Personal Narrative: The American Anti-Slavery Society

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My name is Amelia Smith; my association with the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS) wasn’t always great. Struggling to get the attention of other abolitionist groups was what my fellow escaped mill workers and I worked on for long months. The idea of an anti slavery group was quite foreign to us at the beginning of our escape. In fact, I was supportive of slavery while working in the mills. I would want anyone to be doing my exhausting work besides me, but I did not know the truth behind slavery. My travels exposed me to the truth and I soon became a supporter of the Anti-Slavery Society. I was so naïve to the truth but becoming a supporter of anti-slavery groups was beneficial in the development of becoming an abolitionist. At the age of 22 I had already been a mill worker for years. I experienced terrible conditions, nearly fatal accidents and constant abuse and threats from my bosses. The hours at the mill were terrible,…show more content…
We were exposed to slavery and learned about what truly happened during the life of a slave. I was shown the newspaper, The Liberator. This gave me such inspiration and motivated me to support the anti-slavery groups within our nation. Understanding the struggles of African slaves was so eye opening because, even though we were very different, I understood how it was like to be mistreated within the workplace and to be taken advantage of. If women should have equal rights, why shouldn’t slaves? I then heard of the American Anti-Slavery Society. I was so amazed that a group of people came together to end slavery because I thought the whole nation supported slavery. I wanted to contact the society, but I did not know how, so I rushed our trip in order to arrive in New York as soon as possible and find out more about what the American Anti-Slavery Society was doing to get
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