Chapter 1

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The American Negro Academy.

OCCASIONAL PAPERS NO. 9.

The Early Negro Convention Movement.

BY JOHN W. CROMWELL.

PRICE FIFTEEN CENTS.

WASHINGTON, D. C.: Published by the Academy. 1904.

The Early Negro Convention Movement.

With the period immediately following the Second War with Great Britain, begins a series of events which indicate a purpose of the nation to make the condition of the free man of color an inferior status socially and politically. That this was resisted at every step, revealed the national aim and purpose.

The protest against prescription in the Church which had asserted itself in several instances as at St. James P. E. and Bethel in Philadelphia, Zion in New York, culminated in the organization of two independent denominations--in 1816 at Philadelphia, in 1820 at New York.

The American Colonization Society was organized in 1816 with the hidden purpose of strengthening slavery by ridding the country of its free black population. In 1820 the passage of the Missouri Compromise permitted the westward extension of slavery and as far north as 36° 30'.

Local legislation, harmonizing with this national action against extending the domain of freedom and making the country undesirable for the colored freeman, followed. Two years after the enactment of the compromise, "the martyrs of 1822" went bravely and heroically to their fate in South Carolina. In 1827, the Empire State completed its work of emancipation of the slave began 28 years before, and saw the birth of "Freedom's Journal," the first Negro newspaper within the limits of the United States, edited by John B. Russwurm and Samuel E. Cornish. In 1831, Virginia was convulsed and the entire Southland shocked by the Insurrection of Nat. Turner. In the State of Ohio along the Kentucky border, the feeling against the free Negro had become acute. Mobs occurred, blood was shed and the people were compelled to look to some spot where they could abide in peace.

It was in these stirring times that the Convention movement which means the marshalling of the moral forces within the Negro came into existence. The forces which it evoked were conserved and correlated until the dynamics of Civil Revolution had wrought desolation and destruction far and wide, sweeping away forever what had been a basis of the social and political strength of the Nation.

Prior to this time, there had been a local convention held in Philadelphia, January, 1817, to protest against the action of the American Colonization Society that had been organized to remove systematically from this country all the free colored people in the United States. A glance at the list of the officers of this, the pioneer deliberative convention of colored people of which we have as yet any date, shows that the men who led in this meeting as in the movement of which this paper is a study, were among the foremost colored citizens whose names have come down to us from that distant past. James Forten was President, and Russell Parrott, the assistant to Absalom Jones at St. Thomas, P. E. Church, was the Secretary. Prominent also in this anti-colonization convention, were Absalom Jones, Richard Allen, Robert Douglass, Francis Perkins, John Gloucester--the first settled pastor of a colored Presbyterian Church--Robert Gordon, James Johnson, Quanmany Clarkson, John Summersett and Randall Shepherd.

The convention which assembled in 1830 and was the first conscious step toward concerted action, was in no sense local either in its conception or its constituency.

The prime mover was Hezekiah Grice, a native of Baltimore, where he was born just one hundred years ago. In his early life, Grice had met Benjamin Lundy, and in 1828-9, William Lloyd Garrison, editors and publishers of "The Genius of Universal Emancipation," published at that time in Baltimore.

In the spring of 1830 he wrote a circular letter to prominent colored men in the free states requesting their views on the feasibility and imperative necessity of holding a convention of the free colored men of the country, at some point north of Mason & Dixon's line, for the exchange of views on the question of emigration or the adoption of a policy that would make living in the United States more endurable. For several months Grice received no response whatever to this circular. In August, however, he received an urgent request for him to come at once to Philadelphia. On his arrival there he found a meeting in session, discussing conflicting reports relative to the openings for colored people as emigrants to Canada. Bishop Richard Allen, at whose instance he was in Philadelphia, subsequently showed him a printed circular signed by Peter Williams, the rector of St. Phillips Church, New York, Peter Vogelsang and Thomas L. Jennings of the same place, approving the plan of convention. This approval decided the Philadelphians to take definite action, and they immediately "issued a call for a convention of the colored men of the United States to be held in the city of Philadelphia, on the 15th of September, 1830."

