Opposition To Slavery Dbq

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Slavery, a replacement of indentured service on the Southern plantations has been existing as early as the seventeenth century of the colonies. Even after the Revolutionary War, it has always been the hottest subject to debate among the sections of the United States. Despite the fact that this business of human bondage remained pretty well at large until the mid nineteenth century, gradual opposition to slavery had been always been increasing across the nation. Among the numerous underlying forces and specific events that contributed to this growing opposition were the cultural disagreement with the evil system, as well as the political factors which also had influences among the people in the nation. Cultural opposition to slavery was evident…show more content…
Angelina Grimke, an abolitionist, invoked American fears of human suffering by emphasizing the terrible separations and physical torture endured by all the slaves (Doc F). Many white Americans connected to the slaves’ difficult situations by recognizing the immorality of their circumstance and by criticizing the intense cruelty they suffered at the hands of their “masters.” Furthermore, as demonstrated by the fact that Northern states such as New York and Pennsylvania provided for the gradual emancipation of slaves (Doc A), northern industrialists and manufacturers ,who did not depend on slavery nearly as heavily as did the Southern plantation farmers , argued against the indefinite continuance of slavery, paving the way for the energetic abolitionists of the coming decades, most of whom hailed from these Northern territories. This anti-slavery sentiment was recognizable from the colonial period, as the Quakers of the Pennsylvania colony established the first anti-slavery organization in the New World. The American Colonization Society, predominantly led by middle-class white men, encouraged the return of black Americans to Africa, claiming that “this description of persons are not, and cannot be, either useful or happy among us…there should be a separation.”(Doc D). However, these white “abolitionists” were only against slavery because of their prejudice against the black people, and due to an underlying sentiment of white supremacy maintained by many white citizens. These “reformers” of the American Colonization Society believed that blacks were not the equals of whites, and although slavery was not the appropriate solution, African-Americans did not belong in the United States whatsoever. Then comes the famous radical abolitionist, William Lloyd, called for the unconditional end of slavery throughout the country, claiming that he would do all he could to help secure the colored people, specifically African Americans, the

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