Many factors affected the opposition to slavery in the United States. Growing opposition to slavery was impacted by the American Revolution, the growing body of information on real life slave experiences, the second great awakening, and the idea of Manifest Destiny. The American Revolution in 1776 greatly impacted people's opinions on slavery. Because of the revolution we have the Declaration of Independence, which states that all men are created equal. Although all men were now supposed to be equal, they were not. Slavery caused people not to be equal. In Document B, it points out that they did not treat slaves as equal but as property. They were treated as something to be sold and tossed around like a material item. The government states that all men are born free and people believed they should follow through with that claim. The Declaration of Independence stirred people up because how the government acted and what they said did not go together. Document A shows the divided opinions on slavery after the Declaration of Independence. Many states, primarily on the north, were abolishing slavery. In Document E, William Lloyd Garrison attempted to win the support of the anti-slavery movement. He made it clear to Americans that slavery is wrong. He pushed people to support anti-slavery. Anti-slavery movements were created, and they tried to influence people to stop slavery. .
From 1776 to 1852 there was a growing amount of information on real life slave experiences. People were discovering how slaves were actually being treated. Slaves wrote stories about their brutal experiences. Americans were realizing the cruelness of slavery. In Document I, Theodore Parker made a poster aimed to the slaves of Boston. There were people trying to catch the slaves in Boston. When the slaves were found, they would be beaten and whipped and then forced back into slavery. People realized that slaves are people too; they are not animals to be caught.
