| Bio notes |
Founded in 1785, the New York Manumission Society was an early abolitionist group that worked to end slavery in New York as well as assist both free and enslaved blacks. Its members were all white (some slaveholders) and included famous men like John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and Noah Webster, and was partially funded by the New York State Legislature. In 1787 the Society opened the African Free School, which accommodated 40 boys and girls. In 1820 it built a larger school that taught 500 students. In 1791 it petitioned US Congress to limit US slave trade, which failed. Undeterred, in 1794 the Society organized the American Convention for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and Improving the Condition of the African Race, which met in Philadelphia. Its efforts finally met some wide success when the state legislature passed the Manumission Act in 1799 and another in 1817, both of which gradually manumitted slaves. |