Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
 | Online Publication Date: 24 Jan 2012
Explaining the First Emancipation: Social Movements and Abolition in the U.S. North, 1776-1804
Explaining the First Emancipation: Social Movements and Abolition in the U.S. North, 1776-1804
Page Range: 439 – 454
Why did states in the US North abolish slavery? This question remains unanswered, despite nearly 150 years of historical work on the subject. To explore this question I offer two "firsts": the use of social movement theory to frame the research, and a quantitative analysis of an original data set to test the theory. I contribute to movement scholarship by examining a number of themes neglected in work on the political outcomes of activism: movement-countermovement dynamics; the link between religious beliefs and religious activism; the outcomes of religious movements; and the economic interests of social actors. Results show that emancipation was affected by Quaker-led antibondage protests; the countermovement of the Dutch Reformed church; this-worldly and otherworldly religions; economic incentives; and political opportunities. Black protest had no impact on abolition, challenging the thesis of black resistance as a major factor in emancipation.
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