Antislavery in America: The Press, the Pulpit, and the Rise of Antislavery Societies

We analyze how communications networks and social institutions influenced the growth of the antislavery movement in the U.S. from 1790 to 1840. Communications networks fueled by print media transmitted news about the movement to the public and so helped mobilize a broad base of support. Among social institutions, churches were especially supportive because their emphasis on morality and community was conducive to antislavery activism. Our analysis focuses on the founding of antislavery societies, the formal organizations that underpinned this movement, and makes three contributions to our understanding of social movement organizations in general and antislavery societies in particular. First, we show that the impact of mass media was strong as far back as the early nineteenth century and that the growth of magazines spurred antislavery society formation. Second, we demonstrate that theology, specifically an orientation toward this world or heaven, determined whether religious resources were available to antislavery organizations. This-worldly religions supported abolition organizing, while other-worldly religions undermined it. Third, we resolve an important causal ambiguity in debates about antislavery by showing that the development of the media was the cause, not merely a consequence of or companion to growth of antislavery organizations.