unit 2.19-2.24: influential abolitionists, resistance & present day

Moral Suasion

abolitionist strategy to convince slaveholders & supports by appealing to people’s ethics/morality, conscience, and shared beliefs (ex. Christianity, American ideals) through non-violent means — ex. newspapers, speeches, & articles

• William Llyod Garrison, Sojourner Truth

David Walker

wrote the “Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World”—a series of essays on affects of slavery on AfAm

• critiqued Emigration Movement & advocating immediate abolition of slavery

  • encourage radical resistance

• referenced principles of Christianity & American ideals such as natural rights of the Dec. of Indp.

  • 4 articles: Our wretchedness in consequence of slavery, ignorance, Jesus Christ, & colonizing plan

Henry Garnet

powerful black orator famous for influential speech “An Address to the Slaves of the US” (referenced Christianity & promoted resistance) & “Call of Rebellion” (encouraged slaves to turn against master

• 1st AfAm to speak in US Congress

• key voice in black empowerment & equality

• married to Julia W. Garnet

Julia W. Garnet

prominent black abolitionist & educator fighting against racial & gender discrimination

• worked w/ her husband Henry Garnet w/ speeches such as "Call to Rebellion” & “Address to the Slaves”

• established a girls school in Jamaica

Maria Stewart

powerful lecturer, writer, & abolitionist who inspired black women’s activism and known for powerful speeches for racial equality

• said to be 1st black woman to publish a political manifesto

• published speeches & pamphlets in William Lloyd Garrison’s The Liberator

Harriet Tubman

“Moses of her people,” Conductor on the Underground Railroad, Union Spy/Nurse/Scout, 1st woman to lead a major US military operation —> Combahee River Raid

• supported abolition, women’s suffrage, rights for elderly

• took 19 trips to South, freeing ~80 ppl to freedom

• recognized as a 1-star general in 2024 for military achievements

____ were freed by the Underground RR

30k

Fugitive Slave Act 1793/1850

Gov’t response to stop fugitives - if you fled slavery, could be caught & sent back

radical resistance

wanted immediate emancipation & urged for revolts/forceful resistance, believing moral appeals wouldn’t work

• ex. anti-slavery pamphlets

• Walker, Garnet, later Douglass

radical resistance vs. moral suasion

radical resistance — immediate emancipation, encouraged violence, moral appeals wouldn’t work, directed towards slaves

moral suasion — gradual emancipation appealed to morals, ethics, religion w/ publications like newspapers, directed toward white majority & slaveowners, nonviolent means

Combahee River Raid (who led it & what war was it part of?)

under command of Colonel James Montgomery, Harriet Tubman became the 1st woman to lead a major military operation during the Civil War —> ~750 ppl freed

Sojourner Truth

Aka “Isabella Baumfree,” Black American abolitionist, civil rights, & woman’s rights/suffrage; famous for her "Ain’t I a Woman?” speech

Carte-de-visite (importance?)

a small photographic portrait of a person which was commonly distributed — photography was greatly utilized to challenge dehumanizing anti-Black propaganda & stereotypes, that Black Americans were human and as equals to whites

who was the most photographed man in the 1800s? (& why was it important to do?)

Frederick Douglass — used photography to fight dehumanizing anti-Black propaganda of being “animalistic” & harmful stereotypes, & depict black Americans as dignified, intelligent, people, equal citizens (consistently wearing formal suits, looking directly into camera, avoiding smiles)

quilt portrait of Harriet Tubman by Bisa Butler meant to represent her achievements, personality, & impact

Mary Prince

1st black women to publish an autobiography “The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave” in Britain, significantly impacting the abolitionist movement

Harriet Jacobs

wrote the autobiography “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” recounting the abuse she endured during her enslavement — hid in a small attic for 7 years to escape her enslaver

Paul Laurence Dunbar

1st nationally recognized black poet greatly influential in American literature who captured African American experience

Emancipation Proclamation

1863 executive order issued by Lincoln that declared all enslaved people in Confederate states in rebellion (didn’t apply to border states loyal or already under Union control); lacked enforcement

Juneteenth (what, when, where, & who declared a national holiday, & importance?)

aka Freedom/Emancipation Day, celebrating the end of slavery in the US - June 19th - the day Union soldiers led by Union General Gordan Granger arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas to announce the Civil War had ended & the General Order No. 3 that all enslaved people were free in 1965

• Made a national holiday on June 17, 2021 by Biden Administration

• parades, picnics, speeches, fireworks

• Importance: to remember history, celebrate successes from struggle

13th amendment (effect + did it apply to everyone?)

abolishment of slavery in 1865

• 4 mil freed, 1/3 in the South —> result: economic impact b/c decline in workforce

• didn’t apply to Indigenous Tribes’ 10k slaves b/c not considered part of US jurisdiction

  • changed in 1866 w/ treaty

General Order No. 3

issued by Union General Gordan Granger informing the people of Texas that all enslaved people were free w/ (1st doc to state) absolute racial equality on June 19th, 1965 —> Juneteenth

Tappan brothers

Arthur & Lewis Tappan were influential NY merchant abolitionists who used their wealth to fund the abolitionist clause like providing the most modern printing technology available to spread anti-slavery pamphlets

“gag rule”

restriction on speech of abolitionist voices from discussing slavery in the House of Representatives

Phillis Wheatley

renowned poet; 1st African American to publish a book of poetry “Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral” 1773

Where did many Black loyalists move after the AM Rev? And why?

Canada, Jamaica, The Bahamas, South Africa, & Australia to escape re-enslavement

Bethel AME church

• 1st independent black denomination in the US founded by Richard Allen

• vital religious, social, & political centers for Black communities

• space for schools, meetings, club houses, lecture halls, & gatherings to occur

Missouri Compromise

established 36’30 line (banning slavery above it) in hopes to preserve national unity by:

• Maine —> free state

• Missouri —> slave state

Henry “Box” Brown

enslaved man from VA who escaped to freedom by mailing himself in a wooden crate to Philadelphia

Elizabeth Keckley

1st Lady Mary Todd Lincoln’s personal seamstress & confidante during who aided freed slaved & recounted her life in the autobiography “Behind the Scenes - 30 years as a slave, 4 years in the white house”

Raid on Harper’s Ferry

Abolitionist John Brown to start a slave rebellion by seizing a federal armory in Harper’s Ferry, VA; increased fear of slave revolts

July 5th, 1827

NY declared this date as Freedom Day, 1st time celebrating legal end of slavery

Freedom Days

celebrations commemorating the end of slavery; ex. Juneteenth, Emancipation Day (April 16th); 1st Freedom Day celebrating abolition was NY on July 5, 1827

Colored Orphan Asylum

orphanage for black children; 12 year old’s became indentured servants (paychecks sent to orphanage)