PEOPLE

John Brown

. Militant abolitionist, attacked federal armory at Harper's Ferry in hopes of stirring slave rebellion

. Executed, 1859

. Considered martyr in North, lunatic in South; his death radicalized both sides

Frederick Douglass

. Runaway slave who became prominent abolitionist

. Leading figure in American Anti-Slavery Society, founder of abolitionist publication North Star

Henry Highland Garnett

. Presbyterian minister, runaway slave and prominent black leader

. Suggested slaves should murder their masters; F. Douglass initially opposed his call to violence, then later supported it

. Favored colonization of Liberia with freed American slaves, later served as ambassador to that country

William Lloyd Garrison

. Massachusetts radical abolitionist; most prominent white anti-slavery activist

. Publisher of The Liberator and founder of American Anti-Slavery Society, 1833

. Frequently endured mob attacks, even in North

Wendell Phillips

. Lawyer and abolitionist; close friend of W.L. Garrison; member of American Anti-Slavery Society

. Relatively radical; thought blacks were owed freedom, land, education

. Later advocated for women's rights, temperance, Greenback Party

Harriet Beecher Stowe

. Abolitionist author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, published 1852

. Exposed millions of people to horrors of American slavery

Charles Sumner

. Republican Mass. Senator and anti-slavery advocate

. Caned on floor of Senate by pro-slavery southern Senator Preston Brooks in 1856

. After Civil War, became major Radical Republican leader

Harriet Tubman

. Runaway slave and abolitionist

. Helped organize Underground Railroad, used to help slaves escape the South

. Worked as Union spy during Civil War

EVENTS

1816 American Colonization Society Founded

. Hoped to form new republic in Africa, send freed slaves to live there

. Eventually gained support of many politicians but was reviled by abolitionists

1820 Missouri Compromise

. Made it possible for Missouri to enter the Union as slave state

. Prohibited slavery elsewhere north of 36"30' latitude

1831 Nat Turner's Rebellion

. Slave insurrection in Virginia; only significant slave revolt in antebellum America

. 55 whites killed by Turner and his followers before rebellion put down

. Stoked fears of widespread slave mutiny throughout South

1833 American Anti-Slavery Society

Founded

. Founded by William Lloyd Garrison in Philadelphia

. Published pamphlets, staged events, exposed northerners to horrors of slavery

1836 "Gag Rule" Takes Effect

. Any discussion of abolishing slavery banned from mention on floor of Congress

. Repealed after being criticized by ex-president John Q. Adams, 1844

1843 Methodist Episcopal Church splits

. Controversy over slavery issue breaks up America's largest church

. Abolitionists leave to form new church, the Wesleyan Methodist Connection

1850 Fugitive Slave Act passed

. Required return of escaped slaves in North to owners in South

. Part of Compromise of 1850; spurred massive indignation in North

1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act

. Pushed forward by Illinois Senator Stephen Douglass

. Proposed that "popular sovereignty" determine whether new western states should be free or slave

. Overrode Missouri Compromise by potentially allowing slavery in northern plains

. Horrified foes of expansion of slavery into new territories

1859 Harper's Ferry Raid

. White abolitionist radical John Brown assaulted federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry, VA.

. Attempted to start slave rebellion but failed to draw support

. Executed by hanging; seen as martyr in North and insane radical in South; heightened sectional tensions

GROUPS

American Anti-Slavery Society

. Founded by William Lloyd Garrison, 1833

. First real national anti-slavery organization; published pamphlets, organized rallies, wrote petitions

. Most Americans scorned group as too radical

American Colonization Society

. Wanted to send freed slaves to a new republic in Africa (Liberia)

. Criticized by abolitionists as not so much anti-slavery as anti-black

Methodist Episcopal Church

. Largest nonpolitical group in antebellum America

. Abolitionists began seceding in 1840s; schism produced new anti-slavery church, the Wesleyan Methodist Connection

Quakers

. Religious dissenters focused on individual conscience or "inner light"

. Spoke out against slavery beginning in 1742

CONCEPTS

"Slave Power"

. Term for political clout of elite southern slave owners

. Northerners increasingly feared that "slave power" intended to disrupt free labor in the North and territories, argued that disproportionate southern power violated republican ideals

. As Civil War approached, fear of "slave power" drove many in North toward anti-slavery position

PLACES

Harper's Ferry, Virginia

. Site of federal armory raided by radical abolitionist John Brown, 1859