--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The success of the abolitionist movement…" description: "\"The success of the abolitionist movement lay in its making real for people in Britain and America the slave ship's pervasive and utterly instrumental t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3da/marcus-rediker-82332_abolitionist_the-success-of-the-abolitionist-movement_1596760.png" --- # The success of the abolitionist movement lay in its making… ![“The success of the abolitionist movement lay in its making real for people in Britain and America the slave ship's pervasive and utterly instrumental terror, which was indeed its defining feature.” quote by Marcus Rediker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3da/marcus-rediker-82332_abolitionist_the-success-of-the-abolitionist-movement_1596760.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3da/marcus-rediker-82332_abolitionist_the-success-of-the-abolitionist-movement_1596760.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3da/marcus-rediker-82332_abolitionist_the-success-of-the-abolitionist-movement_1596760.png) > “The success of the abolitionist movement lay in its making real for people in Britain and America the slave ship's pervasive and utterly instrumental terror, which was indeed its defining feature.” [Marcus Rediker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-rediker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The abolitionist movement succeeded by exposing the brutal reality of slavery, making it undeniable. **In simple terms:** Revealing horror mobilized public opposition. Key Takeaway Expose injustice to inspire change. Themes humanitarianism historical truth social movements Mood somber determined Type historical activist When to use this quote - education campaigns - museum exhibits - media storytelling - policy advocacy Key Concepts moral outrage public awareness political pressure Questions to Reflect On - What modern injustices need similar exposure? - How can history inform current activism? A Different Perspective Exposure alone may not sustain momentum; follow‑up actions needed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abolitionist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abolitionist/) [Abolitionist Movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abolitionist-movement-213917/) [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [America Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america-slave-6063893/) [Britain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/britain/) [Britain and america](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/britain-and-america-24447/) [Defining](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defining/) [Empathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empathy/) [Features](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/features/) [Lays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lays/) [Movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movement/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Ships](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ships/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) [Slave Ship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave-ship-1739504/) [Slave ships](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave-ships/) [Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Success Abolitionist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success-abolitionist-6063892/) [Terror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terror/) ## Related quotes > [The first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast was the sea, and a slave ship, which was then riding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olaudah-equiano/the-first-object-which-saluted-my-eyes-when-i-arrived-on-the-coast/) [Olaudah Equiano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olaudah-equiano/) > [Nobody had ever instructed him that a slave-ship, with a procession of expectant sharks in its wake, is a missionary institution, by which closely-packed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/nobody-had-ever-instructed-him-that-a-slave-ship-with-a-procession-of/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [It's time for Black people to stop playing the separating game of geography, of where the slave ship put us down. We must concentrate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/it-s-time-for-black-people-to-stop-playing-the-separating-game-of/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [I have a work presently in the Press named 'Six Months in Hell' which you may one day read. I consider it will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-mckittrick-ros/i-have-a-work-presently-in-the-press-named-six-months-in-hell-which/) [Amanda McKittrick Ros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-mckittrick-ros/) > [The days of Britain and America intervening in sovereign countries in an attempt to remake the world in our own image are over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theresa-may/the-days-of-britain-and-america-intervening-in-sovereign-countries-in/) [Theresa May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theresa-may/) > [“A slave ship of the skies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gucci-mane/a-slave-ship-of-the-skies/) [Gucci Mane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gucci-mane/) > [We were a Western civilisation, an English speaking civilisation, both NZ and Australia, and we had all these influences coming from both Great Britain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-o-brien/we-were-a-western-civilisation-an-english-speaking-civilisation-both/) [Richard O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-o-brien/) > [And one of the challenges, of course, is to convince people that Muslims would like to be free, that there's other people other than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/and-one-of-the-challenges-of-course-is-to-convince-people-that/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [Not surprisingly, extensive effort in Britain and America goes into finding tax shelter. the system is "efficient" for the shelter industry, not for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kuttner/not-surprisingly-extensive-effort-in-britain-and-america-goes-into/) [Robert Kuttner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kuttner/) > [The colleges of Edinburgh and Geneva as seminaries of science, are considered as the two eyes of Europe. While Great Britain and America give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-colleges-of-edinburgh-and-geneva-as-seminaries-of-science-are/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [from the slave ship to the citizenship we faced a lot of bullship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amiri-baraka/from-the-slave-ship-to-the-citizenship-we-faced-a-lot-of-bullship/) [Amiri Baraka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amiri-baraka/) > [“How many movements began when an aesthetic encounter indelibly changed our past perceptions of the world? It was an abolitionist’s print, not logical argument,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lewis/how-many-movements-began-when-an-aesthetic-encounter-indelibly/) [Sarah Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lewis/) > [Enslaving each other was what human beings had done for ages. And the abolitionist movement was greeted with incredulity. Conservative spokesmen ridiculed the abolitionists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/enslaving-each-other-was-what-human-beings-had-done-for-ages-and-the/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [“Most striking, however, was the position taken in the 1840s by William Lloyd Garrison and his wing of the