Slavery & the abolition movement

The first African slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 to work on plantations. However, it wasn't until the early 1830s that the modern abolition movement emerged in an effort to end slavery in a nation that viewed all men were created equally. The abolitionists condemned slavery on moral grounds while the slave owners wanted to perpetuate it. Over the following decades, the abolitionists strengthened their demands, fueling divisiveness, ultimately leading to Civil War.