Abby Kelley–Radical Woman
Posted: 23 March 2011 Filed under: Civil Rights, History, News, Observations, Professor's Classroom, Society | Tags: Feminism, Postaday2011, Radicals, Women, Women History, Women's Rights 10 Comments »College of Political Knowledge
Subject: American History/Women’s History
I try to do my part to educate the people on things that they may not think about or realize…..it is March and Women’s History month…..I also try to find people that have contributed to the making of this country and have not been given the respect that they deserve……and Abby Kelley is such a person…….
Abigail (Abby) Kelley was born in 1811 into a strict Quaker family…..being a female her education was that in Quaker schools….after her education was complete, as much as any woman could hope to obtain, she taught school and her road to radical feminism….she lectured and wrote about temperance, pacifism and anti-slavery…..she became more and more progressive while involved with abolitionists, but she not only lectured about freedom for slaves but also a full civil equality…she not only opposed war but also all forms of government coercion, as well as calling for equality for slaves she lead the talk on equality for women……
Her radical abolitionist views continually garnered her recognition as well as hatred even among her male comrades…they especially distanced themselves from her when she began lecturing to “mixed gender” audiences….this promoting many to pull away for her and her endeavors…..she was ridiculed and hated by many within the movement….
In 1838, Kelley began her speaking career and over the years she was criticized over her lectures to men…..she continued to lecture and to be a fundraiser for the cause of anti-slavery up until her death in 1887…her farm in Mass was labeled “Liberty Farm” and was a meeting place for reformers and radicals, as well as a stop on the Underground Railroad, a path for escape slaves to make it to safety and freedom…..she remained a staunch reformer and radical for equal rights for women as well as slaves until her death…
Abby Kelley was a cornerstone of radicalism in the US and she has not gotten as much respect as she deserved….for she played a major roll in the fight for equal rights…she like so many others, deserves more recognition that she has received….we Americans seem to forget that we owe radicals a large thank you for their work…for without them the country would not be the country it is today……
“without them the country would not be the country it is today” - and that’s good?
Whilst I (like you) applaud this woman’s efforts, it doesn’t sound to me (from many of your posts) as if much has actually changed as a result of her radicalism…
Women voting and slavery ending are about the best that we can point to as far as change goes…..you are right…..but I still applaud people of conviction and do not compromise when they are talking about the society and making it better…..(but then we could look at it from a more conserv point and that would change everything)
I agree with you completely – BUT has slavery REALLY ended except in name (or has it actually been expanded to include whites?) and what do the women (or the men for that matter) do with these hard won votes?
I see what you mean….well slaves were free and free to be wage slaves or tenant farmers, which is a form of slavery…but the official sanction of the institution was ended….and women yes you are right…they got the right and pissed it away just like freed slaves did…..but they had the right to freedom and the vote….what they did with it is another act in the theater of the absurd…..
Theatre of the absurd – yes, good description…
Radicals have always been in the forefront of change….but then they trusty the wannabes to carry it forward and they fail EVERY TIME….
I dare say, but then, although radicals by definition are always looking for change, they aren’t necessarily all correct, are they?
No they are not….but at least they are principled….
Thank you so much for this post! I am currently writing in a bit of a niche inside a niche, but I love reading about fearless women.
http://womeninfloridahistory.wordpress.com/
Thanx for stopping by…..I agree this was an amazing woman…..