The history of the antislavery movement is one of the truly heroic episodes in American history. Over the course of three decades, thousands of men and women actively dedicated themselves to abolishing the South's "peculiar institution." But who were the abolitionists, what ideas motivated them and what strategies did they employ to end slavery in America?

In this course, Dr. Thompson examines the intellectual and political history of the movement to abolish slavery in the United States. The goals of the course are twofold: first, to present and examine the best writings and speeches of the most influential antislavery (and some pro-slavery) thinkers, activists and statesmen in the years between 1830 and 1860; and second, to demonstrate the wide spectrum of abolitionist ideas and political choices open to antislavery advocates during the antebellum period.