Militancy and the Abolitionist Movement
Essential QuestionDid militancy help or hinder the abolitionist movement?MaterialsAbolition Excerpts (PDF)Timeline of the Abolitionist Movement (PDF) BackgroundAlthough the original Constitution of the United States did not mention the word "slavery" in its text, it recognized the existence and legality of this institution. It protected the rights of slaveholders with regard to the return of runaway slaves, by increasing representation for slaveholders through the three-fifths compromise, and the slave trade would be continued for twenty years (until 1808). As the United States developed so…