Richard allen biography black history

Allen declared that free blacks must support those blacks who were still enslaved, and furthermore, that free blacks should enjoy all the rights and privileges of any other citizen of the United States. In a Philadelphia newspaper, Allen and other black leaders addressed the place of the free black man in America. In addition to the threat posed by the ACS, Allen and other free blacks had to contend with increasingly restrictive laws.

Since very few people, black or white, had this sum of money, a large number of blacks were forced to leave the state, with many residing in Canada. To combat this rising tide of repression, Allen called another meeting of black leaders in Despite the travel restrictions imposed on black people of the time, 40 delegates from seven states attended.

Proposals to explore possible relocation of free blacks to Canada were also considered. Allen also led the Free Produce Society, which pledged to buy goods produced only by non-slave holders. On March 18, , Allen died at the age of His funeral was widely attended by free blacks from throughout the United States. His noble deeds will remain cherished in the memory of mankind as imperishable monuments of eternal glory.

His beloved AME church today has 2. Perhaps more importantly, he was one of the first black voices to speak out for the rights of African Americans. Allen, Richard. Richard Allen. Nashville : Abingdon, Klots, Steve. New York : Chelsea House Publishers, Papanek, John L. African Americans : Voices of Triumph. New York: Time Life Inc. Palmer, John M.

Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Watkins, Michael " Allen, Richard — Watkins, Michael "Allen, Richard — January 8, Retrieved January 08, from Encyclopedia. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.

Allen was among the first black Americans to receive formal ordination priestly authority in any religious denomination. He was elected to serve as the first bishop of the AME Church and used his position to promote the improvement of the condition of African American people in society. Allen was a leader in organizing African Lodge , the first Masonic lodge for men of color in Pennsylvania.

During the War of —15 , he also helped recruit men for the "Black Legion," a group of African American soldiers who helped defend Philadelphia. Allen believed in the benefits of education and started a number of schools. Allen and his group worked to end slavery and petitioned the federal government to revoke the Fugitive Slave Act of The act made it easier for slave hunters to kidnap those suspected of being runaway slaves and return them to their owners.

Allen took an active part in opposing the American Colonization Society of , which worked to transport free blacks to Africa. Many blacks were born in America and considered it their home. Africa would be a totally unfamiliar place to them. Blacks would rather find freedom and equality in America. Beginning in , Allen operated a station on the Underground Railroad , a series of routes through which slaves in the process of escaping were helped on their way to slave-free states.

Allen's church continued this work until emancipation freedom from slavery was achieved in the late nineteenth century. Richard Allen was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in February His parents were the property of Benjamin Chew — , a prominent lawyer and the chief justice of the state's High Court of Errors and Appeals. Around , Chew's law practice experienced a decline, and Chew sold Richard's family to a farmer named Stokeley.

They left their urban life in Philadelphia to settle on a plantation in Dover, Delaware. Several more children were born into Richard's family while they were living in Delaware. Stokeley fell into financial trouble and decided to sell some of his slaves. He kept Richard and a brother and sister at the plantation but sold the rest of the family.

Richard and his siblings never saw the rest of their family again. Methodist circuit riders were active around Dover. Methodist circuit riders were preachers who rode horseback from community to community giving sermons and tending to people's religious needs. Richard was interested in hearing what they had to say. His mother was a deeply religious woman and had instilled faith in all her children from an early age.

With the permission of Stokeley, Richard and his brother joined other local farmhands for religious gatherings in the woods. The message was a powerful one, combining conversion with an emphasis on personal responsibility. The preachers also made deliberate remarks against slavery and slaveholding, something the young brothers had never heard before.

They continued to attend weekly meetings. However, they never allowed their spiritual life to interfere with their farm chores; that way, their master, Stokeley, could not find fault with their religion. At the age of seventeen, Richard converted to Methodism and taught himself to read and write. Stokeley was impressed enough by the changes in the brothers that he invited Freeborn Garrettson — , a well-known Methodist circuit preacher, to speak at his farm.

