Quakers' Contribution to Anti-Slavery Movement - Research Paper Example

? Quakers’ Contribution in Anti-Slavery Movement Introduction Harriet Tubman called slavery "the next thing to hell." She went on to say, "If a person would send another into bondage, he would be bad enough to send him into hell if he could" (Brindell xi). Slavery began in the American colonies in 1619 with the arrival of about twenty black people in Jamestown, Virginia. By 1776, the slave population had reached 500,000 in the thirteen colonies (Johnson 14). The concept that "all men are created equal" seemed to have little bearing on the institution of slavery in the newly formed United States. All thirteen of the colonies permitted slavery and did not allow slaves the basic freedoms outlined in the Declaration of Independence. Slaves in America had no freedom and were subject to the whims and demands of their masters. The Louisiana code stated that "A slave could not make contracts, own property, or form legal partnerships on his or her own" (Oakes xiv). Family relationships among slaves were not honored and as a result, there were no requirements that slave owners keep families intact. In fact, many times, children were taken from mothers and sold as soon as they were strong enough to work themselves. Husbands and fathers were sold without regard to the feelings of wives or children. The people who were most against slavery were those who were involved in organized religion. Quakers believed in ending slavery one slaveholder at a time. They sent letters, wrote to newspapers, authored pamphlets and almanacs, using any form of publication they could to decry the institution of slavery and encourage slave owners to free their slaves. Quakers outlined a method through which slaveholders would "first educate slaves in reading and writing, teach them the principles of truth and righteousness, teach them a trade, and then set them free" (Brown 6). While it cannot be argued that the Quakers, or Society of Friends, played a crucial role in the anti-slavery movement, in all likelihood the movement would have gone on and would have been successful without their influence. There were many people in antebellum America who were willing to make great personal sacrifices to see that there was eventual freedom for all Americans. These people spanned the races, religions and cultures of the time and were dedicated to the idea of freedom for all. Body The Quakers brought up the inappropriateness of slavery in the 1600s, thus bringing the issue to the forefront of many political and social debates. They began work against slavery and did not stop their work until the end of slavery in America. One distinct advantage that the Quakers had in their anti-slavery work was that they had an already established network of people willing to assist runaway slaves and those who had already been freed. Friends could meet in large, public groups to make plans regarding their abolitionist activities without fear of raising suspicion because that is what they had been doing prior to their involvement in the Underground Railroad and other abolitionist activities. Additionally, the Quakers involved in anti-slavery activities knew that they could trust their fellow Friends with their lives, which is what was at stake when they assisted runaway slaves to freedom. Before slaves began to receive help from Quakers, or anyone else, in their resistance movement, they had devised many ways to confront slavery. They discovered that violence was rarely a very successful method of resistance, as the slaveholders responded immediately and intensely. Instead, they used more subtle methods of resistance such as "work slowdowns, feigning illness, breaking tools, and sabotaging equipment under the guise of clumsiness" (Horton and Horton 120). Slaves also used song to fight slavery. These songs told stories of escape, sent encoded messages, set the pace for work and placated slave owners by giving the appearance of passivity and contentment. Running away was another form of resistance. Slaves who ran away without prior planning were often running because they were afraid of being sold away, wanted to get away from being beaten, or to rest due to illness. People who ran in this way generally returned after a few days and were reestablished in their positions, usually after severe punishment meant to discourage further escape. The most drastic, and relatively uncommon, form of slavery resistance was the committing of suicide. Sophia Word, a slave from Kentucky commented that "My master wuzn't as mean as most masters. Hugh White wuz so mean to his slaves that I know of two gals that killt themselfs" (Harrison 13). Most slaves did not resort to this, as they usually did not give up all hope of eventual freedom. In addition to individual resistance, slaves and freed men and women helped other slaves gain freedom. They did so in a large number of ways, including purchasing one another's freedom, guiding escapees to liberty, providing escape details, helping to find people willing to assist them escape and supplying