| The abolitionist movement, which represented the | | | | get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do |
| earliest days of the American Civil Rights Movement, | | | | it. The men better let them." Maybe that reference is |
| succeeded in every northern state by 1804, although | | | | where Dr. King got the idea of making "valleys into hills |
| there were still at least a dozen "permanent | | | | and hills into valleys," but it's also a Biblical reference. I'll |
| apprentices" listed in the 1860 census. Three northern | | | | tell you a bit more about the origins of American black |
| organizations advocating this reform were the Society | | | | religious faith and how they led to Dr. King being a |
| of Friends (Quakers), the Pennsylvania Antislavery | | | | minister toward the end of this section. |
| Society, and the New York Manumission Society. | | | | Anyway, this quote from Truth's popular speech was |
| This latter group was run by powerful Federalists John | | | | spoken at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention, and |
| Jay, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. The | | | | her recurrent theme was probably based on an |
| Federalists opposed State's Rights, arguing for federal | | | | incident where a heckler in the audience had called her |
| legislation abolishing slavery. New York finally abolished | | | | a man. She proudly opened her blouse, revealing her |
| slavery, gradually, starting in 1799, making this the | | | | breasts, a typically bold move on her part which likely |
| largest emancipation of American slaves in history | | | | led to "Ain't I a Woman?" I guess even your enemies |
| before 1863. New Jersey was the last northern state | | | | can help you be productive, as in the case in 1960's |
| to abolish slavery, in 1804. | | | | Birmingham, where local black civil rights leaders said |
| The Constitutional Convention of 1787 agreed to allow | | | | that Police Commissioner "Bull" O'Connor and his |
| the federal government to abolish the international | | | | violent anti-black tactics were "helping the Movement," |
| slave trade, and by that time, all the existing states but | | | | due to all the media attention they were getting at the |
| Georgia had passed laws abolishing or severely limiting | | | | time. |
| the slave trade. Georgia finally passed similar laws in | | | | The Catholic faith doesn't tend to exalt the poor and |
| 1798 - and the importation of slaves into the USA was | | | | their elevation, which is the general black meaning of |
| officially abolished on New Year's Day in 1808. This | | | | "turning things around," as much as the black version of |
| was a major move in the direction of abolition. | | | | Protestantism does. That may explain the general |
| However, in the 1830s, the Postmaster General | | | | Catholic lack of sympathy for Dr. Martin Luther King, |
| refused to allow the U.S. mails to deliver abolition | | | | Jr.'s programs at first. Dr. King was the presumed head |
| pamphlets to the South. Northern teachers suspected | | | | of the Civil Rights Movement in America in the 1960s. |
| of anti-slavery "tendencies" were expelled from the | | | | But for Catholics, there was ample praise of Jesus' |
| South, and abolitionist literature was banned in those | | | | faith in the resurrection of the spirit and his attendant |
| states. Southerners were claiming that incidents like | | | | faith in the spirituality of all people. Blacks at the time of |
| John Brown's attempt at Harper's Ferry in 1859 to | | | | slavery and in much later American history continued a |
| start a slave uprising was proof northerners were | | | | tendency toward religion that influenced their culture |
| conspiring against them to cause war through slave | | | | and entire way of philosophy and thought |
| rebellions. | | | | immeasurably, but Truth was probably |
| The North, simply put, was dead set against the | | | | spiritually-oriented. |
| South's prevailing attitudes about slavery. Eric Foner | | | | She didn't like white men much, or their male-oriented |
| once stated: "Northerners came to view slavery as | | | | religions. She organized white and black feminists alike |
| the very antithesis of the good society, as well as a | | | | to oppose slavery through abolition, but that and |
| threat to their own fundamental values and interests." | | | | colonizing Liberia were not the only actions taken |
| However, northern conservatives feared the migration | | | | against slavery. Also, throughout American history, |
| of a large number of freemen into the North, as they | | | | there have been movements to attempt the return of |
| tended to accept lower pay. They were being seen, | | | | African-Americans to the Motherland. |
