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The Michigan Anti-Slavery Society, also called Michigan State Anti-Slavery Society, was founded on November 10, 1836, in Ann Arbor of the Michigan Territory (1805–1837). The first meeting was held at the First Presbyterian Church on East Huron Street. [1] The founding of the anti-slavery society was part of a movement to abolish slavery in several states during the 1830s, as well as support within the territory for the Underground Railroad. [2] [a]

It was formed by 75 abolitionists from six counties. [2] The organization was supported by Wesleyan Methodists and Quakers. There were anti-slavery and pro-slavery viewpoints in Michigan. [4] Guy Beckley and Theodore Foster, publishers of the Signal of Liberty, wrote: "Our neighbors accuse us of being 'worse than horse thieves,' because we have given to the colored man a helping hand in his perilous journey... We are also held up as transgressors of the law and having no regard for the civil authority." [4] (The Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 made it illegal to aid escapees.) [5]

Society meetings were held at the First Presbyterian Church for ten years, although the Presbyterian Church of the United States did not want to take a political stance against slavery. [2] Some of the members of the First Presbyterian Church broke away from the church and founded the First Congregational Church of Ann Arbor in 1847. [4]

One of the adopted resolutions was to establish an anti-slavery newspaper in Michigan, which began with American Freeman, [2] then the Michigan Freeman, which were replaced by the weekly Signal of Liberty in 1841. [1] [2] The society's executive committee contributed to the newspaper. [6] A historic marker is located on the site of the First Presbyterian Church in recognition in its role in founding the anti-slavery society and the newspapers. [7]

The society was reorganized at Adrian by Stephen Symonds Foster and Abby Kelley Foster, Sojourner Truth, Jonathan Walker, Marius Robinson, and Sallie Holley. [8]

Notes

  1. ^ Elizabeth Margaret Chandler and Laura Smith Haviland founded the Logan Female Anti-Slavery Society in 1832, which also led to an important link to the Underground Railroad in Lenawee County, Michigan. [3]

References

  1. ^ a b Mull, Carol E. "Signal of Liberty". Ann Arbor District Library. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  2. ^ a b c d e Asher, Taryn (2020-02-06). "Michigan's fight to abolish slavery caused a rift in the Presbyterian Church". Fox2 Detroit. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  3. ^ "Elizabeth Chandler". Michigan Women Forward. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  4. ^ a b c "The Underground Railroad in Ann Arbor". Ann Arbor District Library. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  5. ^ "Fugitive Slave Acts". HISTORY. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  6. ^ "Signal of Liberty (Ann Arbor, Mich.) 1841-1848". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  7. ^ "Michigan Anti-Slavery Society". Ann Arbor District Library. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  8. ^ Coggan, Blanche (1964). "The Underground Railroad In Michigan". Negro History Bulletin. 27 (5): 125–126. ISSN  0028-2529 – via Jstor.


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