Abolition Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Abolition - Research Paper Example Various activities supported this principle aimed at achieving that goal. The concept is historical because all countries in the world have abolished slavery, as many international organizations among them the United Nations require member countries to ratify abolitionism. Abolitionism was a major reform movement in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The doctrine to end slavery was to free millions of black people detained and used as slaves across the world. Other terms refer to abolitionism among them abolition movement and antislavery movement. The movement started by Africans resisting slave trade and slavery, eighteenth century notions regarding universally acceptable human rights, changing ideas in interpreting Christian morality, and changes in the economy status of the world (Oakes, 2013). This led to abolitionists dividing into two extremes with one group advocating for immediate end to slavery and slave trade while others fought for gradual end to the same. In the mid nineteenth century, the terminology abolitionism referred to the struggle to end slavery immediately. Early stages In the entire America and Western Europe, abolitionism was a rights movement whose proponents wanted to end set slave trade and in the process set slaves free. Bartholomew de las Casas, a Dominican priest influenced Spain to become the first European nation to legislate laws that legally abolished slavery by 1542. However, three years down the line, pressure from the bourgeoisie who were the beneficiaries forced the same country to weaken the laws reversing the gains made by early abolitionists. Evangelical Christians and Quakers fought hard against slave trade and slavery in the seventeenth century terming them un-Christian acts. The movement gained momentum in eighteenth century when rational thinkers among the elite in the society accused the beneficiaries calling the entire process a violation of human rights. It is important to note that although early abolitionis ts put in a lot of effort, the gains were not immediate as centers of slavery still existed. Centers were in Countries in South America and United States as well West Indies. The movement started in England after the Somerset’s case of 1772. Eight years later the state of Pennsylvania enacted laws that aimed at the gradual end to slavery within its area of jurisdiction (Wilson, 1990). Although there was no official law abolishing slavery in Massachusetts, the promulgation of the Massachusetts constitution ended slavery. The European colonization of countries in America increased the dependence on race-based slavery where Africans and their descendants were forced to work the farms. The process reached its apex in the sixteen century. This degree reached Great Britain’s North American colonies in the mid seventeen century. These countries later become the United States. Antislavery movements started because of the rights denied to slaves and other inhumane acts. In the United States for instance, slaves lost customary rights, passed their un-free status over to their children and respective descendants, and served for life. Individual efforts of the enslaved to free from slavery included self-purchase, escape, rebellion, and seeking redress from courts. Some of the early major revolts were in America as early as the first decade of the eighteenth century in South Carolina and New York City. Major efforts towards resistance to abolish slavery and slave trade from organizations in the United States came from Quakers, the Society of Friends who believed and spread the idea that slavery was physically dangerous and sinful to both the victim and the beneficiary. Leaders of the society including Antony Benezet from Pennsylvania and John Woolman from New Jersey