Friday, November 7, 2014

Abolitionists

What challenges did 19th century abolitionists face in promoting their message?

This post will be available for new comments until Friday, November 14. 


 

38 comments:

  1. During the 19th century, abolitionists encountered many challenges in promoting the messages. For the most part, abolitionists faced strong oppositions as well as several arguments regarding which concerns were more important than others. During the age of reform, many questions regarding individual's rights based on different issues became a huge concern in the American society. It was no longer about JUST women, JUST slaves, JUST immigration. Individuals began focusing more on specific aspects regarding their rights (Ex. black vs. white, men vs. women, women and free speech, women and work etc). This brought challenges for abolitionists because they encountered many more rejections from people as well as having to focus on more issues and having more aspects to take into consideration as an attempt to improve the lives of several groups of individuals.

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  2. Many abolitionists fought to end slavery, but freeing the slaves just like that was a challenge. Many individuals during the Age of Reform would resist to such doings because they believed that it went against their rights. Then more concerns had surfaced based on rights between men vs women and colored vs white people. Many writers and movements had arose to push more than just an end to slavery. They spoke, wrote and influence others through events that occurred. It took longer to abolish slavery because in order to abolish slavery the questions based on rights between individual's had to be answered as well.

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  3. In the 19th century, slavery was a huge matter in question to many abolitionists. Not only slavery, yet abolitionists even dealt with issues about African American citizens attaining the same, equal rights as Caucasian citizens. During this time, societies regarded African Americans as an inferior group. Citizens’ attempted to prevent color assimilation to ensue, due to color discrepancies and further bias factors. There were also concerns in regards to women’s rights. In this time period, societies perceived women more inequitable than men. Societies fused women and African American citizens as (minority groups) throughout societies.

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  4. The biggest challenge Abolitionists faced in promoting their message was get people to agree with him/her. There were so many different ideals of slavery as well as women's rights. Both sides to either debate had many points for their argument. Even when people did agree about what they desired, they disagreed on their means of achieving it. Some thought assertiveness and violence was necessary, while others believed pleading was the answer. Therefore, arranging a thorough argument to rally people together and get the American society to fight for his/her cause in the method that he/she believed was best was the main challenge.
    Another challenge that is related is the challenge of overcoming society's presumption at that time that blacks and women are innately inferior. To argue against something that society historically accepted as truth is a unthinkable task but that was an obstacle that abolitionists had to overcome.

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  5. The biggest issue for abolitionists was the process itself. People couldn't agree on which way they should use in order to lead their abolition movements. We see violent proposals and calls to overthrow the ruling majority with force and blood, while we also see calm and diplomatic proposals to end particular cause in the abolitionists movements. The unification of all under the same way and solution is one of the issues therefore.

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  6. When the society is already formed for many years and used to exist that way, it is hard to change and destroy something that existed for many years like when abolitionists were trying to made changes in 19th century about equality and slavery. When people were used to that Black people were lower class laborers and White people’s slaves and women did not have equal rights with men, Abolitionists tried to change and fix everything, so everything could be fair to everyone. The biggest challenge that they were facing in promoting their message is to try to make people believe and support them because this was an important thing that led to changes. With support, everything is possible. Some people were even scare to join the abolitionist movements because they were scare that they could be punished for that.

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  7. I think a major challenge abolitionists faced was that they did not agree with each other. Some abolitionists pushed for equality for blacks and the abolition of slavery, while some wanted equality for women as well. There were also some very radical abolitionists who were willing to use violence to achieve what they wanted. However, other abolitionists did not agree with using brutal force. In addition, many people were terrified of joining an abolition group, even if they believed in it because they feared the consequences if the rebellion failed.

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  8. I believe one of the major challenges that faced abolitionists was their inability to determine HOW they were going to get rid of slavery. It seems the two options were either through social and democratic means or through violence. The document we discussed in class is a prime example of a person attempting to justify violence. Hannibal was not as organized as the slaves could be... what a powerful idea to get a bunch of people to have a physical confrontation with proponents of slavery.

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  9. The main challenge that abolitionists faced during the 19th century was who deserve equal rights. Women's who were part of the abolitionists started to ask what about gender rights, for shouldn't they also have equal rights. Some of their fellow abolitionists told them that ending slavery need to come first before gender rights. Another major challenge faced abolitionists is how to end slavery. The image of Hannibal came to the minds of some people. Everyone wanted to end slavery but at what cost divide their opinions.

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  10. Delela Serrieux
    The abolitionist faced two major challenges in 19th century. One was whether slavery should end and what could be done to help it end, giving equal rights between the blacks and whites, one struggle with how slavery would be done was peaceful manner like Douglas's idea of writing letters or like Hannibel fighting and killing. And the second challenge was equal gender rights, Angelina Grimke women believed that whatever is morally right for a man to do then it should also be right for women to do.

