The Inspiration for Abolitionism

History Now, an online journal of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, provides essays studying a variety of issues and events throughout history. Abolition of slavery is one among them. In the September 2005 issue of History Now, abolition is the topic. Robert Abzug, a professor of History at the University of Texas at Austin writes about the religious inspirations for abolition both in America and Britain. Abzug discusses how the republican goals and ideals of the American Revolution melded with the values of American Protestantism. He writes of the effort to address slavery as a spiritual issue, and cites abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison and the very interesting case of Presbyterian minister George Bourne. This issue of History Now contains a number of other interesting articles on the topic of abolition. Worth reading.