| like today's illegal Mexican-American workers, as | | | | Through the 1820s and 1830s, the American |
| "undercutting prevailing wages." It was feared that | | | | Colonization Society (ACS) kept proposing to stop |
| former slaves would cause deep pay cuts for all | | | | slavery by returning to Africa, a movement which was |
| American workers, especially white ones. | | | | broadly supported by both whites and blacks. They |
| In spite of such difficulties, one white abolitionist, | | | | saw it as a preferable alternative to emancipation, and |
| Massachusetts's Abby Kelley Foster, became an | | | | Black Nationalist pioneer Marcus Garvey would also |
| "ultra," advocating not only abolition but full civil rights for | | | | start a similar movement. He founded the Universal |
| all black people. An agent for the American | | | | Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in 1914, opening |
| Anti-Slavery Society, Foster, known usually as Abby | | | | a branch in Harlem, New York in 1916. |
| Kelley, thought that free slaves should colonize the | | | | The UNIA was intended "to promote the spirit of race |
| new African nation of Liberia. She also recruited Susan | | | | pride," and was an attempt to cause worldwide unity |
| B. Anthony and Lucy Stone, other American feminist | | | | among all black people, establishing the greatness of |
| leaders, to the early Civil Rights Movement. Kelley, who | | | | their African heritage. Garvey appealed to the black |
| inspired other young women to be known as "Abby | | | | lower classes and rejected any ideals or notions of |
| Kelleyites," often shared her platform with ex-slaves - | | | | racial integration. He was certain that blacks could not |
| despite the additional scorn this entailed. "I rejoice to be | | | | secure their rights in countries like the USA, where |
| identified with the despised people of color. If they are | | | | they were a racial minority group, so he began a "back |
| to be despised, so ought their advocates to be," was | | | | to Africa" movement, and he was considered the |
| one of her famous quotes. | | | | most influential black leader of the early 1920s. |
| Another well-known abolitionist was the wizened but | | | | However, in the early 1800s there was a series of |
| charming black woman known as Sojourner Truth. Her | | | | small attempts to plant settlements on the coast of |
| first speaking engagement was with Abby Kelley. | | | | West Africa, where most of the slaves had been |
| Truth originally had the Dutch slave name Isabella | | | | originally captured, and the colony of Liberia was |
| Baumfree, but changed her name because "the Spirit | | | | established circa 1821-1822. In the next four decades, |
| calls me." She wasn't much for the white man's religion, | | | | thousands of American former slaves settled there. |
| though, and frequently spoke against slavery and the | | | | They declared independence in 1847, although not |
| mental picture of black women being "unladylike" and | | | | many had survived the move, as they had succumbed |
| subhuman. She was born into slavery in New York, | | | | to local diseases. The abolition movement caused |
| enduring frequent beatings at the hands of her white | | | | support for the colony to fade quickly, but the new |
| masters and mistresses. | | | | Liberians ruled their country until the bloody military |
| At one point in time, she was on one of her many | | | | coup of 1980 by army personnel who assassinated |
| "sojourns," or journeys, and a streetcar run by a white | | | | President William R. Tolbert. |
| male conductor wouldn't stop to pick her up, refusing | | | | Therefore, due to the lack of effective other methods |
| her as a passenger. She bravely ran along the track | | | | for handling this major American issue, the work of the |
| and leaped into the path of the streetcar, gauging the | | | | abolitionists is what finally managed to help end slavery. |
| distance exactly right, making the conductor stop for | | | | However, in spite of multiple efforts on the parts of |
| her. Her most famous speech was the simply put, | | | | many, it took just about forever to get the South to |
| "Ain't I a Woman?" where she also gave us the | | | | agree on this. Their intense stubbornness is what led to |
| following quote, revised from her 19th century dialect: | | | | the continuing hatred and racism ongoing throughout |
| "If the first woman God ever made was strong | | | | 1960's Birmingham, leading to the tragic deaths of |
| enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these | | | | many black children and the continuous bombings of |
| women together ought to be able to turn it back, and | | | | dozens of peaceful citizens' homes. |