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When did the abolitionism begin?

In the United States abolitionism, the campaign to prohibit slavery (the buying and selling of Africans for use as forced laborers), gained momentum in the early 1800s. In Great Britain abolitionists had successfully lobbied (influenced public officials) to outlaw slave trade in 1807. The following year, the U.S. government also outlawed the trade, but possession of slaves remained legal and profitable. In the 1830s the campaign to abolish slavery and emancipate (free) slaves became a widespread movement in the United States, triggered by a revival of religion in the North. Abolitionists believed that slavery was morally wrong and violated Christian beliefs. They called for an end to the system, which had become critical to the agricultural economy of the Southern states, where plantations produced cotton, tobacco, and other crops for domestic and international markets.

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