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Dbq Anti Slavery Movement

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The anti slavery movement in the United States changed from 1776 to 1852 by expanding and gaining more support by a variety of different types of people. Anti-slavery feelings in America first became known around the Revolutionary War, but did not become popular for several years afterward. However, as the new country began to grow and flourish, social rights advocates and politicians began to shift their focus from the establishment of the country to the issue of slavery. Anti-slavery ideas officially became a movement, garnering support from everyone from the common people to members of Congress. The beginning of the movement (the late 1870s and early 1780s) focused mainly on freedom of slaves in the Northern and middle states. However, as …show more content…

And the reasons definitely did change over time. In the 1820s, many Americans thought the best method of dealing with slaves was to repatriate them to Africa. The American Colonization Society even proposed a plan to Congress for this idea in 1820 (Document 4). The Society’s goal was to keep government abolition from occurring, while gradually ending slavery through repatriation. Though this plan ultimately did not succeed, it drew awareness to the issue of slavery, and showed that greater numbers of people were supporting abolition, however gradual. By the 1830s, many citizens in the North and West began to favor absolute abolition, or the end of slavery coupled with citizenship and equal rights for freed slaves. Societies such as the American Anti-Slavery Society were founded, and strove “to secure to the colored population of the United States, all the rights and privileges which belong to them as men, and as Americans” (Document 5). William Lloyd Garrison, when giving the speech containing these words, had the particular point of view of supporting equal rights for all people- whether black, white, or female. He viewed slavery in a manner that was becoming more common- as a blight upon society, and a “deadly curse” resting upon the

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