Lucretia Mott and the Underground Railroad: The transatlantic world of a radical American woman

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Abstract

This article examines abolitionist Lucretia Mott’s views on the Underground Railroad. In 1856 Mott publicly dismissed fugitive slave assistance, comparing it to Liberian colonization, both of which she considered unable to compete with natural increase of slaves and thus ineffective in toppling U.S. slavery. Such a position was incongruous with the general attitude among U.S. abolitionists who categorically denounced Liberian colonization as a racist, pro-slavery movement while amplifying their Underground Railroad activism in the 1850s. The article attributes the timing of Mott’s 1856 remark to a partisan abolitionist strife spanning the Atlantic and explains her disregard of fugitive assistance to her puristic commitment to women’s rights.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)613-642
Number of pages30
JournalJournal of the Early Republic
Volume38
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2018

Keywords

  • abolitionism
  • Lucretia Mott
  • Philadelphia
  • Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society
  • slavery
  • nineteenth century
  • Underground Railroad
  • transatlantic activism
  • women's rights

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Cultural Studies
  • History
  • Sociology and Political Science

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