Who Fought to End Slavery? Meet the Abolitionists

By Adam Sanchez, Brady Bennon, Deb Delman, and Jessica Lovaas

For all its weaknesses and divisions, the abolition movement was perhaps the most significant social movement in U.S. history: an anti-racist movement, a labor movement, a feminist movement, a free speech movement, an antiwar movement.

The secession of Southern states in response to Abraham Lincoln’s election, which triggered the Civil War, is inexplicable without the fear — and sometimes paranoia — the abolition movement kindled in the Southern imagination.

And yet our textbooks cover this essential social movement in a few cursory pages, at best. In curricula and mainstream media, social progress is assigned to Great Men. Young people fail to learn the lesson they need so desperately in order to recognize their own potential power today: Throughout history, social movements have made the world a better place — more democratic, more equal, more just.

The purpose of the abolitionist mixer is to familiarize students with the stories of famous and lesser-known abolitionists and introduce them to a number of the individuals and themes they encounter both in the role play “‘If There Is No Struggle…’: Teaching a People’s History of the Abolition Movement” and the reading “A People’s History of the Abolition Movement.”

Materials Needed

• Copies of “Abolitionist Mixer: Questions” (Handout 4-A) for every student.
• “Mixer Roles” (Handout 4–B), cut up. One for every student in the class.*
• Blank nametags. Enough for every student in the class.
• Copies of “A People’s History of the Abolition Movement” (Handout 4–C) for every student.

The lesson PDF includes Handout 4-A, Handout 4-5, and Handout 4-C. Download it for free to access this full lesson.

This lesson is published by Rethinking Schools in Teaching a People’s History of Abolition and the Civil War.