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… The success or failure of abolitionism must be judged against the broader question, what was
possible? In confronting the most divisive issue in American history, slavery, abolitionism
provided the voice of conscience. It assisted tens of thousands of individual blacks, steered the
nation toward a recognition of universal rights, and was instrumental in embedding those rights
into the Constitution.
Even the “mistakes” of abolitionism had interesting consequences. For example, because male
abolitionists did not fight to include the word “female” in the Thirteenth*, Fourteenth, and
Fifteenth amendments, the women’s rights movement was rekindled in a backlash of anger.…
Source: Wendy McElroy, “The Abolitionist Adventure,” The Independent Institute, July 1, 2003
*The 13th amendment applied equally to females and males.
According to Wendy McElroy, what were two impacts of the abolitionist movement? [2]