1. Slavery and Abolition
“We are natives of this country. We only ask that we be treated as well as foreigners” – a black pastor in New York

2. Abolition = the call to outlaw slavery
Charles Finney called slavery “a great national sin”
William Lloyd Garrison
radical white abolitionist
started his own paper, The Liberator (1831)
he wanted immediate emancipation (freeing of slaves) with no payment to slaveholders
David Walker – encouraged slaves to revolt rather than wait to be freed – “The man who would not fight ought to be kept with all of his children or family, in slavery, or in chains, to be butchered by his cruel enemies”

3. Frederick Douglas
born into slavery in Baltimore, taught to read by his owners wife
escaped to the north and went to work for Garrison as a lecturer – “ I appear before the immense assembly this evening as a thief and a robber. I stole this head, these limbs, this body from my master and ran off with them”
created his own newspaper in Rochester called The North Star

4. Nat Turner’s Rebellion
In August, 1831, Nat Turner led 80 fellow slaves on an attack of four Virginia plantations that resulted in the deaths of 60 whites.
State and federal troops ended the rebellion. Turner was captured, tried, and hanged.
Turner’s Rebellion convinced plantation owners of the need to control their slaves

5. Slave Owners Defend Slavery
In 1832, the governor of Virginia proposed a law to gradually abolish slavery in his state. It was defeated in the state legislature.
Slave Codes – After Turner’s Rebellion, laws were passed in several southern states restricting the rights of both free blacks and slaves
education of blacks was outlawed
blacks were not allowed to assemble in groups
blacks could not preach the Gospel unless slave owners were present
blacks couldn’t testify in court
blacks couldn’t own property
blacks couldn’t work as artisans (blacksmiths, carpenters)

6. Southern Ministers used the Bible to defend slavery
Southern Ministers used the Bible to defend slavery – they used passages that suggested servants obey their masters.
Slave owners argued that southern slaves actually enjoyed a better standard of living than free northern blacks who worked in factories.