Chapter 12 Section 2

1. Chapter 12Section 2 The Fight Against Slavery

2. Slavery Ends in the North • 1780- PA became the first state to pass a law that gradually eliminated slavery. • By 1804, every northern state had ended slavery in the state • Congress banned slavery in the NW Territory • OH, 1803, 1st state to enter the union and ban slavery in its constitution

3. The Colonization Movement • The American Colonization Movement • Established in 1817 • Early antislavery organization • Proposed slaves be freed gradually and transported to Liberia (colony founded in 1822 on the west coast of Africa) • Movement did not work • Most enslaved people did not want to leave the country

4. Growing Opposition to Slavery • Mid 1800’s • Small but growing number of people were abolitionist~ reformers who wanted to abolish, or end, slavery • Called for a complete and immediate end to slavery

5. William Lloyd Garrison • Forceful voice for abolition • Quaker • Favored full political rights for African Americans • 1831, Newspaper the Liberator • Became the nation’s leading antislavery publication for 34 years, ending when slavery ended. • Founded the New England Anti-Slavery Society • Later became the American Anti-Slavery Society

6. African American Abolitionists • Frederick Douglass~ most powerful speaker for abolitionism • Born into slavery • Broke the law and learned to read • Escaped to freedom in the North • Appeared in public • Risked being sent back into slavery • Published his own antislavery newspaper, the North Star

7. Former President Takes a Stand • John Quincy Adams • Now a member of Congress • 1839, proposed a constitutional amendment that would ban slavery in any new state joining the Union • Did not pass • 2 years later • Captive Africans aboard a ship rebelled, killed the captain, & ordered the crew back to Africa • Crew sailed to America • Adams spoke to the Supreme Court for 9 hours convincing the court to give freedom to the captives

8. The Underground Railroad • System to help slaves escape • Not underground • Not a railroad • Network of people—black and white, northerners and southerners---who secretly helped slaves reach freedom • Working for this system was illegal • Stations usually the homes of abolitionists, churches, or caves • In total, ~50,000 slaves gained their way for freedom in this way

9. Harriet Tubman • Escaped from slavery • Escorted more than 300 people to freedom using the Underground Railroad • Nicknamed Black Moses • Never lost a passenger • Slave owners promised a $40,000 reward for her capture

10. Opposing Abolition • Northerners profited because of slavery • Relied on cotton for the textile mills • Feared freed slaves might come take their jobs • Attacks on antislavery meetings • 1835, William Lloyd Garrison was drug through the streets of Boston with a rope around his neck • GA offered a $50,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of Garrison • Southerners in Congress won passage of the “Gag rule” • Blocked discussion of antislavery petitions