Skip to main content

EOTO Recap

Pro vs. Anti Slavery - EOTO Facts

    While going through the times of history, it is quite easy to see the two sides of many issues. When it came to slavery, the sides were vocal and apparent. Each side made advanced on their case, allowing for each side to further progress regarding its motives. 

Pro slavery was raging in the south. Southerners claimed that slavery was ethical, constitutional, and good for the economy. In order to push their point further, pro-slavery folk created crafty and even law abiding ways to advance their goal of making the United States a country of slavery.

  The Kansas-Nebraska Act was enacted in 1854. It created two new territories, Kansas and Nebraska. These territories allowed for popular sovereignty in regards to slavery, meaning the people inhabiting the land chose if slavery was going to be allowed there or not. This ability to choose whether slavery was going to legal or illegal in the territories caused a major pushback from the people. Pro-slavery southerners rushed to Kansas and Nebraska to opt for slavery being legal whereas anti-slavery northerners came full force to fight against it. This aggressive war fought in these territories was called Bleeding Kansas. Along with that, in 1850 the Fugitive Slave Act was passed. This act enforced that if a runaway slave was found, even in free northern states, the slave must be returned to captivity of its previous owner. This brought tension to the north, and created a slave market even in the north; people would take free blacks and bring them to slave owners in the south for a posted amount of money. 


The Kansas-Nebraska Act [ushistory.org]

    Regardless of the strong push for slavery, there was a very powerful force opposing it: anti-slavery and activism. People were beginning to see the harsh reality of slavery. Northerners were becoming bolder, and more active about abolishing slavery. They published books and articles and bent the rules to fight for what they knew was right.

    Harriet Beecher Stowe was an amazing activist in times of slavery, she published a very well known book, Uncle Tom's Cabin depicting the lives of slaves and the horrors they faced daily. While the book was fiction, it used accurate stories of slaves and the troubles they encountered. This book put a face to slavery by telling devastating stories, allowing for people to peer into the windows of the lives of slaves. But, activists did not just take the kind route of publishing books with the hopes of them being convincing enough. In October 1859, activist and abolitionist John Brown led a raid on armories in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. The goal of Brown's raid was to start an armed revolt of enslaved people and destroy slavery. This resulted in sixteen people being killed, ten of which were Brown's men. Brown was placed on trial and charged with murder, treason against the state of Virginia and slave insurrection. While the raid did not go as planned, it sparked a flame within other abolitionists, empowering them to fight harder than ever to end slavery. The most effective means of freeing slaves was the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was a network of safe houses running from the southern states all the way up to Canada. It is estimated that the Underground Railroad was effective in freeing approximately 100,000 slaves. The typical journey on the Underground Railroad was about 800 miles long and took roughly six weeks to accomplish. 

Howard County Network to Freedom Exhibit | Ellicott City, MD 21043

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

About Me

 Hi! My name is Abby Weiss. I'm from Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, right in the heart of the Poconos. I am an Exercise Science, Pre-PA major, and hope to become a physician's assist in the ER or a Level 1 Trauma Unit. My main goals while attending High Point is to make the most every opportunity, do well in my classes, and make lasting friendships. I have played softball since I was 9, and I will be playing on High Point's club team. I also enjoy snowboarding, skydiving, hiking, traveling, and anything that has to do with water, or being outside. I hope to travel to all 50 states, right now I have been to 18 of them! I am excited for what High Point has to offer, and the opportunities I create for myself due to that. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Speech Theories

Speech Theories      Free Speech is monumental and valuable to the American culture; quite frankly, it makes America, America. After evaluating the eight speech theories used by scholars to describe and understand the premise of free speech in the United States, I was able to conclude which was the most valuable to American society. The eight speech theories are, Marketplace of Ideas, Participation in Self-Government, Stable Change, Individual Self Fulfillment, Check on Governmental Power, Promote Tolerance, Promote Innovation, and Protect Dissent. The theory that I found to be most prominent and valuable, was Individual Self Fulfillment.      The speech theory of Individual Self Fulfillment is described as the ability to express one's individuality and create their own identity. This privilege typically allows people to find others with similar likes, dislikes, and interests. This allows people to make meaningful connections resulting in ha...
Post a Comment
Read more

Theme Song

 Theme Song     Music has played a very major role in my life. Many memories, both good and bad, have a musical association for me. I think when you take the time to understand the lyrics of the song, you can find out more about yourself and your views on life. When trying to choose a theme song, I struggled with selecting just one. I believe that I embody many aspects of various songs and genres, and am grateful that I am capable of seeing parts of myself in a multitude of lights. I love to travel, my bags are always packed, and the feeling of freedom is something so pivotal to who I am. I believe there's more to life than the sole aspect of working day in and day out. I also am a strong believer in the idea that you can learn more through travel, than in a classroom. In that aspect, I do not mean traveling to five star resorts and luxurious beaches, I mean travel to touch every part of the world; the good, the bad, and the ugly, meet a variety of people, ...
Post a Comment
Read more