When the time came the Convention assembled in Bethel Church, the historic building in which was laid the foundation of the A. M. E. denomination. The convention was organized by the election of Bishop Allen as President, Dr. Belfast Burton of Philadelphia and Austin Steward of Rochester, N. Y., as Vice Presidents, Junius C. Morell, Secretary, and Robert Cowley, Maryland, Assistant Secretary.

Seven States were represented by duly accredited delegates as follows:

PENNSYLVANIA--Richard Allen, Belfast Burton, Cyrus Black, Junius C. Morell, Benjamin Paschall, James Cornish, William Whipper, Peter Gardiner, John Allen, James Newman, Charles H. Leveck, Frederick A. Hinton.

NEW YORK--Austin Steward, Joseph Adams, George L. Brown.

CONNECTICUT--Scipio Augustus.

RHODE ISLAND--George C. Willis, Alfred Niger.

MARYLAND--James Deaver, Hezekiah Grice, Aaron Willson, Robert Cowley.

DELAWARE--Abraham D. Shadd.

VIRGINIA--Arthur M. Waring, William Duncan, James West, Jr.

In addition to these there were honorary members as follows:

PENNSYLVANIA--Robert Brown, William Rogers, John Bowers, Richard Howell, Daniel Peterson, Charles Shorts.

NEW YORK--Leven Williams.

MARYLAND--James P. Walker, Rev. Samuel Todd, John Arnold.

OHIO--John Robinson.

NEW JERSEY--Sampson Peters.

DELAWARE--Rev. Anthony Campbell and Dan Carolus Hall.

They may well be called the first "forty immortals" in our Valhalla.

The question of emigration to Canada West, after an exhaustive discussion which continued during the two days of the convention's sessions, was recommended as a measure of relief against the persecution from which the colored American suffered in many places in the North. Strong resolutions against the American Colonization Society were adopted. The formation of a parent society with auxiliaries in the different localities represented in the convention, for the purpose of raising money to defray the object of purchasing a colony in the province of upper Canada, and ascertaining more definite information, having been effected, the convention adjourned to reassemble on the first Monday in June, 1831, during which time the order of the convention respecting the organization of the auxiliary societies had been carried into operation.

At the assembling of the Convention in 1831, which was fully reported in "The Liberator," the officers elected were, John Bowers, Philadelphia, President, Abraham D. Shadd and William Duncan, Vice Presidents, William Whipper, Secretary, Thomas L. Jennings, Assistant Secretary.

The roll of delegates, reveals the presence of many of the pioneers. Hezekiah Grice did not attend--in fact he was never a delegate at any subsequent convention, for two years later he emigrated to Hayti, where he became a foremost contractor. Richard Allen had died, after having completed a most remarkable career. Rev. James W. C. Pennington, who for forty years bore a conspicuous place as a clergyman of sound scholarship, was a new figure and thenceforth an active participant in the movement.

This convention aroused no little interest among the foremost friends of the Negro and was visited and addressed by such men as Rev. S. S. Jocelyn of New Haven, Benjamin Lundy and William Lloyd Garrison. In the "Life of Arthur Tappan," written by his brother Lewis Tappan, we find the following:

"A convention of people of color was held in Philadelphia in 1831 of delegates from several States to consult upon the common interest. It was numerously attended and the proceedings were conducted with much ability. A resolution was adopted that it was expedient to establish a collegiate school on the manual labor system. * * A committee appointed for the purpose made an appeal to the benevolent. * * * New Haven was suggested as a suitable place for its location * * * Arthur Tappan purchased several acres of land in the southerly part of the city and made arrangements for the erection of a suitable building and furnished it with needful supplies in a way to do honor to the city and country * * * The people of New Haven became violently agitated in opposition to the plan. The city was filled with confusion. They seemed to fear that the city would be overrun with Negroes from all parts of the world * * * A public meeting called by the Mayor September 8, 1831, in spite of a manly protest by Roger S. Baldwin, subsequently Governor of the State and U. S. Senator from Connecticut, adopted the following:

"Resolved, by the Mayor, Aldermen, Common Council and freemen of the city of New Haven, in city meeting assembled, that we will resist the establishment of the proposed college in this place by every lawful means."

