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The American Anti-Slavery Society
William Lloyd Garrison, Arthur Tappan (1786–1865) and other abolitionists founded the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS) in 1833. Much earlier, in 1775, the Pennsylvania Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage had become the first abolition society in the western world. This group led the assault against slavery in Pennsylvania and became an example to abolitionists in other states. Garrison, wealthy white philanthropist Tappan, and the members of the AASS used moral suasion to win others to their cause. They argued that slavery was a sin and should be abolished immediately and without compensation to former slave-owners. It was Garrison who, after hearing Frederick Douglass talk about his life in slavery, invited Douglass to join the abolitionist lecture circuit. |