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| *1820, when pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the U.S. Congress struck a deal concerning the extension of slavery known as the Missouri Compromise | | *1820, when pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the U.S. Congress struck a deal concerning the extension of slavery known as the Missouri Compromise |
| *1829, when David Walker published his Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World, and when the discussion about abolition reached the Virginia legislature, while - in the Northern States - the idea was gaining ground of freeing the slaves and then resettling them back in Africa (a proposal that led to the founding of Liberia) | | *1829, when David Walker published his Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World, and when the discussion about abolition reached the Virginia legislature, while - in the Northern States - the idea was gaining ground of freeing the slaves and then resettling them back in Africa (a proposal that led to the founding of Liberia) |
| *1831, when Nat Turner's slave rebellion - (one of) the bloodiest of some 200 slave uprisings between 1776 and 1860, struck fear in the hearts of many white southerners (Turner and more than 70 enslaved and free blacks moved from farm to farm in Virginia, indiscriminately killing whites along the way and picking up additional slaves: By the time the militia put down the insurrection, more than 80 slaves had joined the rebellion, and 60 whites lay dead) | | *1831, when Nat Turner's slave rebellion - (one of) the bloodiest of some 200 slave uprisings between 1776 and 1860, struck fear in the hearts of many white southerners (Turner and more than 70 enslaved and free blacks moved from farm to farm in Virginia, indiscriminately killing whites along the way and picking up additional slaves: By the time the militia put down the insurrection, more than 80 slaves had joined the rebellion, and 60 whites lay dead), and when [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lloyd_Garrison William Lloyd Garrison’s] The Liberator started its vehement attacks on slavery, both competing with and inspiring other media and messages like pamphlets and leaflets, anti-slavery poetry, slogans, essays, sermons, and songs against government sanctioned bondage |
| *1833, when the founding of the American Anti-Slavery Society increased Southern anxiety that it was only a matter of time before Congress would begin to tamper with slavery; while the Society used peaceful means of lecturing and moral persuasion to attempt to change the hearts and minds of individuals, this anxiety led many anti-abolitionists to use violent tactics in countering the influence of abolitionists. | | *1833, when the founding of the American Anti-Slavery Society increased Southern anxiety that it was only a matter of time before Congress would begin to tamper with slavery; while the Society used peaceful means of lecturing and moral persuasion to attempt to change the hearts and minds of individuals, this anxiety led many anti-abolitionists to use violent tactics in countering the influence of abolitionists. Abolitionists also looked to future generations to carry on their work, creating a body of children’s literature to bring the harsh realities of slavery before a young audience. These materials were deemed so threatening in slave states that they were outlawed. All this created a bitter conflict that sometimes resulted in violence by both pro- and anti-abolitionists |
| | | *1837, when a pro-slavery mob killed the abolitionist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah_Parish_Lovejoy Elijah P. Lovejoy], a Presbyterian minister, journalist and newspaper editor in Alton, Illinois, during their attack on his warehouse to destroy his press and abolitionist materials - while, on the other hand, the abolitionist movement became practical in helping fugitive slaves reach freedom by means of a network of assistance and safe houses from the South to Canada known as the Underground Railroad |
| Most famous of all abolitionist activities was the Underground Railroad, a network of assistance and safe houses for runaway slaves. The Underground Railroad stretched from the Southern states to Canada, and until 1865 provided shelter, safety, and guidance for thousands of runaway slaves.
| | *1859, when the militant abolitionist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown_(abolitionist) John Brown], who had already been leading a small antislavery guerilla war in thze Kansas territory and in Missouri in 1855, led a raid on a federal arms depot at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, with the intent to start an armed slave revolt - his attempt being thwarted, however, by local farmers, militiamen, and Marines led by Robert E. Lee (within 36 hours of the attack, most of Brown's men had been killed or captured, and Brown himself was hanged later that year (although initially shocked by Brown's exploits, many Northerners began to speak favorably of the militant abolitionist. "He did not recognize unjust human laws, but resisted them as he was bid. . . .," said Henry David Thoreau in an address to the citizens of Concord, Massachusetts. "No man in America has ever stood up so persistently and effectively for the dignity of human nature. . . ."; the song "John Brown's body lies ..." became very popular with the troops of the Union during the Civil War, and is still known under the name "Battle Hymn of the Republic") |
| Activists used the press to spread the abolitionist message. Newspapers like [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lloyd_Garrison William Lloyd Garrison’s] The Liberator (since 1831) circulated vehement attacks on government sanctioned bondage. Other publications, such as pamphlets and leaflets, contained anti-slavery poems, slogans, essays, sermons, and songs.