The attempt at the founding of a college in Connecticut was abandoned. It is hardly necessary to more than mention the Prudence Crandall incident that disgraced the name of Connecticut at the same period.

What was a kind of National Executive Committee, and known as the Convention Board, issued the calls for the convention from time to time.

When the next convention was held in 1832, there were eight States represented with an attendance of thirty delegates, as follows: Maryland had 3; Delaware, 5; New Jersey, 3; Pennsylvania, 9; New York, 5; Connecticut, 2; Rhode Island, 1; Massachusetts, 2.

Beginning June 4th, it continued in session until the 15th. The question exciting the greatest interest was one which proposed the purchase of other lands for settlement in Canada; for 800 acres of land had already been secured, two thousand individuals had left the soil of their birth, crossed the line and laid the foundation for a structure which promised an asylum for the colored population of the United States. They had already erected two hundred log houses and 500 acres of land had been brought under cultivation. But hostility to the settlement of the Negro in that section had been manifested by Canadians, many of whom would sell no land to the Negro. This may explain the hesitation of the convention and the appointment of an agent whose duty it was to make further investigation and report to a subsequent convention.

Opposition to the colonization movement was emphasized by a strong protest against any appropriation by Congress in behalf of the American Colonization Society. Abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia was also urged at the same convention. This was one year before the organization of the American Anti-Slavery Society.

There were fifty-eight delegates present when the convention assembled June 3, 1833. The states represented were Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York. Abraham D. Shadd, then of Washington, D. C., was elected President, Richard D. Johnson of Philadelphia and John G. Stewart were Vice Presidents, Ransom F. Wake of New York, was Secretary with Henry Ogden, Assistant, and John B. Depee of Philadelphia, Clerk.

The usual resolutions and addresses to the people were framed and adopted. In addition to these, the law of Connecticut, but recently passed, prohibiting the establishment of literary institutions in that State for the instruction of persons of color of other states was specifically referred to, as well as a resolution, giving the approval of the mission of William Lloyd Garrison to Europe to obtain funds for the establishment of a Manual Training School.

The emigration question was again thoroughly discussed. A committee was appointed to look into the matter of the encouragement of settlement in Upper Canada and all plans for colonization anywhere were rejected.

A general convention fund was provided for a schedule showing the population, churches, day schools, Sunday Schools, pupils, temperance societies, benevolent societies, mechanics and store-keepers. A most significant action was one recommending the establishment in different parts of the country of FREE LABOR STORES at which no produce from the result of slave labor would be exposed for sale.

The next year, 1834, the convention met in New York, June 8th, with Henry Sipkins as President, William Hamilton and John D. Closson, Vice Presidents, Benjamin F. Hughes, Secretary and Rev. H. Francis, Assistant Secretary. There were seven states represented and about 40 delegates present. The usual resolutions were adopted, one commending Prudence Crandall to the patronage and affection of the people at large; another urging the people to assemble on the fourth of each July for the purpose of prayer and the delivery of addresses pertaining to the condition and welfare of the colored people. The foundation of societies on the principle of moral reform and total abstinence from intoxicating liquors was advocated. Moreover, every person of color was urged to discountenance all boarding houses where gambling was admitted.

