Frederick Douglass National Historic Site

Prior to the 1830s, American antislavery organizations were formed and controlled by white men. This changed in December of 1833 when African American men were invited to participate at the first convention of the American Anti-Slavery Slavery Society (AASS) held in Philadelphia. Some women were also invited to the convention, but as spectators rather than as members. Excluding women from full participation was customary of the period’s social conventions.

Some abolitionist women found the confidence needed to reject social conventions and participate in public activities by denying the authority of clerical rules. Abolitionist feminists also found resolve to contradict gender roles in the abolitionist belief of the common humanity of all people. The belief in common humanity was used by abolitionists to argue for the definition of African American slaves as people, not property.

The abolition movement helped form and influence those who built and led the women’s rights movement. The beliefs and practices of the abolition movement provided a backdrop against which antislavery women could challenge gender roles and leave the woman’s sphere to enter the public sphere.

The abolition movement was one of the leading factors in the formation of the 19th century women’s rights movement. This series explores the connections between the abolition movement and the women’s rights movement to reveal the relationship between the two campaigns.

The establishment of Female Anti-Slavery Societies in the 1830s facilitated the formal beginnings of women’s political participation in the abolitionist movement. One women’s antislavery society that formed in the wake of the first American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS) convention was the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society (PFASS). The AASS organized itself as an interracial organization, and PFASS was founded in the same manner.

It is a disservice to consider the abolitionist movement for all of its triumphs and none of its problems. It is likewise naïve to consider the positive influences of abolition on the women’s rights movement without acknowledging the negative. The following is an examination of the problems within the abolition movement and how these issues are reflected in the early women’s rights movement.

The Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention is regarded as the beginning of the US women’s rights movement. The organizers of the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls were neighbors, friends, and relatives who decided to arrange the convention over their shared convictions. Each had backgrounds in the abolitionist movement and were dedicated to the anti-slavery cause which prepared them to organize the first women’s rights convention in 1848.

The hilltop residence where Frederick Douglass spent his final years, known as Cedar Hill, is surrounded by a sprawling landscape and expansive views toward the Capitol. The landscape reflects both his ascendance in the civic world and his deep appreciation for the natural world. Here, Douglass took nature walks, planted trees, and cultivated a vegetable garden. He also brought the natural world into his home through flower pressing and the display of botanical paintings.