Abolition
March 4, 1861
Lincoln's Inauguration Day!
Frances Willard’s parents, Josiah Willard and Mary Thompson Hill Willard, were proud supporters of Abraham Lincoln. They expressed their support for his abolitionist message and his ultimate presidency. At the age of twenty-one, Frances Willard saw the election of President Lincoln, celebrating his plans for social and political changes on a national scale.
This journal segment highlights Willard’s anticipation for Lincoln’s presidency. The only entry that she wrote in her journal for the day quickly and urgently expressed her excitement for Lincoln’s inauguration in the spring of 1861. At this time in her life, Willard was in the early moments of her career, becoming increasingly involved in the political activities in the Chicago area. Her growing political activities allowed Willard to expand upon the early beliefs of her parents, and develop her role as a social and political figure.
Lincoln’s presidency remained the first major political event in which Willard participated. Even though women had not achieved the right to suffrage at this time, women certainly exercised their political influence in other ways. Willard’s political activities as a young teacher and eventually as a leader in the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union provided the space for Willard and other women to engage in politics, even without the legal right to vote.
January 3, 1865
Ours is a wonderful land. [We do not wait for centuries to crossed out] Here [Go Heaven crossed out] We dos [?] not wait for centuries [to bring crossed out] before deliverance comes, [Intemp crossed out] but the right-thinking masses of the people when roused to vigorous endeavor, move shoulder to shoulder, carrying all before them, & achieve whatever they will. Surely nobody ever thought intemperance right who thought slavery wrong. As a nation we have frowned [?] & fought & followed slavery until it is dead. A triumphant shout of victory & gratitude [rends crossed out] has gone up to Him in whose image man is made, as we have proved ourselves a freedom loving people-giving to all what long ago we falsely claimed to give "the right of life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness."
Frances Willard’s devotion to religion largely inspired her support for abolition. Her Methodist faith forced her to consider the evils of slavery and the importance of using her understanding of religion in the effort to end the national institution. As Willard grew older and became more politically active, her broad interpretation of social reform included the end of slavery in the United States.
Despite her conflicts with other social and political reformers later in her career, Frances Willard remained committed to her religious belief in the evils of slavery. Later, social activists such as Ida B. Wells criticized Frances Willard for her seemingly undevoted considerations for African American women. Willard’s focus on Black Americans extended through abolition, where later generations of acvitists highlighted the importance of socio-political reforms for Black Americans after slavery. National activism later focused more heavily on race and class, while Willard remained committed to her messages of temperance and women’s suffrage.
In this journal entry, Willard expressed her excitement for the nation’s abolition of slavery. She even connected the fight to end slavery to her fight for temperance, stating, “Surely nobody ever thought intemperance right who through slavery wrong.” Her religious view of social and political reform provided Willard’s framework for her writings on the intersection of abolition and temperance. Though not the main theme of her legacy, Frances Willard’s early position on the institution of slavery influenced her approach to social reform in other areas of society.
For more information on Frances Willard and Ida B. Wells, visit Truth Telling: Frances Willard and Ida B. Wells.