The Right to be Free: Abolitionists Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. He burned a copy of the U.S. Constitution because it allowed slavery, and urged the north to secede to create a slave-free nation. Despite his grandfatherly appearance, this fiery anti-slavery advocate had death threats and bounties on his head, but he continued to publish his Boston newspaper, "The Liberator". Who was he?

Answer: William Lloyd Garrison

Turner and Vesey were both killed after masterminding slave rebellions, while Frank Lloyd Wright was a famous 20th Century architect. William Lloyd Garrison spoke out strongly not only against slavery but for women's rights, which caused a split in the abolitionist movement.

He also advocated non-violence and non-involvement in politics. Undeterred by his detractors, Garrison lived long enough to see the end of slavery and continued to push for full equality of blacks and women.

2. This author, orator and publisher had first-hand experience with slavery in Maryland. He famously said, "I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong," but he distanced himself from violent radicals like John Brown. His moving speeches convinced people of the importance of his many causes. He was not only against slavery, but for equal rights for women as well. Who was this abolitionist with the unruly hair?

Answer: Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery in 1838 and became one of the most well-known Blacks associated with the U.S. abolition movement. He traveled to Ireland and England, lecturing, until he felt safe from recapture, then returned to the U.S. where he published and lectured, positioning himself as more radical than those who held back on women's rights and black suffrage, but less radical than those who advocated immediate violence such as John Brown.

He died in 1895 at about 77 years old, after continuing his campaigning for civil rights through the Reconstruction period.

3. These two sisters were born in South Carolina to a slave-owning family, but both were appalled by slavery and eventually moved north. They wrote and lectured on slavery and women's rights, even though their Quaker church rebuked them for speaking out so vehemently on political topics. Who were these two sisters, whose surviving photos unfortunately make them look like "sourpusses"?

Answer: Sarah and Angelina Grimke

The Fox sisters were nineteenth century spiritualists. The Brontes were authors, and the March sisters were fictional characters in Alcott's "Little Women". Sarah and Angelina Grimke ignored social conventions and spread their message against slavery, arguing from a religious standpoint that all men and women were equal. Angelina wrote: "I recognize no rights but human rights--I know nothing of men's rights and women's rights; for in Christ Jesus, there is neither male nor female."

4. Lewis and Arthur Tappan were abolitionist brothers who helped found the American Anti-Slavery Society, headquartered in New York, and Oberlin College in Ohio, which welcomed Blacks and women. After kidnapped slaves mutinied aboard a ship and sued for their freedom, Lewis did all he could to publicize the case and help the Africans. What was the name of the ship?

Answer: Amistad

The Amistad mutiny and U.S. Supreme Court trial in 1839-1841 are perhaps what makes the Tappans best known today, because the take-over and trial have been the subject of a movie, poems and numerous histories in recent years. In their day, the Tappans also helped repatriate to Africa a kidnapped prince who had been taken to Mississippi.

They held views that seemed radical even among abolitionists, such as accepting interracial marriage.

5. She famously asked "Ain't I a Woman?" but proved herself to be not just a woman, but an extraordinary one. Her name as a slave was Isabella Baumfree, but when she became free, she changed it to a more allegorically apt one. She spoke out against slavery and for women's rights, and helped recruit black soldiers during the Civil War. Who was this woman, usually pictured wearing a white cap?

Answer: Sojourner Truth

Madam C. J. Walker, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Rosa Parks all were famous African-Americans after the Civil War, but Sojourner Truth, born about 1797, escaped from slavery with her daughter in 1826 and won a court case to free her son soon afterwards. In 1843 she said, "The Spirit calls me, and I must go," and she became a public speaker against slavery, using her natural talent at oratory to inspire audiences.

6. Known as "Moses," this former slave helped dozens of others to freedom through the underground railroad. She also helped recruit men for John Brown's raid and served as a spy and scout for the Union during the Civil War. Afterwards, she worked to get voting rights for women. Who was this daring abolitionist, who is famously pictured with a musket and soldier's haversack?

