The American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society split off from the

American Anti-Slavery Society The American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS) was an Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist society in the United States. AASS formed in 1833 in response to the nullification crisis and the failures of existing anti-slavery organizations, ...

in 1840. The key issue was whether women could participate in abolitionist organizations; this Society was opposed. The origin of the split, according to

Lewis Tappan Lewis Tappan (May 23, 1788 – June 21, 1873) was an American abolitionist who in 1841 helped to secure freedom for the enslaved Africans aboard the '' Amistad''. He was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, into a Calvinist household. Tappan w ...

, was

William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison (December , 1805 – May 24, 1879) was an Abolitionism in the United States, American abolitionist, journalist, and reformism (historical), social reformer. He is best known for his widely read anti-slavery newspaper ''The ...

's goals of making an experiment upon the public' by foisting a host of radical issues upon the society." Lewis Tappan and his brother,

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

, aimed to create "a new organization that, in his draft, would foreswear any effort 'to break up existing organizations in church or state' and would only 'give impetus to the usual forms of social action. Tappan renounced Garrisonian efforts to reveal the federal Constitution as a "slave compact" that should be replaced. Within two years of the 1840 Society schism over the appointment of

Abby Kelley Abby Kelley Foster (January 15, 1811 – January 14, 1887) was an American abolitionist and radical social reformer active from the 1830s to 1870s. She became a fundraiser, lecturer and committee organizer for the influential American Anti-S ...

to the Society business committee and efforts to wed abolition with

first-wave feminism First-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity and thought that occurred during the 19th and early 20th century throughout the Western world. It focused on De jure, legal issues, primarily on securing women's right to vote. The term is oft ...

(and, to a lesser extent, over the roles of African-American leaders), the Tappan brothers,

Henry Highland Garnet Henry Highland Garnet (December 23, 1815 – February 13, 1882) was an American abolitionist, minister, educator, orator, and diplomat. Having escaped as a child from slavery in Maryland with his family, he grew up in New York City. He was ed ...

Samuel Cornish Samuel Eli Cornish (1795 – November 6, 1858) was an American Presbyterian minister, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, publisher, and journalist. He was a leader in New York City's small Free Negro, free black community, where ...

Edward Beecher Edward Beecher (August 27, 1803 – July 28, 1895) was an American theologian, the son of Lyman Beecher and the brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Henry Ward Beecher. Biography Beecher was born August 27, 1803, in East Hampton, New York. He ...

John Greenleaf Whittier John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Frequently listed as one of the fireside poets, he was influenced by the Scottish poet ...

, James G. Birney, Theodore S. Wright, Amos A. Phelps, and their adherents seceded from the American Anti-Slavery Society to form their "new organization". Members of the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society held, first, that feminism had diverted attention from the abolitionist cause; and, second, derivative topics on gender and sexuality should remain distinct from that cause. This Society soon developed its own factionalism between those for (such as Birney), and those against, a national abolitionist political party. Six African-American men also joined the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, principally due to a potential conflation of female leadership with

white feminism White feminism is a term which is used to describe expressions of feminism which are perceived as focusing on white women while failing to address the existence of distinct forms of oppression faced by ethnic minority women and women lacking other ...

in the American Anti-Slavery Society. The formation in 1869 of the

National Woman Suffrage Association The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) was formed on May 15, 1869, to work for women's suffrage in the United States. Its main leaders were Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. It was created after the women's rights movement spl ...

and ethno-racial arguments by

Elizabeth Cady Stanton Elizabeth Cady Stanton ( Cady; November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century. She was the main force behind the 1848 ...

in her weekly ''The Revolution'' substantiated these fears, to a certain degree, for a number of these men. Six black women became NWSA members, but only after

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

References

External links

* — comprehensive list of abolitionist and anti-slavery activists and organizations in the United States, including the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. Website includes historic biographies and anti-slavery timelines, bibliographies, etc. * American abolitionist organizations 1840 establishments in the United States {{US-org-stub

See also

References

External links