Literature’s Effect During the Abolitionist Movement

Throughout American history, literature has been used to bring social injustices into public view. One successful example of this was anti-slavery work written before and during the Abolitionist Movement. Abolitionist literature began to appear predominantly in 1820. Until the Civil War, the anti-slavery press produced a steadily growing stream of newspaper articles, periodicals, sermons, children's publications, speeches, abolitionist society reports, broadsides, poems, and memoirs of former slaves. These works, initially a grass roots effort, led to increased support for the end of slavery. Through the use of vivid imagery and life experiences these authors were able to show their readers the crimes against humanity caused by slavery. Their words and images gave the reader a glimpse of the hardships the slaves were forced to endure – both the physical and the emotional. This allowed the reader to connect to the slaves in a way they might not have been able to before. While these publications spanned the creation of many anti-slavery groups, rallies, and demonstrations in the north, they were often banned in the south to prevent such uprisings. Authors such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Sarah Wentworth Morton, and Harriet Beecher Stowe were popular authors of anti-slavery literature. Their medium allowed them to gain support for their cause. Explicit imagery of capture, transport and torture at the hands of inhumane owners showcased the immoral treatment of thousands of men, women and children.
Two works “The Slave’s Dream” and “the African Chief,” have an aura of suffering, pain, and physical hardship. Sarah Wentworth Morton’s “The African Chief,” published in 1792, uses phrases such as “remurmuring with the groans of pain” and “the flinty path-way drench’d in blood” to create an atmosphere of violence and despair. Men are captured by “white tyrants” despite their effort to fight. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem published in 1842, showcases violent

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