Monday, May 1, 2017

Abolitionists by H. T.

  1. The reading that we read, entitled “The Anti-Abolitionist Meetings in the South,” we learned how many people, whom are in favor of the institution of slavery, went about preventing abolitionists from making large strides in trying to abolish slavery. The author, Susan Wyly-Jones, was arguing that anti-abolitionist were willing to do a lot in order to maintain that slavery, the free labor and the superiority it provides, stays. This is proven when Wyly-Jones discussed the many actions that the anti-abolitionists often took when trying to protest the many actions abolitionists were also doing in their efforts to end the institution of slavery. Many anti-abolitionist would host meetings, speaking about how slavery was the only thing keeping America together. In one instance, they even stole pamphlets, which were intended to be sent out in an effort to explain how horrible the institution of slavery was, from the post office and burnt said pamphlets in an act meant to strike fear in the hearts of abolitionist everywhere.
  2. The purpose of the piece that Susan Wyly-Jones wrote was mean to inform readers of the events that occurred during the period of high tension that surrounded the decades before the Civil War. In order to complete this goal, Wyly-Jones included the voices of Anti-Abolitionists and Abolitionists alike. She included these groups by stating the vents that they induced and experienced such as the burning of the pamphlets, the pamphlets themselves, and the meetings Anti-Abolitionists hosted throughout the entire country. The voice that was missing was the slaves themselves, and how the actions these groups did impacted them directly while still in slavery.
  3. Our discussion in class, and the sources we viewed such as the artwork, helped me understand the topic of abolitionists and abolitionists by making us understand the classes of people and how and why things happened. For example, we talked about how people whom worked at the post office on the night of the burning of the pamphlets, and how they had divided out the mail for the “robbers” who broke into the the post office before the robbers had even gotten in. Also, we discussed how the anti-abolitionists used the reason that the institution of slavery was the only thing maintaining the balance of society, and how that sparked feeling in lots of people.
  4. One connection we made in class was about how these events were demonstrative of why nothing had been done about slavery until the Civil War, and how tensions grew between Abolitionists and Anti-Abolitionists and how that lead to the Civil War between the North and the South. Because of the tension between the two parties, conflicts could rarely could’ve settled and no progress would be made towards, nor away from, ending the institution of slavery.
  5. One question that I had following the end of class, was how long would this battle between Abolitionists and Anti-Abolitionists have gone on had South Carolina not triggered the Civil War by seceding from the Union? Another question that I had shortly after leaving class was how often did these type of event occur? How often would fires burn in the streets over the issue of slavery?