [ARF4]enslaved people journeyed to freedom along its routes. [ARF1]This estimate still seems okay, especially with the “may have”—e.g., https://www.delawarepublic.org/culture-lifestyle-sports/2017-02-24/history-matters-thomas-garretts-trial-of-1848 [ARF2]The 3,000 figure (which comes from our articles) seems to be Coffin’s own estimate. The actual number is now estimated to be a little lower: https://essentials.neh.gov/projects/the-president-of-the-underground-railroad (about 2,000) https://www.nps.gov/people/levi-coffin.htm (more than 2,000) https://indianapublicmedia.org/momentofindianahistory/levi-coffin/ (more than 2,000) https://www.indianamuseum.org/historic-sites/levi-catharine-coffin-house/ (more than 1,000 at that site) [ARF3]https://essentials.neh.gov/projects/the-president-of-the-underground-railroad https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/underground-railroad-indiana/7th-grade/

[ARF4]This seems okay.

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.

Since before the American revolution, pastors, former slaves, free African-Americans and others appalled by slavery fought the horrific practice. These men and women from wildly different backgrounds united together over a common cause.

Many of the grassroots tactics they used to oppose slavery are still used by activists today. Here are some of those tools.

Associations

Around the country, passionate activists joined together to form abolitionist societies.

The American Anti-Slavery Society was one of the foremost abolitionist organizations. Working together, the organization raised money, published pamphlets and newspapers and held events with speakers like Frederick Douglass.

Petitions

Especially in the 1830s and 1840s, petitions became a key tool of anti-slavery activists. Organizers used them to lobby Congress and other elected officials, and also to spread awareness about slavery and generate opposition to it.

Abolitionists were so effective at gathering petitions and submitting them to Congress that lawmakers in the house instituted a “gag rule” that prevented lawmakers from discussing any petitions or resolutions related to slavery.

Pamphlets, Newspapers and Novels

Lobbying lawmakers was one approach to ending slavery, but activists knew they needed to generate public outcry. Abolitionist movements throughout the country produced countless pamphlets, broadsides and other written materials directed at different audiences.

Some were calls to ministers from fellow clergymen. Others were by former slaves telling their stories about how they were mistreated. Still others were directed at women or businessmen.

Abolitionists societies also began publishing newspapers like The Liberator and Frederick Douglass’s The North Star. The papers were filled with articles about the conditions slaves had to face and editorials demanding lawmakers take action to end slavery.

Works of fiction helped change public sentiment as well. Uncle Tom’s Cabin became the best-selling book of the 1800s.

Events

Abolitionist societies knew that changing the laws permitting slavery started with changing the hearts and minds of fellow Americans.

Anti-slavery organizations hosted events throughout the country, from churches to meeting halls to homes. Former slaves like Frederick Douglass spoke about their experience. Pastors laid out the moral case against slavery.

These events helped educate Americans and allowed activists to gather signatures for petitions to lawmakers.

Using these techniques and more, opponents of slavery were able to educate and mobilize apathetic northerners and even change the hearts and minds of southerners.

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