“Anti-Slavery success to the Juniors!”: organizing juvenile abolitionists

Abstract

ABSTRACT Antebellum abolitionists saw children and youths as natural allies in the antislavery cause. While significant attention has been devoted to juvenile antislavery literature produced by adults for children, little is known about the juvenile antislavery societies that sprang up in the 1830s. In this essay, I shed light on their formation, membership, and activities. I argue that children and youths who were involved in juvenile antislavery societies made a meaningful contribution to the struggle against slavery. Though short-lived, these groups were also essential in preparing the young for active participation in the abolition movement later in their lives.