Captive Passage
has been made
possible in part by:

Recognition of
additional sponsors
for this exhibition
can be found by
clicking on
ExhibitionSponsors.

This Web site
was written by:

Mark Arduini
Bill Cogar
Kim Gove
Anna Holloway
Julia Hotton
Anne Marie Millar
Tracey Neikirk
David Rieger
Rhonda Todd
Barbara Wright
Randy Wyatt

Special thanks to
Joan Allison
for her assistance
in compiling
the Bibliography.

Abolition

Am I Not a Man and a Brother?

David Walker, David Walker's Appeal, In Four Articles: Together With A Preamble To The Coloured Citizens Of The World..., 1830

Many believed that slavery itself would die a natural death if the slave trade ended. But slavery persisted, and the opening of new land in the Americas actually increased the demand for slave labor. Anti-slavery forces fought for outright abolition and emancipation.

Religious, economic, political, and humanitarian factors came together in the struggle to end slavery. Religious groups like the Quakers and Methodists argued that slavery was a stain on society. Black churches were among the leaders in the crusade to end slavery throughout the Americas.

Advocates of "free trade" argued that the use of paid rather than slave labor would actually result in greater wealth. Black and white defenders of the principles of liberty and equality saw slavery as a denial of these most fundamental beliefs.