Angelina Grimké Weld

"If a law commands me to sin I will break it; if it calls me to suffer, I will let it take its course unresistingly."
www.nps.gov/wori/learn/historyculture/grimke-sisters.htm.

Angelina Grimké Weld was born in 1805 and was the youngest of fourteen children.  She grew up on a southern plantation in South Carolina. Her father John Facherraud Grimké was a slave owner his whole life and did not believe that his daughters needed an education. Her mother, Mary Smith, also came from an elite family from Charleston society. According to the National Parks service, her sister Sarah, at the age of 12, convinced their parents to let her be the Godmother of Angelina. Angelina's sister, Sarah, converted from Episcopal the religion to Quakerism in 1821, and because of their close relationship, Angelina followed in her sister's footsteps. She believed that God was calling her to advocate for the abolition of slavery and to encourage people to believe in equal rights.  The Quakers were against slavery and their conversion made them outcasts in the South. Angelina and her sister Sarah fought against the injustices of racism, slavery, and sexism. 

Not many women from the South supported antislavery. It was not until Angelina and Sarah moved to Philadelphia that they encountered abolitionists and joined the Female Anti-Slavery Society. This platform led Angelina to lecture about their first-hand experiences of growing up in a slave-owning household. During this time she sent a letter to William Lloyd Garrison, an abolitionist publisher, who posted her letter in his newspaper The Liberator. This is what jumpstarted her career as an abolitionist writer and speaker. Many people thought her writings and speaking out about slavery was unladylike. These comments led her to become interested in women's rights debates. At the time, women had their own societies because it was inappropriate for women to talk or teach in front of a crowd of men. Angelina became the first women to address the Massachusetts state Legislature in February 1828, bringing a petition signed by 20,000 women seeking to end slavery. The National Women's Hall of Fame states that in 1836, Angelina was the first woman to address a legislative body on women's rights and abolition. Her speech made the crowd so angry that they later burned the building to the ground. 

Angeline involvement in abolition and her voice for women helped create a path for others to follow. She stood up for the rights of women to have an education, for employment, to speak out in public and other rights that men had. The video by Eric Foner says "she helped launch the public demand for equality in America".

Through the Anti-Slavery Society, Angelina met her husband, Thomas Weld, who was a leading figure for Garrison's abolitionist group. They then married in 1838. As they got older they both retired from speaking due to health reasons. Angelina's life experiences gave her the knowledge to speak out about the issue of slavery and women's struggles. Her lectures and writings impacted the women's rights by connecting abolitionist to women's suffrage and equality.

Work Cited 

“Grimke Sisters.” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 26 Feb. 2015, www.nps.gov/wori/learn/historyculture/grimke-sisters.htm. 

Debra Michals. “Angelina Grimké Weld.” National Women's History Museum, 2015, www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/angelina-grimke-weld.

        

“Angelina Grimke Quotes.” BrainyQuote, Xplore, www.brainyquote.com/authors/angelina_grimke.     

     

“Weld, Angelina Grimké.” National Women's Hall of Fame, www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/angelina-grimk-weld/.