The Abolitionists

At the death of William Lloyd Garrison in 1879, Frederick Douglass offers a eulogy to the abolitionists and to the movement itself.

In the late 1820s there were 2 million men, women, and children living in bondage in the United States. What was the economic value of slavery to 19th century American life?

In 1835, abolitionists William Lloyd Garrison and Lewis Tappan proposed a a bold plan to spread their anti-slavery message throughout the United States.

Abolitionists, including Lewis Tappan and William Lloyd Garrison, were surprised by the vehement reaction to their 1835 postal anti-slavery campaign.

The Grimke sisters, Angelina and Sarah, lectured against slavery throughout the 1830s, even though they were condemned by many for speaking out as women.

In the spring of 1838, abolitionists Theodore Weld and Angelina Grimke wed in a "scandalous" ceremony, one unlike any other before seen. As news of the wedding spread, racial tensions in the city of Philadelphia reached a boiling point.

The 1839 book 'American Slavery As It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses', written by Theodore Weld, his wife Angelina Grimke, and her sister Sarah Grimke, documented slavery's horrors.

By 1850, Frederick Douglass begins to doubt that a peaceful end to slavery is possible, putting him in opposition to white abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison.

Uncle Tom's Cabin was published in 1852 and changed American opinions on slavery. Uncle Tom's Cabin reached a vast audience, and made millions of Americans see slavery, for the first time, through the eyes of its victims.

A wave of resistance to slavery led to the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, which imposed the rule of Slave states onto Free states.

Map history with American Experience! You can relive the history of the abolitionist movement on American Experience's Mapping History iPhone app and explore places central to the nation's anti-slavery effort. Dozens of museums, institutions and PBS stations have partnered with American Experience to bring you archival images, documents and videos related to abolitionism.

In his 1845 book, Frederick Douglass told the truth about his life as a slave, despite the risk.