440 CHAPTER 14

ONE AMERICAN’S STORYAfrican-American poet Frances Ellen Watkins Harper often wrote about the

suffering of enslaved persons, such as enslaved mothers.

A VOICE FROM THE PAST

They tear him from her circling arms,Her last and fond embrace.Oh! never more may her sad eyesGaze on his mournful face.

No marvel, then, these bitter shrieksDisturb the listening air:She is a mother, and her heartIs breaking in despair.

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, “The Slave Mother”

As this section explains, many individuals in the mid-1800s demanded

equal rights for African Americans and women.

Abolitionists Call for Ending SlaveryAbolition, the movement to end slavery, began in the late 1700s. In theyears before his death in 1790, Benjamin Franklin became an outspokenabolitionist, although he previously owned slaves. By 1804, mostNorthern states had outlawed slavery. In 1807, Congress banned theimportation of African slaves into the United States. Abolitionists thenbegan to demand a law ending slavery in the South.

David Walker, a free African American in Boston, printed a pamphlet in1829 urging slaves to revolt. Copies of the pamphlet appeared in the South.This angered slaveholders. Shortly afterward, Walker died mysteriously.Another free black in Massachusetts, Charles Remond, became the Anti-Slavery Society’s first African-American speaker in 1838.

Abolition and Women’s Rights

MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES

Frances EllenWatkins Harper

44

The spread of democracy led to calls

for freedom for slaves and more

rights for women.

The abolitionists and women

reformers of this time inspired

20th–century reformers.

abolition

Frederick Douglass

Sojourner Truth

UndergroundRailroad

Harriet Tubman

Lucretia Mott

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Seneca Falls Convention

suffrage

CALIFORNIA STANDARDS

8.6.6 Examine the women's suf-frage movement (e.g., biographies,writings, and speeches of ElizabethCady Stanton, Margaret Fuller,Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony).

8.7.4 Compare the lives of andopportunities for free blacks in theNorth with those of free blacks inthe South.

8.9.1 Describe the leaders of themovement (e.g., John QuincyAdams and his proposed constitu-tional amendment, John Brownand the armed resistance, HarrietTubman and the UndergroundRailroad, Benjamin Franklin,Theodore Weld, William LloydGarrison, Frederick Douglass).

8.9.6 Describe the lives of free blacksand the laws that limited their free-dom and economic opportunities.

How People

Immigrants

Writers

Reformers

Abolitionists

Women

Taking Notes

Use your chart totake notes about theinfluence of aboli-tionists and women.

A few Northern whites also fought slavery. In 1831, William LloydGarrison began to publish an abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator, inBoston. Of his antislavery stand, he wrote, “I will not retreat a singleinch—AND I WILL BE HEARD.” Many people hated his views. In1834, a furious mob in Boston grabbed Garrison and dragged himtoward a park to hang him. The mayor stepped in and saved his life.

Two famous abolitionists were Southerners who had grown up on aplantation. Sisters Sarah and Angelina Grimké believed that slavery wasmorally wrong. They moved north and joined an antislavery society. Atthe time, women were not supposed to lecture in public. But theGrimkés lectured against slavery anyway. Theodore Weld, Angelina’shusband, was also an abolitionist. He led a campaign to send antislaverypetitions to Congress. Proslavery congressmen passed gag rules to pre-vent the reading of those petitions in Congress.

John Quincy Adams ignored the gag rules and read the petitions. He alsointroduced an amendment to abolish slavery. Proslaverycongressmen tried to stop him. Such efforts, however, onlyweakened the proslavery cause by showing them to beopponents of free speech. Adams also defended a group ofAfricans who had rebelled on the slave ship Amistad. Hesuccessfully argued their case before the U.S. SupremeCourt in 1841, and in 1842, the Africans returned home.

Eyewitnesses to SlaveryTwo moving abolitionist speakers, Frederick Douglass andSojourner Truth, spoke from their own experience of slav-ery. Douglass’s courage and talent at public speaking wonhim a career as a lecturer for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society.

