Frederick Gaertner's Blog – June 2015 Archive (5)

Who do you think are the most influential American abolitionists? Well, here’s a look at five individuals who helped pushed for the end of slavery. I’m sure these are familiar names. Thomas Jefferson (1706-1790) – The 3rd president of the United States was a slave owner himself; however, it is widely held that he was opposed to the institution of slavery on both moral and practical grounds. In 1784, Jefferson proposed to the United States Congress legislation that slavery should be banned in…

Abolitionism was a historical movement that sought the immediate emancipation of all enslaved people. The origins of abolitionism in what would become the United States of America started way back on February 18, 1688, when the Mennonites of Germantown, Pennsylvania held their monthly meeting and draft a set of resolutions in opposition to slavery, which they call “the traffic of men-body.” Soon after, in April 1688, German and Dutch Quakers in the same town wrote a two-page condemnation of…

In 1807, the same year the United States passed the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, Britain officially outlawed the Atlantic slave trade, thus making it illegal for British ships to transport slaves. This ban was even more restrictive than the American ban, and the Royal Navy immediately established a presence off Africa, called West Africa Squadron, to enforce it. From 1808 to 1866, Britain’s West Africa Squadron patrolled the seas capturing approximately 1,600 slave ships while…

On the 2nd of March, 1807, the U.S. Congress passed an act that would send shockwaves throughout the country for decades to come. When the Act to Prohibit the Importation of Slaves was passed and made into law in January 1, 1808, it effectively ended the legality of all international slave trade in any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States. - Read more of this at…

Throughout history, the Bible has been used to support particular viewpoints, and slavery was no exception. During the Antebellum period and the Civil War years, the Bible was used as a weapon by both the North and the South. Slave owners would justify the practice of slavery by citing Bible verses like “slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling” (Ephesians 6:5), and “tell slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect” (Titus 2:9). On the…