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Abolitionism : a movement culminating in the late 18th and early 19th centuries that aimed first to end the slave trade, and then to abolish the institution of slavery and emancipate slaves.
In the USA, slavery was officially abolished by the Emancipation Proclamation 1863 of President Abraham Lincoln, but it could not be enforced until 1865 after the Union victory in the Civil War. The question of whether newly admitted states would allow slavery had been a major issue in the break-up of the Union.
In the UK, the leading abolitionist was William Wilberforce, who secured passage of a bill abolishing the slave trade in 1807.
From The Hutchinson Family Encyclopedia. © Copyright Helicon Publishing Ltd 2000. All rights reserved.
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