Beyond All Negro Societies of Antislavery

  July 17, 2021   Read time 2 min
Beyond All Negro Societies of Antislavery
The founding of all-Negro societies did not lead to any substantial withdrawal of Negroes from integrated societies. In- deed, many Negroes were opposed to all-black auxiliaries, holding that they tended to perpetuate the very evils—prejudice and discrimination—they avowedly sought to combat.

In truth, however, the Negro abolition societies did not reflect a go-it-alone philosophy on the part of the founders. Doubtless some of them had felt that they would be more at ease and under less of a strain in a racially separate group. Others may have preferred for the time a Negro society in order to spare their white abolitionist colleagues any embarrassment or hostility that their presence might incur. But whatever their reason, the founders of Negro societies did not envision their efforts as distinctive or self-contained; rather they viewed their role as that of a true auxiliary—supportive, supplemental, and subsidiary. Negro abolitionists spoke with the same accents as their white counterparts, although perhaps in a voice of differing pitch.

Negro participants, fittingly enough perhaps, formed a more integral component of the abolition crusade than of any other major reform in America. The larger and far more influential body of Negro abolitionists who never joined a col- ored antislavery society would, as a natural consequence, work closely with whites. But much the same was true for members of the Negro societies, which in their outlook and operations were closely tied in to the larger movement. This reciprocal, interlocking relationship between black and white reformers may be demonstrated by the support, financial and otherwise, each gave to the other in pursuit of the common goal.

"We do not wish to be burdensome to any, but we are poor," wrote Congregational clergyman Amos G. Berry, in hardly an original vein. Despite their circumstances, some Negroes managed to give for the slave. In the three spring months of 1833 Negroes contributed to the New England Anti-Slavery Society $41 of the total receipts of $324. In August the society received $4.27 from a Negro church in New Bedford and $22.70 from one in Philadelphia. Two months later the society received $15 apiece from Philip A. Bell, Susan Paul, and John Remond for life memberships. In the month of November 1834 Negro groups from twelve cities or towns sent $128.28 to the national society, about one-seventh of its receipts ($858.79) for the period. In 1836 Negro groups in Boston and New York gave $80.52 and $245.60, respectively, to the society.

  Comments
Write your comment