Abolitionist Work
The stance Lydia Maria Child took on abolitionism is monumental, like all the other writing she did in her time. After a controversial debut novel on Native American integration, Child published her first best selling novel: Evenings in New England. The book was Child’s first step into casual discussion of significant topics aimed to instruct and inform children on heavy societal topics in society like slavery, history, science, and so on. After a successful run in her career writing for women and women’s rights, Child steps into the world of abolitionist activism. Inspired by her activist husband, Child opened up to a world of writing for change, inspiring many of her most impactful pieces.
Written in 1833, Child’s An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans.1 detailed the horrors of slavery in North America, advocated for the end of slavery, and for free, previously enslaved people to integrate themselves into the cultures around them. The writing reflects her dreams for a multi-racial America, providing educational opportunities for all, commonly referred to as the first novel to appeal to the end of slavery. After this novel, she was shut out by her social groups, those being predominantly white, and her fanbase of women and children dried up. The publishing group Child was associated with failed shortly after The Appeal was published. She continued to write on the topic, though she had lost support, she published The Oasis2 , a collection of stories from enslaved people. The Appeal changed her career, and debatably deferred many people from her work, but its seen as one of the most impactful pieces of literature on anti-slavery in her time.
Child’s Authentic Anecdotes of American Slavery3 is a collection of stories from those who’ve witnessed slavery. Child wrote this book, and the Oasis specifically for a white crowd, in hopes the collection of stories will cultivate a feeling of empathetic humanity for enslaved people. In this novel, she highlights the inhumanity of slavery through these stories, yet the mass majority of people fail to see it as such.
Afterwards, Child wrote her Anti-slavery Catechism.4, a novel debunking myths on slavery, and informs on the horrors of such, notably writing on the Lovery Mansion, a house that revealed severe mistreatment of enslaved people after a fire, destroying the house.
After years of her controversial writing, Child was offered a job from another renowned abolitionist, William Lloyd Garrison. As the manager of the American Anti-Slavery Society, she was asked to be editor of the National Anti-Slavery Standard. After some time with the Society, Child began to distance herself from the abolitionist movement due to controversy with her higher ups. She moved on to compiling Letters from New York.5
Child was fighting for freedom until the end of the civil war, and some of her most impactful works came from this time. She was publishing work constantly in advocacy, such as Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl6, the story of escaped slave woman Harriet Brown, edited by Child about her horrific battle through slavery and sexual assault. From the story rose concerns of sexual mistreatment of enslaved women country-wide. She also wrote her iconic novel Freedman, written to advocate for the equality in education for freed slaves. Sold for only how much it costs, and proceeds went towards furthering the mission.7
From the start, to the end of her career, Child fought for what she saw to be right. This meant almost sacraficing her fanbase to advocate for the abolishment of slavery. In her writings, she sought to bring to light the horrors of slavery. By doing so, she informed a crowd of people who hadn't known of this treatment, and many weren't comfortable with her writing on it. Regardless, Child saw her battle through, and brought to light the need for abolitionism.
1 Child, Lydia Maria. An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans. New York: J. S. Taylor, 1836. Accessed via Harvard University, HathiTrust Digital Library. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.32044011715562.
2 Child, Lydia Maria. “The Oasis. : Child, Lydia Maria Francis, 1802-1880 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive, January 1, 1970. https://archive.org/details/ASPC0008120600.
3 “Authentic Anecdotes of American Slavery : Child, Lydia Maria : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive, January 1, 1970. https://archive.org/details/authenticanecdot00chil_0.
4 “Anti-Slavery Catechism : Child, Lydia Maria, 1802-1880 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive, January 1, 1970. https://archive.org/details/antislaverycatec1839chil.
5 Child, Lydia Maria. Letters from New York. 11th ed. New York: C. S. Francis & Co., 1850. Accessed via Harvard University, HathiTrust Digital Library. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.rsl1ay.
6 “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. : Jacobs, Harriet A. (Harriet Ann), 1813-1897 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive, January 1, 1861. https://archive.org/details/incidentsinlifeo1861jaco.
7 “The Project Gutenberg EBook of the Freedmen’s Book, by L. Maria Child.” Www.gutenberg.org, www.gutenberg.org/files/38479/38479-h/38479-h.htm.
