Andrew Harris, (1810-1841), graduated from the University of Vermont in 1838. One year later in an address delivered to nearly five thousand abolitionists at New York City’s Broadway Tabernacle on May 7, 1839, young Harris argued that slavery in the South influenced racism in the … Read More(1839) Andrew Harris, “Slavery Presses Down Upon the Free People of Color”
James McCune Smith (1813-1865) was a prominent physician and abolitionist. Smith was educated in the African Free School in New York City. When failing to be admitted to any American college, he enrolled in Glasgow University in Scotland in 1832 and earned three degrees including … Read More(1838) James McCune Smith, “The Abolition Of Slavery And The Slave Trade In The French And British Colonies”
Rev. Theodore S. Wright, (1797-1847) was born to free parents in Providence, Rhode Island. By the 1830s Wright was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in New York City and a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Wright, a dedicated abolitionist, attended the New York State … Read More(1837) Theodore S. Wright, “Prejudice Against the Colored Man”
Few Americans are aware of the deep roots of peace activism in the African American community. Benjamin Banneker, the 18th Century mathematician and astronomer, recommended that a “Secretary of Peace” be added to the President’s cabinet whose chief function would be to craft measures to … Read More(1837) William Whipper, “Non-Resistance to Offensive Aggression”
James Forten, Jr. was the son of Charlotte and James E. Forten, prominent Philadelphia abolitionists and as such was part of a second generation of three generations of political activists. Raised in this remarkable family, James Forten, Jr., became politically active at an early age. … Read More(1836) James Forten, Jr. “Put on the Armour of Righteousness”
By the 1830s William Whipper was a successful Pennsylvania lumberman. He was also an abolitionist and temperance advocate. Whipper’s interest in temperance reflected a growing concern among African American leaders about the impact of alcohol on the free (and enslaved) African American population. By 1831 … Read More(1834) William Whipper, “The Slavery of Intemperance”
In September 1832, Maria W. Stewart delivered at Boston’s Franklin Hall one of the first public lectures ever given by an American woman. Her speech, directed to the women of the African American Female Intelligence Society, called on black women to acquire equality through education. … Read More(1832) Maria W. Stewart Advocates Education for African American Women
Maria W. Stewart (1803-1879) was one of the first American women to leave copies of her speeches. The address below is her second public lecture. It was given on September 21, 1832 in Franklin Hall in Boston, the meeting site of the new England Anti-Slavery … Read More(1832) Maria W. Stewart, “Why Sit Ye Here and Die?”
Fourteen years after its founding the American Colonization Society remained controversial among African Americans. By 1830 many of them opposed it and more generally the idea of forced or voluntary repatriation of blacks to Africa. One of these opponents, Rev. Peter Williams, Jr., the minister … Read More(1830) Rev. Peter Williams, Jr. “This is Our Country”
David Walker (1796-1830) is best known for his revolutionary pamphlet, Walker’s Appeal, in Four Ariticles: together with a preamble, to the coloured Citizens of the World, but in Particular and Very expressly to those of the United States of America. This twenty-six-page pamphlet warned of … Read More(1828) David Walker, “The Necessity of A General Union Among Us”
