CONSTITUTION  

OF THE  

FREE PRODUCE SOCIETY  

OF  

PENNSYLVANIA.  

WHEREAS there are many persons who, while they deplore the existence of Slavery, indirectly contribute to its support and continuance by using articles derived from the labor of Slaves :—And whereas we are satisfied that, by a proper union of reasonable efforts, articles similar to those which are thus produced, may be obtained by free labor :—And believing that the general use of such articles among us as are raised by Freemen, will gradually establish a conviction in the minds of those who hold their fellow-creatures in bondage, that their own interests would be promoted by the increased quantity, and more ready sale, of their produce, resulting from the change of the condition of their Slaves into that of hired Freemen:—  

Therefore, — We whose names are hereunto subscribed do agree to form an Association under the title of  

The Free Produce Society

Of Pennsylvania;

And have adopted the following Articles for our government, viz.:

Date: 1827

The free-produce movement was an international boycott of goods produced by slave labor. It was used by the abolitionist movement as a non-violent way for individuals, including the disenfranchised, to fight slavery.

The concept originated among members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), in the late 18th century. Quakers believed in pacifism and in the spiritual equality of all humankind. Quakers opposed slavery, and by about 1790 had eliminated slaveholding from among their membership. Radical Quakers such as Anthony Benezet and John Woolman went further, voicing their opinion that purchasers of slave-derived goods were guilty of keeping the institution of slavery economically feasible. They argued for a moral and economic boycott of slave-derived goods. The concept proved attractive because it offered a non-violent method of combating slavery.

To the Senate & House of Representatives of the United States,y

The Pennsylvania Society for promoting the Abolition of Slavery

Respectfully sheweth,

That from a regard for the happiness of Mankind an Association was formed several years since in this State by a number of her Citizens… for promoting the Abolition of Slavery.

Your Memorialists, particularly engaged in attending to the Distresses arising from Slavery, believe it their indispensable Duty to present this Subject to your notice. They have observed with great Satisfaction that many important & salutary Powers are vested in you for "promoting the Welfare & Securing the blessings of liberty to the "People of the United States." And as they conceive, that these blessings ought rightfully to be administered, without distinction of Colour, Equal liberty is still the Birthright of all men, & influenced by the strong ties of Humanity & the Principles of their Institution, bound to use all justifiable endeavours to loosen the bounds of Slavery and promote a general Enjoyment of the blessings of Freedom. Under these Impressions they earnestly entreat your serious attention to the Subject of Slavery, that you will be pleased to countenance the Restoration of liberty to those unhappy Men, who alone, in this land of Freedom, are degraded into perpetual Bondage, and who, amidst the general Joy of surrounding Freemen, are groaning in Servile Subjection, that you will devise means for removing this Inconsistency from the Character of the American People, that you will promote mercy and Justice towards this distressed Race,

Philadelphia February 3, 1790

B. Franklin

President of the Society

Ben Franklin’s Petition to Congress to Abolish Slavery

During his life, Franklin had many careers including service as a diplomat, a printer, a writer, an inventor, a scientist, a lawmaker, and a postmaster, among others. In his later years he became vocal as an abolitionist and in 1787 began to serve as President of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery. The Society was originally formed April 14, 1775, in Philadelphia, as The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage; it was reorganized in 1784 and again in 1787, and then incorporated by the state of Pennsylvania in 1789. The Society not only advocated the abolition of slavery, but made efforts to integrate freed slaves into American society.

Franklin did not publicly speak out against slavery until very late in his life. As a young man he owned slaves, and he carried advertisements for the sale of slaves in his newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette. At the same time, however, he published numerous Quaker pamphlets against slavery and condemned the practice of slavery in his private correspondence. It was after the ratification of the United States Constitution that he became an outspoken opponent of slavery.

In 1789 he wrote and published several essays supporting the abolition of slavery and his last public act was to send to Congress a petition on behalf of the Society asking for the abolition of slavery and an end to the slave trade. The petition, signed on February 3, 1790, asked the first Congress, then meeting in New York City, to "devise means for removing the Inconsistency from the Character of the American People," and to "promote mercy and justice toward this distressed Race."

