Did abolitionists use religious or democratic ideals as their basis for

wanting to abolish slavery?

Look back to what you read in the textbook about the abolitionist movement and what you
learned from previous lectures about America in the mid to late 1800s. As a class we are going
to fill out the following timeline to determine the context of each document that you will be
reviewing. Write your notes directly on the timeline.
Background Information: Context, 1830-1890

1830

1850

1840

1870

1860

1890

1880

Document A:
Angelina Grimke and her older sister Sarah grew up in South Carolina and spent much of their lives
questioning the institution of slavery. They attended an Episcopal Church and eventually moved to
Pennsylvania where they became Quakers. Angelina wrote a pamphlet titled an Appeal to the Christian
Women of the South in 1836, urging Southern women to end slavery.

I appeal to you, my friends, as mothers; Are you willing to enslave your

children? You start back with horror and indignation at such a question.
But why, if slavery is no wrong to those upon whom it is imposed? Why,
if as has often been said, slaves are happier than their masters, free
from the cares and perplexities of providing for themselves and their
families? Why not place your children in the way of being supported
without your having the trouble to provide for them, or they for
themselves? Do you not perceive that as soon as this golden rule of
action is applied to yourselves that you involuntarily shrink from the
test; as soon as your actions are weighed in this balance of the
sanctuary that you are found wanting? Try yourselves by another of the
Divine precepts, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Can we love a
man as we love ourselves if we do, and continue to do unto him, what
we would not wish any one to do to us? Look too, at Christ's example,
what does he say of himself, "I came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister." Can you for a moment imagine the meek, and lowly, and
compassionate Saviour, a slaveholder? Do you not shudder at this
thought as much as at that of his being a warrior? But why, if slavery is
not sinful?
Source: Grimk, Angelina. Appeal to the Christian women of the south ( New York: New York AntiSlavery Society 1836).

Document B:
Frederick Douglass was born into slavery as Frederick Bailey with an unknown white man as his father.
He was sent to Baltimore as a child to live with a ship carpenter, but was eventually sent back to the
south. While living with this carpenter, he learned how to read and also learned about the abolitionist
movement. He eventually escaped slavery in 1838 and moved to Massachusetts where he married and
changed his last name to Douglass. He immediately joined a church and various abolitionist movements
and continued his efforts to end slavery. In 1845, Douglass wrote his autobiography.

Indeed, I can see no reason, but the most deceitful one, for calling the
religion of this land Christianity. I look upon it as the climax of all
misnomers, the boldest of all frauds, and the grossest of all libels. Never
was there a clearer case of "stealing the livery of the court of heaven to
serve the devil in." I am filled with unutterable loathing when I
contemplate the religious pomp and show, together with the horrible
inconsistencies, which every where surround me. We have men-stealers
for ministers, women-whippers for missionaries, and cradle-plunderers
for church members. The man who wields the blood-clotted cowskin
during the week fill the pulpit on Sunday, and claims to be a minister of
the meek and lowly Jesus. The man who robs me of my earnings at the
end of each week meets me as a class-leader on Sunday morning, to
show me the way of life, and the path of salvation. He who sells my
sister, for purposes of prostitution, stands forth as the pious advocate of
purity. He who proclaims it a religious duty to read the Bible denies me
the right of learning to read the name of the God who made me. He
who is the religious advocate of marriage robs whole millions of its
sacred influence, and leaves them to the ravages of wholesale pollution.
The warm defender of the sacredness of the family relation is the same
that scatters whole families, -- sundering husbands and wives, parents
and children, sisters and brothers, -- leaving the hut vacant and the
heart desolate. We see the thief preaching against theft, and the
adulterer against adultery. We have men sold to build churches, women
sold to support the gospel, and babes sold to purchase Bibles for the
poor heathen! All for the glory of God and the good of souls."
Source: Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass (Boston: Anti-Slavery Office,
1845)

Document C:

Abolitionists published this print in 1850. It depicts a group of six armed white men attacking four black
men (possibly freedmen) in a cornfield. Below the picture are two quotes, one taken from the Bible and
the other from the Declaration of Independence:

Thou shalt not deliver unto the master his servant which has escaped from his
master unto thee. He shall dwell with thee. Even among you in that place which he
shall choose in one of thy gates where it liketh him best. Thou shalt not oppress
him."
"We hold that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness."

Image source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3g04550

Complete the following chart after you have finished your close reading of each document. Complete one document at a time, do not leave this until the end
of the assignment!
Question:
Document A
Document B
Document C
Is the document
reliable? Why or why
not?
When was the
document written?
Where was the
document written?
For what platform was
the document written?
Who is the intended
audience?
What is the authors
point of view?

What was happening

in America during this
time?

What viewpoint is the

author using to attack
slavery? Religious or
Democratic? Give
evidence.

How would you have

reacted to the
document if you were
living during that
time?