The abolishment of slavery took place at a different time in different countries. Both John Quincy Adams and William Lloyd Garrison made efforts that led to the abolishment of slavery. They all lived at a time when ant-slave movements had started to gain momentum across the United State. The paper explores on some of the roles they played with the aim of abolishing slavery.
Adams introduced the petition to abolish slavery congress in many occasions. For eight years his petitions were unsuccessful because of the gag rule. Therefore, as a way to end slavery, Adams had to come up with strategies aimed at eliminating the gag rule in parliament. Gag rule came into being as a way of discouraging petitioners. Adams encouraged congress members who supported the petition to team up and support anti-slavery groups outside the congress in the aim of making their voices heard. Year after year Adam and his team introduced petitions that aimed at abolishing slavery and the gag rule. Later on, these petitions got large support from both the North and West. It was not until in December 1831 that the gag rule was abolished (Rubestein). One may view this achievement as a small victory against the abolishment of slavery, but it was a huge defeat against the South had always thought it is easy to manipulate the Congress.
The first time William Lloyd Garrison showed interest in advocating for the abolishment of slavery is when he joined the American Colonization Society at the age of 25. As a journalist, he started his own newspaper known as The Liberator that advocated sympathy in humanity with the ultimate goal of ending slavery. In 1832, he was one of the founding members of the New England Anti-Slave Society (Thomas 6). William advocated for the abolishment of slavery through his writings and words.
The gag rule still affects us today. An example is in the Trump administration where the house is divided against the funding of the wall between the US and Mexico. However, the abolishment of slavery as all people enjoy the same rights. The black community can now positively contribute to the growth of the nation through various economic activities. However, some form of slavery still exists today. Human trafficking has become rampant in a number of countries. It is an expensive trade as a result of the abolishment of slavery in Europe and especially in the US.
Works Cited
Rubestein, Harry. “The Cane That Struck Against Slavery | Essay | Zócalo Public Square”. Zócalo Public Square, 2014, https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2014/10/06/the-cane-that-struck-against-slavery/chronicles/who-we-were/.
Thomas, William. William Lloyd Garrison. Crabtree, 2010.