I would like to wish you a safe and informative Black History Month! This practice of setting aside a whole month of special events and a focus on one cultural experience isn't new but is did originate after the period when I attended school. So with that in mind and my wish to contribute to 'the cause', so to speak, here goes!
Lets have a look at the history of Abolition in the history of the United States- just some facts!
Benjamin Lundy, (1789-1839) was an American publisher and leading abolitionist in the 1820s and ’30s. Born to Quaker parents, Lundy was introduced early on to antislavery sentiment, as Quakers condemned the practice. In 1815 he organized the Union Humane Society, an antislavery association, in Ohio. In 1821 he founded a newspaper, the Genius of Universal Emancipation, which he edited at irregular intervals in various places until 1835, when he began publication of another newspaper, The National Enquirer (later the Pennsylvania Freeman), in Philadelphia.
Much of his time was spent traveling in search of suitable places where freed slaves could settle, such as Canada and Haiti. From 1836 to 1838 he worked closely with U.S. Representative John Quincy Adams against the annexation of Texas, which would provide an opportunity for the extension of slavery. He moved to Illinois in 1839 and reestablished the Genius, which he published until his death.
William Lloyd Garrison (1805 – 1879) was a prominent American abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer. American journalistic crusader who published a newspaper, The Liberator (1831–65), and helped lead the successful abolitionist campaign against slavery in the United States. He was the editor of The Liberator, published in Massachusetts until slavery was abolished by Constitutional amendment after the American Civil War. He was one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society. He promoted "immediate emancipation" of slaves in the United States. In the 1870s, Garrison became a prominent voice for the woman suffrage movement.
Elizabeth Margaret Chandler (1807 – 1834) was an American poet and writer from Pennsylvania and Michigan. She became the first female writer in the United States to make the abolition of slavery her principal theme.
In 1825, when she was eighteen years old, her emotional poem, "The Slave-Ship", was published and drew national attention. After reading that poem, she was invited by Benjamin Lundy, a well known abolitionist and publisher, to write for his periodical, The Genius of Universal Emancipation. She wrote for and edited the "Ladies' Repository" section of his newspaper.
She used her appeal to women to demand better treatment for Native Americans and the immediate emancipation of slaves. She became one of the most powerful women writers of her time. She often used the tragic example of women slaves being torn away from their children and their husbands to gain sympathy from her female readers. It is hard to say exactly how influential her writings were to the public at large. However, many of her articles were copied and circulated in the most popular newspapers of the time.
She also introduced one of the most famous abolitionist images, the kneeling female slave with the slogan "Am I not a Woman and a Sister". Taken from the image depicting a male slave for the seal of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade designed by Wedgwood.
Two years later, William Lloyd Garrison editor of The Liberator, and a leader in the abolitionist movement, adopted this symbol and slogan to head the ladies department of the paper, one of the most prominent abolitionist papers of the time.
Arthur and Lewis Tappan were successful businessmen and early leaders of the movement to abolish slavery in America. Arthur Tappan was born in 1786, and Lewis Tappan was born in 1788. Both brothers were born in Northampton, Massachusetts.
The men became successful businessmen in New York City. In 1826, the brothers began to import silk from Asia, and they earned a sizable fortune. In 1827, they began to publish the New York Journal of Commerce, a business newspaper. The brothers refused to print advertisements from what they thought were "immoral" businesses. In the Panic of 1837, the brothers lost practically everything, but they recovered and rebuilt their businesses.
During the 1840's, they formed a commercial-credit rating service. Lewis also established the Mercantile Agency, which later became part of the Dun and Bradstreet Company. The brothers retired from business in the late 1840's and dedicated their lives to charitable causes.
Arthur and Lewis Tappan supported a number of causes and are often remembered for their devotion to abolitionism. In 1833, the brothers and abolitionist Theodore Dwight Weld came together to form the American Anti-Slavery Society. This organization called for the immediate end to slavery and also advocated equal rights for African Americans with white people. William Lloyd Garrison dominated the American Anti-Slavery Society, although Arthur Tappan served as president of the organization from its founding until 1840. Tappan resigned from the society in 1840 when its membership became interested in fighting for equal rights for women with men.
The Tappan brothers assisted the abolition movement in other ways. They provided financial support to Oberlin College in Ohio. Oberlin provided education for both white and black students in fully-integrated classrooms. They actively supported the Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. Lewis Tappan financially supported The Emancipator, an abolitionist newspaper, and encouraged churches in New York City to end the practice of having separate seating areas for whites and African Americans.
Lewis Tappan died in 1863. His brother Arthur died two years later.
James G.Birney, Theodore Dwight Weld, Angelina Gimke, Elijah Parish Lovejoy and many others were also a part of that same past. Along with the supporting voters, they were all Caucasian Americans. Unlike African American abolitionists who had nothing to loose and everything to gain for their efforts, these Americans did the right thing at risk of loosing life and limb with absolutely nothing to gain!
All Americans today should learn about these selfless people; I feel it should be a part of the Black History Month curriculum in schools; if it isn't already - schools have changed since I attended back in the 70's and 80's. Every young student in America today knows who Martin Luther King (Senior and Junior) were; I am certainly not making light of their sacrifices or bravery in their efforts toward equality! But do young students today also know who these Caucasian Americans were? Equal Rights couldn't have happened without them and all those who had the vote.
Pitting racial groups against each other is not constructive to anyone. True heroes like William Lloyd Garrison will surface from time to time but can only be as effective as the citizens uniting behind them. It's time to follow his example and move forward as 'one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all'. If there is a United Negro College Fund, there should also be a United Caucasian College Fund, a United GLBTSA College Fund, ... We are either all equal, or we aren't - it really is that simple.
With work visa/green card immigration allowing foreigners to move to the Unites States and take our best jobs, free education to foreigners, our younger population being eradicated and maimed by wars, healthcare funding problems for citizens, home/job loss, unfair trade, billions of US Tax dollars going to hostile countries every year in the form of foreign aid; our country is struggling. We are slowly becoming the vacation land of the 'globally rich'. The wealthiest from foreign countries coming over and buying our natural springs, our port facilities, our forested lands for wood, our agricultural lands; it has to stop! We can only do this if we work together; not as African Americans, Caucasian Americans, Hispanic Americans, GLBTSA - but simply as Americans.
On a personal level we should all learn to fish, hunt, grow and preserve food. Those of us who are able to gain a college education should not have to start their life with massive financial debt. Our children shouldn't have to go into the military, for years, simply to be able to afford an education. If one isn't intellectually gifted, earn a trade and do your best. We should pay our taxes. Buy American made/grown products as much as possible. White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Gay - it makes no difference; we are all in this together if we want to pass on our standard of living to future generations. For all our troubles, the United States is still the best place to live; people wouldn't be working so hard to come live here if it wasn't!
What do you think? Why do you feel that way? Leave your comments in the section provided below.
- just One Opinion
