The Antislavery Movement
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Transcript The Antislavery Movement
Chapter 8 Section 3
Life Under Slavery
Slavery
Considered an American institution since colonial
times
Growth of cotton farming need for slaves grew
Suffered cruel treatment
Beatings, whipping, maiming, mental punishment
(humiliation), threat of being separated from family
Separation from family slaves sold
Separation of Families
Trying to Survive
Some slaves took their own lives
Some slaves dealt with pain and suffering daily
Most slaves maintained their dignity and hope
Keeping ties with family and friends
Family traditions kept alive
Family stories
Took comfort in their religion (mix of traditional
African and Christian beliefs)
Resistance
Sabotage
Breaking tools, outwitting overseers,
escape
Fled to the North or Mexico
Underground Railroad
Revolts
Denmark Vesey
Denmark Vesey, 1822
Freedman
Second-rate citizen Charleston, SC
Eventually hanged
Nat Turner
Nat Turner, 1831
Taught himself to read the Bible
August 1831, near Richmond, VA
Later executed
As a result, southerners became fearful
Stricter laws passed
Legality of literacy
Revolts inspired Northerners to work against slavery
Question
How did enslaved people resist their captivity?
The Lives of Free
African Americans
Northern states had outlawed slavery by the
1840s
ME and VA slowly freeing slaves
Freed slaves still dealt with racial
discrimination
American Colonization Society (ACS)
David Walker (free African American)
Go Down, Moses
Go Down, Moses
What is the story of Moses?
How did the African Americans relate to the story of
Moses?
Who did the Pharaoh represent?
In what way did African American spirituals
combine African and European influences to create
something new?
Why do you think few African American spirituals
survive in their original forms?
The Fight Against Slavery
1804, all states north of MD passed
legislation to end slavery
1807, bringing any new slaves from
Africa banned
Abolition Movement
William Lloyd Garrison
Printer in Boston, MA
Began antislavery career working for
Benjamin Lundy
Lundy published 1st antislavery
newspaper
The Liberator Garrison’s newspaper
Moral suasion
In favor of emancipation
1833, American Anti-Slavery Society
William
Lloyd
Garrison
Started The
Liberator
antislavery
newspaper
Abolitionists
Theodore Weld
Lane Theological Seminary in OH
Married Angelina Grimké
Sarah Grimké
Frederick Douglass
David Walker
Abolitionists
Theodore Weld
Angelina Grimké
Abolitionists
Sarah Grimké
Frederick Douglass
Working Against Abolition
Despite abolitionist efforts; most Americans
continued to support slavery
Southerners claim slavery is necessary due to
Southern agricultural economy
Claim North also dependent due to textile and
shipping industries
Claim that Christianity supported slavery
(inevitable)
Refusal in south to read abolitionist
newspapers
Northerners Resist Abolition
Most northerners agreed with southerners about
slavery
Grimké-Weld wedding
Tension locals burn down antislavery meeting hall
Fear that end of slavery would end supply of
southern cotton
Gag Rule, 1836 renewed annually for 8 years
Slavery Divides Nation
Abolition movement small and mostly confined to
North
Vocal and persistent
Widened regional cultural differences between
largely urban and industrialized North and the
largely rural and agricultural South
Divided country