Final answer:
Abolitionists used moral suasion, emotional appeals, and mass communication to advocate the end of slavery, relying on both moral and political strategies to influence public opinion and policy.
Step-by-step explanation:
Abolitionists attempted to inspire reform and persuade people that slavery was wrong primarily by using moral arguments and emotional appeals to highlight the inhumanity of slavery. They worked tirelessly to change public opinion and policies through avenues such as publishing antislavery newspapers like The Liberator by William Lloyd Garrison, forming antislavery societies, and participating in direct actions to aid runaway slaves.
Additionally, the movement was heavily influenced by the religious zeal of the time, with some abolitionists seeing the effort to end slavery as a divine mission to purge America of a grave sin in anticipation of Christ's return.
While abolitionists did employ a range of tactics, from political maneuvering to legal challenges, the most significant influence was their moral suasion. Their strategy involved not only persuading hearts and minds through arguments about the immorality and inhumanity of slavery but also leveraging the era's social reform mechanisms and mass communication to spread their message.
Some abolitionists, as seen in the later years, did resort to more radical measures, including helping runaway slaves and even violent uprisings, but these were not the norm within the abolitionist movement.