Frederick Douglass Abolitionist Movement

The abolitionist movement in the United States took place during the early to mid-1800s, and dominated many aspects of American life. The goal of the movement was to eliminate the cruel and unjust practice of slavery that occurred predominantly in the Southern states. The period in which the movement took place saw the establishment of two new states (Missouri and Maine) as well as the creation and emergence of some of America’s most influential institutions and works of literature. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin was one of the most important anti-slavery novels in American history, and figures such as Harriet Tubman utilized the Underground Railroad to try and help escaped slaves flee to the Northern, Free states. The abolitionist
Douglass was sold to Baltimore and unable to go to school, so he taught himself how to read and write. At 20, Douglass escaped slavery, and on September 3rd, 1838, he fled to New York City and declared himself a free man. In 1845, Douglass published his first of three antislavery autobiographies, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass in order to quell doubts that he was not truly a fugitive slave. Douglass moved to Rochester, NY, where he continued his to push his abolitionist agenda. He allowed his house to be a station on the Underground Railroad, and published his second autobiography, My Bondage and My Freedom, in 1855. During the Civil War, Frederick Douglass continued to push his message of equality. He recruited African Americans, including two of his sons, to fight on the side of the Union, and he even personally went to meet with President Lincoln to advocate for African American troops who felt unequal amongst the corps. One particular quote from My Bondage and My Freedom summarizes one of the main arguments of the abolitionist movement as a whole. It states, “Should a slave, when assaulted, but raise his hand in self-defense, the white assaulting party is fully
Born in Wilmington, NC, he wrote his famous pamphlet, Appeal...to the Colored Citizens of the World in 1829. While important, David Walker was not as effective as Douglass in his attempts to further the abolitionist movement. Walker was seen as a radical abolitionist, and his pamphlet was seen as incendiary and incited violence. He was denounced by more moderate abolitionists because of the nature of his doctrine. In addition, Walker moved to Boston to avoid, “hearing slaves’ chains,” and remained in Boston to run a clothes store. This clothes store embroidered pamphlets into its products in order to spread Walker’s message of equality. However, Walker’s move to Boston, in addition to his clothes store, can be seen as less effective methods of spreading abolitionist messages and ideals than Frederick Douglass’ methods. Moving to Boston restricted Walker to a single location for him to spread his message, while Douglass (while headquartered in Rochester, NY) was known for making country-wide speaking tours in order to help further the abolitionist movement. Thus, Douglass was better able to increase his audience than Walker was, and the bigger audience allowed him to spread the mindsets of the abolitionist movement farther than Walker would have. In addition, Douglass had a better method of distributing his ideas than Walker. Walker relied on people buying clothes from his clothing store, as they had his pamphlet sewn into