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  11. Abolitionists in the 19th century faced similar challenges that abolitionists face today.

    Trafficking is one of today's modern form of slavery. Young girls are bought all over the world and are forced into sex and drugs. In the United States, it's illegal to sell any human but it's also extremely hard to stop. You see, with trafficking it's not just one law that's broken. Immigration, prostitution, slavery, drug smuggling, are also included in the crime. All of these things added up create a big gray area for law makers. Yes, these girls and boys were sold and forced to do these things but they're not from the United States, smuggled drugs, and participated in prostitution. There are too many broken laws involved. It's a domino effect.

    The same thing happened in the 19th century. Slavery set off this whole chain of events. It led to outside the box thinking. The fight for anti-slavery led to raised questions about women's rights, black women's rights, as well as immigration. This is a problem abolitionists faced because it allowed for all the unjustified groups a voice to fight for themselves but because of all these voices, they're were too many questions being asked to listen.

    So what I'm trying to say is that human rights is like dropping a bag of marbles on the floor, you let your voices fall where them may and roll to every possible direction. There's just too much going on at one time.

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  12. In the 19th century abolitionists faced problems with promoting their message. Even though abolitionists all sought to end slavery, many had their own different ideas and opinions. They tried to gain as many supporters as they could that way they could all fight together to try and end slavery. Most women took part in the abolitionist movement and it sparked outbreaks of their cries for equality. The problem with the abolitionist movement in the 19th century was that every abolitionist had his/her own opinion, ideas and thoughts on slavery and there were too many different beliefs floating around. There would be no success in abolishing slavery if all couldn't come to an agreement on what should be done to end slavery and how it should be done.

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  13. Abolitionists in the 19th century faced many problems. One of the main problems they faced was actually getting their message across. Many abolitionists had different means when it came to how they protested rights for slaves. Some of them were passive and civil about it, others wanted to take a more violent approach. As a result, there wasn't a sense of unity among the abolitionists. Everyone wanted to do things his/her own way. Another problem they faced was criticism. For example in the case of some of the black abolitionists. They faced criticism from other African Americans as well as whites. Along with abolitionists for slavery, there were also abolitionists for the rights of women. They also faced problems. For example, because they were women the had absolutely no rights which made their fight for their rights even harder. Overall, many of the abolitionists were criticized for their ideas and did not have many supporters.

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  14. One of the problems was sending a clear message for how they wished to end slavery. As many others have commented here, many abolitionists had different methods of protesting, leading to conflicting views not only between the abolitionists and slave owners,but within the abolitionists themselves. The lack of a clear common goal for the abolitionist movement made their work very disorganized and ultimately not as effective as they could have been.

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  15. The problem that affected the abolitionist in 19th century was that people couldn’t agree on the same ideas of how to resolve the problem of slavery. The movement also divided into two groups, which had different views of how to work in the problem of slavery. One groups lost its leader, because he lost faith and his hope on the reform. The other groups failed because they went into a bankrupt. With the movement divided, this problems couldn't have been solved that easy. Another issue was that the Northern abolitionists and Southern slave owners did not have the same thoughts about slavery, and this was a major cause to conduct both sides against each other and starting a war.

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  16. The 19th century abolitionist faced many challenges but one of the most difficult was their inability to decide on a universal method to accomplish their goals. Some were more radical in their methods as well as in their thinking, in the belief that immediate action needed to be taken and the blacks should be given rights immediately. Others were more sedate, peaceful and judicial in their thinking that change would happen slowly over time and that it needed to happen with the law on their side, or at least laws giving rights to the black. Their abolitionist movement was mostly united united in their goal but was ultimately fractured in their methods and how they went about seeking the change that they were asking for.

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  19. One of the biggest obstacles that the abolitionists faced was their lack of Unity. There was many different philosophies and ideals behind many different figures. Some advocated violent revolution, others proposed legislative changes, while some just used words and writings to raise awareness. This lack of leadership and a vast array of opinions create a movement that meant good but didn't know how to achieve it. Another problem that the abolitionists faced was that most of them were in the north where as the bulk of the nation's slaves were concentrated in the south. This prevented them from helping those in bondage efficiently and due to the lack of good communication technology, kept the plight of the slaves hidden. This proved to be a problem because to win support they needed to earn people's sympathy for the cause, and if most people didn't know what went on in the plantations, they wouldn't support the cause.

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  20. Abolitionists faced opposition from the south. However, they also faced indifference in the north. Though the north wasn't active in promoting slavery, the abolitionist message was muted. Materials containing abolitionist themes were often banned from college campuses. The government ignored the issue of slavery. Without government and public support, abolitionists could not carry out their agenda.

