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Z eeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 Copyright 1987 by Sayre, Robert Duane All Rights Reserved IHE EVOLUTION OF EARLY AMERICAN ABOLITIONISM: THE AMERICAN CONVENTION FOR PROMOTING THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY AND IMPROVING THE CONDITION OF THE AFRICAN RACE, 1794-1837 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Robert Duane Sayre, A.B., M.Div. ***** The Ohio State University 1987 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Merton L. Dillon Paul C. Bowers Advisor Marvin R. Zahniser Department of History Copyright by Robert Duane Sayre 1987 "... The history of v^at the world calls failure is often more important, humanly speaking, than any other; for it tells those who come after what remains to be tried." Richard Holmes, "'I Felt I Held the Pass­ word'— Travels to Shelley's Rocky Shore," The New York Times Book Review, 25 August 1985 To Roma And to Jennifer and Amanda With Thanks 1 1 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many persons have contributed to the completion of this disserta­ tion. I express sincere thanks to Dr. Merton L. Dillon idio assisted me from my earliest days at Ohio State, nurtured my interest in antislav­ ery, and gave valuable guidance and cogent criticism throughout my research. Drs. Paul Bowers and Marvin Zahniser were inspirational teachers to study and to teach with and have read these chapters with care, mak­ ing helpful comments and suggestions. My thanks go to Randall Miller of St. Joseph University for helping in the selection of the topic and for introducing me to research facilities in the Philadelphia area. To all who have taught me to love the study of history, to Owen Ervin, James Seyer, Kenneth Davison, Carl Klopfenstein, John Giltner, Paul Minus, Donald Cooper and Thomas Woodson, the completion of this disser­ tation is a tribute to your labors. The generous help of the staffs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Library Company of Philadelphia, the Presbyterian Historical Society, the Quaker Collection of Haverford College, the Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College, the New York Histori­ cal Society, The Ohio State University, and Heidelberg College made my research an enjoyable enterprise. Special appreciation goes to Gwen Chapman, president of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, for permission to quote from her society's copyrighted materials, and to Peter Parker iii of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania for his assistance. Mr. Peter Bergman deserves special thanks for his meticulous work in com­ piling and publishing the minutes of the American Convention, and for his kind words to this beneficiary of his labors. A veiry special note of thanks goes to the staff of the Millers- ville University library, especially those persons in the inter-library loan department, whose patient assistance has reminded me anew of how great a debt researchers owe to those vÆio labor behind the scenes, pro­ viding us with the materials needed for our work. I owe a similar debt to all those who, nameless to me, read, sorted, and catalogued the docu­ ments that form the foundation of this dissertation. The students and the board of directors of the United Campus Ministry of Millersville University have been a constant source of en­ couragement and support throughout the years of this research. To Charlie and Linda Carrick-Schreiber and Donna Sharer I offer a special thanks for their assistance and their friendship. To my wife Roma I express my deepest gratitude for her love and unshakable faith that have sustained me through all my studies over so many years, and for the encouragement to do vhat once I could only dream of doing. To my daughters Jennifer and Amanda I thank you for under­ standing the time that my abolitionist friends of another era have taken from our life together, and for allowing them admittance to all our lives these several years. IV VITA I January 1945 ................. B o m - Tiffin, Ohio 1961-63, 1966, 1970-1971 ........ Printer, Managing Editor, Bloomville Gazette, Bloomville Ohio 1967-1971 ..................... Pastor, Green Springs Calvary United Methodist Church, Green Springs, Ohio 1970 ........................... A.B., Heidelberg College, Tiffin Ohio 1972-1974 ..................... Pastor, Epworth and Hopewell United Methodist Churches, Gambier, Ohio 1974 ......................... M.Div., Methodist Theological School in Ohio, Delaware, Ohio 1974-1979 ..................... Pastor, Marengo and Fulton United Methodist Churches, Marengo, Ohio 1979-1981 ..................... University Fellow and Graduate Assistant, The Ohio State Univer­ sity, Columbus, Ohio 1981-Present ................. University Pastor, Millersville University, Millersville, Pennsyl­ vania FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Nineteenth-Century United States History Studies in Colonial and Revolutionary United States History, Dr. Paul C. Bowers Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Latin American History, Dr. Donald B. Cooper Eighteenth and Nineteenth-Century American Literature, Dr. Thomas Woodson V TABLE OF œNTENTS DEDICATION..................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS............................................... iii VITA ................. V INTRODUCTION ................................................... I CHAPTER p a g e I. PRELUDE TO COOPERATION: THE QUAKERS SEEK COALITION 11 II. THE CONVENTION'S BEGINNINGS: THE ORGANIZATION OF ANTISLAVERY IN THE ENLIGHTENED CENTURY 53 III. FROM CONSTITUTION TO TRIENNIAL CONVENTIONS: DARK YEARS FOR THE MOVEMENT 101 IV. 'TO UNTIE THE GORDIAN KNOT' : ABOLITIONIST EFFORTS TO PROTECT AND EDUCATE BLACKS 137 V. COLONIZATION: AN ATTRACTIVE OPTION DIVIDES THE MOVEMENT 191 VI. THE MISSOURI YEARS: RESURGENCE AND REBUFF 237 VII. TO THE SOUTH AND BACK: THE THROES OF GRADUALISM 278 CONCLUSION ................................................... 322 APPENDIX A Historiographical Analysis of the Quaker Roots of Antislavery ........................................... 334 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................. 351 vx INTRODUCTION The American Convention for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and Improving the Condition of the African Race (1794-1837) was the first interstate antislavery organization in the United States. Founded at Philadelphia by the cooperative efforts of the New York Manumission Society and the Pennsylvania Abolition Society in 1794, the American Convention was a congress of delegates from the various abolition so­ cieties in the United States. Termed at its fo;mding the Convention of Delegates from the Abolition Societies Established in different Parts of the United States, the Convention adopted its formal title in its con­ stitution, vhich was drafted in 1801 and adopted in 1803. The formal title adopted by the American Convention indicated its reasons for coming into being. The body sought to end slavery gradually and to better the condition of blacks in the United States. To these ends it petitioned Congress on sla\^ery and the slave trade, encouraged the formation of new abolition societies, worked to protect the legal rights of blacks against kidnapping and illegal sale, and fostered the education and moral instruction of blacks. Its tactics were those of moral and political persuasion vÆien petitioning Congress, and almost exclusively moral persuasion vhen urging local and state abolition so­ cieties to petition state legislatures, initiate schooling for blacks, or protect the rights of blacks. 2 The Pennsylvania and New York societies instrumental in initia­ ting the Convention were also its most consistently active constituents both in their local activities and in their participation in the Conven­ tion. Located in Philadelphia, the center of American abolitionism prior to the 1830s, the Pennsylvania Abolition Slavery was the oldest and most influential of the abolition societies, having been founded in 1775. The Pennsylvania society was present at every regular and special session of