Reshaping America in the Early 1800s

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Reshaping America in the Early 1800s 6.5 The
Abolition Movement
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Reshaping America in the Early 1800s Lesson 5 The
Abolition Movement
Learning Objectives

• Describe the hardships of the lives of enslaved
  African Americans and the ways in which they
  coped.
• Explain the struggles and successes of free
  African Americans in the mid-1800s.
• Identify the leaders and tactics of the abolition
  movement.
• Summarize the positions and tactics of those
  opposed to abolition.

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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

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Expansion of Slavery

• The Cotton Engine reduced the amount of time
  and labor (cost) of separating the cotton seeds
  from the valuable white fiber
• 5 million pounds of cotton 1793
• 170 million pounds in 1820
• Invented by Eli Whitney
• King Cotton
• Why did slavery increase? What other effect did
  the cotton gin have on the US?

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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.
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Life as an Enslaved African American

• Slavery was cruel and evil
• Threat of separating families a tool
• Slaves practice family naming and oral traditions
• They also fought back

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Resistance

• Freedman former slave
• Denmark Vessey freedman who tried a slave
  revolt in South Carolina (Charlestown) in 1822.
• Two slaves turned him in before it started
• No deaths
• Vesey executed by hanging
• Nat Turner slave who heard the voice of God to
  try to free the slaves.
• 1831 Richmond Virginia
• Two day killing spree killed over 60 whites
  (all ages) spared poor whites
• Turner was hanged, flayed, quartered, and
  beheaded
• At trial, mob turned against AA crowed and killed
  over 100 innocent blacks.
• South passed tougher slave laws like forbidding
  teaching slaves to read.

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Life as an Enslaved African American
Analyze Data Between the years 1820 and 1840, how
much was the enslaved population increasing per
decade?
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Life as an Enslaved African American
Enslaved workers spent long, back-breaking hours
stooping to pick cotton in the fields.
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Life as an Enslaved African American
Analyze Maps Where did the earliest rebellion
take place? Where did most rebellions take place?
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Life as an Enslaved African American
Analyze Information Which three states had the
largest number of enslaved people during the
period shown?
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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.
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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?
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Free African Americans
An attempt to have slaves move back to Africa.
It did not work. Why?
A certificate of membership in the American
Colonization Society
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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.
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The Antislavery Movement Grows

• Northerners began to view slavery as
  fundamentally incompatible with the religious
  views they embraced during the Second Great
  Awakening.
• Abolition movement movement to end or abolish
  slavery.
• William Lloyd Garrison abolitionist and editor
  of The Liberator, an antislavery newspaper.
• Angelina and Sarah Grimke sisters, from SC
  planter, left to become abolitionist.
  Instrumental in the abolitionist and womens
  rights movement.
• Fredrick Douglass escaped slave, speaker, and
  abolitionist. One of the most influentional
  African Americans in History.

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The Antislavery Movement Grows
Antislavery activists like these in Virginia
faced violence from supporters of slavery.
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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.
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The Backlash Against Abolition

• Slavery necessary for South Economy
• North benefitted from it in the textile mills
• Slave labor better than paid labor slaves
  treated better
• Bible supported slavery
• Enslaved people could not survive without
  slaveholders
• Enslaving Africans was historically inevitable

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The Backlash Against Abolition

• Southern views of slowly ending slavery died and
  they defended it even more.
• Garrison chased in Boston
• Grimke-Weld wedding had meeting hall burnt down
  (black guests)
• Elijah Lovejoy printing press destroyed and
  Lovejoy murdered (Alton, Il)
• Northern workers feared blacks taking their jobs
• Gag rule passed in 1836 Congress would not
  debate slavery for the next 8 years.
• Abolition movement small.at first.

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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?
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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
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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
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Quiz The Antislavery Movement Grows
How did the Second Great Awakening affect the
institution of slavery? A. All the traveling
preachers were abolitionists. B. People began
opposing slavery on religious grounds. C. Free
African Americans began preaching against it. D.
More African Americans joined Baptist
congregations.
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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