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  21. In promoting their message, 19th Century abolitionists faced the challenges of disunity among themselves on how to approach slavery during Abolitionism and the definition of who deserved rights, ultimately leading to the Women’s Rights Movement. Many abolitionists had different perspectives on how to end slavery. At the time some called for radical changes such as Frederick Douglas advocating for the immediate removal of slavery, others took up violence as a measure to achieve militant abolition as mentioned in David Walker’s Appeal and others supported colonization, which included gradual abolition and the settlement of African Americans back to Africa. Many of the abolitionists faced criticism as well, in particular women abolitionists. They played an integral part of spreading the message for emancipation. However, the female abolitionists faced criticisms and obstacles because of the gender discrimination that prohibited many rights to females such as voting, and societal disgrace of indecency of speaking publicly. Many of the abolitionists in turn advocated for women’s rights as well paving the way for the Women’s Rights Movement.

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  22. Various abolitionists faced the same challenges during their efforts to encourage people to rise against slavery. First of all, they were operating within a divided country with free states in the north, and with slave states in the south. It was extremely difficult to convince the people that slavery must disappear. Southern Democrats viewed slavery as “freedom” to own property, thus they considered slavery “vital” to their society. On the other hand, Northern Republicans believed in the ideology of the free labor that would bring prosperity and equal opportunities. In addition, several abolitionists were executed or mysteriously died after they had fought against slavery. The institution of slavery had had very deep roots inserted in the foundations of the American society, therefore it was almost impossible to abolish it.

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  23. One of the big challenges that the abolitionists faced was the variety of ideas and positions that people had. For instance, there were extremists and radicals who believed in different ways of achieving the end of slavery either right then and there through legislation or through violence, there were people who believed full integration was possible and those that didn't, and there was even the branching out into what later became the Women's Rights movement. It was very hard to put forth one uniting image when everyone's views on the matter were different.

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  24. Abolitionists faced a huge challenge in promoting their message. The main problem was that their wasn't this one voice, a strong enough leader, to unite all of the abolitionists, and promote this message throughout the states. People were too disorganized with their beliefs and ideas. This sense of unity among the abolitionists was lost in the fact that their solution to this massive problem differed throughout. I believe that they needed this single voice to sort of set the pace and set the tone by expressing and promoting beliefs that every abolitionist could easily and generally latch onto. They went about this change haphazardly and without this organization, no one will follow or support a cause that already starts out on risky and unpopular territory. It was a risk for these abolitionists to speak up, let alone be strong enough to be able to lead groups in a particular belief.

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  25. In the 19th century, the people that were trying to get rid of slavery, otherwise referred to as abolitionists faced a lot of trouble in trying to spread their ideologies amongst the people. Since slaves had been brought and used in the Americas almost immediately after the Americas were discovered, the people were too used to the idea of having someone else do their dirty work for them. They did not want to explore what it would be like if everyone had equal rights and freedom. Abolitionists faced a lot of trouble in trying to get people to support their mission, since initially, almost everyone had a negative attitude towards the idea of getting rid of slavery. There was a similar predicament with women's rights because society had implemented certain roles for genders; men were supposed to go out and earn the bread, whereas women were supposed to stay home, cook, clean, and tend to the children. All of the problems that abolitionists faced in the 19th century revolved around changing/modernizing the ideologies of the general population and trying to get them used to the idea of a society that gave everyone equality and freedom, regardless of color or gender.

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  26. The challenges that nineteenth century abolitionists faced in promoting their message was that most of the American nation, specifically slave owners, did not want to accept African Americans as free people. The country itself promoted personal freedom, but slaves were still not seen as people who deserved rights and instead, were viewed as "property." Considering the hardships they faced without the equal rights that they wanted, abolitionists also faced a challenge regarding if violence was a proper way to get the freedom that they wanted. Many of them were divided on this topic because not everyone agreed that violence was the answer and the lack of support caused many difficulties when it came to promoting their ideas.

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  27. Emmanuel Maldonado: Abolitionists of the 19th century faced many challenges when it came to promoting their message. Pro-slavery legislation in place protected the institutions' inhumane practices and many states even became dependent of the free labor it provided heavily agrarian economies. It was up Abolitionist to come up with strategic non-violent efforts that would rationalize why slaves deserved to be freed. Abolitionist had to be organized, patient and consistent with what their beliefs were and be able to explain why the system was injustice. It is uneasy to change something a great number of the population is already accustomed too and doesn't see deviance in. This paved the way for other groups to also fight for their rights. Ex. Women, who were treated as second class citizens.

