Abolition of Slavery

Have you ever felt that something was just not fair? Imagine a world where some people were not allowed to choose where they lived, what they did, or even who their family was. For a very long time, some people thought it was okay to own other people, like you might own a toy. It was a sad and heavy feeling that covered parts of the world. But even in the quietest, darkest moments, a little whisper of an idea was always there. It was the idea that every single person is important and that everyone should be in charge of their own life. This idea believed that a person’s heart, mind, and body belong only to them. That powerful, hopeful idea is me. My name is Abolition, and I am the belief that every person deserves to be free.

For many years, the practice of slavery was common in many places, and my voice was just a tiny hum that only a few people could hear. But I never gave up. I found a home in the hearts of brave people who knew that treating others unfairly was wrong. Some of the very first people to speak my name out loud in America were a group called the Quakers. In Pennsylvania, all the way back in 1688, they declared that slavery was wrong and that everyone should be treated with kindness. As time went on, my voice grew from a whisper to a shout. My idea traveled across oceans, and in 1833, the British Empire listened and passed the Slavery Abolition Act, freeing many people. My biggest fight, however, was in America. I found my heroes there. A woman named Harriet Tubman was one of my champions. She bravely led hundreds of people to freedom, following the stars in the night sky. A man named Frederick Douglass, who had once been enslaved himself, used his powerful voice and smart words to tell everyone why I was so important. He made people listen. Finally, a president named Abraham Lincoln heard my call. On January 1st, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, a very important announcement that declared millions of people free. A few years later, on December 6th, 1865, the whole country made a forever promise called the Thirteenth Amendment, writing me into the rules of the land so that slavery would be against the law forever.

My work did not stop after one law was passed or in just one country. My spirit of freedom and fairness continued to travel all around the globe. I inspired people from many different nations to come together and agree on something wonderful. In 1948, they wrote down a list of promises to each other called the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It says that every single person in the world is born free and equal, no matter what they look like or where they are from. I am that promise, and I am still alive today. You can find me in every act of kindness you see, in every person who stands up for someone who is being treated unfairly, and in every voice that speaks up for those who cannot speak for themselves. I am the happy, hopeful feeling that reminds us all that freedom is for everyone, and it is our important job to protect it for each other, always.