Lucretia Mott: An Important Activist In The Civil War

Lucretia Mott was an important activist in the Civil War because she spoke out against slavery and promoted women's rights. At a young age she became aware of the inequality among men and women, as well as the disgust towards slavery. She devoted her life to being heard among all people for human equality. She fought for equality until her death.

Lucretia Coffin, later known as Lucretia Mott, was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on January 3, 1793. She was born to Anna Folger, a shopkeeper, and Thomas Coffin, Jr., a ship captain. The second of five children, she was born to a family of Quakers, a religious Society of Friends. With her father’s frequent and prolonged absences, her mother’s success as a small shopkeeper made the abstract notion

He invested all his capital in a factory for a manufacture to cut nails, a new product of the Industrial Revolution. Lucretia Mott soon followed her family, and James Mott tagged along. Mr. Mott lived with the family and became Thomas’ business partner. Finally, 1811, James and Lucretia were married in Philadelphia. They had six children, but only five survived infancy. In 1815, Lucretia’s father died, leaving her mother with heavy debt and little money. Two years later followed the death of her first born son, at the age of three. She became spiritually depressed, and in 1818, she became a member of the Quaker ministry. She began speaking powerfully in Meeting, and in 1821 she was recognized as a minister because of her speaking ability. (anb.org) In 1827, the Motts and other Quakers split from their parent organization to take a stronger antislavery stand. Since the beginning of her ministry, Lucretia Mott blended themes of both abolition and women’s rights. (nationalabolitionhalloffameandmuseum.org) The Motts refused to use or sell any products created with slave labor. When she preached in meetings for others to join their boycott, she gained fame as an abolitionist. She traveled throughout the Northeast extensively and spoke to others in great demand.

She helped found Swarthmore College, a coeducational Quaker institution, in 1864. Despite increasingly suffering from dyspepsia, she was elected head of the American Equal Rights Association. Not long after, the group broke into two different groups: the National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association. The National Woman Suffrage Association was led by Mott, Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, while the American Woman Suffrage Association was led by Lucy Stone, Julia Howe, and other women.