The Great Silent Army of Abolitionism

by Julie Roy Jeffrey

By focusing on male leaders of the abolitionist movement, historians have often overlooked the great grassroots army of women who also fought to eliminate slavery. Here, Julie Roy Jeffrey explores the involvement of ordinary women--black and white--in the most significant reform movement prior to the Civil War. She offers a complex and compelling portrait of antebellum women's activism, tracing its changing contours over time.
For more than three decades, women raised money, carried petitions, created propaganda, sponsored lecture series, circulated newspapers, supported third-party movements, became public lecturers, and assisted fugitive slaves. Indeed, Jeffrey says, theirs was the day-to-day work that helped to keep abolitionism alive. Drawing from letters, diaries, and institutional records, she uses the words of ordinary women to illuminate the meaning of abolitionism in their lives, the rewards and challenges that their commitment provided, and the anguished personal and public steps that abolitionism sometimes demanded they take. Whatever their position on women's rights, argues Jeffrey, their abolitionist activism was a radical step--one that challenged the political and social status quo as well as conventional gender norms.

Genres: History, Academic

311 pages, Paperback

First published November 9, 1998

Reviews

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended!

[Thomas Mackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many unknown women were involved with Abolitionism within their world. Though many would not become radicals, the realization that they had no voice and could not trust others to be that voice drove them for further activism on their own behalf. The Churches were not nearly so involved as they should have been. Unfortunately for many American Christians, their regional culture was more important than their faith. If the Church had treated African-Americans as real people, we may have avoided Civil War.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

An important subject, and I particularly liked that Jeffrey focused on ordinary women and their role in the abolition movement. It was usually pretty clear and readable. That said, there were parts where the organization seemed a little off and the argument seemed to wander a bit. I would recommend it for research (which is what I used it for), but not for personal reading, unless you have a very strong interest in the subject.