ANGELINA GRIMKE’S CONCERN

‘Sisters in Christ I feel an interest in you, and often has the secret prayer arisen on your behalf, Lord "open thou their eyes that they may see wondrous things out of thy Law"—It is then, because I do feel and do pray for you, . . .’
She was appealing to the better natures of southern women in the midst of a culture that more or less accepted slavery in her “APPEAL TO THE CHRISTIAN WOMEN OF THE SOUTH” a personal crusade she was waging in 1836. She joined her voice with her sister Sarah’s in a courageous effort.

http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/abolitn/abesaegat.html

FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT OF 1850

This law enraged and at the same time made abolitionists fearful of being put in jail. Suddenly law enforcement personnel were required to aid the capture and return of all runaway slaves, or risk a $1000 fine. Any citizens providing food or shelter to fugitive slaves were also liable for a $1000 fine and 6 months in jail. It is said that this law inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Sojourner Truth and others considered it more of a nuisance, and made it a little more dangerous, but did not diminish their commitment to the cause of justice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugitive_Slave_Act_of_1850

LIZZIE STANTON

As a young girl she would sit in a corner of her father’s home office and learn about how unjust the law and how lacking in compassion her father was. He administered the law with no interest in improving it for the sake of women, despite Lizzie’s many complaints. He was cold as stone regarding his three daughters, preferring his four sons who all died in childhood. She excelled in her accomplishments to earn her father’s approval, only to have him say to her at 16, “If only you were a boy.”
This must have hurt her deeply, but also must have severely damaged her father’s credibility.
At the advanced age of 24, her father forbade her marrying because Henry Stanton was an abolitionist, was 10 years older and therefore too old, and could not support her well enough. She acquiesced for a short while, but finally rebelled and eloped so she and Henry could attend the World Abolition Conference in London in 1840.
That event turned out to be pivotal to the rest of her life. She met many women who were also interested in improving women’s lives and became her allies in the battle to improve women’s rights.

“The Meaning of the Fourth of July to the Negro”

FREDERICK DOUGLASS originally gave this speech on this day in 1852. “Fellow-citizens,” he began, “why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day? What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?”
Since then there have been many readings of Douglass’s speech on or near this date, including this recent one in Springfield, Massachusetts. Douglass was a steadfast supporter of women’s rights and involved from 1848 until his death.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/06/springfield_to_celebrate_frede.html
http://www.boulderweekly.com/article-2887-the-myth-of-a-post-racial-america.html

The full text of his speech www.masshumanities.org.

ABOLITIONISTS AND WOMEN WORKED TOGETHER

Many of the women and men, who worked for the establishment of women’s rights, were also committed to abolition and the establishment of human rights for slaves. So it is appropriate and poignant that the 14th Amendment advanced the rights of both groups.

http://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/suffrage/index.html
http://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/suffrage/index.html

SARAH GRIMKE, BRILLIANT BUT ALAS A WOMAN

Like others before them, the Grimke sisters attempted to vote in 1870 when Sarah was nearly 80. This was only another in a lifetime of daring and courageous acts. She and her sister Angelina were the first women to speak before the Massachusetts Legislature in 1838. She had taught herself, using her brother’s books, until her mother and father put a stop to it. Fortunately for history it was too late. She had already ignited the brilliant mind within herself. Even her father admitted she had the potential to become foremost among the legal minds of that era, HAD SHE NOT BEEN A WOMAN. She used her brains and her voice in both public speaking and in writing, at a time in this country when doing those things was an open challenge to the authority of a male dominated society, who did not want to consider that women had anything of consequence to say and SHOULD NOT BE HEARD!

http://www.answers.com/topic/sarah-grimk-1

ANGELINA EMILY GRIMKE

She and her sister Sarah were outspoken Quakers from Charleston, SC. Their father, a prominent judge, was strongly in favor of slavery and owned hundreds himself. Having observed the cruelty doled out to slaves at close hand, they became committed abolitionists.
Angelina gained notoriety in the early 1830’s when she sent a letter to William Lloyd Garrison, abolitionist and publisher of The Liberator. When it was printed without her permission, she was criticized by the Quakers and given an ultimatum. She refused to recant and was contacted by the abolitionists. Both sisters chose their path and began a life of accomplished distinction.
In the link below she shows what a fine analytical mind she could employ in her argument. Using scripture herself to refute the justification of slavery, she argues against God’s ability to bless any such institution as slavery, and uses Jewish Law to cut down any arguments that were used to justify it. There is no doubt that both sisters had inherited their father’s great legal mind, much to his consternation.

http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/abolitn/abesaegat.html

CATHERINE BEECHER

By 1837, more and more women were being published, in order to influence public thought. They did not have the freedom to speak in public, so this was their best alternative. Catherine, the older sister of Harriet Beecher Stowe, like her brothers and sister was passionate concerning the abolition of slavery. She wrote... a now famous essay addressed to Angelina Emily Grimke, herself a well-known advocate of abolition, along with her sister Sarah.
http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/abolitn/abesceba2t.htmlSee More

This is the source for the documents between Beecher and Grimke.

http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/abolitn/grimkehp.html

WOMEN’S RIGHTS AND ABOLITION TOGETHER

Many of the women and men, who worked for the establishment of women’s rights, were also committed to abolition and the establishment of human rights for slaves. [See 6/13 &14] So it is appropriate and poignant that the 14th Amendment advanced the rights of both groups. However, during the work for the 15th Amendment there came a time when some women had to choose between women’s suffrage and advancing the rights of former slaves. Unfortunately, the climate was not right for advancing the rights of both.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

DESIRE FOR LOVE AND ACCEPTANCE

Beyond anything else, we all have the basic need for love and acceptance from someone. For some of us, that need is fulfilled by God and the grace that is offered. But we also need recognition from people around us. When our basic human rights are not recognized by others, and more importantly not even by our own country, the heart and soul cries out for justice.
That may help us all understand why women joined the fight against slavery, and abolitionist men and women joined the fight for women’s rights!
It is this basic human need for acceptance that gay and lesbians folks desire from both their country and its citizens today.

http://www.deepspring.org/library_books/library_books_aaron/Aaron_32.html

THE FIRST ORDAINED WOMAN MINISTER

Antoinette Brown expressed interest in ministry at the age of 9. When she entered Oberlin in 1846 women were not allowed to walk with the opposite sex or speak in public. When she finished her studies in theology she was allowed to preach but was not given a diploma. While at school she became a life-long friend of Lucy Stone, another suffragist and abolitionist. Three years later, in 1853, she was ordained to serve a Congregational Church in NY state. In 1908 Oberlin conferred on her an honorary Doctor of Divinity. She and others helped to refute the idea that women had neither the intellect nor the disposition for learning.

http://www.yourdictionary.com/biography/antoinette-brown-blackwell

See this reference also: Friends and Sisters: Letters between Lucy Stone and Antoinette Brown Blackwell, 1846-93 (Women in American History)Amazon

The Denial That Began the Fire For Change

The real inspiration for increasing women’s rights may have begun in London in 1840. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott were both attending the World Anti-slavery Convention, with their husbands. Mrs. Mott and other women wanted to be seated as delegates, but were prevented. The denial had the effect of firing up some of them. It was the start of a profound change in the lives of women.

http://www.npg.si.edu/col/seneca/senfalls1.htm