Art and the Abolitionist Movement

Art and the Abolitionist Movement

The Abolitionist Movement

The Abolitionist Movement

• Abolitionism: a political movement that worked toward outlawing slavery and the slave trade

• Began in the United States after the American Revolution

• To spread message of the movement there were inexpensive prints and large-scale sculptures

• Abolitionism: a political movement that worked toward outlawing slavery and the slave trade

• Began in the United States after the American Revolution

• To spread message of the movement there were inexpensive prints and large-scale sculptures

The Abolitionist Movement cont’dThe Abolitionist

Movement cont’d• Quakers and Christians played a

prominent role in the abolition of slavery

• They argued that enslavement was contrary to the teachings of Scripture

• Quakers and Christians played a prominent role in the abolition of slavery

• They argued that enslavement was contrary to the teachings of Scripture

Abolitionist LeadersAbolitionist Leaders

John BrownJohn Brown• John Brown was an important abolitionist

leader• Led an armed raid in an attempt to seize arms

and incite a slave revolt at Harper’s Ferry in October, 1859

• Revolt was not successful but was a key event that led to the Civil War

• Born into a religious family in CT with a father who was strongly against slavery

• Later Brown family moved to Ohio into an anti-slavery area

• Participated in the Underground Railroad• Helped establish the League of Gileadites

• John Brown was an important abolitionist leader

• Led an armed raid in an attempt to seize arms and incite a slave revolt at Harper’s Ferry in October, 1859

• Revolt was not successful but was a key event that led to the Civil War

• Born into a religious family in CT with a father who was strongly against slavery

• Later Brown family moved to Ohio into an anti-slavery area

• Participated in the Underground Railroad• Helped establish the League of Gileadites

Brown cont’dBrown cont’d• John Brown and his wife had 20 children

and agreed to take on a black youth as their own

• Brown was not a major figure until 1855 when he became the leader of antislavery guerillas and fought a proslavery attack in the antislavery town of Lawrence.

• Brown killed 5 of its settlers. His sons and he continued to fight in the territory and in Mo for the rest of the year

• John Brown and his wife had 20 children and agreed to take on a black youth as their own

• Brown was not a major figure until 1855 when he became the leader of antislavery guerillas and fought a proslavery attack in the antislavery town of Lawrence.

• Brown killed 5 of its settlers. His sons and he continued to fight in the territory and in Mo for the rest of the year

William Lloyd GarrisonWilliam Lloyd Garrison

• Garrison was the editor of an abolitionist newspaper called The Liberator

• Garrison was the editor of an abolitionist newspaper called The Liberator

William BlakeWilliam Blake

• William Blake was an important abolitionist leader in Britain, whose art was important the the American Abolitionist movement

• His art depicted the hardships slaves endured

• William Blake was an important abolitionist leader in Britain, whose art was important the the American Abolitionist movement

• His art depicted the hardships slaves endured

Blake cont’dBlake cont’d

• Blake’s “Flagellation of a Female Samboe Slave”(1806)

• Woman is point of focus and the men are smaller to show their close-mindedness and “small” characters

• Shows that women were victims as well as men

• Blake’s “Flagellation of a Female Samboe Slave”(1806)

• Woman is point of focus and the men are smaller to show their close-mindedness and “small” characters

• Shows that women were victims as well as men

Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth

Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth

• Both were former slaves who played active roles as advocates for the anti-slavery movement

• Both were dynamic speakers whose speeches drew large crowds

• Both wrote biographies, which were illustrated with portrait images

• Images of such abolitionists were inexpensively printed and used as flyers to gather support from the public

• Both were former slaves who played active roles as advocates for the anti-slavery movement

• Both were dynamic speakers whose speeches drew large crowds

• Both wrote biographies, which were illustrated with portrait images

• Images of such abolitionists were inexpensively printed and used as flyers to gather support from the public

Robert DuncansonRobert Duncanson

• Painted a scene, Uncle Tom and Little Eva,

based on the sympathetic characters in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s abolitionist novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin

• Painted a scene, Uncle Tom and Little Eva,

based on the sympathetic characters in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s abolitionist novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Works CitedWorks Cited

• http://cghs.dadeschools.net/african-american/precivil/abolition.htm

• http://cghs.dadeschools.net/african-american/precivil/abolition.htm