The document discusses early efforts to abolish slavery in the United States during the 1800s. Reformers and religious groups advocated ending slavery, with some supporting resettlement in Africa and others calling for immediate emancipation at home. The Underground Railroad network helped escaped slaves reach freedom in the North and Canada despite opposition from those who feared ending slavery would disrupt the Southern way of life and Northern jobs.

1. Why It Matters
The idea of reform–the drive to improve society
and the lives of Americans–grew during the
mid-1800s. Reformers set out
to improve the lives of the disadvantaged,
especially enslaved people and the urban poor.

2. The Impact Today
The spirit of reform is alive and well in the
modern world. Individual freedom became a
key goal during the last half of the twentieth
century. Civil rights movements have advanced
racial equality. In many countries the women’s
movement has altered traditional female roles
and opportunities.

3. Chapter Objectives
Section 2: The Abolitionists
• Describe the ways some Americans worked to
eliminate slavery. 
• Explore the reasons why many Americans feared
the end of slavery.
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4. Early Efforts to End Slavery
• Some Americans worked hard to abolish, or
end, slavery during this age of reform. 
• The religious revival and reform movement
spurred the antislavery movement. 
• Many of these people were Quakers. 
• Benjamin Lundy, a Quaker, founded a
newspaper in 1821 to spread the antislavery
message.
(pages 418–419)
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5. Early Efforts to End Slavery (cont.)
• Formed in 1816, the American Colonization
Society worked toward resettling African
Americans in Africa and the Caribbean. 
• It was founded by white Virginians who
worked to free enslaved workers by buying
them from their slaveholders and sending
them out of the country. 
- The society bought land on the west coast of
Africa. 
- The first African Americans settled there and
called the area Liberia.
(pages 418–419)
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6. Early Efforts to End Slavery (cont.)
- In 1847 Liberia became independent. 
- Emigration continued there until the Civil War. 
- The society could not end slavery but could only
resettle a small number of African Americans. 
- Besides, most African Americans did not want to
resettle in Africa. 
- They wanted their freedom in America.
(pages 418–419)
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7. The Movement Changes
• Beginning about 1830, reformers began
to crusade strongly against slavery. 
• Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison founded
his own newspaper, The Liberator, in 1831. 
• He called for the “immediate and complete
emancipation” of enslaved people. 
• People began to listen.
(pages 419–421)
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8. The Movement Changes (cont.)
• African Americans played a major role
in the abolitionist movement. 
• The African Americans of the North especially
wanted to help the enslaved people of the
South. 
• They subscribed to The Liberator, took part in
organizing and directing the American
Antislavery Society, and began their own
newspapers.
(pages 419–421)
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9. The Movement Changes (cont.)
• Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery in
Maryland and settled first in Massachusetts and
then New York. 
• He became a powerful speaker and writer,
editing an antislavery newspaper, the North
Star. 
(pages 419–421)
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10. The Underground Railroad
• The Underground Railroad was a network of
escape routes to the North
and then to Canada. 
• Abolitionists helped enslaved African
Americans escape to freedom and risked
prison and even death if caught. 
- The passengers traveled at night and rested
during the day. 
- Early on, many people traveled on foot. 
- Later, they traveled in wagons, some equipped
with secret compartments.
(pages 422–424)
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11. The Underground Railroad (cont.)
- Even in the North, however, the runaways still
feared capture. 
- Harriet Tubman was the most famous conductor
of the Underground Railroad
after escaping slavery herself. 
- The Underground Railroad helped only a small
number of the enslaved people, and most who
used it as an escape route came from the states
located between the Northern states and the Deep
South.
(pages 422–424)
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12. The Underground Railroad (cont.)
• Opposition to abolitionism developed in the
South both by people who owned enslaved
African Americans and those who did not. 
• These people felt that abolitionism threatened
the South’s way of life.
(pages 422–424)
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13. The Underground Railroad (cont.)
• Opposition in the North resulted because some
Northerners saw the antislavery movement as a
threat to the nation’s social order. 
• Some felt that if freed, African Americans
could not blend into American society, and
some feared that the abolitionists could bring
on a war between the North and the South.
(pages 422–424)
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14. The Underground Railroad (cont.)
• Economic fears also contributed to the
opposition because Northern workers feared
that freed African Americans would take away
their jobs since they would work for less pay.
• Violence erupted from the opposition to
abolitionists. 
(pages 422–424)