Chapter 16 Flashcards
Harriet Beecher Stowe
an abolitionist against slavery. In the early stages of her life, she urged women to enter teaching profession. She was also considered a women’s rights advocate. Harriet Beecher Stowe is known for her book uncle tom’s cabin which expressed the issues of slavery in the south. Her book was inspired by the pamphlet :american slavery as it is. Stowe was also famous for leading slaves to freedom by using the underground railroad. She was known as the Moses of the slaves.
William Lloyd Garrison
The most conspicuous and most vilified of the abolitionists, Garrison was a nonresistant pacifist and a poor organizer. He was a reformer that favored northern secession from the south and antagonized both sections with his intemperate language. Garrison published in Boston the 1st issue of his militantly antislavery newspaper, The Liberator. With this paper, Garrison triggered a 30 year war of words and in a sense fired one of the opening barrages of the civil war. He proclaimed that under no circumstances would he tolerate the poisonous weed of slavery, but would stamp it out at once. He quoted “…I will not retreat a single inch and I will be heard!”
Denmark Vesey
A slave who he, himself, bought his freedom when he collected enough money by winning the lottery. He is most famous for starting a slave rebellion in 1822 in South Carolina with over 100 free and slave men. They planned to kill their enslavers and liberate the city of Charleston. However, some slaves who were opposed to the idea ratted them out and Vesey was executed along with several of his fellow rebels. Vesey was an inspiration for several slave rebels and is regarded as being an abolitionist hero.
David Walker
an audaciously outspoken Black American activist who demanded the immediate end of slavery in the new nation. A leader within the Black enclave in Boston, Massachusetts. David Walker’s Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World: a call to “awaken my brethren” to the power within Black unity and struggle. recognized for his critical contribution to ending chattel slavery in the United States. one of the most important political and social documents of the 19th century. They credit Walker for exerting a radicalizing influence on the abolitionist movements of his day and beyond. He has inspired many generations of Black leaders and activists of all backgrounds.
Nat Turner
A black slave of the early nineteenth century, who led the only effective and sustained slave revolt in American history. He and his supporters killed several dozen white people in Virginia before he was captured; he was hanged in 1831. Although Turner’s rebellion led to a severe reaction among the slaveholders, it demonstrated that not all slaves were willing to accept their condition passively.
Sojourner Truth
African-American woman and escaped slave who fought for abolition of slavery and women’s
rights. After escaping slavery in late 1826, Truth learned her son had been illegally sold into
slavery in Alabama and fought the issue in court and eventually secured her son’s return from
the South. This was one of those first instances of an African American woman successfully
winning a court case against a white man. In 1844, she joined the Northampton Association of
Education and Industry in Northampton, Massachusetts meeting abolitionists Frederick Douglas
and William Lloyd Garrison. William Lloyd Garrison published her memoirs in 1850 under the
title “The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave”. Truth spoke at the first National
Women’s Rights Convention in Worcester, Massachusetts. She soon began touring regularly
with abolitionist George Thompson, speaking to large crowds on the subjects of slavery and
human rights. Truth was most famous for her speech “Ain’t I A Woman?” at the Ohio Women’s
Rights Convention.
Theodore Dwight Weld
an abolitionist lecturer, author, and educator. When he was 6, an African American named Jerry entered as a student as his common school and while the other students treated Jerry with casual cruelty, Weld asked to be seated next to him. He then attended Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati Ohio. He was expelled for organizing an 18-day debate on slavery. He and his fellow “Lane Rebels” fanned out across the Old Northwest preaching the anti-slavery gospel. He also assembled a potent propaganda pamphlet called American Slavery as It Is. Its compelling arguments made it one of the most effective abolitionist tracts.
Frederick Douglass
The greatest of the black abolitionists and was a former slave that escaped slavery with the assistance of a free black woman named, Anna Murray, who he later marries. He was one of the few slaves that was able to learn how to read and was taught by his female master. In 1845 he published his famous autobiography called, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. This book informed people about his life as a son of a black woman and a white father, his struggles to learn to read and write, and his eventual escape to the North. He was among the people that looked to politics to end slavery and advocated the Liberty party of 1840, the Free Spoil party in 1848, and eventually the Republican party in the 1850s. Frederick was also a gifted orator, write, and editor. He was the first black to serve in office and was U.S. Minister to Haiti. He also published his famous Newspaper called the North Star which was inspired by The Liberator by William Lloyd Garrison.
Arthur and Lewis Tappan
New York abolitionists who gained legal help and acquittal for the Africans and managed to increase public support and fund-raising for the organized return trip home to Africa for surviving members of the group
Elijah P. Lovejoy
an American newspaper editor and martyred abolitionist. He died in defense of his right to print antislavery material in the period leading up to the American Civil War. Born in Alton, Illinois, Lovejoy moved to Missouri where he entered journalism. Six years later, he became the editor of St. Louis Observer, where he wrote about the abolition of slavery. His strong editorials made him the center of hate by slave-holders. Due to the threat of mob violence, Lovejoy was forced to move his press to Alton, in the free state of Illinois, where he continued to write editorials that angered the South. Despite the change of his location, his printing press was destroyed multiple times by angry mobs. In 1837, he was killed by a mob trying to defend himself and his printing press. After his death, he became known as “the martyr abolitionist” and the news of his death greatly strengthened the abolitionist movement.
John Quincy Adams
former Secretary of State under Monroe and then, served as the sixth President of the United States (1825-1829). He never officially joined the abolitionist movement, however it was evident he opposed slavery. Quincy Adams disagreed with the passage of the Gag rule which was caused by the overrun of signed petitions against slavery sent to congress. The Gag rule was passed to prevent the discussion of slavery from 1836 to 1844 within congress. For those eight years Quincy Adams disputed congress’ decision and was not silenced until his colleagues threatened him with censure. However, by their attempts to silence Quincy Adams questions were raised and debate was fired especially with the morality of slavery
Oligarchy
a form powerhouse structure in which a small number of people effectively hold power from the rest of society. This is not specific in government, and it can prosper, by economic, religious, family, or military means of gaining power. Sometimes given from one generation to another, and or simply comes from the privileged people. Oligarchy is known to gain power, and dominate a region from the weaker people who are being ruled by them. The example in American history is the slave states where the plantation owners, benefiting from the oppressed slaves and that giving power to potentially influence the states’ government
Abolitionism:
A movement dedicated the abolishing of slavery. Key leaders such as former slaves Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman worked tirelessly to permanently abolish slavery. Other abolitionists such as John Brown resorted to violence to achieve their goals. Books such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin further stoked the flames of the anti-slavery movement, eventually leading to the outbreak of the Civil War. White abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison also contributed to the cause. Abolitionists looked to politics to end the blight of slavery.
positive good
- A phrase adapted by John C. Calhoun describing that slavery is, in fact, a good practice during a Missouri debate. The idea of “positive good” originated in the deep South and had points about slavery helping the whites out of hard-working labor and civilizing the Africans by bringing them into the Christian faith. People in the South started believing in this idea because of the booming cotton industry that resulted in the ever-growing need of slaves.
Breakers
A person who takes in unruly slaves and demoralizes them for their original masters. This helps with keeping these more militant slaves “in line”. Most often used during the antebellum period in the American South.
