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slavery
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"The Liberator" begins publication by William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison was a white abolitionist and founder of the influential American Anti-Slavery Society. He wrote "The Liberator" which described all people and acts that would prolong slavery including the United States Constitution. He used newspapers as a major platform to advocate for the attack slavery and its supporters, inspire action, and promote equal rights for all. -
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was the resistance to enslavement through escape and flight. It was a system of routes that congregated communities of slaves in remote areas on the edge of settled areas and then helped them eventually across state borders to find places where they could be safe. Harriet Tubman (a slave herself) was the main "conductor" of the Railroad and she helped people escape to safe houses, northern states, or Canada. -
Nat Turner Rebellion
Nat Turner was an educated, enslaved preacher in Virginia. He launched the most deadly slave revolt in the history of the United States. Nearly 60 white people were killed. Turner encouraged this violent revolt against slave's masters. Turner and his followers started at his master’s house and killed the entire family. This rebellion did more bad than good because it actually imposed additional restrictions and harsher penalties on the activities of both enslaved and free African Americans. -
Frederick Douglass
He was a former slave that used the Underground Railroad to escape. He is known as the father of the abolitionist movement. Douglass also wrote many autobiographies that described his time as a slave. He helped free slaves and also supported women's suffrage. His writings hold lessons about self determination and courage. -
The Gag Rule
In Congress, the House of Representatives used the gag rule which prohibited discussions and debates of the anti-slavery petitions. Not just that, but any mention of slavery at all. John Quincy Adams opposed this but it rule continued until 1844. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe shared ideas about the injustices of slavery and it highlighted the sexual abuse that female slaves experienced. The book pushed back against cultural beliefs about the physical and emotional capacities of black people and included the horrors that slaves went through. Abolitionists supported it. -
Kansas- Nebraska Act
It effectively negated the balancing act that had already been established since the Missouri Compromise over 30 years earlier. After Kansas-Nebraska, slavery could expand anywhere, so long as the "residents" of that territory favored it. It also produced a violent uprising known as “Bleeding Kansas,” as proslavery and antislavery activists flooded into the territories to sway the vote. -
Dred Scott decision
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the slave Dred Scott who had resided in a free state and territory, where slavery was prohibited, was not entitled to his freedom. It said that African Americans could never be citizens of the United States and they could not expect any protection from the federal government or the courts. The opinion also stated that Congress had no authority to ban slavery from a Federal territory. They said that slaves were property and didn't have rights. -
Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation
This proclamation made by President Abraham Lincoln stated that enslaved people in those states or parts of states still in rebellion as of January 1, 1863, would be declared free. The purpose was to abolish slavery but this didn't actually do anything. Yet. Not until 13 and 14th amendments were passed. -
13th amendment passed
President Lincoln realized the only way to fully and officially abolish slavery was to bring it to add it to the Constitution. The 13th Amendment forever abolished slavery as an institution in all U.S. states and territories. In addition to banning slavery, the amendment outlawed the practice of involuntary servitude and peonage.