Women’s Work in Abolition Movement

By Thandy Tolbert

Maria Weston Chapman, an American abolitionist, stated “Slavery can only be abolished by raising the character of the people who compose the nation; and that can be done only by showing them a higher one.”^[1] Women in the nineteenth century worked diligently to abolish the institution of slavery. These women felt like it was not only the moral duty of women, but the moral duty of society to end this inhumane system. While their efforts are often left out of the historical narrative, these women have made key contributions to the abolition movement that should be highlighted. Women’s abolition work includes but is not limited to, organizing anti-slavery societies, participating in the free produce movement, publishing pamphlets, circulating petitions, organizing conventions, and assisting fugitive slaves along the Underground Railroad.

Women began to organize anti-slavery societies that collectively worked to convince people to join the effort to abolish slavery. The first of these organizations was the Salem Female Anti-Slavery Society. This society was formed in Salem, Massachusetts in 1832 by a group of free black women and was the first female abolitionist society in the United States. Their work included signing and circulating petitions, encouraging women to support the abolition movement, circulating newspapers, and helping runaway slaves. Their records show that they were dedicated to lifting slaves from the unbearable suffering they were enduring in bondage. On May 18, 1839, the Salem Female Anti-Slavery Society hosted a special meeting to discuss the “vigorous action” that must be taken by members to help slaves since “little attention seems to have been given to this great and important subject.”^[2] To resolve this, they requested for Abigail B. Ordway, a member of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society, to visit the county to “arouse the Women to act now for the Slave and to aid in forming…Anti-Slavery Societies among them.”^[3] Following this, the Salem Female Anti-Slavery Society adopted a few resolutions in their July meeting. In one of their resolutions, they declared that they would use their influence to circulate the Liberator and Cradle of Liberty, which were well known anti-slavery newspapers in the nineteenth century. Furthermore, they vowed to circulate petitions to Congress stating “…we will double our diligence, before the coming Session of Congress, in circulating petitions, on the subject of slavery…” and follow the example of “our Sister of Dorchester, and Lynn, in petitioning the legislature, to remove all laws, that make any distinction of colour.”^[4] Along with petitions to Congress, these women sent a petition to the East Rail Road Company calling for railroads to abolish their discriminatory practices. In their petition they stated the following, “Gentlemen, the undersigned, women of Salem…would request that all distinction of privileges on account of color, in the cars on the Eastern Railroad be abolished.”^[5] Moreover, the Salem Female Anti-Slavery Society appointed a standing committee of about five women to handle fugitive slave cases and provide those who ran away with fresh, comfortable clothing. Also, a portion of the proceeds they received from the anti-slavery fairs that they hosted went towards the “elevation and education of colored friends in the society.”^[6]

Another notable organization is the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. Encouraged to organize, a small group of women in Philadelphia decided to form the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society to assist in removing slavery from the United States.^[7] Majority of the women in the organization held Christian beliefs and agreed that slavery does not align with the law of God or the fundamental principles in which the country was founded on. They argued that “…more than two million of our fellow creatures of the United States are held in object bondage, and whereas we believe slavery and the prejudice against colour are contrary to the laws of God and to the Declaration of Independence…”.^[8] With these beliefs they felt it was their duty “as professing Christians, to manifest our abhorrence of the flagrant injustice and deep sin of slavery, by united and vigorous elections for its speedy removal, and for the restoration of the people of colour to their inalienable rights…”.^[9] To fight for the speedy removal of slavery, these women encouraged individuals to abstain from using slave produced items to hurt the institution of slavery. In Article Ten of the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society constitution, it states “It is especially recommended, that the members of this society should, at all times and on all occasions, give the preference to free produce over that of slave.”^[10] Free produce are goods that are produced using non-slave labor. They believed that refusing to purchase and use the products that were produced by slaves would be the best way to abolish slavery. Many women in the group began to abstain from purchasing slave-grown produce and opened free produce stores. For example, Lydia White, a notable Quaker, and member of the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, owned a free produce store from 1830-1846.^[11] In her store, Lydia White sold items that were produced by paid farm workers and not slaves as a way to resist slavery and to encourage individuals in Philadelphia to turn to the option of free produce. In addition, Historian Carol Faulkner, stated that Lucretia Mott, who was a key abolitionist and member of the society, banned slave goods from her home in protest to slavery.^[12]

