Before the discovery of his slaveholding, Johns Hopkins had been described as being an "abolitionist before the word was even invented", having been represented as such both prior to the Civil War period, as well as during the Civil War and Reconstruction Era. There are several accounts that describe the abolitionist influence Hopkins was privy to as a 12-year-old participant in his parents' emancipation of their family's slaves in 1807. Prior to the Civil War, Johns Hopkins worked closely with two of America's most famous abolitionists, Myrtilla Miner and Henry Ward Beecher. During the Civil War, Johns Hopkins, being a staunch supporter of Lincoln and the Union, was instrumental in bringing fruition to Lincoln's emancipatory vision.