news about what to expect in terms of weather and social climate of the areas along the escape route. Black people, whether bonded or free, were among the most dedicated and determined Underground Railroad operators. They held every position of the Railroad, including conductor, designators of safe escape routes called rails, station operators and protectors of passengers on the Railroad. Though some of the Underground Railroad was operated by some organized groups, including the Quakers, it was run primarily by "compassionate human beings willing to take risks in order to help a fellow human being in need" (Horton and Horton 133). Many of these compassionate people were black and "without fanfare met the issue squarely when it confronted them" (Horton and Horton 133). As a result, when they were approached by someone in need, they helped in whatever ways they could, often regardless of personal jeopardy. Thomas Fitzgerald of Chester County, Pennsylvania, who was a free African American, became part of the Underground Railroad as a result of his kindness and generosity. He did not endeavor to become a part of the Underground Railroad, nor did he attempt to join an organized anti-slavery group; rather, the Railroad came to him. Fitzgerald noticed that his barn was becoming a real attraction to strangers who asked for lodging. He realized that these visitors were escaping slaves. He welcomed them into his protection and even offered them lodging in his house. The fugitives did not accept his invitations to stay in the house, nor did they stay for his offered morning meal. Fitzgerald's hospitality earned him an unintended, but welcomed, place on the Underground Railroad (Horton and Horton 133). In addition to assisting slaves escaping from the South, there were a number of prominent black people who used their ability to speak well to convert people to the antislavery cause. Among these people were Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, William Wells Brown and others. These heroes of abolition were able to tell their stories of enslavement and escape in order to obtain financial backing as well as other assistance from people in many parts of America. In several northern cities, organizations of free black children were made to raise money for and awareness of the need for antislavery activities. Black seamen and boatmen were invaluable to the antislavery movement because they were relatively free to travel in both northern and southern ports of call as well as surrounding areas. As a result, they were able to transport messages to specific slaves as well as general antislavery information that was not usually readily available to the less traveled plantation slaves. One free black woman in Cincinnati was able to keep in touch with her still-enslaved mother for more than thirty years through "messages smuggled by black boatmen. Thus, in 1843 the news of her grandchild's enrollment at Oberlin Collegiate Institute found the proud grandmother in a Mississippi slave hut, bound in body, she reported, but free in spirit" (Horton and Horton 141). In addition to black people, there were many white people who became involved in the controversial abolition movement. Robert Carter was one such man. Carter, like many other slave owners, became disillusioned with slavery. He, along with many of his contemporaries, was probably influenced in his thinking by "[his] libraries, well stocked with law books, Roman and Greek history, philosophy, and drama, the great political thinkers of Enlightenment Europe and 'modern' playwrights, moralists, and satirists [as well as] the dissenting religions" (Levy 25). Unlike many of his neighbors, Carter had vast wealth to sacrifice if he deviated from the methods of his father and grandfather. The previous Carters had become some of the richest planters of the time and owned thousands of acres of tobacco fields, many shops, homes and hundreds of slaves. Despite this, Carter decided to free his slaves in a previously unheard-of gesture. In 1791 and 1792, Carter contemplated, wrote and executed the Deed of Gift (Levy 145). The document authorized the gradual freeing of four hundred and forty-two slaves. Carter's action spurred the animosity of his Virginian neighbors, decreased his wealth dramatically, confused the courts and made his former slaves very grateful. One of the people with whom Carter associated anonymously expressed his feelings and the feelings of others when he wrote, "A man has almost as good a right to set fire to his own building, though his neighbors is to be destroyed by it, as to free his slaves" (Levy 136). The course of the anti-slavery movement varied from state to state, but all states had abolitionists living within their boundaries. Even Kentucky, which was the last state to abolish slavery, faced opposition to the practice from its beginnings. By 1783, "Father" David Rice, who was a Presbyterian minister from Virginia, began preaching against slavery. He wrote a very powerful document opposing slavery in which he stated, "As creatures of God, we are, with respect to