Abolitionism

Abolitionism, movement in the United States and other countries that aimed at abolishing slavery. The Liberator, an antislavery paper edited by William Lloyd Garrison, began publication in 1831. In 1833 the American Anti-Slavery Society was founded in Philadelphia. Some abolitionists used their homes as stations for fugitive slaves on the underground railroad. The movement produced much literature, including Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. After the outbreak of the Civil War, abolitionist demands led to President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation (1863). The 13th Amendment (1865) completed the abolition of slavery in the United States. William Wilberforce and others led the movement in Britain to abolish the slave trade (1807) and slavery (1833).

See also: Douglass, Frederick; Emancipation Proclamation; Slavery; Civil War, U.S.; Underground Railroad.