Antislavery Movement

Abstract

Abstract The movement to abolish slavery and end the slave trade, which began first in Europe and then the United States at the end of the eighteenth century, was one of the first modern social movements. The abolition movements in France and Britain, which sought to end the slave trade among the colonies, and the movement to end slavery in the United States shared critical qualities that set them apart from earlier reform efforts. In the early eighteenth century, social protests were primarily short‐lived outbursts mounted by loosely connected groups that were geographically constrained and emphasized local demands. In contrast, the antislavery movement was sustained, formally organized, transcended disparate geographies, and often directed their claims toward the state. The birth of the modern social movement was defined by a shift in the repertoires of contention—the set of actions activists use to assert their claims—from parochial, bifurcated, and particular to cosmopolitan, modular, and autonomous (Tilly 1995; Tarrow 1998). The antislavery movement's innovative early utilization of the media, religious organizations, and formal organizations in its organizing efforts was key to the movement's ability to develop a sustained geographically dispersed movement that transcended national boundaries and acted as a catalyst for the abolition of slavery, thereby making it one of the most significant modern social movements. Moreover, it was one of the first social movements to transcend national boundaries, making it one of the earliest transnational social movements.