At the same convention the Phoenix Societies came up for special consideration and were heartily commended. These planned an organization of the colored people in their municipal sub-divisions with the special object of the promotion of their improvement in morals, literature and the mechanic arts. Lewis Tappan refers to them in the biography previously referred to. The "Mental Feast" which was a social feature, survived thirty years later in some of the interior towns of Pennsylvania and the West. Rt. Rev. Christopher Rush of the A. M. E. Zion, was the president of these societies. Rev. Theodore S. Wright, the predecessor of Rev. Henry Highland Garnet at the Shiloh Presbyterian Church, New York, and who enjoys the unique reputation of claiming Princeton Seminary as his Alma Mater, was a Vice President. Among its directors were Boston Crummell, the father of the founder of the AMERICAN NEGRO ACADEMY, Rev. William Paul Quinn, subsequently a bishop of the A. M. E. Church, and Rev. Peter Williams. These names suggest that the Phoenix Society movement was not confined to any special social clique, but was a somewhat wide spread institution. Unfortunately, there was lost during the excitement of The New York Draft Riots of 1863, nearly all the documentary data for an interesting sidelight on the Convention movement, through the study of these societies.

With 1835, the Convention returned to Philadelphia, June 1-5, was the time of its sessions. There were forty four delegates enrolled, with Reuben Ruby of Maine, as president, James H. Fleet of the District of Columbia, and Nathan Johnson Vice Presidents, John F. Cook of the District of Columbia, was Secretary, Samuel Van Brackle and Henry Ogden were the Assistants.

Speaking of its proceedings, "The Liberator" says: "Its pages offered abundant testimony of the ability of this body to set before the Nation a detail of the wrongs and grievances to which they are by custom and law subjected, and they also exhibit a praiseworthy spirit of manly and noble resolution to contend by moral force alone until their rights so long withheld shall be restored."

Among other specially notable things, Robert Purvis and Frederick A. Hinton were appointed a committee to correspond with dissatisfied emigrants to Liberia and to take such action as would best promote the sentiment of the colored people respecting the work of the Colonization Society. The students of Lane Seminary at Cincinnati were thanked for their zeal in the cause of abolition. Temperance reform was advocated in a stirring address to the people. The free people of color were recommended to petition Congress and their respective state legislatures to be admitted to the rights and privileges of American citizenship, and to be protected in the enjoyment of the same.

William Whipper advocated that the word 'colored' should be abandoned and the title "African" should be removed from the name of the churches, lodges, societies and other institutions.

In 1836, in the columns of "The Liberator" appear calls for two conventions; the regular annual convention was called to meet in Philadelphia, June 6, by Henry Sipkins of the Convention Board, and the urgent language of the call implies doubt in the interest of the people or the probability of their prompt response to the calls. William Whipper issued the call, through the same medium, for the Convention of the American Moral Reform to meet August 2, 1836, also in Philadelphia. It is worthy of remark that careful perusal of the files of "The Liberator" fails to disclose a comment on the proceedings of either convention. But the perusal of the officers of the American Moral Reform shows the influential man of the Convention Movement at their helm. James Forten, Sr., the revolutionary patriot, was the President, Reuben Ruby, Rev. Samuel E. Cornish, Rev. Walter Proctor and Jacob C. White, Sr., of Philadelphia, were Vice Presidents, Joseph Cassey was Treasurer, Robert Purvis, Foreign Corresponding Secretary and James Forten, Jr., Recording Secretary.

The address was drawn up by William Watkins of Baltimore, who two decades later was an able colleague of Frederick Douglass in the conduct of "The North Star."

In 1837, the convention of the American Moral Reform was again held in Philadelphia, August 19th, in which William Whipper, John P. Burr and James Forten, Jr., were leading spirits. At the adjournment, an extra meeting was held in St. Thomas P. E. Church, at which an address on Temperance was delivered by John Francis Cook of Washington.

