Douglass was right in claiming that women held an important position in the abolitionist movement. Many women contributed to the cause through writing, campaigning, and even by helping runaway slaves. Women such as the Grimke sisters, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mary Ann M'Clintock, Margaretta Forten, Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman made an important contribution to the movement.
Moreover, this had a deep impact on the feminist movement as well, as exemplified by the Grimke-Beecher debate. Beecher argued that the role of women was not that of getting involved in politics. She believed this was a fight that only men should fight. However, Angelina Grimke disagreed. She believed women should also have political convictions and a voice. This reflected the views of the feminist movement that would continue to develop in later years. Thanks to the work of these feminists, women nowadays can voice their opinions in the way that Grimke had imagined.
