Abolitionism (American History)

What is the Abolitionism?

The Abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and emancipate the slaves in America. Similar movement had taken place in western Europe. According the exponents of this movement, the Enlightened thinkers, the practice of slavery was violation of the rights of man.(The Bill of Rights) Similarly, some of the denominations of Christianity called it un-christian practice.

The leading exponent of Abolitionism in America were John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, Aron Burr, Henry Clay etc. There were radicals like John Brown who was executed for his anti-slavery activities which crossed the permissible limits. There were writers and journalist like William Lloyd Garrison who was the publisher of The Liberator. Similarly there were African American popular abolitionist Frederick Douglass and Robert Purvius. The popular Abolitionism movement society was American Anti Slavery society.

The main solutions suggested by the abolitionist was immediate emancipation and full civil rights to the African American within America. Second suggestion was to send them to Africa and establish separate colony for them in Africa itself. The Liberia was such a place where many of them were send. However that experiment did not succeed. Finally, by Emancipation Proclamation of Abraham Lincoln and Thirteen Amendment to the American Constitution in 1865, the slavery was abolished in America.

The struggle for the equal Civil Rights for the African American continued for a longer period. It developed into American Civil Rights Movement which is also called Second Reconstruction in the twentieth century. During this period Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. became the major leader of African American Civil Rights. The major association was National Association for the Advancement of Colored People or NAACP.

On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama became the 44th President of United States of America and the first African American to hold the highest office in USA.

Who is an abolitionist?

Ans:According to John McPherson, as he wrote in his book in The Struggle of Equality, an abolitionist is “one one who before the Civil War in the United States of America had agitated for the immediate, unconditional, and total abolition of slavery in the United States”. The unconditional emancipation as an aim was oriented to achieve equality of civil rights for the black free slaves. (Read the notes on John M. McPherson)

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Notes:

James M McPherson's two books, The Struggle for Equality: Abolitionists and the Negro in the Civil War and Reconstruction (1964) and The Negro's Civil War: How American Negroes Felt and Acted During the War for the Union (1965) are still considered an authority on the African American struggle in nineteenth century. Another substantiating book is The Slave Community by John Blassingame.