Angelina Grimké's Argumentative Essay

"It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent." —Madeleine Albright. In the 19th century, women did not have many rights to their name. They could not vote, they could not own property, and even speaking in public was looked down upon. Anti-slavery advocates existed, but women’s rights advocates did not. However, women began to speak out for their beliefs and slowly but surely, a women’s rights movement arose. Angelina Grimké happened to be a anti-slavery advocate while also defending women’s rights. Grimké was an example of the increased rights women pushed for such as free speech and rights based on gifts, talents, and moral structures of each individual.

Born on February 20th, 1805,

In 1892, Angelina followed her sister and became a Quaker in Philadelphia (Browne 17). Both of the girls strongly disagreed with the practice of slavery and Angelina even joined the Female Anti-Slavery Society (McMillen 60). As a woman from the South, it was very unexpected and even controversial for her to join this society and the American Anti-Slavery Society, founded by William Lloyd Garrison (Browne 17). A woman’s job was to stay in the home and care for children, as stated in the cult of domesticity. Joining one of these societies was unheard of for a woman to do. But these were the first steps into obtaining increased rights for women. As the first female anti-slavery agent (Lerner 227) Angelina had to be very appealing. Her position as a slaveholder’s daughter gave her the ability to personally witness the demoralization of slaves and claim to never see a happy slave (Grimké condemns). The Grimké sisters were the first, and unfortunately the last, people from slaveholding families to speak out against

In 1921, a three act play called “Rachel” was published. Written by a woman named Angelina Weld Grimké. She had taken the name of Angelina Grimké because the original Angelina had been such a powerful and influential figure in the fight for justice and rights. “Rachel” was a play about African American lynching. It challenged the heavy stereotypes of African American women and their families. Lynching was very common in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Although slavery was no longer legal, people did what they could to promote racism and inequality. “Rachel” sold lynching from the African American perspective. Distraught mothers and young women who vowed to never have children were a large part of the play. The reason being that they would rather kill their newborn baby boy instead of giving another victim to lynching. This play for justice is just one example of the influence Angelina Grimké had on women speaking their