People who opposed abolition spread rumors that thebrilliant speaker could never have been a slave. To provethem wrong, in 1845 Douglass published an autobiog-raphy that vividly narrated his slave experiences.Afterwards, he feared recapture by his owner, so he leftAmerica for a two-year speaking tour of Great Britainand Ireland. When Douglass returned, he bought hisfreedom. He began to publish an antislavery newspaper.

Sojourner Truth also began life enslaved. Originallynamed Isabella, Sojourner Truth was born in New YorkState. In 1827, she fled her owners and went to live withQuakers, who set her free. They also helped her win acourt battle to recover her young son. He had been soldillegally into slavery in the South. A devout Christian,Truth changed her name in 1843 to reflect her life’swork: to sojourn (or stay temporarily in a place) and“declare the truth to the people.” Speaking for abolition,she drew huge crowds throughout the North.

A New Spirit of Change 441

FREDERICK DOUGLASS

1817–1895

Douglass, born Frederick Bailey,was the son of a black motherand a white father. When hewas eight, his owner sent him tobe a servant for the Auld family.Mrs. Auld defied state law andtaught young Frederick to read.

At the age of 16, Douglassreturned to the plantation as afield hand. He endured so manywhippings he later wrote, “I wasseldom free from a sore back.”

In 1838, he escaped to theNorth by hopping a train with aborrowed pass. To avoid recap-ture, he changed his last name.

How did Mrs. Auldunknowingly help Douglassbecome an abolitionistleader? Explain.

A. DrawingConclusions Howwould theGrimké sisters’background helpthem as aboli-tionist speakers?A. PossibleResponse Theycould give eyewit-ness testimony ofthe horrors ofslavery.

B. PossibleResponses Bothwere formerslaves; both weregood speakers.

B. ComparingHow wereFrederickDouglass andSojourner Truthsimilar as abolitionists?

The Underground RailroadSome abolitionists wanted to do more than campaign for laws endingslavery. Some brave people helped slaves escape to freedom along theUnderground Railroad. Neither underground nor a railroad, theUnderground Railroad was actually an aboveground series of escaperoutes from the South to the North. On these routes, runaway slavestraveled on foot. They also took wagons, boats, and trains.

Still, the lives of free African Americans in the North were not easy.While there was more social and political freedom than in the South,racism was still common, and led to job and housing discrimination.Many free blacks were unskilled, and had to compete for jobs withrecent immigrants from Europe. Many states prohibited free AfricanAmericans from voting, while New York used property requirements torestrict access. By 1860, only five New England states allowed freeAfrican Americans to vote.

On the Underground Railroad, the runaways usually traveled by nightand hid by day in places called stations. Stables, attics, and cellars allserved as stations. Free blacks such as Frederick Douglass andPhiladelphia’s Robert Purvis hid runaways in their homes.

Harriet TubmanThe people who led the runaways to freedom were called conductors.One of the most famous conductors was Harriet Tubman. Born intoslavery in Maryland, the 13-year-old Tubman once tried to save anotherslave from punishment. The angry overseer fractured Tubman’s skullwith a two-pound weight. She suffered fainting spells for the rest of herlife but did not let that stop her from working for freedom. In 1849,Tubman learned that her owner was about to sell her. Instead, sheescaped. She later described her feelings as she crossed into the free stateof Pennsylvania: “I looked at my hands to see if I was the same personnow that I was free. There was such a glory over everything.”

After her escape, Harriet Tubman made 19 dangerous journeys to freeenslaved persons. The tiny woman carried a pistol to frighten off slave

D. PossibleResponses Theyknew how badslavery was; theyfelt grateful tothe people whohelped them andwanted to repaythat kindness byhelping others.

D. Forming andSupportingOpinions Whydo you thinkescaped slavessuch as Douglassand Tubmanrisked their livesto help free others?

C. Reading a MapThe map on page447 shows theroutes of theUndergroundRailroad. Noticethat most ofthese routes ledto Canada.

