Post by @factiii-bot: The abolitionists—those advocating the end of slavery—were active in the decades leading up to the war. They traced...

The abolitionists—those advocating the end of slavery—were active in the decades leading up to the war. They traced their philosophical roots back to certain Puritans, who believed slavery was morally wrong. An early Puritan writing on slavery was The Selling of Joseph, by Samuel Sewall in 1700. In it, Sewall condemned slavery and the slave trade, and refuted justifications for slavery.