Key Figures
John Quincy Adams :
As a diplomat and one of the nation’s ablest secretaries of state, Adams unintentionally helped open new territories to slavery in Florida and along the Gulf Coast. After serving for one term as president, he played a critical role in nurturing antislavery sentiment in the North, even though he never considered himself an abolitionist. Adams succeeded in making slavery subject to parliamentary debate. He also argued successfully on behalf of the Amistad rebels, African blacks who had staged a revolt on Spanish slave ship Amistad and were tried for mutiny and murder.
"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."
As a diplomat and one of the nation’s ablest secretaries of state, Adams unintentionally helped open new territories to slavery in Florida and along the Gulf Coast. After serving for one term as president, he played a critical role in nurturing antislavery sentiment in the North, even though he never considered himself an abolitionist. Adams succeeded in making slavery subject to parliamentary debate. He also argued successfully on behalf of the Amistad rebels, African blacks who had staged a revolt on Spanish slave ship Amistad and were tried for mutiny and murder.
"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."
Richard Allen :
After growing up as a slave to a wealthy Pennsylvania lawyer and political office holder, Allen and his family were sold in the early 1770s to a Delaware farmer. Both Allen and his master underwent religious conversion, and his owner, convinced that slavery was sinful, let Allen and a brother to purchase their freedom. During the early 1780s, Allen worked as a wagon drive, shoemaker, and sawyer, and also preached to audiences of blacks and whites.
“We who have been born and nurtured on this soil, we, whose habits, manners, and customs are the same in common with other Americans, can never consent to. . . be the bearers of the redress offered by that Society to that much afflicted.”
After growing up as a slave to a wealthy Pennsylvania lawyer and political office holder, Allen and his family were sold in the early 1770s to a Delaware farmer. Both Allen and his master underwent religious conversion, and his owner, convinced that slavery was sinful, let Allen and a brother to purchase their freedom. During the early 1780s, Allen worked as a wagon drive, shoemaker, and sawyer, and also preached to audiences of blacks and whites.
“We who have been born and nurtured on this soil, we, whose habits, manners, and customs are the same in common with other Americans, can never consent to. . . be the bearers of the redress offered by that Society to that much afflicted.”
Abraham Lincoln:
Lincoln often expressed moral opposition to slavery in public and private. Initially, he expected to bring about the eventual extinction of slavery by stopping its further expansion into any U.S. territory, and by proposing compensated emancipation. Lincoln believed that the extension of slavery in the South, Mid-west, and Western lands would inhibit "free labor on free soil". In the 1850s, Lincoln was politically attacked as an abolitionists, but he did not consider himself one; he did not call for the immediate end of slavery everywhere in the U.S. until the proposed 13th amendment became part of his party platform for the 1864 election.
"You can fool a lot of people for a little time, or a little amount of people for a a lot of time, but you cant fool everyone, forever."
Lincoln often expressed moral opposition to slavery in public and private. Initially, he expected to bring about the eventual extinction of slavery by stopping its further expansion into any U.S. territory, and by proposing compensated emancipation. Lincoln believed that the extension of slavery in the South, Mid-west, and Western lands would inhibit "free labor on free soil". In the 1850s, Lincoln was politically attacked as an abolitionists, but he did not consider himself one; he did not call for the immediate end of slavery everywhere in the U.S. until the proposed 13th amendment became part of his party platform for the 1864 election.
"You can fool a lot of people for a little time, or a little amount of people for a a lot of time, but you cant fool everyone, forever."
John Brown:
A devout, Bible-quoting abolitionist and Vermont native who believed he had a personal responsibility to overthrow slavery, John Brown first gained public noteriety in Kansas in the mid-1850s. After receiving word that Senator Charles Sumner had been assaulted on the Senate floor, he said "something must be done to show these barbarians that we, too, have rights." He announced that the time had come "to fight fire with fire" and "strike terror in the hearts of proslavery men." On May 24, 1856, he and six companions dragged five proslavery men and boys from their beds at Pottawatomie Creek, split open their skulls and cut off their hands. A war of revenge erupted in Kansas, which left 200 dead.
"These men are all talk, what we need is action!"
A devout, Bible-quoting abolitionist and Vermont native who believed he had a personal responsibility to overthrow slavery, John Brown first gained public noteriety in Kansas in the mid-1850s. After receiving word that Senator Charles Sumner had been assaulted on the Senate floor, he said "something must be done to show these barbarians that we, too, have rights." He announced that the time had come "to fight fire with fire" and "strike terror in the hearts of proslavery men." On May 24, 1856, he and six companions dragged five proslavery men and boys from their beds at Pottawatomie Creek, split open their skulls and cut off their hands. A war of revenge erupted in Kansas, which left 200 dead.
"These men are all talk, what we need is action!"
Works Cited
Adams, John Q. "John Quincy Adams Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2014.
"Zamba Zembola." Important Figures in the Antislavery Cause. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2014.
"Richard Allen Quotes." Thinkexist.com. ThinkExist, n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2014.
Adams, John Q. "John Quincy Adams Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2014.
"Zamba Zembola." Important Figures in the Antislavery Cause. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2014.
"Richard Allen Quotes." Thinkexist.com. ThinkExist, n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2014.