She turned her social concerns to Native Americans in "The First Settlers of New England" in 1829, and then to African Americans in 1833 with "An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans". This book prompted many Americans to join the abolition movement, but it also caused Child to be shunned socially. Family friends withdrew their support for her children's magazine, forcing it into bankruptcy. Her nonfiction books about women's concerns and rights in the 1830s sold poorly.