Slavery in the Nineteenth Century: Viewpoint of the Antislavery and Abolotionist Movements

In the nineteenth century, slavery was a very controversial issue with a variety of viewpoints and beliefs on the measures that should be taken to terminate it. In the early 1800s the antislavery approach was vastly different from the one that continued after 1830. Antislavery began with the aim of recolonizing the African American slaves back in their homelands, this slowly lost its effectiveness and evolved into the abolitionist movement which was contributed to by various reputable individuals who worked towards the abolishment of slavery; this later arouse a powerful and violent war against slavery which effectively showed that the measures taken after 1830 were of a much greater influence than the ones in the early nineteenth century.

The launch of the opposition of slavery in the first decade of the nineteenth century awoke an organized antislavery movement whose goal was to peacefully change the population of slaves in the South. This organization was known as the American Colonization Society. They proposed that slave owners free their slaves and the society would compensate them with money. They would relocate the slaves in the Caribbean, their homelands in Africa, or in new settlements often out of the country. The American Colonization Society was funded by various donors, charities, and legislatures. They were very well envisioned, however their efforts were only effective for so long due to the vast amounts of funding necessary for compensation of slave owners and shipment of freed slaves to their new settlements. There were far too many slaves and it was certain that the plan would never reach economic sufficiency to follow through with their project, as well as the fact that the growing cotton industry in the Sou...

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...i-abolitionist, riots, and without a doubt an incline towards a division in the nation. These opponents became radically fanatical, and aside from arguing against slavery, they raised arguments against the government as well.

In summation, the courses of action against slavery were vastly distinct prior to 1830 because of the aim towards equality for all African Americans that the abolitionist argued. They continuously held strong grounds even though they had anti-abolitionist that challenged their goals. This caused the nation to be in a war within itself. The nation became divided in beliefs, and in efforts towards finding stable ground violence was triggered. Thus, proving that the power that the abolitionist movement after 1830 had on the nation was vastly greater than the failed attempts of colonization in the early years on the 1800s.

Works Cited

AMH 2010