The Abolition - Essay Example

The abolition movement, also known as the anti-slavery movement was meant to end the slavery experienced by people of African descent in America and Europe. It was also aimed at ending the slave trade conducted through the continents of Africa, America, and Europe the continents surrounding the Atlantic Ocean. This paper describes the movement and methods used in the process of abolition.

The Christians in America were determined to end slavery because they viewed it as a form of human bondage. Slavery in most cases resulted in the slaves killing themselves or their employers. In particular, the American Anti-Slavery movement, formed in the year 1932 was instrumental in the process of abolition. One of the main functions of the American Anti-Slavery movement was to look into women’s problems and social issues (Nanjira, 2010).

The individuals who supported slavery in America resisted abolition for a number of reasons. Firstly, the African slaves provided ready labor at a free cost contrary to white laborers who wanted pay, the “masters” feared that abolition would rob them of manpower resulting in low productivity. Secondly, the “masters”, believed that white individuals would die from diseases if they were to work in the field as compared to the African slaves who were already immune to European disease. Ultimately, they have the opinion that Africans were less likely to die in the fields. Thirdly, the “masters” feared that their safety would be compromised if the slaves would be freed and thereafter exact revenge on their former masters (Nanjira, 2010).

Abolitionists preferred spreading messages of freedom through giving speeches in peaceful public meetings and writing pamphlets, books, and news articles. People from the northern states, supporting the course of abolition raised a substantial amount of money, which was used to allocate land in Africa. Slaves, were to be taken to that land, which later came to be known as Liberia (Nanjira, 2010).

The southerner’s lifestyle ran around plantations, and the fight to abolish slavery threatened their economy. The abolition process resulted in violent protests from different parts of America. The groups that protested were poor laborers from the northern states who were afraid of losing their jobs to freed slaves, and merchants trading in the south who feared losing their business. The Southerners wanted the leaders from the North who instigated the revolution to be jailed in the South, and this saw a terrible bloodshed period that mainly affected the slaves (Nanjira, 2010).