This movement from slave produce to free produce among abolitionist in the United States can be largely credited to Elizabeth Heyrick’s tract, Immediate, Not Gradual Abolition. In her paper, she offers one solution to prove the sincerity and seriousness of the abolition movement which was to abstain from using West Indian produced sugar.^[13] She claimed that this effort would give the “death blow to West Indian slavery,”^[14] and that society as a whole must band together in an effort to help the oppressed African Americans in slavery by no longer purchasing slave produce citing that buying it encourages slaveowners to keep their slaves in bondage. If individuals continued to purchase slave-grown produce, then it only helped uplift the institution instead of damage it, which makes the consumer partially responsible for keeping the slave system going. In addition, Heyrick argued that free labor proved to be far more productive and advantageous than slave labor, however, slaveowners turned their head to the idea of it so Heyrick asserted that the only way to get them to release their slaves is by not purchasing slave produce. Despite slaveowners refusal, Heyrick was able to garner a significant amount of attention from American women. In her paper on the free produce movement, Faulkner states that Heyrick’s ideas inspired several women to bring free produce goods to market.^[15] Not only did these women bring free produce goods to market, but they also started the Female Association for Promoting the Manufacture and Use of Free Cotton, which is one of the first free produce societies.^[16] This association produced a number of free cotton products such as ginghams, check, and cotton hose and spun over 2,000 pounds of cotton. Furthermore, Heyrick’s pamphlet made such an impact that the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society referenced it in their meeting. The organization stated that the pamphlet was admirable and that the Anti-Slavery Sewing Society of Philadelphia republished it to help pull more attention to the movement.

In addition to supporting free produce, the Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society held a fair every year right before Christmas. These fairs served as a way to raise money for the anti-slavery society and to spread their anti-slavery sentiments to the local community. In their minutes, the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society discussed the articles they sold at this fair and the anti-slavery print that they placed on them.  One of the images was of a chained and kneeling slave on a pincushion and needlebook, which the abolitionists thought “may arouse the latent sympathies of many a heart…”^[17] Another drawing was of a slave woman in chains, and it stated, “Am I Not a Woman and a Sister?”^[18] These printed materials were clearly trying to get the consumer to reconsider the institution of slavery by appealing directly to their emotions and morals. This was one of the many ways the society reached out and convinced their local community to join in the effort to end slavery. Also, since 1834, the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society annually memorialized Congress hoping for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia and the Territories of the United States as well as “the suppressing of the Slave Trade between the States.”^[19] Lastly, the society published an “Address to the Women of Pennsylvania”, which directly called upon the women residing in the state of Pennsylvania to sign petitions to Congress regarding the institution of slavery. Historian Ira Brown stated that the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society was forming plans “for circulating petitions to Congress” during the summer of 1835.^[20] Despite them being rejected by many individuals that they tried to get signatures from, these women still were persistent in their efforts and did not take the rejection as a loss because they knew at some point that their efforts were going to make effective change with the large number of tracts and papers that they were publishing throughout the city of Philadelphia.

Moreover, women in the nineteenth century organized anti-slavery conventions that many Female Anti-Slavery Societies attended. On May 9-12, 1837, the first ever Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women was hosted in New York. This convention was organized, in part, because women could not speak and were only allowed to spectate at the World Anti-Slavery Convention. Approximately, one hundred and seventy-five women from all across the United States attended this convention. Notable women such as Angelina and Sarah Grimke, Lucretia Mott, Lydia Maria Child, and Mary Grew were in attendance for this convention. The convention addressed a number of subjects, which resulted in the production of key publications. One important publication that came out of the convention was An Appeal to the Women of the Nominally Free States by Angelina Grimke. In her pamphlet, Grimke asked northern women to abstain from using the products of slave labor.^[21] Following this, Grimke outlined several other ways that Northern women could assist in the abolition movement. First, she stated that these women should form anti-slavery societies in addition to the number of the Female Anti-Slavery Societies that were established in areas such as Philadelphia, Boston, and Salem. Second, she told women to subscribe to “one or more Anti-Slavery papers or periodicals and exert your influence to induce your friends to do the same.”^[22] Grimke explained that these women could exert their influence by going house to house discussing the conditions of slavery in hopes that it will “awaken interest and sympathy and action in others.”^[23] She argued that spreading the correct information on the slavery subject will pave the way for the circulation of petitions to Congress.^[24]

