The American Anti-Slavery Society was founded in 1833 to outlaw slavery in the US. It grew to over 1300 chapters and a quarter of a million members, but faced controversy and violence. A schism occurred in 1839, with more moderate members forming the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. The abolitionist movement continued to grow, leading to the Civil War and the eventual end of slavery with the adoption of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. The Anti-Slavery Society disbanded in 1870 after achieving its goals.
The American Anti-Slavery Society was an abolitionist group, founded in 1833 for the purpose of outlawing slavery, which was legal in the United States at the time. Indeed, the Missouri Compromise of 1820 ensured the survival and growth of slavery for the foreseeable future. There were local organizations for abolition, but they weren’t very successful. The American Colonization Society (ACS), which advocated the “repatriation” of freed slaves to Africa, enjoyed some support but was controversial. On the other hand, violent slave rebellions such as Nat Turner’s revolt of 1831 only killed people and strengthened the Southern resolve to impose severe discipline on those of its slaves who rebelled.
It was in this volatile political climate that the Anti-Slavery Society was launched as a national organization by a convention of abolitionists in Philadelphia. Two prominent Americans in abolitionist circles, William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan, are generally credited with founding the Society. Garrison wrote the founding declaration, which essentially characterized slavery as a sin and called for its abolition without consideration or reward for slaveholders. Compensating slaveholders for freed slaves would still recognize them as property with only economic value, Garrison reasoned. The statement went on to criticize the SCA’s goals as “illusory, cruel and dangerous”.
Highly successful in its stated goals of establishing chapters nationwide, at its peak the Anti-Slavery Society had over 1300 local chapters and a quarter of a million members nationwide. Frederick Douglass, who had escaped slavery as a young man and had himself become a prominent leader of the abolitionist movement, was a leader of the Society and often addressed its meetings. Other freed and escaped slaves were members of the Society, but most of its members came from the ranks of philanthropy and religious circles. The goals of the Anti-Slavery Society, however, were highly controversial and its meetings were sometimes disrupted and some of its offices and printing presses destroyed.
In 1834, anti-abolition riots, sometimes called the Farren Riots, swept the streets of New York City for four days. The causes of these unrest are generally believed to be a basic misunderstanding of the Society’s goals. After the riots, some members of the Society, including Tappan, felt compelled to issue a statement clarifying those goals. They insisted that they were not promoting racial intermarriage, for example, nor were they encouraging federal lawlessness or usurpation of states’ rights.
Tensions rose within the Society. Garrison has taken the radical position of denouncing the US Constitution as legitimizing slavery. Furthermore, he and those in his camp have advocated for women to take significant roles in the Society, another radical position that has led a handful of antifeminists to leave the Society.
In 1839, Tappan and his more moderate supporters seceded from the Society, forming the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. They were oriented towards working within the system, using tools such as moral persuasion and political activity to achieve their goals. In 1840 they formed the Freedom Party with the aim of putting abolitionist candidates for public office.
However, the schism within the abolitionist movement did not slow the growth of anti-slavery sentiment. Slavery became a major issue in local elections and eventually national elections as well, with the formation of the Free-Soil and Republican parties. The election of 1860 brought Abraham Lincoln to the White House and set in motion a series of events that led to the Civil War and the adoption of the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the US Constitution. These amendments not only ended slavery as an institution in the United States, but officially made freed slaves citizens of the United States with all related rights and privileges.
The fact that full civil rights would not be granted to freed slaves, or their children, or even their grandchildren, for another century or so, has not diminished the work of the Anti-Slavery Society and the different groups it has generated. Their goals had largely been achieved. Slavery had been outlawed in the United States, former slave owners had not been compensated, and the expatriation of freed slaves had not been pursued as an official post-emancipation policy. Thus, in 1870, the Anti-Slavery Society declared victory and disbanded.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
