Did any slave owners ever change to become abolitionists?

A2A. Meet Cassius Marcellus Clay. Born into one of the biggest slave-holding families in Kentucky, he converted to the abolitionist cause and freed his slaves after hearing William Lloyd Garrison speak at Yale University in 1831. He went on to a career in Congress where he worked tirelessly for abolition. read more

He went on to a career in Congress where he worked tirelessly for abolition. Attacked by six pro-slavery men for making an abolitionist speech, he fought them off and killed one with his Bowie knife. During the Civil War he was a strong voice urging Lincoln to proceed with the Emancipation Proclamation. read more

Female abolitionists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott went on to become prominent figures in the women's rights movement. Although abolitionist feelings had been strong during the American Revolution and in the Upper South during the 1820s, the abolitionist movement did not coalesce into a militant crusade until the 1830s. read more

Through the encouragement of Southern slave owners, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, dealing a severe blow to the abolitionist movement. This meant that slave owners and their agents had the legal right to pursue and arrest fugitives anywhere in the United States. There were many abuses to this law; bounty-hunters did not discriminate between free Blacks and runaways, and took them both off to slavery in the South. read more