abolitionist movement. The Garrisonians had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-e-fehrenbacher/most-striking-however-was-the-position-taken-in-the-1840s-by-william/) [Don E. Fehrenbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-e-fehrenbacher/) > [It’s time for a 21st-century abolitionist movement in the U.S and around the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/it-s-time-for-a-21st-century-abolitionist-movement-in-the-u-s-and/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) ## More by Marcus Rediker > [“why he and his fellow freebooters fought Colonel William Rhett and the vessels sent by the government against them. Bayley probably brought a roar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-rediker/why-he-and-his-fellow-freebooters-fought-colonel-william-rhett-and/) [Marcus Rediker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-rediker/) > [“Job Bayley, facing death for piracy in a Charleston courtroom in 1718, was asked by the attorney general of South Carolina why he and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-rediker/job-bayley-facing-death-for-piracy-in-a-charleston-courtroom-in-1718/) [Marcus Rediker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-rediker/) [Explore all 3 Marcus Rediker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-rediker/) ## More Abolitionist quotes > [Nowhere is wisdom more necessary than in the guidance of charitable impulses. Meaning well is only half our duty; Thinking right is the other,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-gridley-howe/nowhere-is-wisdom-more-necessary-than-in-the-guidance-of-charitable/) [Samuel Gridley Howe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-gridley-howe/) > [“I am aware that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-lloyd-garrison/i-am-aware-that-many-object-to-the-severity-of-my-language-but-is/) [William Lloyd Garrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lloyd-garrison/) > [“That was when I realized we weren’t born to be slaves. It was ignorant for any man to think he could be the master…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-grewal/that-was-when-i-realized-we-weren-t-born-to-be-slaves-it-was-ignorant/) [Jay Grewal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-grewal/) > [I feel safe even in the midst of my enemies; for the truth is powerful and will prevail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sojourner-truth/i-feel-safe-even-in-the-midst-of-my-enemies-for-the-truth-is-powerful/) [Sojourner Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sojourner-truth/) > [One of the songs that stayed in my head that I really considered a lot was an old folk song called 'John Brown' -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-tarantino/one-of-the-songs-that-stayed-in-my-head-that-i-really-considered-a/) [Quentin Tarantino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-tarantino/) > [Whether by the House or by the People, if an Abolitionist be chosen President of the United States, you will have presented to you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jefferson-davis/whether-by-the-house-or-by-the-people-if-an-abolitionist-be-chosen/) [Jefferson Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jefferson-davis/) > [Many abolitionists have yet to learn the ABC of woman's rights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-b-anthony/many-abolitionists-have-yet-to-learn-the-abc-of-woman-s-rights/) [Susan B. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-b-anthony/) > [You point out that war is only a symptom of the whole horrid business of human behavior, and cannot be isolated. And that, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/you-point-out-that-war-is-only-a-symptom-of-the-whole-horrid-business/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [It’s time for a 21st-century abolitionist movement in the U.S and around the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/it-s-time-for-a-21st-century-abolitionist-movement-in-the-u-s-and/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [If, while I hear the wild shriek of the slave mother robbed of her little ones, I do not open my mouth, am I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-stone/if-while-i-hear-the-wild-shriek-of-the-slave-mother-robbed-of-her/) [Lucy Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-stone/) > [I was in favour of the death penalty, and disposed to regard abolitionists as people whose hearts were bigger than their heads. Four years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-gowers/i-was-in-favour-of-the-death-penalty-and-disposed-to-regard/) [Ernest Gowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-gowers/) > [There are those who view the abolitionists as just maniacs, apolitical fanatics who helped to cause the war, and Lincoln is the model of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/there-are-those-who-view-the-abolitionists-as-just-maniacs-apolitical/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [In such a condition of affairs, the practical difference between the abolitionist and the sympathizer, to the man who lost his slave and could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sergeant-wise/in-such-a-condition-of-affairs-the-practical-difference-between-the/) [John Sergeant Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sergeant-wise/) > [If I had to write down the most important people in the history of this planet, No.1 would be (abolitionist) John Brown. Why? Because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-gregory/if-i-had-to-write-down-the-most-important-people-in-the-history-of/) [Dick Gregory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-gregory/) > [“These men are all talk. What we need is action—action!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-brown/these-men-are-all-talk-what-we-need-is-action-action/) [John Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-brown/) [Browse all 90 Abolitionist quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abolitionist/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The success of the abolitionist movement lay in its making real for people in Britain and America the slave ship's pervasive and utterly instrumental terror, which was indeed its defining feature.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marcus Rediker" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-rediker/the-success-of-the-abolitionist-movement-lay-in-its-making-real-for/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Abolitionist" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-rediker/the-success-of-the-abolitionist-movement-lay-in-its-making-real-for/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3da/marcus-rediker-82332_abolitionist_the-success-of-the-abolitionist-movement_1596760.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3da/marcus-rediker-82332_abolitionist_the-success-of-the-abolitionist-movement_1596760.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3da/marcus-rediker-82332_abolitionist_the-success-of-the-abolitionist-movement_1596760.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The success of the abolitionist movement lay in its making real for people in Britain and America the slave…” — Marcus Rediker", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Marcus Rediker", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-rediker/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The success of the abolitionist movement...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-rediker/the-success-of-the-abolitionist-movement-lay-in-its-making-real-for/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-rediker/the-success-of-the-abolitionist-movement-lay-in-its-making-real-for/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```