The pastoral letters, meant to crack down on the Grimké sisters’ activities, had the opposite effect. The Grimkés continued to grow in popularity, and their letters on women’s rights were among the first to ever be published in the world. In February 1838, Angelina was invited to Boston to address the Massachusetts legislature; the first time a woman would ever address a legislative body in the country. Fearing the backlash against the anti-slavery cause as the issue of women’s rights gained popularity, Theodore Weld wrote to Angelina, saying she should focus exclusively on anti-slavery. The differences of opinion held by Angelina and Theodore would put a strain on their romantic relationship, but in May 1848, they were married.
The women abolitionists give a talk at Pennsylvania Hall, in downtown Philadelphia. In the middle of Angelina’s talk, an angry mob breaks out, and the next night, Pennsylvania Hall is set ablaze.
Standards
- 5-4 The student will demonstrate an understanding of American economic challenges in the 1920s and 1930s and world conflict in the 1940s.
- 8-5 The student will understand the impact of Reconstruction, industrialization, and Progressivism on society and politics in South Carolina in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
- USHC-4 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the industrial development and the consequences of that development on society and politics during the second half of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries.