Ch. 8-4 FIGHTING AGAINST SLAVERY

AMERICAN HISTORY

THE LIVES OF ENSLAVED AFRICAN AMERICANS

Slavery was part of America for 2 centuries1860-Nearly 4 million African Americans

lived in slavery

A LIFE OF WORKSlaves considered property not peopleMost slaves lived on farms and plantationsMen, women, and children expected or

forced to work at the demand of the owner

Some slaves worked in fields while some worked in the house

A LIFE OF WANTEnslaved people lived in barely tolerable

conditionsThe food for slaves was as bad as the

shelter

A LIFE OF FEARSlave owners treated slaves fairly well in

return for loyal servicePunishments included beating, whipping,

starving and threats to family membersA reality for slaves was the threat of being

separated from their families

A LIFE OF HOPESlaves had remarkable enduranceStorytelling helped to pass the time and

pass information from generation to generation

Slaves waited for the day that they would be free.

THE ANTISLAVERY MOVEMENT IN THE SOUTH

1860—215,000 “free blacks”Former slaves who were emancipated by

their ownersFaced harsh legal and social

discrimination

SLAVE REVOLTS1776-1860—over 200 slave uprising and

plots occurred

ESCAPENon-violent way to end enslavementThey tried to reach the North, Canada, or

Mexico

THE UNDERGROUND RAILROADInformal, constantly changing network of

escape routesNo formal organization

THE ABOLITION MOVEMENT

A campaign to abolish, or end, slaveryNo other movement attracted more followers

RELIGIOUS ROOTSColonial period—Quakers condemned slavery

WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISONLeading abolitionist spokesmanPublished an abolitionist newspaper “The

Liberator”

Garrison continued the publication until slavery was abolished—35 years

Founded the Anti-Slavery Society—1833

LEADING ABOLITIONISTSSarah and Angelina GrimkeWitnessed the suffering of slaves firsthandFrederick Douglas—supported women’s

rightsFeatured speaker at Seneca Falls

Douglass born into slavery in MDEscaped as a young man of 201845—autobiography—”Narrative of Life of

Frederick Douglass”

OPPOSITION TO ABOLITIONMajority of white southerners did not own

slavesSouthern ministers constructed elaborate

reasons justifying slavery