THE ABOLITION MOVEMENT

The abolition movement in the United States can be traced back to the first slave in the early 1600s, for the inherent drive for freedom motivates humans at all times. It was not until Quakers agitated for emancipation of slaves in the mid 18th Century that public concern was aroused.

A mass movement for the abolition of slavery depended upon two major developments in the early 19th Century: optimism regarding the free agency of human choice, and a complex, networked system of communication. Through newspapers, telegraph lines, railroads, and oratory skill, millions of people became aware of and concerned about the atrocity of slavery, and by implementing moral suasion, political activity, and active intervention, successfully emancipated 4 million slaves by 1865.

The problem of inter-racial discrimination, however, was not solved, and remains with us today to be minimized by 21st Century abolitionists.