The Abolitionist Movement: William Lloyd Garrison

Abolitionist/Suffrage Biography Project The abolitionist Movement was a movement to eliminate slavery in the Southern part of the United States and the Emancipations of slaves in the southern United States. This was a necessary movement to create a more fair and just society as it involved the creation of a full equal system for all people in all states, in the United States of America. This movement involved many individuals which all partook in the advancement of the cause. Three of which are William Lloyd Garrison, John Brown, and John Rankin.
One of the most influential supporters of Abolitionist Movement, was William Lloyd Garrison. William Lloyd Garrison is most well-known for publishing a newspaper, with Isaac Knapp, known as “the

John Brown was an abolitionist that believed that armed insurrection was the only way to truly end slavery. He led a group during the bleeding-Kansas crisis of 1856. He also commanded forces at the battle of Black Jack and the battle of Osawatomie. He also was responsible for the deaths of five supporters of slavery during the Pottawatomie massacre. He also was the leader of an assault on a federal armory in Harpers Ferry. This attack was meant to spark an uprising by arming the slaves with the weapons within the armory. However, this attack was not successful. In 36 hours, Brown’s men had either been killed or captured by farmers, militiamen, and marines, led by future confederate General Robert E. Lee. He was soon tried for treason and hanged on December 2, 1859. However, this attack is what many Historians consider what truly started the tensions between the South and the North and what caused the south’s succession and the start of the American Civil

John Rankin was a Minister for a Concord Presbyterian Church in Carlisle, Tennessee. He started a school for enslaved children there, however he was driven for the town by club wielding pro-slavers. He then fled to the town of Ripley and joined the Underground Railroad. While assisting the Underground Railroad he is suspected of helping hundreds of escaped slaves by giving then shelter and food so they can continue their journey. He also, supposedly, had a candle placed on their window, to help guide slaves and conductors to his home, however escapees have stated that they saw a pole with light on top, not a small candle on a window. He also made a Staircase leading to his home to help escaping slaves climb the hill it was located on. When John Rankin had gone to a Lane Theological Seminary, he told Professor Calvin Stowe about an Escaped Slave he had helped, Stowe’s wife, Harriet Beecher Stowe, had overheard them talking and based her character Eliza, from “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” off of the Escaped Slave. Rankin eventually met Theodore Weld, because of his association and support of the American Anti-slavery society, and had begun to do speeches against slavery throughout Ohio, beginning at Rankin’s church. This inspired Rankin to travel to other churches and towns to tell speeches