The Geography of Anti-Slavery

As a traveling agent, Hudson regularly depended on assistance from others to survive his journeys. He thus needed to keep a record of people who would help him in times of need. From 1839-40, Hudson compiled a journal listing the various philanthropists he encountered on his travels. The map below displays Hudson's descriptions for the people he identified as belonging to the anti-slavery, non-resistance, or temperance movements. The information suggests that Hudson had a few contacts in the urban centers of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, but found most of his allies in the rural hills of northern Connecticut, western Massachusetts, and upstate New York. The map reveals that the anti-slavery movement had an established presence in major cities, but gained most of its support from the countryside.