Frederick Douglass: The Abolition Of Slavery

Abolitionism was a well-known movement around the time of the Civil War and its aim was to put an end to slavery. The people of the early nineteenth century viewed the elimination of slavery in numerous ways. Some fought against the end of slavery, some appeared to mildly support the cause and yet others wholeheartedly supported the ending of slavery until their dying day.

Charles Finney was a religious leader who promoted social reforms such as the abolition of slavery. He also fought for equality in education for women as well as for African Americans. He was the president of Oberlin College in the mid 1800’s. This college was the first of its kind to allow black and women students. The faculty and students of Oberlin were active

He was born to a woman slave and a white man. He was raised primarily by his relatives and only occasionally met his mother, who died when he was a young boy. He never met his father, but knew only that he was a white man. During this time, he witnessed the first-hand horrors and mistreatment of slaves and spent many days hungry and cold. Shortly after the death of his mother, Douglass was sent to live with a man in Baltimore and his life became relatively normal for several years. He began to hear about the anti-slavery movement and learned to read and write. Unfortunately, he was sent to work on a farm that was run by a notoriously brutal slave owner. The mistreatment he suffered was immense. His beatings and lack of food were only part of his miserable daily life. Eventually Douglass was able to successfully escape this life and vowed to forever actively support the equality of all

Some have quoted the Old Testament when seeking justification of slavery where as others have quoted the New Testament as proof that slavery should be abolished. The Old Testament of the Bible appears to have passages that refer to the treatment of slaves. The Book of Leviticus treated slaves as the owner’s property and could therefore be bought and sold to others. Any property of the slaves became the property of their owner. If a child were born to a slave, that child then became a slave. The Book of Exodus explains that a father could sell his unmarried daughter into servitude with the understanding that his son could marry her when she became of age to do so. This was a form of sexual slavery. Reference to the Epistle to Philemon in the New Testament has been used by both those who support the slavery movement as well as by those who were against it. Slaves were warned to obey their masters, “As to the Lord and not to men.” However, their masters were also held to this same standard. Masters were expected to treat their slaves well and even to treat them as brothers, as God is the master of all people, including