Frank Jenkins, age 15, of Huntsville, Ala., for his question:

WHO WERE THE ABOLITIONISTS?

Abolitionist was a term used during the 1800s for a person who wanted to abolish slavery. In the United States, anti slavery protests started during Colonial days. The Quakers in Pennsylvania were among the first to condemn slavery on moral grounds.

During the 1800s, the abolitionist movement gradually spread throughout, the Northern states, despite bitter and violent opposition by some slave holders. In 1840, anti slavery forces formed the Liberty Party, but after 1854 most abolitionists supported the Republican Party.

When the Civil War began, in 1861, abolitionists rallied to the

`Union cause. They rejoiced when President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, declaring the slaves free in many parts of the South. In 1865, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery throughout the country.