Read Part One HERE
In this post I continue to focus on a woman named Angelina Grimke Weld. She lived from 1805-1879.
For a time in Philadelphia, Angelina lived with her widowed sister, Anna Grimke Frost. The younger woman was struck by the lack of options for widowed women, which during this period was mostly limited to remarriage. Generally, women of the upper classes did not work outside the home. Realizing the importance of education, Angelina decided to become a teacher.
Over time she became frustrated by the Quaker community's lack of involvement in the contemporary debate on slavery. She began to read more abolitionist literature. Traditional Quakers disapproved of Angelina's insterest in radical abolitionism but she became steadily more involved in the movement. She began to attend anti-slavery meetings and lectures, and joined the newly organised Philadelphia Female Anto-Slavery Society in 1835.
In 1836 Angelina wrote a pamphlet , "An Appeal to the Christian Women of the South," urging Southern women to petition their state legislatures and church officials to end slavery. It was published by the American Anti-Slavery Society. Scholars consider it a high point of Angelina's socio-political agenda.
Read Part Forty HERE
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