Pepper-Pot: A Scene in the Philadelphia Market - John Lewis Krimmel, American (born Germany), 1786 - 1821

Date: 1811

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 19 1/2 x 15 1/2 inches (49.5 x 39.4 cm)

Pepper Pot Painting

John Lewis Krimmel immigrated to the United States only a year before composing this scene of the market stalls of Philadelphia. With its fascinating contrasts of race, social and economic class, age, and character, Pepper-Pot reveals the artist's delight in his new environment and captures Philadelphia's unique charms. This is the first oil painted by one of the earliest American genre painters and it is equally exceptional for its depiction of a freed person of color at work in the city. Placed at the center of this composition, the soup vendor, known through many early nineteenth-century accounts of Philadelphia, would bellow to passersby, "Pepper pot, smoking hot!"

Pepper-pot, unique to Philadelphia, was a thick, spicy soup made of vegetables and tripe, ox-feet, or other cheap meats that was sold by street vendors for a few pennies. The picture shows a barefoot black woman ladling cups of soup from a pot for her white customers.

Black female street vendors such as the ones depicted in both pictures were an important part of Philadelphia's black economy. A significant number of free blacks, particularly those without skills as artisans, developed entrepreneurial enterprises that catered to a black clientele as an alternative to menial or domestic labor.

Pennsylvania's Gradual Abolition Act of 1780

…

II. Be it enacted, and it is hereby enacted, That all persons as well Negroes and Mulattoes, as others, who shall be born within this State from and after the passing of this Act shall not be deemed and considered as servants for life, or slaves;

IV. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That every Negro and Mulatto child, born within this State after the passing of this act as aforesaid shall be deemed to be, and shall be, by virtue of this act, the servant of such person . . . until such child shall attain the age of twenty-eight years,

X. And be it further enacted, That no man or woman of any nation, or color, except the Negroes or Mulattoes who shall be registered as aforesaid, shall, at any time, be deemed, adjudged, and held within the territories of this commonwealth as slaves and servants for life, but as free men and free women;

XIII. Be it therefore enacted, That no covenant of personal servitude or apprenticeship whatsoever shall be valid or binding on a Negro or Mulatto for a longer time than seven years, unless such servant or apprentice were, at the commencement of such servitude or apprenticeship, under the age of twenty-one years, in which case such Negro or Mulatto may be held as a servant or apprentice, respectively, according to the covenant, as the case shall be, until he or she shall attain the age of twenty-eight years, but no longer.

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Mulatto: a person of mixed white and black ancestry, especially a person with one white and one black parent

Covenant: an agreement or contract

Pennsylvania's Gradual Abolition Act of 1780

The Gradual Abolition Act of 1780, the first extensive abolition legislation in the western hemisphere, passed the Pennsylvania General Assembly on March 1, 1780. ... The act permitted Pennsylvania slaveholders to keep the enslaved individuals they already owned unless they failed to register them annually.

The chart below proves the success of Gradual Abolition laws.

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These are the reasons why we are against the traffic of men-body, as followeth:

most ... are brought [here] against their will & consent and that many of them are stollen. Now tho they are black, we can not conceive there is more liberty to have them slaves, as it is to have other white ones. There is a saying that we shall doe to all men [like] as we will be done ourselves; making no difference of what generation, descent or Colour they are. and those who steal or rob men, and those who buy or purchase them, are they not all [alike]? Here is liberty of conscience wch. is right and reasonable; here ought to be likewise liberty of ye body, except of evildoers, which is an other case. But to bring men hither, or to robb and sell them against their will, we stand against.

This [makes] an ill report in all those Countries of Europe, where they hear off, that ye Quackers doe here handel men [like] they handle there Cattle.

Pray, what thing in the world can be done worse towards us, then if men should rob or steal us away, & sell us for slaves to strange Countries, separating husband from their wife and children. Being now this is not done at that manner we will be done at, therefore we contradict & are against this traffic of men.

