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B |
y the late 1830s, moral suasion had not only
failed, it had produced a violent counter-reaction. In the face of vicious
attacks, the abolitionists grew increasingly divided over questions of strategy
and tactics.
One group of abolitionists looked to politics as
the most promising way to end slavery and proposed creating an independent
political party dedicated to ending slavery. The Liberty Party, founded in 1840
under the leadership of Arthur and Lewis Tappan, two wealthy New York
businessmen, and James Birney, a former Alabama slaveholder, called on Congress
to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, end the interstate slave trade,
and cease admitting new slave states to the Union. Political abolitionists
formed the Free Soil party in 1848 and the Republican party in 1854.
Another group of abolitionists, led by William
Lloyd Garrison, turned in a more radical direction. They withdrew from
membership in churches that condoned slavery and refused to vote and hold
public office. They sought to link antislavery to such reforms as women's
rights, world government, and international peace.
At the 1840 annual meeting of the American
Anti-Slavery Society, abolitionists split over such questions as women's right
to participate in the administration of the organization and the advisability
of nominating abolitionists as independent political candidates. Garrison won
control of the organization and his opponents walked out. From that point on,
no single organization could speak for abolition.
The fragmentation of the abolitionist movement
worked to the advantage of the cause. Moderates could vote for political
candidates with abolitionist sentiments without being accused of holding
radical abolitionist views.