In the history of American reformers, a dozen valuable people stand out above the rest: the valiant and competent Harriet Tubman, the zealous and cognitive Frederick Douglass, and the flaming and extreme William Lloyd Garrison.  ,
While these titles undoubtedly merit their special area, a figure who, despite being relatively unknown now, was so crucial to the success of the anarchist activity that he was frequently called” the father of abolitionism.” Reverend John Rankin was the gentleman that was responsible.  ,
As Caleb Franz reveals in his new book, The Conductor: The Story of Rev. John Rankin, Abolitionism’s Essential Founding Father, Rankin risked everything he had to shepherds thousands of slaves to liberty, and he helped guide to the abolition of slavery itself through his open campaigning. In this firmly written, delicate, and gripping tale, Franz resurrects the tale of one of literature’s most unsung heroes.  ,
On the surface, Rankin seemed to be an ordinary person, but his simplicity veiled a net of intricate opposites. He rose to lead one of the most dangerous and traveled traces of the Underground Railroad as a mild-mannered, West African community gentleman who abhorred crime. A doctrinally traditional Presbyterian minister who loved his religion, his family, and America, Rankin’s anti-slavery anger helped to break up his religion, his country, and almost his family also.  ,
Despite these major fractures, Rankin remained ultimately liberal. Rankin fought to protect institutions and relationships while removing slavery’s wicked stench, as opposed to other abolitionists who were willing to destroy personal relationships and institutions they thought were socially harmed.  ,
Earlier on, Rankin was tested. He began criticizing slavery from the church in Kentucky when he was ordained in his early 20s, immediately piqueing the outrage of slave owners and sympathizers. More than bow to social force, he chose to head north to Ripley, Ohio, hoping to find a group that was more accepting of his information.
However, it also meant leaving his kids behind. Franz describes how Rankin’s parents led him down the road, wiping out unheard grief, knowing that this might be their last chance to meet.  ,
Slavery may harm his mother’s unity once when Rankin discovered that his nephew Thomas, who was still living in the Rankin mom’s house position of Virginia, purchased prisoners. The announcement broke John’s center. However, John Rankin saw an opportunity to earn his brother up as well as expose the evils of slavery rather than furiously despise his brother.  ,
In 1824, Rankin sent a number of characters to Thomas and published them in a regional paper. He told his brother that he cherished him and that he longed to see him freed from “what is both sinful and dangerous” ( what he called sin ) in his heart. He then went on to demonstrate to his readers that the most popular modern pro-slavery arguments were doctrinally thin, naturally self-refuting, and medically absurd.  ,
Eventually, Rankin’s Letters on National Slavery were published as a guide and circulated throughout the nation, causing uproar and inspiring many others to add the abolitionist movement. Garrison attributed his personal transformation to immediate emancipation to Rankin’s Letters, usually referring to Rankin as “my anti-slavery parents”.
Garrison would go on to rage against Southern tyranny, advocating for Northern secession, and once burned a copy of the Constitution, calling it a” covenant with death”.
Rankin was far more conciliatory. Because he was raised in the South and still had many friends and family there, he could not see Southerners as his enemies, no matter how far they had strayed from the truth. No one has kinder feelings toward the slave-holding States than I do, Rankin said at the American Anti-Slavery Society convention.  ,
It pained Rankin to see his southern brethren led astray by the institution of slavery, Franz writes. They were n’t evil as much as they were lost, in need of someone to show them the light”. Garrison’s call for the free states to secede from the Union was simply unsupported by rankin.  ,
Rankin did, however, reluctantly support disunion within his denomination. According to Franz,” He characterized church secession as sinful and in blatant rebellion of the example of Christ.” Rankin believed that secession would expose the nation to unmatched levels of vice and immorality. Still, tolerating slavery was even worse than schism. Rankin contributed greatly to the formation of the Free Presbyterian Church, which forbade any members who were slaveowners from joining.  ,
Despite praising his Southern brethren, Rankin never resisted assisting slaves in breaking free from Southern bond. Black slaves were created in the same way as free whites were, so they also deserved their freedom, even if they had to” steal” themselves. Despite always being a cautious man, Rankin never traveled as far as Harriet Tubman did to Southern plantations to free slaves, but he eagerly assisted in passing more than 2, 000 runaways through his home, making him one of the most active conductors on the Underground Railroad.
Unfortunately, as more slaves ran away, political conflict over slavery only became worse, eventually leading to a bloody civil war. His Southern homeland was devastated by the war that he indirectly contributed to.  ,
Much to his satisfaction, Rankin lived to see the reunification of the country, the legal abolition of slavery, and the healing of the Presbyterian schism in Ripley. His life’s work complete, Rankin spent his last remaining years quietly with his family. There are few physical reminders of Rankin’s legacy today, aside from a plain and unassuming monument over his grave.
Nearly 140 years after his death, Franz has given us a new monument: a biography truly worthy of its subject. As he expertly weaves together original research and historical background, Franz’s scholarship is top-tier, but he also tells his story with incredible pathos. A typical, conservative man who accomplished extraordinary things is the subject of The Conductor.  ,
Young Voices has contributor Tyler Curtis.