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  28. The biggest problem abolitionist had when voicing their message was the split of union, after the southern states had seceded from the union and formed the Confederacy. The abolitionist had prioritized the union of the states and the prevention of the spread of slavery. The platform which Lincoln had ran on. However the opposing side the Confederates made no attempt to compromise and a legislature compromise could never occur. Another factor was the Dred Scott case which ruled that all slaves are chattel and had inferior rights compared to white men. The supreme court had ultimately voided previous legislature compromises on slave issue

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    Replies
    1. . Thus concluding that slavery is a constitutional right in every state. Along with presidents James Buchanan support for the supreme court ruling this had severely hampered the abolitionist ability to make progress.

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  29. During the 19th century, abolitionist had to face opposition from the South. Southeners had seen slavery as their right to property which held a big role in there work force. Their workforce influenced business which effected their revenue.
    Apart from southern opposition, the abolitionist lacked unity. There was the one end goal but the means of getting there were differnt. Some wanted a diplomatic approach while others called for taking action. Either way, joining one of these groups to end slavery was already difficult in itself, since taking such a stance could have negative social implications.

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  30. Many offshore problems stemmed from their lack of organization. The only thing connection them was the idea that slavery should end. Byond that, they all had their own ideas for what to do after it ended. A mother issue they had wasn't even political or social, it was cotton. With the New short strain cotton, that industry became the biggest on in the country since it was grown in the south, processed in the north, and sold everywhere. The slave owners at this time needed as many slaves as possible to keep the market going strong, because of this the abolitionist were going against superhighway profit maker in the country. Unfortunately at that time (and still today) as long as the slaves continued to bring in a lot of money, the abolitionist would have to fight the pro slavery groups and people who supported the cotton market.

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  31. Abolitionists faced several different problems in trying to spread their messages. One of their biggest problems was that they could not agree on a single platform of Abolition. Some believed in gradual emancipation while others believed in immediate emancipation. Other abolitionists believed that violence and the overthrow of white supremacy would work, while others believed that diplomacy would work. Not agreeing was one struggle. Another challenge came when the talk of womens rights became involved. This split the Abolitionists even more where some were for more equal rights and others were not. Another challenge was the opposition from southern leaders who strongly believed that they had every right to use slavery. They used the Bible and God as a source of their arguments for slavery. Abolitionists had a very hard time promoting their cause because of these challenges.

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  32. Slavery was a big issue the abolitionists fought to end among individuals who valued freedom and equality. In other words, they wished for emancipation and freedom from discrimination. However, many felt that rejecting slavery would mean going against their rights. Many slave owners did not want to allow African Americans to be free from their "possession". Something that got in the way of their thoughts and organization was their unity. They lacked unity and that is something you really need when putting a message forward. Many argued for an immediate ending to slavery and other for a gradual ending to slavery. Without agreement, there will be struggle to fight for a final result and may bring about more difficulties or challenges.

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  33. During the 19th century abolitionists faced multiple challenges. The biggest challenge for them was being able to actually free the slaves themselves. Race and equality played a major role in complications for freeing slaves; many people believed that whites were superior to blacks. In addition to these abolitionists there were also a lot of challenges on which option they would take to free the slaves, there were various solutions but choosing the right one was difficult. Making people aware of the issues of slavery also became an issue, for example if an abolitionist wanted to print a story related to slavery in a newspaper it would not be allowed.

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  34. During the 19th century abolitionist faced the biggest challenge of actually ending slavery and getting African Americans to be free and have equal rights in society. Many abolitionists had different views and approaches to ending slavery and this played as an obstacle in attaining their common goals. African Americans were predominantly depicted as the inferior race, because of this depiction they themselves sometimes felt that they were incapable of standing up for themselves and fighting back. Also, around this time there were many other equality and societal issues occurring so slavery didn't always get the attention that abolitionist wanted. Still they tried by writing and trying to enforce acts and laws but eventually they were fought against. I feel that if each abolitionist came together and put all their ideas and approaches into a big master plan, then slavery could've actually ended and slaves/ African Americans could have gained equality and respect quicker.

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  35. In the 19th century abolitionists faced problems in promoting their message. The original ideas of abolition were taken over by a new reasoning of why slavery should end. Abolitionists' motives used to be based on freeing slaves and still have the right to remain in this country while enjoying rights as a citizen. But a new theory of colonization on the abolition of slavery was introduced by whites in the 19th century which supported the end of slavery but insist they should be sent back to Africa. They thought there is no way for freed slaves to function in society. So they are not concerning about the brutal nature of slavery and how badly slaves are treated rather the idea that America should be a white-based society. African-American abolitionists were threatened by this because they still see themselves as Americans.

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