WW Chapter 17: Echos of Revolution

A Ride for Liberty – The Fugitive Slaves, ca. 1862 Eastman Johnson

The three major movements that challenged the narrative of oppression and/or exclusion: Abolitionists lobbying for the end of slavery, nationalists seeking unity and independence from foreign rule, and feminists challenging the patriarchy. In 2019, we face similar issues. I'm interested to know if, as Martin Luther King Jr. said, the arc of history swings toward justice.  But to share in his faith, it's vital to study our history for evidence of such optimism.

The Enlightenment thinkers in the eighteenth-century Europe were becoming increasingly against slavery and considered it a violation of the natural rights of every person. Polite society during the Enlightenment were often privileged enough to dispense with forward-thinking ideas, like equality across race, color, and creed. They had the luxury to ponder such issues.  

The end of the Atlantic slave trade during the 19th century marked a major change in history and in the moral thinking of mankind.