Job opportunities

Economic status

Social rights

NORTH

Tradespeople, laborers,servants

Many free blacks in middle class, a fewbecome planters

Heavy discrimination.Travel and meeting ingroups restricted

Danger of being recap-tured and enslaved

SOUTH

Free African Americans in the North and South

Domestic work, farming,sailing. Some skilled positions in cities

Middle-class communitiesin New York City,Philadelphia, but mostfree blacks live in poverty

Free to gather in groupsand form social organiza-tions

Discrimination still com-mon, travel restricted

442 CHAPTER 14

Reformers’ Hall of Fame

hunters and medicine to quiet crying babies. Her enemies offered $40,000for her capture, but no one caught her. “I never run my train off the trackand I never lost a passenger,” she proudly declared. Among the people shesaved were her parents.

Women Reformers Face BarriersOther women besides the Grimké sisters and Sojourner Truth were abolition-ists. Two of these were Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Mott andStanton were part of an American delegation that attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840. These women had much to say abouttheir work. Yet when they tried to enter the convention, they were not allowedto do so. Men angrily claimed that it was not a woman’s place to speak in pub-lic. Instead, the women had to sit silent behind a heavy curtain.

To show his support, William Lloyd Garrison joined them. He said, “Afterbattling so many long years for the liberties of African slaves, I can take no partin a convention that strikes down the most sacred rights of all women.”

Stanton applauded Garrison for giving up his chance to speak on aboli-tion, the cause for which he had fought so long. “It was a great act of self-sacrifice that should never be forgotten by women.”

However, most people agreed with the men who said that womenshould stay out of public life. Women in the 1800s enjoyed few legal orpolitical rights. They could not vote, sit on juries, or hold public office.Many laws treated women—especially married women—as children.Single women enjoyed some freedoms, such as being able to manage theirown property. But in most states, a husband controlled any property hiswife inherited and any wages she might earn.

As the convention ended, Stanton and Mott decided it was time to demandequality for women.They made up their minds to hold a convention for women’srights when they returned home.

A New Spirit of Change 443

Vocabularydelegation: agroup that represents alarger group

Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman

Truth spoke out for both abolition andwomen’s rights. Tubman risked her lifeleading people to freedom on theUnderground Railroad.

Lucretia Mott and Susan B. Anthony

An abolitionist, Mott also helped lead themovement for women’s rights. Anthonyfought for women’s suffrage into the 20thcentury.

Even after being threatenedwith hanging, Garrison continued to publish hisantislavery newspaper, The Liberator.

William Lloyd Garrison

The Seneca Falls ConventionInspired by their bad experience at the World Anti-SlaveryConvention and by Margaret Fuller’s early feminist bookWoman in the Nineteenth Century, Stanton and Mott heldthe Seneca Falls Convention for women’s rights in SenecaFalls, New York, on July 19 and 20, 1848. The conventionattracted between 100 and 300 women and men, includingFrederick Douglass.

Before the meeting opened, a small group of plannersdebated how to present their complaints. One woman readaloud the Declaration of Independence. This inspired theplanners to write a document modeled on it. The womencalled their document the Declaration of Sentiments andResolutions. Just as the Declaration of Independence saidthat “All men are created equal,” the Declaration ofSentiments stated that “All men and women are createdequal.” It went on to list several complaints or resolutions.Then it concluded with a demand for rights.

A VOICE FROM THE PAST

Now, in view of this entire disenfranchisement [denying theright to vote] of one-half the people of this country, theirsocial and religious degradation—in view of the unjust lawsabove mentioned, and because women do feel themselvesaggrieved, oppressed, and fraudulently deprived of theirmost sacred rights, we insist that they have immediateadmission to all the rights and privileges which belong tothem as citizens of the United States.

Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, 1848

Every resolution won unanimous approval from thegroup except suffrage, or the right to vote. Someargued that the public would laugh at women if they

asked for the vote. But Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frederick Douglassfought for the resolution. They argued that the right to vote would givewomen political power that would help them win other rights. The res-olution for suffrage won by a slim margin.

