Free Markets or Free People: Amos A. Lawrence and the Limits of the Abolitionist Movement

By Catherine Devlin, Boston University, Boston, MA

Turning points make for appealing narratives. It’s satisfying to be able to point to a moment and say, “There. That’s when it all changed.” Amos Adams Lawrence (1814-1886), Bostonian textile merchant, indulged his inner story-teller when he described such a turning point, a moment of total reinvention, in a letter to his uncle: “We went to bed one night old-fashioned, conservative, Compromise Union Whigs and waked up stark mad abolitionists.”

Issue XContent EditorsMay 4, 2020movement, abolition, racism, slavery, change, ideology, stereotypes, Amos LawrenceComment