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The 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition against slavery was the first protest against African American slavery made by a religious body in the English colonies. It was drafted by Francis Daniel Pastorius, a young German attorney and three other Quakers living in Germantown, Pennsylvania (now part of Philadelphia) on behalf of the Germantown Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends to raise the issue of slavery with the Quaker Meeting which they attended. The men gathered and wrote a petition based upon the Bible’s Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” urging the Meeting to abolish slavery. It argues that every human, regardless of belief, color, or ethnicity, has rights that should not be violated. Throughout the petition the reference to the Golden Rule is used to argue against slavery and for universal human rights.

PREAMBLE OF THE FREE AFRICAN SOCIETY

Philadelphia

(12th, 4th mo., 1778] - Whereas, Absalom Jones and Richard Allen, two men of the African race, who, for their religious life and conversation have obtained a good report among men, these persons, from a love to the people of their complexion whom they beheld with sorrow, because of their irreligious and uncivilized state, often communed together upon this painful and important subject in order to form some kind of religious society, but there being too few to be found under the like concern, and those who were, differed in their religious sentiments; with these circumstances they labored for some time, till it was proposed, after a serious communication of sentiments, that a society should be formed, without regard to religious tenets, provided, the persons lived an orderly and sober life, in order to support one another in sickness, and for the benefit of their widows and fatherless children.

ARTICLES.

[17th, 5th mo., 1787] - We, the free Africans and their descendants, of the City of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, or elsewhere, do unanimously agree, for the benefit of each other, to advance one shilling in silver Pennsylvania currency a month; and after one year's subscription from the date hereof, then to hand forth to the needy of this Society, if any should require, the sum of three shillings and nine pence per week of the said money: provided, this necessity is not brought on them by their own imprudence.

And it is further agreed, that no drunkard nor disorderly person be admitted as a member, and if any should prove disorderly after having been received, the said disorderly person shall be disjointed from us if there is not nit amendment, by being informed by two of the members, without having any of his subscription money returned.

Also, we apprehend it to be just and reasonable, that the surviving widow of a deceased member should enjoy the benefit of this Society so long as she remains his widow, complying with the, rules thereof, excepting the subscriptions.

And we apprehend it to be necessary, that the children of our deceased members be under the care of the Society, so far as to pay for the education of their children, if they cannot attend the free school; also to put them out apprentices to suitable trades or places, if required.

And we unanimously agree to choose Joseph Clarke to be our Clerk and Treasurer; and whenever another should succeed him, it is always understood, that one of the people called Quakers, belonging to one of tile three monthly meetings in Philadelphia, is to be chosen to act as Clerk and 'Treasurer of this useful Institution.

Source: Annals of the First African Church in the United States of America Now Styled the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, Philadelphia...," by the Rev. Wm. Douglass, Philadelphia: King & Baird Printers, 1862.

Free African Society (1787-1794)

Introduction: While some historians use the term “Free African Society” generally to describe local groups throughout the Northeastern United States up to the year 1810, the best known organization to formally take this name was located in Philadelphia.  Their work was similar to many mutual aid societies with a distinguishing feature being the Free African Society’s service to the larger Philadelphian community shortly after its founding in 1787.  Despite the esteemed standing of its founders and many of its members, the Free African Society faced suspicion and hatred from whites throughout its existence.

Development and Activity: The Free African Society was founded by Absalom Jones and Richard Allen as a mutual aid society independent of any particular religious affiliation yet tied to a strong sense of morality.  The Articles for the society state that “no drunkard nor disorderly person be admitted as a member,” and aid can only be received out of necessity which “is not brought on them by their own imprudence”1 One moral action taken by the group involved the expelling of a man who had abandoned his family to pursue a relationship with a new woman.

Sourcing:  consider who wrote a document as well as the circumstances of its creation.  For all of these documents you should follow this template...

1. Name of Document
2. When was it written
3. What is it? (pamphlet, song lyrics, etc..)
4. Why was it written? - What is the PURPOSE of the document?
5. What can it tell us about the ideals of Philadelphia or Pennsylvania?

Name: ______________________________

Choose 3 Documents that demonstrate the tolerance, anti-slavery, pr abolitionist “ideals” or “ethos” of Philadelphia/Pennsylvania.  

Put your evidence of (tolerance, etc…) in the boxes below… (quote or paraphrase)  

Make a statement / Create a THESIS about Pennsylvania/Philadelphia that these documents might support.