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| All this created a bitter conflict that sometimes resulted in violence by both pro- and anti-abolitionists. In 1837, a pro-slavery mob killed the abolitionist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah_Parish_Lovejoy Elijah P. Lovejoy], a Presbyterian minister, journalist and newspaper editor in Alton, Illinois, during their attack on his warehouse to destroy his press and abolitionist materials. | |
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| Abolitionists also looked to future generations to carry on their work, creating a body of children’s literature to bring the harsh realities of slavery before a young audience. These materials were deemed so threatening in slave states that they were outlawed.
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| Still other abolitionists felt that violence was the only way to end slavery. These militants resorted to extreme and deadly tactics, and incited violent insurrections. These acts of terror aroused fear in slaveholders, but also led to the execution of perpetrators (from: “I will be heard” – Strategies).
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| One of these militants was a man named John Brown.
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| John Brown was a man of action -- a man who would not be deterred from his mission of abolishing slavery. On October 16, 1859, he led 21 men on a raid of the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. His plan to arm slaves with the weapons he and his men seized from the arsenal was thwarted, however, by local farmers, militiamen, and Marines led by Robert E. Lee. Within 36 hours of the attack, most of Brown's men had been killed or captured.
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| John Brown was born into a deeply religious family in Torrington, Connecticut, in 1800. Led by a father who was vehemently opposed to slavery, the family moved to northern Ohio when John was five, to a district that would become known for its antislavery views.
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| During his first fifty years, Brown moved about the country, settling in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New York, and taking along his ever-growing family. (He would father twenty children.) Working at various times as a farmer, wool merchant, tanner, and land speculator, he never was finacially successful -- he even filed for bankruptcy when in his forties. His lack of funds, however, did not keep him from supporting causes he believed in. He helped finance the publication of David Walker's Appeal and Henry Highland's "Call to Rebellion" speech. He gave land to fugitive slaves. He and his wife agreed to raise a black youth as one of their own. He also participated in the Underground Railroad and, in 1851, helped establish the League of Gileadites, an organization that worked to protect escaped slaves from slave catchers.
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| In 1847 Frederick Douglass met Brown for the first time in Springfield, Massachusetts. Of the meeting Douglass stated that, "though a white gentleman, [Brown] is in sympathy a black man, and as deeply interested in our cause, as though his own soul had been pierced with the iron of slavery." It was at this meeting that Brown first outlined his plan to Douglass to lead a war to free slaves.
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| Brown moved to the black community of North Elba, New York, in 1849. The community had been established thanks to the philanthropy of Gerrit Smith, who donated tracts of at least 50 acres to black families willing to clear and farm the land. Brown, knowing that many of the families were finding life in this isolated area difficult, offered to establish his own farm there as well, in order to lead the blacks by his example and to act as a "kind father to them."
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| Despite his contributions to the antislavery cause, Brown did not emerge as a figure of major significance until 1855 after he followed five of his sons to the Kansas territory. There, he became the leader of antislavery guerillas and fought a proslavery attack against the antislavery town of Lawrence. The following year, in retribution for another attack, Brown went to a proslavery town and brutally killed five of its settlers. Brown and his sons would continue to fight in the territory and in Missouri for the rest of the year.
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| Brown returned to the east and began to think more seriously about his plan for a war in Virginia against slavery. He sought money to fund an "army" he would lead. On October 16, 1859, he set his plan to action when he and 21 other men -- 5 blacks and 16 whites -- raided the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry.
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| Brown was wounded and quickly captured, and moved to Charlestown, Virginia, where he was tried and convicted of treason, Before hearing his sentence, Brown was allowed make an address to the court.
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| . . . I believe to have interfered as I have done, . . . in behalf of His despised poor, was not wrong, but right. Now, if it be deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children, and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments, I submit: so let it be done."
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| Although initially shocked by Brown's exploits, many Northerners began to speak favorably of the militant abolitionist. "He did not recognize unjust human laws, but resisted them as he was bid. . . .," said Henry David Thoreau in an address to the citizens of Concord, Massachusetts. "No man in America has ever stood up so persistently and effectively for the dignity of human nature. . . ."
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| John Brown was hanged on December 2, 1859. (from: | |
| http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1550.html)
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| === Evaluation === | | === Evaluation === |