Angelina Grimk'e Like Jackson example essay topic

The fourteenth and final child was born to Judge and Mrs. Grimk'e on February 20, 1805. Little did they know what their baby girl would have accomplished by her death. As a matter of fact, one might not even begin to imagine that Angelina Grimk'e, along with her sister Sarah, would have anything to do with equal rights for the African American population or women. This was due to the fact that Angelina was brought up surrounded by hundreds of slaves owned by her father, who was a strong advocate of slavery as well as the subordination of women. He even went so far as to forbid his daughters to read. (web).

In 1829, after the death of her father, Angelina joined her sister in Philadelphia, converting to the Quaker faith. That very same year, Angelina wrote a letter to William Lloyd Garrison, the editor of his own newspaper, concerning the issue of slavery. He printed this letter without her knowledge. Immediately, Angelina and her sister were reprimanded by their Quaker Society where they were given the option to either apologize for their actions and be re accepted by their newfound family, or to continue in the path of leading a women's rights movement. They decided to give up their newfound home and pursue their cause. In 1836, Angelina published her first work entitles Appeal to the Christian Women of the South.

This was a piece of propaganda used to persuade southern women to join the abolitionist movement for women and blacks. Needless to say, Angelina caused controversy throughout the nation, and only put gasoline on the fire when she published Appeal to the Women of the Nominally Free States for the same purpose. When Angelina and Sarah went on tour to Congregationalist churches in the north east in 1837, they had made history. They were officially the first women to publicly speak out against slavery. The Grimk'e sisters were not warmly welcomed in many places, and as a matter of fact, they were ridiculed, many a time by authors such as Catherine Beecher (daughter of Harriet Beecher Stowe) in which Angelina responded in a series of letters to her later published. The sisters were also denounced by Congregationalist ministers.

Finally, Angelina wrote a series of letters to the President of the abolitionist society, which too, was published under the title, Letters on the Equality of the Sexes, which defended the right of women to speak on a public platform. In 1838, Angelina Grimk'e married feminist and abolitionist by the name of Theodore Weld, which eventually caused her to retire from the public life, for she raised three children while still continuing her pursuits privately. Also, she and Sarah opened a boarding school for a short time where great abolitionists, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, sent their children. Angelina Grimk'e died in 1879.

From 1829 through 1837, Andrew Jackson held the reigns of America. According to many, he was an evil man who used trickery to gain ends. On the other hand, he was the first "common man" to become president. Here lies the dilemma. Did Angelina Grimk'e like Jackson or not? Unfortunately, there is no straight answer to this inquiry.

Grimk'e's career started out speaking out against slavery. The man in question advocated slavery, for her owned many of them himself. Another reason that Grimk'e might dislike Jackson is for the simple reason that he did not pass any legislation to help her cause again slavery or her cause for equal rights for women. He was too busy passing Indian Removal Acts, abusing other cultures, instead. On the other hand, Jackson did not do anything to stop Angelina from speaking out against slavery or equity for women.

In a way, by not stopping Angelina Grimk'e from doing what she did, Jackson helped jump start the women's rights movement. During the reign of no other president did women speak out against anything, let alone issues so controversial. By the end of his presidency in 1838, the movement has really gotten ahead. Although on one hand, Jackson was the type of person that Angelina Grimk'e would have hated for his treatment of human, however she couldn't blame him for not allowing her to speak out for what she believed, thus making her an icon in American history..