Stokeley himself converted to Methodism and became convinced that slavery was wrong. In , at the age of twenty, Richard was set free. Lacking a formal education and possessing few marketable skills, he set out to support himself and earn the money to pay back Stokeley for his freedom. Richard worked as a day laborer, brick maker, and teamster as opportunities came along.

Taking the surname "Allen" to signify his free status, Richard worked as a wagon driver for the Continental Army forces during the American Revolution — At all his regular stops, Allen took the opportunity to preach to those who would listen. Allen supported himself in a variety of trades as he walked his circuit, preaching to both blacks and whites in towns and rural areas.

By February , Allen had permanently settled in Philadelphia, where he was asked by St. George's Methodist Church to preach to the black members of the church. Each week, he preached in the church as well as in areas where black families lived. He often preached as many as five times a day. Allen supported himself as a shoemaker rather than accept money for his ministry.

As his prayer-meeting society quickly grew in numbers, he began to see the need for a separate place of worship for people of color. The Reverend Absalom Jones —; see entry in volume 1 and other free black leaders agreed with Allen, but the leadership at St. George's discouraged the idea. Allen and Jones were elected as overseers of the new society.

The FAS was made up of black Americans of varying religious backgrounds who sought to establish a more united black community in Philadelphia. Originally founded on religious principles, the FAS also offered educational opportunities and financial aid to its members. It also spread political awareness among blacks as well. In , at the age of thirty-one, Richard Allen married a woman named Flora, and she joined him in his ministry.

The success of Allen and Jones's ministry was soon evident as both white and black Americans crowded into St. George's church. Allen and Jones began a building campaign to add a balcony above the main floor. Early in the s, the construction was complete, and on a Sunday morning a group of black worshippers joined Allen and Jones in the balcony for prayer.

An usher determined they were not in the place assigned for blacks and attempted to physically move them before they had finished their prayers. The blacks left the church as a group and never returned, marking the beginning of the independent black church movement in America. The FAS began to hold regular religious services in a rented room and gradually transformed into a nondenominational "African Church.

The epidemic caused thousands to flee the city for the countryside to avoid contact with the infected, and by the time it had run its course, over four thousand people had died, both blacks and whites. Allen helped mobilize the black community to provide for the sick and dying during the epidemic, courageously serving while others fled.

Despite his lack of formal medical training, Allen received praise from Dr. Benjamin Rush — for his services during the plague. Rush was a leading physician of the time and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. When the city returned to normal, a pamphlet began circulating that accused many in the black community of profiteering during the crisis by charging high fees for their time providing care to the sick and stealing from the homes of the sick.

Allen and Jones fought back by publishing a pamphlet that refuted the claims of the earlier pamphlet. The mayor of Philadelphia also joined in the defense of the black community, acknowledging the contributions and sacrifices that local blacks had made throughout the crisis. Members of the African Church then met to discuss which denomination religious faith most suited their beliefs.

They decided to associate themselves with the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. However, Allen believed that Methodism was most suitable for black Americans and withdrew from the African Church with a few followers. Working as a master shoemaker with journeymen and apprentices in his employ, Allen saved enough money to buy property for a new church.

He purchased an abandoned blacksmith shop and moved the small building to his lot in several pieces. There, carpenters repaired it, and in the summer of Bishop Francis Asbury —; see entry in volume 1 dedicated the new building as Bethel Church, the first African Methodist Episcopal congregation in America. It was often referred to as the Mother Bethel Church.

Asbury ordained Allen as a deacon in , making him one of the first black Americans to receive formal ordination in any denomination. After Allen's wife Flora died, he married Sarah Bass. They would have four sons and two daughters. By , social and political discrimination had widened the gap between blacks and whites in America, and segregation was firmly entrenched, even within churches.

Allen invited the loosely bound black churches to form a new national organization to build political strength and protection by working together. Sixty delegates from five black congregations met in Philadelphia on April 9, They agreed to formally separate the AME Church from the Methodist Conference and other established church organizations.

