Organize the Evidence for Thinking through Sources 11

Document Links:

Document 11.1 WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, On the Constitution and the Union (1832)

Document 11.2 ANGELINA GRIMKÉ, Appeal to the Christian Women of the South (1836)

Document 11.3 STEPHEN SYMONDS FOSTER, The Brotherhood of Thieves (1843)

Document 11.4 Liberty Party Platform (1844)

Document 11.5 FREDERICK DOUGLASS, Abolitionism and the Constitution (1851)

Organize the Evidence for Thinking through Sources 11

The following exercises provide an opportunity to use the sources collectively to respond to a guiding question.

Guiding Question: What arguments and strategies did abolitionists in the United States employ as their movement grew in the 1830s and 1840s, and how did those approaches shape their relationships to the church, the state, and one another?

Instructions

Below are three topics that might find a place in organizing an essay responding to the guiding question. This exercise asks you to identify which sources would provide relevant evidence for that topic. Select the best answers for each question. Choose ALL that apply. Click the “submit” button for each question to turn in your work.

Question 11.16

1. Which of the sources provides specific evidence about the arguments and strategies that radical abolitionists used in the 1830s and 1840s? Choose ALL that apply.

R6Xlb9MAHXF7O4A0MNT1YQ== Document 11.1: William Lloyd Garrison, On the Constitution and the Union
R6Xlb9MAHXF7O4A0MNT1YQ== Document 11.2: Angelina Grimké, Appeal to the Christian Women of the South
R6Xlb9MAHXF7O4A0MNT1YQ== Document 11.3: Stephen Symonds Foster, The Brotherhood of Thieves
kcVtUDKfaIWTKrqEI7di7A== Document 11.4: Liberty Party Platform
R6Xlb9MAHXF7O4A0MNT1YQ== Document 11.5: Frederick Douglass, Abolitionism and the Constitution
Correct: Document 11.1: Garrison outlines his radical critique of slavery, which rests on his contention that the Constitution is an illegitimate document. Document 11.2: Grimké outlines her radical critique of slavery, which rests on the notion that blacks are equal to whites and that slavery is fundamentally unchristian. Document 11.3: Symonds outlines his arguments for abolitionism, which rest on the assumption that the church is complicit in slavery and that clergymen are effectively criminals. Document 11.5: Douglass outlines the reasons for his strategic movement away from Garrisonian abolitionism and toward a position that accepts the Constitution and that suggests it can be changed to abolish slavery.
Incorrect: Document 11.4: The Liberty Party platform does not represent an example of radical abolitionism.

Question 11.17

2. Which of these documents provides specific evidence about the arguments and strategies that political abolitionists developed in this period? Choose ALL that apply.

kcVtUDKfaIWTKrqEI7di7A== Document 11.1: William Lloyd Garrison, On the Constitution and the Union
kcVtUDKfaIWTKrqEI7di7A== Document 11.2: Angelina Grimké, Appeal to the Christian Women of the South
kcVtUDKfaIWTKrqEI7di7A== Document 11.3: Stephen Symonds Foster, The Brotherhood of Thieves
R6Xlb9MAHXF7O4A0MNT1YQ== Document 11.4: Liberty Party Platform
R6Xlb9MAHXF7O4A0MNT1YQ== Document 11.5: Frederick Douglass, Abolitionism and the Constitution
Correct: Document 11.4: The Liberty Party stands as an example of a political abolitionist organization and the platform illustrates its arguments and strategies. Document 11.5: Douglass explains the political abolitionist position and justifies his decision to move beyond the orthodoxy of radical abolitionism.
Incorrect: Document 11.1: Garrison outlines the radical abolitionist position. Document 11.2: Grimké makes a radical abolitionist argument that appeals to women and mothers. Document 11.3: Foster makes a radical abolitionist argument in this speech.

Question 11.18

3. Which of the following documents provides specific evidence about the conflicts and divisions that grew out of the parallel activities of radical abolitionist organizations and political abolitionist groups? Choose ALL that apply.

kcVtUDKfaIWTKrqEI7di7A== Document 11.1: William Lloyd Garrison, On the Constitution and the Union
kcVtUDKfaIWTKrqEI7di7A== Document 11.2: Angelina Grimké, Appeal to the Christian Women of the South
kcVtUDKfaIWTKrqEI7di7A== Document 11.3: Stephen Symonds Foster, The Brotherhood of Thieves
R6Xlb9MAHXF7O4A0MNT1YQ== Document 11.4: Liberty Party Platform
R6Xlb9MAHXF7O4A0MNT1YQ== Document 11.5: Frederick Douglass, Abolitionism and the Constitution
Correct: Document 11.4: The Liberty Party platform represents a political abolitionist approach to the issue of slavery, which created disagreement among abolitionist groups operating during the 1840s. Document 11.5: Douglass’s explanation of his reasons for abandoning radical abolitionism in favor of political abolitionism also reveals evidence about the conflicts and divisions that emerged among abolitionists in the 1840s.
Incorrect: Document 11.1: Garrison describes the radical abolitionist position he held in the 1830s but does not address other approaches to ending slavery. Document 11.2: Grimké outlines her radical arguments for abolition but does not address other approaches to ending slavery. Document 11.3: Symonds outlines his radical arguments against slavery and the church, but he does not address other approaches to ending slavery.

Thinking through Sources forExploring American Histories, Volume 1Printed Page 87