In 1999 I did a small exhibit at Colonial Williamsburg on the early
abolition and anti-slavery movements in Tidewater Virginia & Maryland.
There was public opposition to the slave trade (this is what "abolition"
meant before about 1830), but,as Paul Finkelman notes, the discomfort with
slavery was usually expressed privately or, if publicly, in a quiet way.

In the exhibit I included, among other things, a book of silhouettes of
Quakers, abolitionist and anti-slavery tokens used as fundraisers, the
abolitionist and anti-slavery textiles sold to raise money for the cause,
and a wonderful and large early 19th century English creamware jug with 3
abolitionist/anti-slavery transfer prints that illustrated how the movement
became commercialized.

But I did not find any signifcant opposition to slavery in Virginia until
the 2nd quarter of the 19th century.

Martha Katz-Hyman
Independent Curator

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