Holy Warriors: The Abolitionists and American Slavery

In this book, originally published in 1976, Stewart provides a basic history of the abolitionist movement beginning with the period of the American Revolution. While most think of abolition as a 19th-century movement, Stewart demonstrates that this period is also important in examining this movement. Many states, primarily in the North, found that the institution of slavery conflicted with the ideas of republicanism that they were using to defend their own rights. During the years following the Revolution, the Northern states abolished slavery either immediately through court decisions as in Massachusetts, or through gradual programs as in New York. The ideas of the Revolution also played an important role in antislavery movements throughout the 19th century.In examining the 19th Century movement, Stewart focuses most of his book on the Antebellum period and shows the importance of religion and moral suasion in the movement. Stewart also examines how, as time progressed, the movement expanded into the political realm through third parties such as the Liberty and Free Soil parties and how the ideas of the abolitionists influenced the formation of the Republican Party in the mid-1850s. Divisions emerged over the extent to which the abolitionists should become involved in politics and parties corrupted by slaveholders.The main weakness of this book, in my opinion is that the Civil War years are only briefly covered. It was during these years that the abolitionists were able to put the most pressure on the federal government to take action against slavery. It was also during these years that many of the goals of the abolitionist movement were met. While racial equality was not obtained during Reconstruction, certain rights were guaranteed through Constitutional amendments. Abolitionists played roles in turning the Civil War into a war merely to preserve the Union into a war to create "a more perfect union." This role should be more fully examined in a history of the abolitionist movement.