Twin Struggles — Against Slavery and For Equality
From the end of the 1834 riots to the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, New York abolitionists — black and white — looked for a winning strategy. Anti-slavery activists concentrated on winning over northern public opinion. They accused slaveholders of violating deeply held American values, including the sanctity of womanhood and freedom of speech and assembly.
Many African Americans abolitionists linked anti-slavery with a campaign for equal access to schooling and public accommodations in the North. Repeatedly they tried and failed to end property requirements imposed only on black voters in New York State.
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