Sufficient has now been stated to show that the convention movement was now deeply rooted in the thought of the disfranchised American. The fact that there was a lull does not at all disprove this contention. The conventions were great educators, alike of the Negro and the American whites. They taught the former parliamentary usages and how to conduct deliberative bodies. They brought to light facts pertaining to the Negro's status which tended to establish that he was thrifty and steadily improving as a moral and economic force; while the American whites had in them an object lesson from which they learned much. In his "Autobiography of a Fugitive Negro," Samuel Ringgold Ward says: "A State or a National Convention of black men is held. The talent displayed, the order maintained, the demeanor of the delegates, all impress themselves upon the community. All agree that to keep a people rooted to the soil who are rapidly improving, who have already attained considerable influence and are marshalled by gifted leaders, (men who show themselves qualified for legislative and judicial positions), and to doom them to a state of perpetual vassalage is altogether out of the question."

The work of unifying the race along right lines now proceeded with the holding of state conventions. There was a state Temperance Convention of the colored men of Connecticut, held at Middletown, 1836, followed by a call for a New England Convention at Boston in October. Reference to its proceedings shows a prior convention held at Providence, R. I., in May. At the Boston convention a ringing appeal was made to the people, for total abstinence from all intoxicants, and almost immediately thereafter, local meetings were held for the purpose of putting in practical operation the principles enunciated. Not only in New England, but in the Middle and Western States, local conventions were held during the next decade.

The following extracts from a letter from the veteran educator, Peter H. Clark, shed a flood of light upon this early movement:

J. W. CROMWELL,

Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR SIR:--

The people of Ohio held conventions annually for more than thirty years. Usually they printed their proceedings in pamphlets.

* * * * *

A peculiarity of the Ohio conventions was that they were meant to improve the condition of the colored people of that State. The conventions of those residing in the more eastern States were simply anti-slavery conventions, and their memorials and protests were aimed at slavery. The first conventions of the men of Ohio were self-helpful. By their own sacrifices and with the help of friends, they purchased lots and erected school houses in a number of towns, or they organized schools and located them in churches.

Active in this work were the Yancy's, Charles and Walter, Gideon and Charles Langston, (brothers of John M.), George Carey, Dennis Hill, and chief among them, David Jenkins. Walter Yancy was the agent of these men, travelling and organizing societies and schools, collecting funds, etc.

As a result of this self-helping movement, a number of farming communities were established, some of which accumulated large areas of land, and in Cincinnati, The Iron Chest Company accumulated funds and in 1840 erected a block of buildings which still stands.

Later, the action of the Convention was directed against the Black Laws of Ohio. These were repealed in 1849, and colored children were permitted to share in the benefits of the school funds, though in separate schools. The same legislature elected Salmon P. Chase to the United States Senate. The movement thus detailed was the result of a bargain between the Democrats of Ohio and the Free Soilers.

Afterwards the force of these conventions was directed against discriminations against colored people which still existed on the statute books. Sometimes this force took the shape of petitions, memorials, protests, and after the organization of the Ohio Equal Rights League, it took the shape of legal proceedings, etc.

One of the most memorable of these conventions was held in 1852, when John M. Langston delivered the best speech of his life, defending the thesis, "there is a mutual repellency between the white and black races of the world."

The materials for the speech were collected by Charles Langston, but John made the speech. Time has vindicated the position taken by Mr. Langston in that memorable address. It was the beginning of the Emigration Movement in which Dr. Martin R. Delaney afterwards became prominent.

Effective national conventions have not been numerous in the past fifty years.

One of the most notable met at Rochester in 1852. Frederick Douglass presided and I had the honor of being the secretary.

It was reported that Mrs. Stowe desired to give a portion of her earnings from "Uncle Tom" for the founding of a school for the benefit of the Afro-American, and this convention was called to formulate an advisory plan.

The plan when formulated, was practically what Mr. Washington realized many years afterwards at Tuskegee.

If you knew Mr. Douglass, you perhaps know that the last years of his life were devoted to an attempt to found such a school.