Essay Sample on The Abolitionist Movement: Ending Slavery and Fuelling Debate

Introduction

Anti-Slavery Movement, also known as the Abolitionist Movement, was formed between 1783-1883, the effort of ending the transatlantic slave trade and chattel slavery in the United States and Western Europe. Although it began as a religious underpinning, the antislavery Movement became a controversial political issue that led the country into two divides, the supporters and the critics that engaged into heated, deadly confrontations and violent debates (Wallenfeldt,2019). The Movement was further fueled by hatred and divisiveness that ultimately led to the end of slavery. Initially, the slaves were treated with brutality and inhumane ways until the period of enlightenment when the rationalist thinkers began criticizing its violation for human rights. Slaves experienced structural inequality by laboring under hardships in the plantations, coupled with the ruthlessness of slave hunters, and that was later revolutionized under the Fugitive Slave law of 1850 (Wallenfeldt,2019). How then can we view Anti-Slavery from a psychological point of view in the realms of prejudice by the oppressed? The paper there delves into drawing a close study on the antislavery social MovementMovement by examining the oppressed group through their leaders and the success of its outcome from a psychological point of view.

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Description of the Anti-Slavery Movement and its Leaders

Antislavery movement or abolishment was a social reform that began in the mid-18th century and lasted until 1865 following the outlawed slavery after the passage of the 13th Amendment in the constitution (National Library of Australia,2008). The antislavery Movement started as a religious and moral movement, delved in the belief on equality, and later propelled by antislavery activists. They championed the freedom of enslaved people and sending them back to Africa against the racist white society that was not willing to accept black equality. Some of the leaders of the abolishment movement were William Lloyd Garrison, who was the founded the American Anti-Slavery Society, Fredrick Douglass, an escapee of slavery, and became an instrumental figure in the abolitionist MovementMovement through his publication of a memoir on American slavery. Also, there was Harriet Tubman, a figurative slave and an abolitionist who helped the escaped slaves reach the North through an underground railroad among other participants (National Library of Australia,2008).

The abolitionists continuously condemned slave owners, together with denouncing the US constitution as a covenant of death and an agreement with hell. At times, the Abolitionist set mobs and attacked the slave owners and their representatives who attempted to travel north in the quest to reclaim their captured runaways. The abolitionist leaders faced resistance from the critics, especially the slave owners in the South, who cited that the Movement contradicted the US constitution. Also, the then US president Andrew Jackson banned the MovementMovement in the South, coupled with banning US Postal service from delivering publications in support of the MovementMovement (National Library of Australia,2008). Additionally, those who attempted to process abolitionist literature were publicly whipped. In spite of the challenges the abolitionist reform movement to end slavery remained small, extremist and vocal, thereby managing to keep racial issues in the foreground until the mainstream Northern society accepted some of their issues while Southerners saw them as a threat to their lives.

The Outcome of the Movement

In the 18th century, both British and American abolitionists began working to prohibit the importation of African slaves in both American and British territories. The forces succeeded in the abolitions of the slave trade to British colonies under the leadership of William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson in 1807 (Wallenfeldt,2019). In the same year, The US also prohibited the importation of slaves, albeit there was a continuous widespread of smuggling. The forces of antislavery then concentrated on winning the populations that were already in slavery until slavery was finally abolished. The effort of the abolition of slavery was also accelerated by the election of President Abraham Lincoln, who opposed slavery spread in Western territories. The abolitionist Movement finally dissolved after the addition of the Thirteenth Amendment, albeit the effort remained intact until the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870 that extended the voting rights to blacks (Wallenfeldt,2019). Following the end of slavery, many Abolitionist channeled their focus to women rights issues. The ideals and traditions of the abolitionists served as a model for the National Association for Advancement of Colonial People (NAACP) (Human rights careers,2020). The Movement has continued in some way through the Anti-Slavery International, which is a UN organization aimed at eliminating all forms of slavery and its practices, in conjunction with the International Labor Organization and Economic and Social Council. It raises awareness and campaigns against bonded labor, forced labor, descent-based slavery, forced marriages, all forms of child labor and all forms of discrimination against migrant workers in conditions that may amount to human trafficking or slavery (Human Rights Careers,2020).

Social Psychological Analysis

Social psychoanalysis juxtaposes that everyone has a sense of belonging through identification as members of varied groups. The group belongings can either be formal or informal depending on the formation context. These groups are usually coordinated by members in the guest of producing desired outcomes. Slavery Movement exemplifies such groups owing to the membership of individuals that championed for it. That was coupled with group had strong official members that encompassed its success. The desired outcome of this group was finally accomplished through the abolition of slavery in the Western territories. The accomplishment of success by group members therefore underscored Boron and Brancombe's concept of Groups and Individuals in the realms of consequence of belonging.

Similarly, social psychology underscores different categories of membership that may at times undergo injustice treatments. Differentiation can be based on the spheres of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or religion. In the context of Anti-slavery Movement, bigotry delved in the realms of ethnicity. That juxtaposed conceptualization of Africans by the whites who subjected them to cruelty and brutality of slave trade. That kind of treatment was an illegitimate form of acumen vested upon the blacks following white supremacy. No wonder members of the Antislavery Movement championed the abolition of slavery and all activities related to it. A decision they reached on following the bias, inhumane, and brutal nature that African slaves were subjected to. However, the conceptualized Westerners, prevalently the South that supported slavery, were resistant to change, and it was only after the abolition of the slave trade and allowing enslaved Africans to go home that they accepted equal rights for Africans. Their clouded bias judgment underscored the cruel and inhumane manner in which they treated their slaves as property rather than humans. Their partiality was, therefore,, primarily reflected on their underlying emotional responses of disgust for Africans, thereby treating them as their subjects rather than their equals.

Conclusion

Social psychoanalysis encompasses a sense of belonging to a group with desired outcomes for success by the members. In this context, the Anti-Slavery Movement underscored a movement whereby members championed the abolition of slavery by the Westerners. In the pursuit of their mission's success, members encountered challenges underlying injustices, bias, and conceptualization. The challenges were vested on them by the white supremacy that treated them as their subjects rather than their equals. Despite the challenges, slavery was finally abolished, and the enslaved Africans were allowed to return home.

References

Human Rights Careers (2020).25 Human Rights Organizations. Human Rights Careers.Retrieved from https://www.humanrightscareers.com/magazine/international-humanrightsorganizations/

National Library of Australia (2008). Anti-Slavery Movement in the United States. NationalLibrary of Australia. Retrieved from https://www.nla.gov.au/selected-librarycollections/anti-slavery-movement-in-the-united-states

Wallenfeldt, J. (2019). Abolitionism: European and American Social Movement. EncyclopediaBritannica. Retrieved from https://britannica.com/topic/abolitionism-European-andAmerican-social-movement