The abolitionist movement in the United States had both religious and ideological origins. It was influenced by evangelical Christianity, feminism, and novels like Uncle Tom's Cabin. Key figures included Bishop William Fleetwood, who denounced slavery, Theodore Dwight Weld and Denmark Vesey, who were early abolitionist crusaders. The movement gained momentum in the 1830s when women like Maria Miller Stewart, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Tubman became involved in anti-slavery societies and the Underground Railroad. Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, which sold over 300,000 copies in its first year, brought the harsh realities of slavery to many Americans and further propelled

1. Origins and inf luences

2. RELIGIOUS ORIGINS
IDEOLOGICAL ORIGINS
FEMINISM and ABOLITIONISM
The inf luence of « Uncle Tom’s Cabin »

3. Because religion permeated most aspect of life.

5. Evangelicalism is a branch of Christianity that covers a
diverse number of Protestant traditions, denominations,
organizations, and churches.

7. The Great Awakening (mid 1730’s) was a movement that
allowed Africans into churches. But the results were minimal,
so The Great Awakening came and passed, giving a trivial
push for the Anti-Slavery movement.
The second Great Awakening, however, had accumulated
better results than the first due to its emphasis on the theory
of creating a true Christian republic.
Perfectionists preached that slavery is evil and they should
fight against it.

8. • Bishop William Fleetwood
• Theodore Dwight Weld
• Denmark Vesey

9. Bishop William Fleetwood:
One of the bishops who traveled
over to America from England in
1701 .
One of the main objectives of the
Society was to Christianize the
slaves however, Bishop Fleetwood
went so far as to denounce the
institution of slavery itself (which
prompted him to be considered a
radical).

10. Theodore Dwight Weld:
Weld was one of the most active
early antislavery crusaders. He
convinced a large number of
students to join the abolitionist
cause. He composed both The Bible
Against Slavery and American
Slavery As It Is. After his schooling,
he served as an agent in the
American Antislavery Society.

11. Denmark Vesey:
Vesey was a slave who bought his
freedom in about 1799, after he had
purchased a winning lottery ticket.
He quickly became a dominant
force. He was an active member of
the African Methodist Church of
Charleston and would have such an
impact on the other members that
they would call him a prophet. . In
late 1821, he devised a plan for a
revolt which, at last count involved
9,000 people .However, the secret
was leaked out and the plans
crashed.

12. RELIGIOUS ORIGINS
IDEOLOGICAL ORIGINS
FEMINISM and ABOLITIONISM
The inf luence of « Uncle Tom’s Cabin »

13. • Racism
• Immorality
• Irony of slavery
• Nat Turner’s revolt.

14. Abolitionists argued that Negroes were not
racially inferior because of skin color. As they
saw it, Negroes were still humans and therefore
our brothers.

15. Another large cause for the cry of abolition was the cruelty
and injustice of slavery.
Slaves were reduced to property, a concept that didn't sit well
with most abolitionist.

17. As much pain, as slaves had to endure physically, they
endured a hundred times more than that by the denial
of their freedom.

18. “How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among
the drivers of Negroes.”
-Dr. Johnson

19. A huge irony between having
control over another human
being and this phrase.
“all men are created equal”

20. It is also quite ironic that
nearly half of the members
of congress at the time the
slave trade was abolished,
were slaveholders.
“We, the white, male, landowners of the United States”

21. Another interesting irony
in slavery was that
Thomas Jefferson, the
author of the Declaration
of Independence, held
approximately 200 slaves.
Thomas Jefferson

22. He was one of the few
men who forced
America to see the
true irony of slavery.
William Lloyd Garrison

24. He was a slave who revolted in
1831.

25. He led several other slaves with him and
ended up killing a total of 60 white people
Nat Turner’s revolt led America one step closer to
the civil war as one step closer to emancipation

27. RELIGIOUS ORIGINS
IDEOLOGICAL ORIGINS
FEMINISM and ABOLITIONISM
The inf luence of « Uncle Tom’s Cabin »

28. Relationship between Feminism and Abolitionism

31. During the 1830’s, women became involved in anti-
slavery societies by being elected to the committee of
American Anti-Slavery Society.
Although opposed by male members of the committee, they were supported by
William L.Garrison who admitted the rights of women and blacks to be on the
white-male committee.
He even encouraged them to take an active part in the anti-slavery organizations.

32. • Maria Miller W. Stewart
• Sojourner Truth
• Harriet Tubman

33. Maria Miller W. Stewart
She was a Connecticut orphan, born in 1803. As a
free black woman, Stewart took up “the cause of
God and the cause of freedom” in 1832. She spoke
up against slavery, racism, and sexism.
Maria Stewart was one of the first women to
“smash the taboo” against female public speakers.

34. Sojourner Truth was born as a slave in Hurley,
New York as Isabella Baumfree. She escaped
around 1828 and in 1843, She dedicated her life to
preaching, at which time she took the name
Sojourner Truth.
Though she was illiterate, she had a remarkable
speaking talent. For more than forty years, Truth
preached, taught, and testified the “truth.” Not
only was she an abolitionist, but a feminist as
well. She delivered her most famous speech in
1851 at an Ohio women’s rights convention with
the words “And ain’t I a woman?”
After the end of slavery, she continued her work
with black suffrage and helped former slaves in
need.

35. Harriet Tubman
Like Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman was a religious, black, female,
abolitionist. She ran away when she was about twenty-five by way of the
Underground Railroad.

36. Tubman loved freedom so much that she
returned to the South nineteen times and
helped about three hundred slaves escape to
freedom.
Fearless as she was, she carried with her a
rifle for protection; furthermore, to
discourage any of her passengers to return
to the South. Tubman never lost a
passenger.
During the Civil War, she acted as a nurse
and a spy for the Union.

37. RELIGIOUS ORIGINS
IDEOLOGICAL ORIGINS
FEMINISM and ABOLITIONISM
The inf luence of « Uncle Tom’s Cabin »

38. The Story that Launched the Civil War

39. Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Harriet wrote the
controversial « uncle
Tom’s cabin », in
which she described a
slave’s hard life. She
had intended Tom to
be a Christ like figure
who redeemed
America from the sin
of slavery.

40. Its effects…

41. After having sold over
300.000 copies the first
year, Uncle Tom’s Cabin
was considered as The
Greatest Book of the
Age. It showed the
controversial definition
of freedom.

42. According to legend, Abraham Lincoln
greeted Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1862
by saying "So you're the little woman
who wrote the book that started this
great war."
Uncle Tom's Cabin contributed to the outbreak of war by personalizing
the political and economic arguments about slavery. Stowe's informal,
conversational writing style inspired people in a way that political
speeches, tracts and newspapers accounts could not. Uncle Tom's
Cabin helped many 19th-century Americans determine what kind of
country they wanted.

43. Uncle Tom's Cabin struck a
nerve and found a permanent
place in American culture . . .

44. « it’s a free country, sir; the man’s mine, and I do what I please with
him,--that’s it »
This is a contradictory
statement among
many others that
criticizes those who
used law to support
their freedoms, yet
trampled the
freedoms of others.

46. RELIGIOUS ORIGINS
IDEOLOGICAL ORIGINS
FEMINISM and ABOLITIONISM
The inf luence of « Uncle Tom’s Cabin »

47. Origins and inf luences