Anti-Slavery

Anti-slavery is when a person or group are opposed to the act of slavery. Abolition is the abolishment or the act of putting an end to slavery altogether and all at once. There were people and groups that had different ideas about what was the most effective way to end slavery. This is the reason there are different meanings to Anti-Slavery and Abolition. American Colonization and the American Anti-Slavery were the two major groups that had ideas about how to rid slavery in the United States.

The American Colonization Society was founded in 1816. Which promoted the slow abolition of slavery and they felt the black Americans should be deported to Africa. The society was convinced this was a fair way to rid America of slavery. There was also abolitionist who believed that slavery was wrong and should be abolished because it went against biblical teachings and religious beliefs. The American Anti-Slavery Society was started in 1833. Around 100,000 northern Americans joined groups thats main goal was to abolish slavery. William Goodell was an abolitionist who said Slavery deprived humans of the right of self-ownership.

David Walker was a strong supporter of Anti-Slavery. Ministers of many of the churches agreed with his theory and also supported Anti-Slavery. The Ministers and Walker believed that slavery was a sin and God would wreak vengeance on America because they were violating some of the principles of Jesus Christ. So, they started preaching about putting an end to Slavery. Many abolitionists went on crusades trying to persuade people that slavery was wrong. Moral suasion was the strategy of pacifist who thought that coercing the slaves should be eliminated. They said that the actual slaveholders had to be convinced that it was a sin to own slaves. They focused on awakening the people of the United States to evils of having and owning slaves.

Many members of society were getting on board for the act of putting an end to slavery. The anti-slavery crusade viewed blacks as equals and should be called just Americans because we do not call whites Englishmen. This is when the idea of where you were born began playing a part in who should be called Americans. They were trying to incorporate the ideas, values, and principle of what the United States was truly founded on.

Both groups that support Anti-Slavery and Abolition do essentially want the same thing (no slavery). They both had very different ideas on how America should go about the action of getting rid of slavery altogether. Abolitionists wanted to slowly relocate slaves to Africa and other areas so there would be no slavery. Those that were anti-slavery felt that slavery should just be ended and if should happen in an instant. However, they wanted the same thing for slaves; to be set free and to have the ability to live a fair and equal life and be contributing members of society. It ended up not stopping the act of slavery, however it did cause there to be a line drawn in the United States as to what states were going to continue to encourage slavery and which were not (the north against slavery and the south for slavery).

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