liberty, all equal. [Slavery] naturally tends to sap the foundations of moral, and consequently of political virtue. [It] produces idleness, and idleness is the muse of vice" (Harrison 19). In addition to the Presbyterians who opposed slavery, members of most of the other religious sects in the state worked to end slavery. These groups included Baptists, Methodists, and other denominations. In addition to religious leaders, there were many common American citizens who were dedicated to the end of slavery. Among these were women of the country. By the 1800s, women were playing a large part in the antislavery movement. They were encouraged in their efforts by William Lloyd Garrison, who extolled the virtue of their natural sensitivities to "relieve the degraded of their sex" (Jeffrey 18). Garrison suggested that women could pray for the end of slavery as well as teach their children the evils of slavery and the oppression of any people. Women took it upon themselves to do more than what Garrison indicated; in fact, women of all ages, classes and races became involved in abolitionist activities in many ways. Women wrote poems and letters that were published in newspapers such as Garrison's Liberator. Women were encouraged to become knowledgeable about the issues of slavery and to "learn to speak logically to counter an opponent's position" whenever the opportunity arose (Jeffrey 22). Females were to speak to their brothers, fathers and husbands to explain to them the "errors of their ways" regarding slavery" (Jeffrey 23). The potential power of women was described in a tract called Signal of Liberty, which was written 11 August 1845: Say not that it is man's business to destroy slavery. I know man ought to do it- he should have done it a long time ago, but he has been recreant to his duty. Now let woman speak, and it shall be done (Jeffrey 1). A letter written by a "plain hardworking farmer" indicated one way in which women could demonstrate their power to end slavery. The farmer said, "My wife and grown up daughters have got a notion out of some tract they have been reading, that we ought not to eat rice, nor sugar, nor anything that is raised by the labor of slaves"(Jeffrey 20). Women did not have many choices they could make related to the running of their homes, but they were the ones primarily responsible for the purchase of supplies for their households. They found that they had ability to influence social policy by the purchases they made. The women of the Philadelphia Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church created the Free Produce Association in 1829 to encourage boycotts of slave-produced goods and to help other women find commodities produced by free labor (Jeffrey 20). Conclusion There were many people in America who were dedicated to the end of slavery. These people were heroic in many ways. They risked their lives, social standing and economic futures in order to assist the oppressed. Anti-slavery societies were instrumental in the movement of escaped slaves from bondage to freedom, the promotion of anti-slavery legislation and other activities. Quakers led the way in the movement when they became the first organization to ban slavery among its members. Additionally, the Quakers "populated the abolitionist movement in numbers far exceeding their proportion of all Americans" (Barbour & Frost par. 7) Quakers encouraged immediate emancipation of slaves and worked to that end by talking to individual slave owners. Friends were critically important to organizations such as the American Anti-Slavery Society, the Female Antislavery Society, the Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society and were indispensable in many parts of the Underground Railroad. Though the anti-slavery movement would likely have been successful without the help of the Quakers, their dedication, determination and sheer number of their participants made a long-lasting impact on the direction and duration of the abolition efforts in America. Quakers were, and remain, heroes of the abolition movement. More importantly, Quakers were champions to the thousands of African Americans to whom they provided guidance, comfort and assistance. Work Cited Barbour, Hugh and Frost, J. William, The Quakers (1988). Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/quakers. Brown, Ira V. Pennsylvania Reformers: From Penn to Pinchot. University Park: Pennsylvania Historical Association, 1966. Fradin, Dennis Brindell. Bound for the North Star. New York: Clarion Books, 2000 Harrison, Lowell H. The Antislavery Movement in Kentucky. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1978. Horton, James Oliver, and Horton, Lois E. Slavery and the Making of America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Jeffrey, Julie Roy. The Great Silent Army of Abolitionism. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1998. Johnson, H.U. From Dixie to Canada. Westport: Negro University Press, 1970. Levy, Andrew. The First Emancipator. New York: Random House, 2005. Oakes, James. Slavery and Freedom. New York: Knopf, 1990. Read More