In addition, Angelina Grimke published an Appeal to the Christian Women of the South, in which she employed a common tactic for abolitionist known as moral suasion. In this document Grimke states, “…if a self-evident truth that all men everywhere and of every color are born equal, and have an inalienable right to liberty, then it is equally true that no man can be born a slave, and no man can ever rightfully be reduced to involuntary bondage…”^[25] Grimke is referencing the beginning of the Declaration of Independence where the founding fathers stated “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”^[26] She argues that if this is true, then the country has no right to keep individuals in bondage and deprive them of their rights as citizens of the United States. Next, Grimke begins to explain to the Southern women that they have the power to overthrow the system of slavery if they petition their legislatures and their churches as well. She tells the women that they must fight for the abolition of slavery on Christian grounds, “and fight against it with Christian weapons.”^[27]

At the same time, the convention published an Address to Free Colored Americans, which was written by Angelina Grimke’s sister, Sarah Grimke. This publication called on free people of color to stop attending theatres, resist purchasing slave produced goods, and to join literacy societies.^[28] Furthermore, Sarah Grimke uses compelling arguments to appeal to the emotions of the reader. In her address Grimke states that “Slavery seizes a rational and immortal being… and drags him down to a level with the beasts that perish. It makes him a thing, a chattel personal, a machine to be used to all intents and purposes for the benefit of another, without reference to the good, the happiness or wishes of the man himself.”^[29] Grimke further argues that that this system will only create violence and disorder, where God “established harmony and peace.”^[30] She wanted people to realize how degrading the institution of slavery is and how it goes against religious principles. Religious arguments were key to abolitionists because many people professed to be Christians in society, yet they owned slaves or sat aside and turned the other cheek as slavery continued so it was important for abolitionists to show these self-proclaimed Christians the hypocrisy in keeping African Americans in bondage while claiming to be a devout Christian.

In the Proceedings of the Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women, held in Philadelphia, the women adopted the following resolution resisting churches that remain complicit with those that hold individuals in bondage. In their proceedings they stated that it is their duty to keep themselves “separate from those churches which receive to their pulpits and their communion tables, those who buy, or sell, or hold as property, the image of the living God.”^[31] Since the system of slavery was contrary to Christianity and churches were “deeply implicated in this sin”, the convention requested for all of its members to petition their churches to protest against the institution of slavery and to remove slaveholders from their pulpits and communion tables.^[32] Following this, Catherine M. Sullivan, member of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society, encouraged the attendees to increase their efforts for the “spiritual and temporal salvation of the slave, knowing that such labors will involve the salvation of the master.”^[33] Sullivan expressed that this effort to promote peace, moral reform, temperance; the education of youth, the circulation of the Scripture, and the elevation of the country to high moral and religious standards, will extend across the earth to everyone and hopefully will inspire people unite in an effort to abolish slavery.^[34] Furthermore, the meeting called on mothers to act in support of the abolition movement by instructing their children in the principles of abolition and teaching them the nature of human rights because children are the future generation and if they did not have these beliefs instilled in them from an early age, then it could have led to slavery continuing.

Another way women contributed to the abolition movement was through assisting fugitive slaves on the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was a network of people that worked together to help runaway slaves escape the institution of slavery into free states or Canada. A notable woman that lived along the Underground Railroad and helped fugitive slaves was Elizabeth Buffum Chace. In 1835, she organized the Fall River Female Anti-Slavery Society, which was a predominantly white anti-slavery society. In her book, Anti-Slavery Reminiscences, Chace discussed how the members of the society were opposed to black women joining, but regardless of the disapproval of the existing members Chace still accepted black women into the organization. Eventually, Chace and her husband left Fall River and moved to Valley Falls, Rhode Island where their house became the resting place for the advocates of freedom for the slave.^[35] During this time, the Fugitive Slave Law was passed by Congress, which required that slaves be returned to their masters even if they flee to free states. Despite this law, Chace still woke up every night there was a knock at her door to assist runaway slaves that arrived at her residence. For example, Chace and her husband helped a woman and her three children when they escaped from slavery in Maryland.^[36] “We kept them three or four days, in hourly fear and expectation of the arrival of the slave-catcher; our doors and windows fastened by day as well as night, not daring to let our neighbors know who were our guests, lest someone should betray them.”^[37] Chace welcomed them and several other fugitive slaves into her house and made them feel safe until it was time for them to depart further north to Canada. She provided these individuals with clean clothing and a place to sleep temporarily before they continued their journey to freedom.

