As differences increased between the regions, conflicts arose between people in the north and south. Over time, these conflicts, especially over slavery, got more and more intense. Evolutionists believed slavery should be ended, or abolished. The Abolitionist Movement gathered strength from the religious attitudes of the Second Great Awakening. They wrote letters to newspapers and made speeches, trying to outlaw slavery. Some abolitionists helped on the Underground Railroad.
Elihu Embree was an early Tennessee voice for abolition. As a young man he was a slave owner. But at age 30, he became a strong anti-slavery advocate.
In April 1820, he started publishing The Emancipator. It was the first publication in the United States that was solely about the anti-slavery cause. In his publication he called slaveholders, "monsters in human flesh."
He repeatedly argued in the newspaper that slavery is a shame to any people. Unfortunately, he died young, but he remains known as a fierce abolitionist fighter.
William Lloyd Garrison was an abolitionist, reformer, and a newspaper publisher from New York. He was very outspoken and often got into trouble. He was even sent to prison for calling a slave trader a robber. He spoke at abolitionist meetings around the country, and many consider him one of the more radical anti-slavery advocates. In 1831, Garrison started the liberator, an anti-slavery newspaper. He published the newspaper for 35 years. He fought for the end to slavery and supported Lincoln through the Civil War. After the war, Garrison worked for other reform movements, including advocating the right of women to vote.