Abolition of Slavery

Frederick Douglass was correct in saying that women had a large role to play in the abolitionist movement. The anti-slavery movement also influenced the feminist movement by showing women that major change could be won, and also by giving women a template on how to make that change for themselves. Women of the abolitionist movement actually ended up leading the first real feminist movement in America.

Women made up almost half of the members of all anti-slavery organizations. Many men in these organizations tried to keep the women to secondary roles. These men didn’t want the women to be able to serve on the committees, vote, or speak publicly. Women caused the movement to split in two. The Liberty Party was the more conservative of the two, not wanting women to have much of a role in their cause. William Lloyd Garrison started the other group which was appalled at the treatment women were receiving from the Liberty party. Interestingly Garrison was also in favor of women’s rights. (Ayers, Gould, Oshinsky, Soderlund, 285)

Independent women’s abolitionist societies also began to form in response to the men suppressing their role. Women began circulating pamphlets against slavery and more and more women began speaking to groups against the institution. Women of the movement also were more radical than the men calling for immediate, not gradual abolition of slavery. Black women were able to offer a unique perspective since many had been slaves at some point. Autobiographies of these former slaves were promoted in support of slavery abolition.

One instance that shows the importance of women in the abolitionist movement was that of the Grimke sisters. Angelina and Sarah Grimke had firsthand knowledge of the issues of slavery having grown up around it. They were the first female anti-slavery speakers. These two women in particular had credibility where few others did because they had seen what slavery was doing to black people with their own eyes. (Ayers, Gould, Oshinsky, Soderlund, 284)

What initially sparked the women’s rights movement was an anti-slavery convention in London in 1840. Women were segregated to a separate seating area, much like black people were. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott were two of the woman delegates at the convention. Their experience at the convention convinced them that they should start a movement in America for women’s rights. Though it took quite a while for them to put it together, they finally planned a convention at Seneca Falls. The premise behind both movements is that women spoke up. Women such as Harriet Tubman and Ellen Craft put together pamphlets, were quoted in newspapers, started petitions, and spoke to anyone who would listen to them. Some of these same women involved with the anti-slavery movement actually wrote a document similar to the Declaration of Independence. This document stated that women wanted the right to vote and that women should be equal to men in all aspects. (Ayers, Gould, Oshinsky, Soderlund, 311,312,313)

Not all women believed in the suffrage movement though. Many southern women saw no reason to fight for equal rights as they focused on manipulating the important men they had connections to. They also saw the connection between women’s suffrage and the anti-slavery movement, and being southerners wanted no part in the abolition of slavery. These women focused on other things such as orphanages and shelters for the poor. (Ayers, Gould, Oshinsky, Soderlund, 313)

The abolitionist movement and the women’s rights movement were inseparably linked as several male abolitionists actually supported women’s rights. Both movements were fighting for the same ideals, and both also required many of the same tactics. Women were outspoken in many different ways on both issues, and the abolitionist movement gave women the template and motivation to fight for their own rights as human beings.

Ayers, Edward L. Gould, Lewis L. Oshinsky, David M. and Soderlund, Jean R. American Passages: A History of the United States Fourth Edition. Boston, MA.: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. 2010