A. Who were the abolitionists and what were there
methods? - An abolitionist was one who fought to have slavery
abolished.
1. William Lloyd Garrison - Publisher of the newspaper
"The Liberator" we was the most outspoken and most vocal of all
abolitionists. He often wrote in corse and blunt language that left
no room to be misunderstood. This short excerpt shows his resolve and
his passion: "I am in earnest. I will not equivocate; I will not
excuse; I will not retreat a single inch; and I will be heard!"
2. Frederick Douglass - Frederick Douglass, (1818?-1895), was the
leading spokesman of African Americans in the 1800's. Born a slave,
Douglass became a noted reformer, author, and orator. He devoted his
life to the abolition of slavery and the fight for black rights.
3. Harriet Tubman - Harriet Tubman was an African American whose
daring rescues helped hundreds of slaves escape to freedom. She
became the most famous leader of the underground railroad, which
aided slaves fleeing to the free states or to Canada. Blaks called
her Moses, after the Biblical figure who led the Jews from Egypt.
4. Sojourner Truth - Like Harriet Tubman, Truth was born into
slavery (with the given name Isabella) and had no formal education.
She fled the last of a series of masters in 1827, and several years
later, in response to what she described as a command from God, she
became an itinerant preacher and took the name Sojourner Truth. Among
her most memorable appearances was at an 1851 women's rights
conference in Akron, Ohio: in her famous "Ain't I a woman?" speech
she forcefully attacked the hypocrisies of organized religion, white
privilege and everything in between.
5. Nat Turner - Nat Turner, a black slave and preacher, led the
most famous slave revolt in United States history. In 1831, Turner
and from 60 to 70 other slaves killed about 60 whites in Virginia.
The victims included the family of Joseph Travis, Turner's owner.
More whites died during the rebellion led by Turner than in any
other in the nation's history. The Virginia militia captured and
hanged about 20 of the slaves, including Turner. In addition, angry
whites killed about 100 innocent slaves. The rebellion caused the
Southern States to pass strict laws for the control of slaves,
especially those who were preachers.
6. John Brown - He lived and worked successively in Pennsylvania,
Massachusetts and New York. Meanwhile, he had conceived an intense
hatred of the institution of slavery and had resolved to do
everything in his power to bring about its destruction. Brown, with
only eighteen men, five of whom were Negroes, attacked and captured
the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, W. Va. on October 16, 1859. On
October 18 he was overpowered by a small force of United States
Marines under the command of Col. Robert E. Lee. Brown was captured,
seriously wounded and thrown into prison. He was tried and convicted
for "treason and conspiring and advising with slaves and other rebels
and murder in the first degree" On December 2, 1859, Brown was hanged
at Charleston.
B. What was the impact of Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's
Cabin?"
1. Harriet Beacher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin addresses
the issue of slavery Frequently in the novel the issue is raised .
Even Mrs. Shelby ( slave owner) recognizes the depravity and admits
that slavery, "is a bitter, bitter,most accursed thing- a curse to
the master and a curse to the slave!" The novel is extremely
effective in conveying the inhumanity concerning slavery and does so
in an honest manner. The preposterousness of such practice is clearly
identified by the reader and illustrated remarkably well by Stowe.
Stowe also discerningly demonstrates the disheartening fact that,
"slavery always ends in misery" Stowe's book sold over 300,000 copies
in one year, a record for the time. In fact more copies of Uncle
Tom's Cabin were sold that year than copies of the Bible!
