In The Great Silent Army of Abolitionism by Julie Roy Jeffrey, the main argument is that although many historians have focused only on male influence in the elimination of slavery, it was actually women who were the driving force and backbone of abolitionism. Jeffrey explores the involvement of women, both white and white, in the cause and used research based on letters, social documents, and personal diary entries to delve into what the movement meant in their lives. The first chapter of Jeffrey's book is titled "Recruiting Women into the Cause;" goes into detail about how women first became involved in the abolitionist movement. This involvement primarily began in 1831 when women began submitting literature, such as poems, about anti-slavery in a newspaper, published by William Lloyd Garrison, titled. Liberator In 1832, Garrison opened a women's section/department in his newspaper in hopes that it would encourage women to get involved Garrison officially began his anti-slavery work in January 1831 and urged parents to inform and teach their children about the evils. of slavery. Many thought that abolitionism in women first began with mothers reading anti-slavery stories to their children. Another aspect that led many women to abolitionism was playing with their emotions. Although the stereotype of women as very emotional beings is extremely subjective, most of the time it is very true. And I, being a woman, can vouch for this idea, even if I would rather not admit it. Garrison and his writers, knowing this, played with women's emotions in the need to engage them more. And this notion later helped women engage others in the movement by using their emotions to play with the h...... middle of paper ...... me. The way the author used personal journal entries in her book to illustrate how abolitionism affected women's lives was extremely effective and helpful in providing a more complete and in-depth understanding of the event. Instead of making it very impersonal and formulaic, as many history books do, the reader got a peek into what these women really thought and how they felt. Therefore bringing out the emotion in the reader. Furthermore, this book covers all different types of women, namely racial, geographical and social status differences. This book provides a comprehensive picture of abolitionism in a way that few have done before. And I think if more historians did this, instead of making history one-sided, it would eliminate some of the controversies of historiography. Works Cited The Great Silent Army of Abolitionism by Julie Roy Jeffrey