The women’s rights movement was ridiculed. In 1852, the New YorkHerald poked fun at women who wanted “to vote, and to hustle with therowdies at the polls” and to be men’s equals. The editorial questionedwhat would happen if a pregnant woman gave birth “on the floor ofCongress, in a storm at sea, or in the raging tempest of battle.”

Continued Calls for Women’s RightsIn the mid-1800s, three women lent powerful voices to the growingwomen’s movement. Sojourner Truth, Maria Mitchell, and Susan B.Anthony each offered a special talent.

In 1851, Sojourner Truth rose to speak at a convention for women’srights in Ohio. Some participants hissed their disapproval. Because

444 CHAPTER 14

ELIZABETH CADY STANTON

1815–1902

Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s firstmemory was the birth of a sisterwhen she was four. So many peo-ple said, “What a pity it is she’s agirl!” that Stanton felt sorry forthe new baby. She later wrote, “Idid not understand at that timethat girls were considered aninferior order of beings.”

When Stanton was 11, her onlybrother died. Her father said, “Oh,my daughter, I wish you were aboy!” That sealed Stanton’s deter-mination to prove that girls werejust as important as boys.

How did Stanton’s childhoodexperiences motivate her tohelp other people besidesherself?

E. Using PrimarySources Why didthe women atthe Seneca FallsConventionbelieve theydeserved rightsand privileges?E. PossibleResponsesbecause theymake up half thepopulation;because they arecitizens of theUnited States

Truth supported the controversial cause of abolition, they feared herappearance would make their own cause less popular. But Truth wonapplause with her speech that urged men to grant women their rights.

A VOICE FROM THE PAST

I have heard much about the sexes being equal. I can carry as much as anyman, and can eat as much too, if I can get it. I am as strong as any man. . . . Ifyou have woman’s rights give it to her and you will feel better. You will haveyour own rights, and they won’t be so much trouble.

Sojourner Truth, quoted by Marius Robinson, convention secretary

The scientist Maria Mitchell fought for women’s equality by helpingto found the Association for the Advancement of Women. Mitchell wasan astronomer who discovered a comet in 1847. She became the firstwoman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Susan B. Anthony was a skilled organizer whoworked in the temperance and antislavery move-ments. She built the women’s movement into anational organization. Anthony argued that a womanmust “have a purse [money] of her own.” To this end,she supported laws that would give married womenrights to their own property and wages. Mississippipassed the first such law in 1839. New York passed aproperty law in 1848 and a wages law in 1860. By1865, 29 states had similar laws. (Anthony alsofought for suffrage. See Chapter 22.)

But women’s suffrage stayed out of reach until the1900s, and the U.S. government did not fully abolishslavery until 1865. As you will read in the next chap-ter, the issue of slavery began to tear the nation apartin the mid-1800s.

A New Spirit of Change 445

2. Using GraphicsOn a time line like the onebelow, record significant indi-viduals and events in the his-torical development of theabolition movement. (CST2)

Why does the time line endin 1865?

3. Main Ideasa. Why were freedom ofspeech and freedom of thepress important to the aboli-tionist movement? (HI3)

b. What were FrederickDouglass’s contributions tothe abolitionist movement?(HI3)

c. What were Elizabeth CadyStanton’s contributions to thewomen’s rights movement?(HI3)

4. Critical ThinkingDrawing ConclusionsWhy do you think that manyof the people who fought for abolition also fought forwomen’s rights? (HI2)

THINK ABOUT• why they opposed slavery• the social and economic

position of women• what the two causes had

in common

1. Terms & NamesExplain the

significance of:• abolition• Frederick Douglass• Sojourner Truth• Underground Railroad• Harriet Tubman• Lucretia Mott• Elizabeth Cady Stanton• Seneca Falls

Convention• suffrage

Section Assessment

ACTIVITY OPTIONS

TECHNOLOGYDRAMA

With a partner, act out a meeting between a reformer from Section 3 and onefrom Section 4. Videotape their conversation or perform it for the class. (REP5)

4

This drawingshows a husbandand wife fightingover who will“wear the pantsin the family”—that is, who willrule thehousehold.

18651807