Group Presence, Population, and Interest Group Theory: A Case Study of the American Anti-Slavery Society

Objective This study seeks to learn about the development of large, federated voluntary associations in the antebellum era by combining insights from historical work and neopluralist interest group theory. The American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS) is the case study. Methods Summary statistics and logistic regression models are used to investigate what variables predict the presence of an AASS local group in a town. Results Total population of a town is the key predictor of AASS group presence across states, though the percentage of people employed in learned professions and the number of primary common schools per capita are also important in select states. Conclusion Population itself was the modernizing force behind group formation in the antebellum era, creating contexts conducive to the mobilization of interests.