Topic Four (1.4): The Abolitionist Movement

Introduction

Abolitionism was a social reform effort to abolish slavery in the United States. It started in the mid-eighteenth century and lasted until 1865, when slavery was officially outlawed after the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

Though most abolitionists were white, devoutly religious men and women, some of the most powerful and influential members of the movement were African-American women and men who escaped from bondage.

Read and Make Notes

Read pages 6 to 8 your textbook, and the links below, and carefully make notes on the topic.

READ – American Abolitionist Movement (History Crunch) Links to an external site.

READ – Anti-Slavery Resistance Movements (Lumen Learning) Links to an external site.

Task

Compare these speeches, then click to see the historian’s interpretation:

READ – Analyse Abolitionist Speeches (History Matters) Links to an external site.

 Terminology

Make sure you understand all the key terms covered in this topic. You may like to make flashcards of key terms now, to help you with revision later on. Keep doing this as you complete each topic.