From Pressure Group to Political Party: The Case of the American Anti‐Slavery Society and the Liberty Party*

Abstract

Objective. This study evaluates how the leaders in the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS) either aided or hindered the formation of the Liberty Party, thus building on Bawn et al.'s (2012) theory of political party formation. Methods. Regression models are used to study how the presence of AASS organizations affected Liberty Party voting in the early 1840s. Results. The findings show that AASS organizations had little to no effect on Liberty voting in New England, where AASS leadership was opposed to the idea of a third party, but that a stronger AASS group presence helped the Liberty Party form outside New England, where leaders were more supportive of an anti-slavery third party. Conclusion. Interest groups do matter for the formation of political parties, but this is dependent on the support provided by, or the opposition put up by, group leaders.

Group Presence, Population, and Interest Group Theory: A Case Study of the American Anti‐Slavery Society

“…While support varied across states, the trend was that communities in the North needed to become more settled and urban for organizing on the issue to take place. Second, the ability of the AASS to expand into these communities created a widespread, organized base upon which the anti‐slavery movement could convert from “moral suasion,” whereby activists like Garrison sought to change hearts on the subject of slavery, to a politicized unit, interested in party politics via the Liberty Party (Chamberlain, 2018a, 2018b) and, eventually for some, the Free Soil and Republican parties (see Chamberlain, 2014). In total, the urbanizing society of the North was a boon to abolitionist and anti‐slavery organizing, providing a framework for future political engagement with the issue and shaping the course of American politics in the process.…”

“…Gerrit Smith and other leaders motivated upstate New York AASS members to move toward third‐party action (Friedman, 1980; Strong, 1999) while further west, local leaders latched on to the idea of third‐party action as well (Smith, 1897). In fact, the presence of AASS organizations in a county was a positive, significant predictor of Liberty Party voting in places like Ohio, whereas Liberty Party voting was not tied as closely to AASS organizing in Massachusetts and New England counties, but abolitionist sentiment was much stronger statewide in New England than in the other states (Chamberlain, 2018a).…”

“…The era studied, then, did not change so drastically that the factors predicting group mobilization will shift dramatically during the AASS's existence. Third, and finally, the “moral suasion” approach of Garrison was used by some to shift political opinions (Chamberlain, 2018b); even if Garrison eschewed electoral politics, the AASS significantly affected political discourse (Chamberlain, 2018a).…”

“…May Collection at Cornell University. It should be noted that the person compiling the report stated that the list is likely not complete, but this is not concerning since (a) the list is more expansive than the one presented in the previous year's report (American Anti‐Slavery Society, 1837:123–40), (b) it clearly presents information on those local groups in contact with the national association, and (c) the data have been used effectively in the previous research (Chamberlain, 2018a). Groups that cannot report to the national body are not active members of the federation then, and the goal here is to see where active groups in the federation were present.…”

“…Fifth, the percentage of the population classified as free black is included. Previous research suggests that the racial environment of a county affected the performance of the abolitionist Liberty Party (Chamberlain, 2011), which grew in some locations from the AASS (Chamberlain, 2018a). It is therefore pertinent to study its effect here, as it too could be a driver of more area, in ESA terms, that leads to the presence of AASS groups.…”