Answer: Harriet Tubman

Annie Oakley was a famous white nineteenth century sharpshooter. Maya Angelou was a black twentieth century author and Sally Hemings was the controversial enslaved mistress of Thomas Jefferson. Harriet Tubman's exploits as a spy and underground railroad conductor made her a natural subject for children's books, and she has been widely honored with statues, plaques and commemorations, but only a few scholarly biographies of her have been published.

7. Theodore Dwight Weld led the Lane Seminary Rebels, who demanded to debate against slavery at the Ohio seminary they attended in 1834. Later, he lectured against slavery until his voice gave out, then wrote prolifically. With his wife and sister-in-law, he edited, collected and authored what huge anti-slavery book, that detailed the poor treatment of slaves?

Answer: "American Slavery As It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses"

The three wrong answers are all books that mention slavery, at least tangentially, but were published post-war and were not necessarily strongly negative. "American Slavery As It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses" was published in 1839 and combined carefully organized eye-witness accounts with commentary on the plight of enslaved people. Weld, born in Connecticut in 1803, worked tirelessly for the anti-slavery movement, but often behind the scenes or under a pen name, so he is less well remembered today compared to others like William Lloyd Garrison.

8. From his home in Ripley, Ohio, on the Ohio River, he conducted slaves to freedom, and became a key figure in the underground railroad in southern Ohio. A minister originally from Tennessee, he also preached and wrote against slavery. He told about the exploits of a slave he helped, and Harriet Beecher Stowe used her as a model for Eliza in "Uncle Tom's Cabin". Who was this famous White underground railroad conductor?

Answer: John Rankin

William Still was a famous Pennsylvania underground railroad conductor and post-war writer about the underground railroad, but John Rankin worked in Ohio. His restored house in Ripley is categorized as a National Historic Landmark, and historic displays there tell the story of how he helped slaves to freedom.

9. Abraham Lincoln allegedly blamed her for causing the Civil War, though his words may be apocryphal. Her 1852 book undoubtedly did become a controversial classic, introducing several stereotyped characters, such as Simon Legree and Uncle Tom. Who is this woman, from an abolitionist family?

Answer: Harriet Beecher Stowe

Catherine Beecher, also a well-known reformer, was Harriet's sister. Susan B. Anthony labored for women's rights. Evangeline St. Clare was a fictional character in Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin", which included the more famous cruel slave-owner Simon Legree and the submissive long-suffering slave Uncle Tom. Upon meeting Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1862, Lincoln may have said something like "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war," but the first written reference is from a much later memory.

10. He used to be a slave owner and lived in Kentucky and Alabama, but changed his mind and converted to the cause of abolition. His anti-slavery newspaper in Cincinnati was destroyed by a mob, but he refused to be deterred, then later found a better welcome in New York City and Michigan. He ran for president of the U.S. twice, in 1840 and 1844, representing the Liberty Party, but knew he couldn't win with an anti-slavery platform. Who was this abolitionist who was nonetheless against women's rights?

Answer: James G. Birney

Andrew Jackson was a slave-owning U.S. president from 1829 to 1837. Dr. Cartwright is infamous for creating some pseudoscientific diseases of enslaved people, such as drapetomania, a mental illness that caused a desire to run away. Helper, a North Carolinian who moved to New York, wrote "The Impending Crisis of the South: How to Meet It", a book appealing to anti-slavery Whites in the south and their economic self-interest. Birney's views changed dramatically, but they followed many others who first felt that the best solution was to ship former slaves back to Africa, then realized that many didn't want to go and they should be offered equal opportunity in America.

Source: Author littlepup

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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The U.S. struggled with slavery for decades before finally ending it in 1865. These brave men and women spoke out against it in the midst of the crisis, risking their reputations and sometimes their lives.

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