Final answer:
The Graham family's views on slavery varied, from recognizing its moral failing to actively advocating for abolition and women's rights. Northerners and southerners defended their pro- or anti-slavery stances based on differing interpretations of the Constitution and ideas of freedom.
Step-by-step explanation:
Members of the Graham family held differing views on slavery based on their varying experiences and moral perspectives. Anderson, a devout Christian, and Frederick Douglass, who had been enslaved, both wrote narratives that highlighted how slavery could tear families apart and was a moral evil. On the other hand, the Grimké sisters from South Carolina, Sarah Moore Grimké and Angelina Emily Grimké, after witnessing the cruelty of slavery on their family's farm, became prominent antislavery advocates and also fought for women's rights, highlighting similarities between the oppression of slaves and the subjugation of women.
Northerners and southerners in the 1850s defended their positions on slavery with the belief that their economic and political freedoms aligned with their interpretation of the Constitution and the American Revolution's legacy. These perspectives were less about the morality of slavery and more focused on the perceived threat to their freedoms.