DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR VOLUME ONE
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Given the fact that Nancy was considered Henry’s “property” as a slave and had no legal rights, do you think her relationship to Henry was consensual? Do you believe it would have been possible for a master and slave to have a consensual, affectionate relationship, given the circumstances in 1840s South Carolina?
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How would you describe the relationship between Sarah and Angelina in Volume I?
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Do you think Sarah will regret decision her decision not to marry Israel Morris?
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How did Sarah and Angelina’s years with the Quakers in Pennsylvania shape their lives? Did the two sisters react to those years differently? Did that period have any value for them?
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The “Free Produce Stores” were intended to give people an option to buy non-slave produced goods and also to discourage the trade in slave goods from the South. Boycotting or offering alternatives to buying goods that violate human rights is also a contemporary way of protesting those violations. Do you think such actions achieve those goals? What do you think of providing such alternatives?
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What role did the Douglass and Forten women play in shaping Angelina’s and Sarah’s views during their time in Philadelphia and later in life as well? How did they view the “colonization” movement?
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What led Sarah to embrace the path to abolitionism that her sister was embarking on? What had held her back?
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Do you think Sarah and Angelina’s initial reluctance about speaking publicly to larger groups of women was understandable? What were their concerns? How did that change? Did you find their speaking compelling?
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What was your initial impression of Theodore Weld? What were his strengths and weaknesses? Were he and Angelina a good match?
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What did you think of the fate of Nancy and her boys after their father’s death? Could Henry have done more to protect their futures?
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What did you think about the boys different stories of escape from Montagues’s household and how they survived the Civil War? What was their relationship like?
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What led Sarah to write her Letters on the Equality of the Sexes and Angelina to write her response to Catherine Beecher?
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The sisters were deeply wounded by the response of their male abolitionist colleagues, including Theodore, to their writing and speaking on women’s rights? What was the men’s main objection? Do you think their concerns were justified? How did this issue affect the abolitionist movement after 1838?
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What is your opinion of the abolitionist women and men that were Angelina and Sarah’s colleagues? How similar and different were they from each other?
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What did John Quincy Adams mean when he told Angelina that If slavery was to be abolished, “The women must do it.” Do you think it was true?
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Theodore wrote to Sarah urging her to defer to Angelina’s speaking and not speak herself, because he heard that Angelina’s speaking was more popular and emotionally effective. Do you think Theodore was justified in writing that to her? How did it affect Sarah?
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What did you think of Angelina and Theodore’s domestic arrangements and their decision to have Sarah continue to live with them?
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Some of the women abolitionists believed that Theodore was the obstacle to the sisters’ returning to public life. What do you think?
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The burning of Pennsylvania Hall was a turning point in the abolitionist movement, and it coincided with Theodore and Angelina’s marriage and the sisters’ retirement from public speaking. What forces were at work that led to the burning of the Hall and to the changes in the abolitionist movement?
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Despite their “retirement” the sisters were major contributors to American Slavery as it Is (although it was long attributed only to Theodore). What was the effect of this book on the anti-slavery movement? (In Volume II we learn that it sold over 100,000 copies in the first year.)
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In the final chapter, Sarah Douglass comes to visit the sisters. What did you think of her description of the challenges of life and travel for free African Americans in the 1840s? How much do you think that has changed, or has it?
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Sarah reflects on Angelina’s pregnancy and what will come next. How do you think this will affect the sisters, their relationship, and their public careers?
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What role does Nancy play in her sons’ lives? She was sometimes described as “fierce” and the boys later said she did not tolerate any obscenities, use of strong drink, or other “immoral behavior” from her sons, despite the fact that these influences were all around them. How did the boys feel about her? Why was she willing to let them go to the North?
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Do you think Theodore was right to go to Washington DC to support Adams’ speaking out against slavery, even though it meant hardship for Angelina and Sarah at home? Why do you think Sarah agreed to his going?
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What contributed to Archie and Frank’s ultimate success at Lincoln University. What factors do you think mattered the most?
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What led to the rupture between Angelina and Sarah. Do you feel like one or other of them was more at fault? How did each of them deal with it?
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Several times the sisters are involved in intellectual conversations/explorations with friends and with each other. What was your impression of their intellectual and spiritual journeys during these times, and over the course of their lifetimes?
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How does Sarah manage on her own? Should she have returned to the family? Why or why not? Was the reconciliation between the sisters believable? Enduring?
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Gatty’s speech at Eaglewood’s July 4th celebration discusses the reason for the Civil War. What point does he make?
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Charley objects to army recruitment for the Civil War at Harvard. Does this have any echoes in modern times? What is his objection, and do you think it was justified? How do his parents react?
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Why is Angelina so upset when she suspects that Archie and Frank may be her nephews? Does she have mixed reasons for her feelings? What helps her feelings change?
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What did you think of Theodore’s, Angelina’s and Sarah’s respective responses to their young nephews? Did their attitudes seem condescending, or patronizing, or were they wholeheartedly welcoming? Did you see evidence of “unconscious bias” in their interactions?
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The “mock vote” of women that was staged in Hyde Park preceded women’s suffrage by over 40 years. Did it seem like a fruitless act to you – an “empty gesture” - or was it meaningful?
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At the end of Sarah’s and Angelina’s lives, do you think they felt at peace with who they were and what they had achieved?
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Archie begins his academic and professional life in Boston on a high note, seeming to make friends among both colored and white classmates and acquaintance. What did you think of his relationship with Nelly Bradford?
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The second half of this volume is lived in the shadow of the failure of Reconstruction, of disenfranchisement, lynchings, and the institution of Jim Crow laws in both the South and the North. How does this affect Frank and Archie’s lives and careers? What dilemma did African Americans face in their choice between Democrats and Republicans at the time?
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The story of Archie’s marriage to Sarah Stanley and the birth of their daughter, Angelina Weld Grimké, is one of heartbreak and tragic loss. It seems to start out well. What do you think was the cause of the failure of their marriage?
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What did you think of Frank and Charlotte’s romance and marriage, given that Charlotte is nearly fourteen years older than Frank?
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The issue of interracial marriage arises several times in this novel. What were Frank’s and Archie’s attitudes towards it?
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When Nana (Angelina W Grimke) leaves Detroit at age seven to join her father, she is destined never to see her mother again. How do you think this affects her life?
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By the time she is fifteen Nana seems to be struggling with her sexual identity. Is this ever resolved? Why or why not? How does her family’s attitude affect her and the rest of her life?
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What is your assessment of Theodore Weld at the conclusion of his life?
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What was the main issue of contention between the Booker T Washington faction and the W.E.B. Du Bois faction of the African American community? Which position did Archie and Frank tend to favor and why? How was it ultimately resolved?
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In his speeches during this period, Frank is deeply affected by the stories of those who have come from the Jim Crow South. What is his answer to the question of “meek or strong”? He says, “a race that permits itself to be trampled on…that goes around…in a cringing attitude, is sure to be an object of contempt.” What do you think of his stance?
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How would you describe Nana’s personality as a young adult? How does the serious injury from a train accident affect her?
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What do you think of Nana’s play suggesting that African American women might refrain from bearing children for fear of bringing a child into a world that slights and abuses them.
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In the final chapter, Nana questions participating In the Women’s March because it is organized by white women and discriminates against the black women who wish to take part. The novel suggests that she and her friends and family did choose to participate, although there is no clear historical evidence that they did so. What were the pros and cons of such participation? What would you have done?