Three Abolitionists by J. T.

1. In Kelly Hancock’s lecture, Three Abolitionist Who Help Change America, Kelly focuses on three abolitionist who most people may have not known about. These abolitionist were, David Walker, David Ruggles, and Anthony Burns. Many people may have not heard of these men before because these abolitionist were all African American, and these men predated the actual start of the abolitionist movement which would be considered 1831. David Walker, born free in North Carolina and the first abolitionist Hancock speaks about, wrote an appeal arguing that slavery was a sin. Walker sewed his appeal into the clothing of sailors, where he called for immediate emancipation, Walker argued heavily against colonization. David Ruggles, also a free man, like Walker, spoke out against colonization. Abolitionist, David Ruggles participated in the committee of vigilance where he would make sure there was a proper hearing before men were brought back into slavery, this was to minimize non enslaved people getting thrown into slavery. Anthony Burns, on the other hand was an enslaved person, but was allowed to negotiate his hiring out process. Burns was a minister, moving around the city seizing his freedom. Burns’ trial would be one of many to stir up the abolitionist movement
2. The purpose of Kelly Hancock’s lecture was to educate her audience on abolitionist that aren't as famous as William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth. The point of view was to tell the stories of these African American abolitionist, including one abolitionist who was enslaved, and how these men contributed to the abolitionist movement. We got to hear the voices of African Americans, which usually are the voices left out, although this was an interesting lecture on abolitionist we have not heard of before, the voice of women was still missing. There were plenty of women who were enslaved whose stories which would have been a good addition to these men and their stories.
3. In class we looked at pictures from The Liberator. These pictures included strong messages about the separation of families, the auctioning of slaves, and how slavery looked in 1831 and how a future without slavery would look. In class we discussed how if an enslaved person saw these images they would immediately be able to recognize what is going on in the photos because they themselves have experienced it. We discussed in class how these photos were meant to evoke emotion, and spark controversy. In one of the images we can see a picture of god with a caption “I come to break the bonds of the oppressor” which was one of the beliefs of many abolitionist, who agreed slavery was a sin. In class we also read an Address to the slaves of the United States, by William Lloyd Garrison. In this piece, Garrison writes to slaves telling them to have hope, that the end of slavery is near. He argues that there are many abolitionist who are their friends and who are doing what they can to help enslaved people. Garrison writes about the dangers of being an abolitionist in the south, and how abolitionist are making changes in the north, he even tells enslaved people to come over to the north where they can get help. These primary sources helped us understand slavery and the abolitionist movement in 1831.
4. Some historical questions we drew in class were how these abolitionist were able to participate in the abolitionist activities and what consequences did they sometimes face. We discussed that these abolitionist were free, they were educated and faced difficulties as abolitionists, sometimes beaten, harassed, or even killed. Another historical question we drew in class was how enslaved people would react to the images of slavery, since they could not read the papers. We concluded that seeing images of slavery would hit home, that they could feel in their hearts that slavery was wrong, that god didn’t make a man to be enslaved to another man.
5. What I’m left wondering is how abolitionist worked to persuade others that slavery was wrong. I’m also wondering what roles did women play in the abolitionist movement. What supporters did to help the enslaved people.