What divided the abolitionists?

Answer 1

As with any political group such as the abolitionists in the US before the US Civil War, there was, without a doubt one clear issue of disagreement. Most abolitionists were not violent people. In contrast there were some wealthy and middle class Northerners who favored violence in order to free slaves. Thus, despite the raid on Harper's Ferry by radical John Brown, most abolitionists and most Americans did not favor violence. There were wealthy elite types of abolitionists such as the ones in New England who funded John Brown. Somehow they escaped prosecution as Brown left documentation at the farm he bought with funds supplied by the New England group of abolitionists. The documents named names yet they were untouched by law enforcement.