Women in abolition

Women in abolition

Sarah and Angelina Grimké, daughters of a South Carolina slaveholder, spoke eloquently for abolition. In 1836 Angelina Grimké published An Appeal to Christian Women of the South, in which she called upon women to “overthrow this horrible system of oppression and cruelty.” Women abolitionists also raised money, distributed literature, and collected signatures for petitions to Congress. Some men supported women’s efforts. Opposition only served to make women reformers more determined. The abolitionist cause became a powerful spur to other reform causes, as well as to the women’s rights movement.