GHS Abolitionism

Smith discusses the crucial role played by the inalienable right of self-ownership in the abolitionist crusade to abolish slavery.

Smith discusses the controversy over whether the U.S. Constitution is pro-slavery, as illustrated in the opposing views of two leading abolitionists: Wendell Phillips and Lysander Spooner.

Smith discusses the split in the American Anti-Slavery Society over voting, equal rights for women, and other causes.

Smith discusses the prevalence of violence against abolitionists during the 1830s, and how Wendell Phillips became an abolitionist.

Smith discusses the arguments of Wendell Phillips that abolitionists should not vote or hold political office.

Smith continues his discussion of the arguments in Can Abolitionists Vote or Take Office under the United States Constitution?

Smith discusses some similarities between the anti-political abolitionists and contemporary voluntaryists.

Smith discusses how William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips differed in their approaches to non-voting.

Smith concludes his discussion of the no-voting theory of Wendell Phillips by explaining Phillips's attitude toward taxes and the limits of democracy.

Smith begins his explanation of why so many abolitionists joined the crusade for the legal prohibition of alcohol.

Smith continues his explanation of why so many abolitionists supported the compulsory prohibition of alcohol by linking them to the ideology of the Whig Party.

Smith discusses Gerrit Smith’s arguments for prohibition and the reply by Lysander Spooner, as published in a book by Dio Lewis, Prohibition: A Failure.

Smith discusses Lewis’s rare insights on Spooner’s personal life, and his libertarian case against prohibition.

Smith begins his discussion of Lysander Spooner’s libertarian classic, “Vices are not Crimes.”

Smith continues his discussion of Lysander Spooner’s objections to confusing vices with crimes.

Smith explains some reasons why the temperance movement switched from advocating voluntary methods to calling for coercive prohibitory laws during the 1830s.

Smith discusses the influence of puritanism, the religious revival in the early 19th century, and Spooner’s disagreements with Christian ethics.

Smith summarizes Lysander Spooner’s objections to the most popular arguments in favor of the prohibition of alcohol.

Smith discusses the schism in the abolitionist movement over the constitutionality of slavery, and he begins his analysis of Lysander Spooner’s arguments in The Unconstitutionality of Slavery.

Smith provides some background on Spooner’s influential book The Unconstitutionality of Slavery.

Smith details the scholarly debate between Lysander Spooner and Wendell Phillips over the constitutionality of slavery.

Smith discusses Spooner’s secular theory of natural law and his belief that no legislation is valid unless it conforms to natural law.

Smith discusses some early justifications of slavery and how they repudiated natural rights.

Smith discusses some major controversies provoked by the debate over ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

Smith discusses some controversies over slavery during the framing of the Constitution, especially the three-fifths clause.

Smith explains some features of the slave trade and the constitutional provision that it would not be banned in America for at least 20 years.

Smith summarizes the arguments of delegates as to whether the slave trade should be prohibited in the Constitution.

Smith explains how Spooner reconciled his theory of nonvoting with his view that the Constitution is antislavery, and how he treated discussions of slavery during the Constitutional Convention.

Smith discusses Spooner’s defense of the right to use violence in self-defense, even against agents of a government.

Smith explores some features of Spooner’s philosophy of law, as found in The Unconstitutionality of Slavery.

Smith explains why Spooner believed that defending the unconstitutionality of slavery was essential to abolitionism.

Smith discusses Spooner’s contention that the Constitution carries no moral authority but that it still can be understood as antislavery.

Smith summarizes Spooner’s basic arguments for the unconstitutionality of slavery.

Smith discusses Spooner’s critique of taxation.

Smith examines Lincoln’s views on slavery and some of his many disagreements with abolitionists.

Smith discusses some of the very few abolitionists who defended the right of southern states to secede from the Union.

Smith defends the pacifist Garrison from the charge of hypocrisy for supporting the Union during the Civil War.

Smith discusses how peace activists and pacifists justified their support of the North during the Civil War.

Smith discusses what Garrison meant by the “right of secession,” and how he reconciled his views with his condemnation of secession by the southern states.

Smith discusses plans for the abolition of slavery by radical members of the Republican Party.

Smith explains why Garrison, an avowed pacifist, supported the North during the Civil War.

Smith discusses the doctrine of state sovereignty, as defended by Alexander Stephens, Thomas Jefferson, and John C. Calhoun.

How was the abolitionist Moncure Conway widely criticized by other American abolitionists for his peace proposal that would end the Civil War?

Smith explains how some Southerners defended chattel slavery by contrasting it favorably with “wage slavery” in the North.

Smith explains how George Fitzhugh defended slavery on the grounds that it provides an ideal system of socialism.

Smith discusses some circumstances that led to the formation of the abolitionist Liberty Party in 1840.

Smith discusses the interesting case of James Birney, who freed his slaves and became a prominent abolitionist.

Smith discusses Birney’s eventual opposition to the American Colonization Society and why he embraced abolitionism instead.

Smith explains the thinking of James Birney when he liberated his slaves.

Smith reviews Sandefur’s biography, Frederick Douglass: Self-Made Man, published by the Cato Institute in 2018.

Smith discusses the importance of Garrison’s call for the free states to secede from the Union, and the eventual disagreement with Frederick Douglass.