Similar to Chace, Frances Seward lived along the Underground Railroad and made it her mission to help fugitive slaves. What inspired Seward to take on this task was Patrick Henry’s 1848 speech. In his speech, Henry said the following: “Extend a cordial welcome to the fugitive who lays his weary limbs at your door.”^[38] Those exact words gave Seward the push to do what was right and extend a helping hand to those who have suffered due to the unjust system of slavery. According to historian, Dorothy Wickenden, Seward used the old basement, kitchen, and dining room in her home to house fugitive slaves.^[39] Furthermore, when she was expecting fugitive slaves she had “bedding and a hot meal prepared.”^[40] Frances Seward also contributed to the abolition movement by helping Harriet Tubman during her back-and-forth journey on the Underground Railroad. Seward willingly gave Tubman a house because she knew that Tubman was working hard to bring her family and other fugitive slaves to freedom. This rescue mission that Tubman embarked on was a challenging task, so Seward sold Tubman a house to call her home after her long trips. Chace and Seward proved time and time again that they were willing to fight for what was right even if that meant the risk of getting arrested and sent to prison for assisting these individuals out of their terrible condition.

As has been noted, women played a major role in the abolitionist movement. Their work ranged from organizing anti-slavery societies to delivering compelling speeches against the institution of slavery and helping fugitive slaves escape the degrading, painful bondage they had to endure. These women continued to persist and persevere in their fight for the basic human rights of African Americans despite the challenges and risks that came along with it. The unwavering dedication and support of women in the fight against slavery helped lead to the freedom of millions of African Americans from the inhumane institution that they were unjustly subject to.

[1] Maria Weston Chapman, "How can I help to abolish slavery?" or, Counsels to the newly converted. (New York: American Anti-slavery Society, 1855).

[2] Salem Female Anti-Slavery Society.  Special meeting of the Society: Resolution presented by Miss Lucie N. Dodge. The Records of the Salem Female Anti-Slavery Society, May 18, 1839.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ira V. Brown, “Cradle of Feminism: The Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, 1833-1840.” (The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 1978), 144.

[8] Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society Minutes 1833-1838. (Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1876).

[9] Ibid.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Carol Faulkner, “The Root of Evil: Free Produce and Radical Antislavery, 1820-1860,” 383-384.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Elizabeth Heyrick, Immediate not Gradual Abolition, (Boston, Published by Isaac Knapp, 1838), 5.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Carol Faulkner, “The Roots of Evil: Free Produce and Radical Antislavery”, 2007.

[16] Ibid.

[17] Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society Minutes 1833-1838, (Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1876).

[18] Ibid.

[19] Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society Minutes, 1833-1838.

[20] Ira V. Brown, “The Cradle of Feminism,” 150.

[21] Ira V. Brown, “AM I NOT A WOMAN AND A SISTER” (The Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women, 1837-1839), 7.

[22] Anti-Slavery Convention Of American Women, An Appeal to the Women of the Nominally Free States, (Boston: Published by Isaac Knapp, 1838), 59.

[23] Ibid.

[24] Ibid.

[25] Angeline Grimke, Appeal to the Christian Women of the South (New York: American Anti-Slavery Society, 1836), 2-3.

[26] Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 (https://www.loc.gov/item/mtjbib000159/), 1.

[27] Angelina Grimke, Appeal to the Christian Women of the South, 26.

[28] Sarah Grimke, An Address To Free Colored Americans (New York Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women, 1837), 12.

[29] Grimke, An Address to Free Colored Americans, 6.

[30] Grimke, “An Address to Free Colored Americans,” 4.

[31] Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women 1838. Proceedings of the Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women, held in Philadelphia. May 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18^th (Philadelphia: Printed by Merrihew and Gunn, 1838), 5.

[32] Ibid.

[33] Ibid.

[34] Ibid.

[35] Elizabeth Buffum Chace, Anti-Slavery Reminiscence (E.L. Freeman & Son, Stater Printers, 1891), 18.

[36] Chace, Anti-Slavery Reminiscences, 34.  

[37] Ibid.

[38] Dorothy Wickenden, The Agitators (Scribner, 2021), 95.

[39] Ibid.

[40] Ibid.