There is a broad consensus among scholars that the idea of human rights was a product of the Enlightenment but that a self-conscious and broad-based human rights movement focused on international law only began after World War II. In this book, the nineteenth century's absence is conspicuous - few have considered that era seriously, much less written books on it. But as this author shows, the foundation of the movement that we know today was a product of one of the nineteenth century's central moral causes: the movement to ban the international slave trade.

The abolitionist movement grew from a small group of people opposed to slavery to a huge network of people who published newspapers, gave speeches, and influenced political decisions. Readers discover the rich history of the abolitionist movement –from the introduction of slavery in the British colonies to the passage of the 13th Amendment. Detailed text introduces readers to the most important events and people in the fight against slavery in America. Historical images, including relevant primary sources, are found with each turn of the page, creating an engaging environment for readers to explore common social studies curriculum topics.

“Traces the history of abolition from the 1600s to the 1860s . . . a valuable addition to our understanding of the role of race and racism in America.”—Florida Courier Received historical wisdom casts abolitionists as bourgeois, mostly white reformers burdened by racial paternalism and economic conservatism. Manisha Sinha overturns this image, broadening her scope beyond the antebellum period usually associated with abolitionism and recasting it as a radical social movement in which men and women, black and white, free and enslaved found common ground in causes ranging from feminism and utopian socialism to anti-imperialism and efforts to defend the rights of labor. Drawing on extensive archival research, including newly discovered letters and pamphlets, Sinha documents the influence of the Haitian Revolution and the centrality of slave resistance in shaping the ideology and tactics of abolition. This book is a comprehensive history of the abolition movement in a transnational context. It illustrates how the abolitionist vision ultimately linked the slave’s cause to the struggle to redefine American democracy and human rights across the globe. “A full history of the men and women who truly made us free.”—Ira Berlin, The New York Times Book Review “A stunning new history of abolitionism . . . [Sinha] plugs abolitionism back into the history of anticapitalist protest.”—The Atlantic “Will deservedly take its place alongside the equally magisterial works of Ira Berlin on slavery and Eric Foner on the Reconstruction Era.”—The Wall Street Journal “A powerfully unfamiliar look at the struggle to end slavery in the United States . . . as multifaceted as the movement it chronicles.”—The Boston Globe

"The Abolitionists" by John F. Hume is a historical account of the abolition of slavery in the United States from 1830-1864. It features personal memories and anecdotes of Hume, an abolitionist making it an essential read for anyone interested in the history of slavery and civil rights in the United States.

For over three centuries, slavery in the Americas fuelled the growth of capitalism. But the stirrings of a revolutionary age in the late eighteenth century challenged this "peculiar institution" and set the scene for great acts of emancipation in Haiti in 1804, in the United States in the 1860s and Brazil in the 1880s. Blackburn argues that the anti-slavery movement helped forge the political and social ideals we live by today.

This volume's essays reveal that the abolitionists' impact on United States law and the Constitution did not end with the Civil War. The immediate postwar Reconstruction amendments were both rooted in the radically anti-positivistic, natural rights philosophy long espoused by the radical political abolitionists. Implementing protection for black civil rights, however, proved much more difficult.

In this thought-provoking essay, William Lloyd Garrison passionately advocates for the immediate abolition of slavery amidst a time of war with the British Empire and Mexico. As a prominent American Christian, abolitionist, journalist, suffragist, and social reformer, Garrison was a leading voice in the fight against slavery. He founded The Liberator, a widely read anti slavery newspaper, and was a founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society. Garrison's call for the government to abolish slavery was rooted in his rejection of the corrupt and tyrannical nature of a government engaged in war, imperialism, and slavery. This essay is a powerful reminder of the importance of speaking out against injustice and fighting for what is right, even in the face of powerful opposition.

Audisee® eBooks with Audio combine professional narration and sentence highlighting for an engaging read aloud experience! The abolitionist movement fought to end slavery long before the Civil War. Abolitionists campaigned for freedom for enslaved people. Abolitionists used print materials, passionate speeches, and direct action to disrupt the racist system of slavery. Learn about abolitionist leaders such as Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass, setbacks and victories for the movement, and the work abolitionists continue to inspire. Read WokeTM Books are created in partnership with Cicely Lewis, the Read Woke librarian. Inspired by a belief that knowledge is power, Read Woke Books seek to amplify the voices of people of the global majority (people who are of African, Arab, Asian, and Latin American descent and identify as not white), provide information about groups that have been disenfranchised, share perspectives of people who have been underrepresented or oppressed, challenge social norms and disrupt the status quo, and encourage readers to take action in their community.