Existing comment:
1833 -- American Anti-Slavery Society. The first national antislavery organization states its purpose is "to convince all our fellow citizens... that slaveholding is a heinous crime in the sight of God, and that duty, safety, and best interests of all concerned, require its immediate abandonment."
1836 -- Gag Rule Passed. The U.S. House of Representatives refuses to debate antislavery petitions sent to Northern congressmen.
1837 -- Abolitionist Editor Murdered. A mob kills newspaper editor Elijah P. Lovejoy in Alton, Illinois, making him an early abolitionist martyr. |