The Abolitionist Movement from the American Revolution to the Civil War

FAIN: FV-50304-11

Library Company of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA 19107-5679)
Richard S. Newman (Project Director: March 2011 to April 2016)

Funding details:
Original grant (2011) $100,603.00
Supplement (2012) $10,000.00

A four-week seminar for sixteen school teachers to examine the abolitionist movement from the time of the American Revolution to the aftermath of the Civil War.

This four-week seminar will bring together fifteen school teachers (and one graduate student) for close study of primary documents and key secondary works on the abolitionist movement between the American Revolution and the Civil War. Participants will examine the evolution of the abolitionist movement, from its beginnings in Philadelphia during the Revolutionary era through its radicalization in the years leading to the Civil War. Teachers will focus on several sub-themes in abolitionist scholarship (including African American involvement in the movement, the expanding role of female reformers, and the early struggle against slavery in Northern states)and discuss the pedagogical effectiveness of using primary sources in high school classrooms. Visits to some of the abolitionist movement's most significant sites in the Philadelphia area will enrich participants' understanding of abolitionism as a lived experience rooted in a particular place.