What was the major impact of the abolitionist movement?

For thirty years prior to the Civil War, Abolitionists
worked to fight slavery. The impact they made on United States citizens was one of
raising awareness and eliciting emotion against the use of slaves. For decades, slavery
had been a huge part of the U.S. economy but not everyone agreed that it was morally
acceptable. People in both the North and the South disagreed with the practice but did
not argue or speak up because of the economic impact. 

The
Abolitionists capitalized on the segment of society that was unsure of slavery's moral
standing, especially in a country founded on freedom and equal rights. Over the first
two decades of the 1800s, they raised awareness for their cause using increasingly
defiant measures that called to end slavery. By 1850, there was a large faction of U.S.
citizens who felt slavery was wrong. The Abolitionists stirred emotion and a call to
action within those citizens, calling for an immediate end to slavery. Emotions ran high
during the decade leading up to the start of the Civil
War. 

Without the Abolitionists, citizens may have taken
much longer to reach a point of Civil War as a means to end slavery. The emotional
responses that Abolitionists were able to elicit brought about the acts that led to the
first battles of the Civil War.