Were the Abolitionists of the 1830's from the southern part of the USA?

Answer 1

Well no, most abolitionism from about 1830 on was in the north . . . but that could be misleading.

It's significant that you chose the 1830s, because PRIOR to that time, MANY abolitionists were from the South (though the earliest movements began with the Quakers in Pennsylvania). But after Nat Turner's revolt spooked the South, and the Virginia General Assembly of 1831-32 turned away from discussing such a move, it was DANGEROUS to be an abolitionist or to be suspected of being one in the South.

Note that the Grimke sisters were active earlier, and even then left South Carolina to work in the North.

Now there DID continue to be support for abolition (esp. gradual emancipation) in the BORDER states of the South. It was such people who staffed the "underground railroad". Further, before, during and after the Civil War there were important pro-Union enclaves in the South, esp. in the Appalachian mountain regions. These folks -- later cruelly labeled "scalawags" and treated as traitors to the South (though they had ALWAYS been loyal to the Union)-- opposed slavery and later provided the main support for the rights of freed blacks after the Civil War.
http://experts.about.com/e/s/sc/scalawag.htm

See: "Freedom and Slavery in Appalachian America”
Journal of ***** History 1 (April 1916): 132-50.
http://www.dinsdoc.com/woodson-2.htm


For a fuller picture of how abolitionist activities continued in the South, check out Stanley Harrold's book, The Abolitionists and the South, 1831-1861. Here's a useful overview/review:
http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=4328850879942
(note the focus on activities in the Upper South, i.e., the border states)

On the "turning point" around 1830, consider the following:

"The Significance of the Debate of 1832"
"The debate on abolition that occurred in the 1831-32
session of the Virginia General Assembly is pointed to by
most historians as a turning point in the history of slavery,
abolitionism, the South, and the United States as a whole.
The debates seem to have been the last realistic and
reasoned discussions of the abolition of slavery in the South.
Prior to these debates, many Southerners held strongly
abolitionist views and made their presence and opinions
known. According to W.J. Cash, over 80% of American
abolitionists were Southerners in 1827. . . .

"The action of the Virginia legislature
combined with the new Garrisonian abolitionism of
immediacy in the North forced the South into a defensive
position in which slavery was defended officially in all
circumstances. The North was portrayed as a region overrun
by fiery abolitionists who busied themselves by distributing
propaganda and encouraging Southern slaves to escape or
lead slave revolts. The Southern states staked themselves
against the aggressive abolitionists of the North and refused
to accept their moral and political arguments against
slavery."

"Thus, this decision of the General Assembly was the
beginning of a unified Southern defense of slavery. It forced
Southern abolitionists further underground and stifled
discussion of the issue. It was certainly a turning point in the
question of the institution of slavery in the United States and
also began or furthered the polarization of the regions. "
http://www.mcps.org/ss/5thgrade/significance.pdf


For more on the vicissitudes of Southern abolitionism see "The Anti-Slavery Cruade"
http://www.nalanda.nitc.ac.in/resources/english/etext-project/history/antislavery/
Note that chapter 4 "The Turning Point" focuses on the pivotal year of 1831.

Answer 2

Most white abolitionists were from the North. There were a few southern abolitionists, the most important of whom were probably the Grimke Sisters from South Carolina.

Answer 3

There were Abolitionists in all parts of the country.

Answer 4

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