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Okay, now for the conclusion.

A book I found fascinating is, “The Neglected Period of Anti-Slavery in America 1808 - 1831” by Alice Dana Adams, 1908. She gives much insight to the views and sentiments of the period, both North and South, including those of prominent men. She discusses which Southern states were believed to become free states soon, such as Virginia within 15 - 20 years from 1825. The author states, “In this context it is interesting to note that of the one hundred and thirty abolition societies in the United States in 1827, one hundred and six were in the slave states, while but four were in New England or New York.” (p 37)

The link below is an excerpt from, “The Tennessee antislavery movement and the market revolution, 1815-1835.” I’ve copied some of the highlights.

“The activists’ faith in republican egalitarianism translated into faith in the republican political process. “The great and benevolent object which we have in view,” proclaimed the Tennessee Manumission Society in 1822, “is only to be attained by the consent of a majority of the members of our civil government” and “by a gradual reform of our laws.” (18) “WE MUST VOTE THEM DOWN,” Lundy likewise said of slaveholders”

“Meanwhile, the Panic 011819 sparked another important change in Tennessee. Out of the turmoil arose over a decade’s worth of popular demands for the increased political empowerment of common white men.”

“Far from the last gasp of a discredited movement, Tennessee antislavery activity of the 1830s was undergoing a renaissance. That renaissance drew on nonslaveholders’ fears that the emerging planter elite was establishing undemocratic control over the state’s political and economic life, and those fears would play an important role in Tennessee politics long after 1834.”

http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-5467388/The-Tennessee-antislavery-movement-and.html

From everything I’ve read over the years, my conclusion is that if more clear thinking and less emotion had been employed, by both sides, Bleeding Kansas never would have happened. The War never would have happened.

I think the anti-slavery Southerners views were a mix of doing what is right, fear of slave revolts, and they had grown weary of the whole issue of slavery. Many of them wanted the slaves gone.

IMHO, the anti-slavery faction in the South was strong and was gearing up to begin the political process of abolishing slavery (voting the old pro-slavery faction out), when the Garrisionians appeared on the scene. Hysteria was the end result.

The pro-slavery Southerners got their britches in a wad and “rallied the troops”, which included the churches (my what a tangled web we weave...). The Methodist and Baptist churches split in 1845 with both declaring a Southern branch (the ones preaching that slavery is biblical).

Instead of the up-and-coming generation taking things in the direction they were already headed (abolishing slavery), the old power structure retained power by creating as much chaos as the Garrisonians were. The natural passing of power, from one generation to the next, couldn’t happen in this environment.

The link below is about Nashoba, TN. “Nashoba was a short-lived, but internationally famous, utopian community on the present-day site of Germantown in Shelby County. Nashoba was founded in 1826 by Frances Wright, who dreamed of demonstrating a practical and effective alternative to the South’s slave-based agricultural economy. Hardly a trace of the community could be seen by 1830, but Nashoba survives in historical accounts of American utopias.”

http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=N004

I think if the Garrisonians had focused their efforts on transitioning the slaves to freedom, as Ms. Wright did with Nashoba, our history would be much different.

Failure of leadership on both sides.