Chapter 9 Section 2

The Antislavery Movement

Abolitionist Movement

• The movement to end slavery

Emancipation

• Freeing of enslaved people

Underground Railroad

• A network of escape routes that provided protection and transportation for slaved fleeing north to freedom.– The term railroad

referred to paths that African Americans traveled, either on foot or in wagons

– Underground means it was secret

Gag Rule

• This law prohibited antislavery petitions from being read or acted upon in the house of Representatives for the next 8 years.

What tactics did the abolitionist movement use to achieve the emancipation of slaves?

• Protest• Political action• Publishing• Forming groups and

societies• Developing a

colonization program (Liberia)

• The Underground Railroad

Name 4 abolitionist leaders and describe their contributions to the movement.

William Lloyd Garrison

• Published a newspaper– The Liberator

• Denounced moderation– He insisted on

aggressively denouncing the institution of slavery

• Founded American Antislavery Society

Frederick Douglas

• Great speaker and writer

• Started a newspaper– The North Star

• Opposed violence

Grimke Sisters

• Involved women by speaking and writing pamphlets

Harriet Tubman

• She herself was an escaped slave

• Led many other slaves to freedom– Led more than 300

slaves to freedom– Earned the nickname

“black Moses”

Why did divisions emerge within the abolitionist movement?

• Leaders disagreed over whether or not to employ illegal tactics– Like helping slaves escape

• Many male members disagreed over whether or or not to allow women to play prominent roles within the movement

What groups resisted the efforts of abolitionists

• Northern merchants– Feared souring relations

with the South

• White workers and labor leaders– Feared job competition

• Most southerners• Public officials in the south

– Southern mailmen refused to deliver abolitionist literature

What types of resistance did they carry out?

• Held violent demonstrations

• Murdered some abolitionist newspaper editors– Like Elijah P. Lovejoy

• Passed the gag rule

Describe how geography affected the course of the Underground Railroad

• Led to safety in Canada• Mississippi River

provided a natural escape route north

• Swamps of the Atlantic Coast allowed slaves to hide

• Appalachian Mountains provided shelter

Describe how geography presented challenges to travelers along the routes

• Mississippi River was dangerous because slave hunters stalked the riverboat towns

• Swamps had dangers like poisonous snakes

• Mountains presented barriers