Essay Questions for Thinking through Sources 11

Consider Religion and Abolitionism: Each one of these five sources is primarily focused on the need for the abolition of slavery, but each one also emphasizes religion in one way or another. How do these different documents address religion, and what do they suggest about the role that it played in the strategies and tactics used by both wings of the movement?

Consider Gender and Abolitionism: Women played an important role in the abolitionist movement. How does each of these five sources depict white and black women? How do they depict white and black men? In what ways did these depictions accept gender stereotypes, and in what ways did they challenge them?

Compare and Contrast: These documents illustrate the arguments and strategies used by the radical abolitionists of the 1830s and the political abolitionists whose movement grew significantly after 1840. Compare and contrast the two groups’ arguments about the nature of slavery in the United States and their strategies for ending it. What do they have in common? How do they differ, and why?

Evaluate and Contextualize Arguments: Imagine that you are part of a reading audience of Northerners who are thinking about abolitionism in the 1840s and that you have acquired these five sources in order to make a decision about your participation in the movement. Write an essay evaluating the two approaches to abolitionism from your perspective as a Northerner living in the 1840s, making clear through your response what your race, gender, and religion are and which social class you occupy. Which analysis is more accurate to the 1840s you? Which strategy seems more effective? Which group would you join and why?