The Formation of the American Anti-Slavery Society

"But amidst this general scene of prosperity, and within the jurisdiction of those laws and institutions which are calculated to raise the character of man to the greatest elevation of which his nature is capable, there are two millions of human beings equally susceptible of improvement with the rest of their countrymen, who are not permitted to enjoy the inalienable rights of man, nor to partake of moral and intellectual light,--who are degraded and brutalized by a servitude unequalled in the history of our race, for no better reason than because their ancestors were forcibly separated from all they held dear, and sold into slavery..."

Philadelphia, ca. September 1833. Printed two-page circular on bifolium, calling for the formation of a national anti-slavery organization and listing seven general principles, signed by abolitionists Rev. Samuel J. May, George Benson, and Rowland Greene. With a one-page autograph letter to Rev. May, signed by abolitionist Evan Lewis on the third page, dated Philadelphia, September 8, 1833, informing May of the dissemination of the present circular and the urgency of its circulation and signing in preparation for an October meeting to form a national anti-slavery organization. Reads in part: "I am apprehensive of too long delay, and have thought best to send this out direct. The time is short, and it will require industry to get all things properly prepared. WE want the call of the meeting to be authorised by a considerable number of respectable names. Please return this with as many signers as may be thought eligible...The last of October is the time thought of for the meeting in this city..." Addressed by Lewis on verso, red wax seal at same, with wear from when opened. Docketing on verso; creasing from old folds; light soiling.

The formation of the American Anti-Slavery Society: abolitionist Rev. Samuel J. May's signed copy of this rare circular urging for the creation of a national anti-slavery organization. “We deem it a duty we owe our Creator, who has made of one blood all the families of man,—to our fellow men of the Africa race, whose cries of anguish and distress are ringing in our ears—to our beloved country, for the continued peace and prosperity of which we feel an earnest solicitude—to exert our energies in the cause of suffering humanity, and to use every means in our power to arouse our countrymen to a serious consideration of the evils which threaten us from the existence of slavery in the United States.”

Formed in response to gradualist approaches to ending slavery, the American Anti-Slavery Society was established in Philadelphia in December 1833 by William Lloyd Garrison, Theodore D. Weld, brothers Arthur and Lewis Tappan, and dozens of other abolitionists, including Rev. May, with the goal of immediate abolition. Beginning with a membership of 60 persons, in less than a decade it had grown to over 100,000 members with 2,000 local chapters in the north and the south. It was a crucial and influential organization in spreading the message of anti-slavery in the north in the decades before the Civil War. Central to its mission was the subsidizing of the printing and distribution of abolitionist literature, including circulars (similar to the above), pamphlets and broadsides, as well as the creation of a network of agents to spread its word through lectures and speeches. It was among the first anti-slavery organizations to allow women to publicly participate, and to use the experiences of Freedmen and fugitive slaves in its messaging.

Among the society's founding figures was the Rev. Samuel J. May (1797–1871). Though initially drawn to colonization as a young man, May underwent a shift in conviction around 1830 when William Lloyd Garrison persuaded him to embrace immediate abolitionism. From that point forward, May dedicated himself to the cause, even in the face of mob violence. Together with Garrison, he helped establish both the New England Anti-Slavery Society (NEASS) and the AASS itself, where he sat on the executive committee alongside Lewis Tappan and worked as a paid agent.

May's activism extended beyond the organization's leadership. He publicly supported Prudence Crandall's effort to operate a school for Black girls in Canterbury, Connecticut, and he published The Unionist, an abolitionist newspaper, beginning in 1833. He also lent his assistance to the formation of the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society in 1834. Deeply committed to racial equality, May consistently advocated for racial and gender-integrated meetings at a time when many reformers favored segregation based on race or sex. He actively aided people escaping from bondage, and was an acquaintance with Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Frederick Douglass. He served as president of the Syracuse Fugitive Aid Society, and on behalf of the AASS, he traveled to Canada to visit communities of formerly enslaved people who had settled there. With the outbreak of the Civil War he founded one of the earliest Freedmen's Relief Associations, in 1862. During the postwar period he became a vocal proponent of Radical Reconstruction, and championed voting rights, education, and land redistribution for the newly freed population.