Women and the Abolitionist Movement

In the 1820s American women organized free produce societies; in the 1830s many of these same women organized antislavery societies. Abolitionism held particular appeal for women, regardless of race. Slavery violated accepted ideas of family and
gender relations; slavery encouraged the sexual abuse of slave women and violated familial bonds. The misuse of the enslaved female body paralleled the misuse of free female bodies. Despite a shared sisterhood that attempted to transcend race, black and
white female abolitionists often adopted different attitudes toward abolitionism. White women emphasized moral suasion in their abolitionism. Many white women also held
conservative views about racial equality. In contrast, African American women focused on a broader agenda, including racial uplift alongside abolitionism.