The abolitionists fought for the eradication of slavery through public speaking, writing, and political activism, which helped to raise awareness for and bring attention to the cause. The abolition movement addressed one of the most fundamental flaws in American society, and their activism contributed to the Civil War, and eventually the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States.

The Abolition movement was extremely controversial in its time, as the modern movement is today. The issue was debated heavily in the news, in papers, and on the street. A radical anti-slavery newspaper called The Liberator argued for immediate emancipation, while Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debated slavery as an American institution. These debates seeded intense national division, pitting citizens against each other. The abolition movement, and the Civil War that it laid the groundwork for, was a fight for freedom in the United States, but it sparked emancipation movements across the world..