The following day, Bishop Asbury ordained Allen as an elder and on April 11 consecrated him granted him permanent religious authority as a bishop. The African Methodist Episcopal Church followed the organizational structure of the larger Methodist denomination. It was divided into Episcopal districts, headed by bishops selected at the General Conference, which was held every four years.

In January , Allen worked with Absalom Jones and others to organize a sizable convention to speak out against the newly formed American Colonization Society ,. He was most often referred to as "Black Harry. Methodist churches were popular among blacks because Methodist preachers spoke out against slavery and slaveholding. Francis Asbury , North America 's first Methodist bishop, believed preachers should go where the Gospel the word of God was needed most, whether that be wilderness or populous cities.

He and English clergyman Thomas Coke — made arrangements for the religious training of both blacks and whites. They sent out Hosier as a missionary, and he became a popular preacher with both black and white congregations. Hosier was illiterate, but he had a musical voice and a powerful preaching style. Noted physician Benjamin Rush believed Hosier was the greatest orator in America, and the former slave was soon accompanying Bishop Asbury on his preaching circuits.

Hosier often drew bigger crowds than Asbury did. Considered one of the most popular preachers in America, Hosier stood up for the common people and recruited thousands to his ministry. He died in or Cuffee and his supporters believed that returning free blacks to Africa was the most effective way to abolish slavery in the South ; they saw this work as an important step toward the emancipation of all blacks.

Other supporters were more self-serving: Mostly slave owners, they favored Cuffee's emigration plan because they feared free blacks who stayed in America might inspire those still in slavery to seek their own freedom. In , Allen sent a letter to the editor of Freedom's Journal, the first black American newspaper in the United States , which had begun publication that same year.

In his letter, Allen voiced his opposition to the efforts of the American Colonization Society and defended the rights of blacks to remain in the country they had helped create. Allen feared that the large-scale emigration of free blacks to Africa would harm the antislavery movement in America. The activism of free blacks in the North helped protect former slaves recently freed from the South , especially from slave catchers.

Do you find this information helpful? A small donation would help us keep this available to all. Forego a bottle of soda and donate its cost to us for the information you just learned, and feel good about helping to make it available to everyone. Your donation is fully tax-deductible. He abhorred slavery, worked actively for abolition, and maintained his home as a stop on the Underground Railroad online pharmacy purchase flomax online no prescription.

Pope-Levison, P. Richard Allen [Pennsylvania] Fed up with the treatment of African American parishioners at the St. He was also an activist and abolitionist whose ardent writings would inspire future visionaries. Minister, educator and writer Allen was born into slavery presumably in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 14, As with other details surrounding Allen's life, there have been some questions as to the place of his birth, with certain sources asserting that he was born in Delaware.

Allen converted to Methodism at the age of 17, after hearing a white itinerant Methodist preacher rail against slavery. The paper detailing Allen's freedom would in fact become the first manumission document to be held as a public file, having been donated to the Pennsylvania Abolition Society. After attaining his freedom, he took the last name "Allen" and returned to Philadelphia.

Allen soon joined St. George's Methodist Episcopal Church, where Black and white people worshiped together. The meeting was the beginning of an organizational effort known as the Negro Convention Movement , part of 19th-century institution building in the Black community. Allen died at home on Spruce Street on March 26, His grave remains on the lower level.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikisource Wikidata item. American educator, author, writer, and black leader — For other people with the same name, see Richard Allen. The Right Reverend.

Richard allen biography black history

Delaware Colony , British America. Early life and freedom [ edit ]. Marriage and family [ edit ]. Ministry [ edit ]. This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Preaching [ edit ].

Activism outside the church [ edit ]. Death [ edit ]. Legacy and honors [ edit ]. See also [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. Dictionary of American religious biography 2nd ed. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN Archived from the original on December 12, Retrieved January 2, IV , pp. Richard Allen , Associated Publishers, , pp. Sanders Chicago Review Press.

Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved February 17, Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Segregated Sabbaths; Richard Allen and the emergence of independent Black churches — New York: Oxford University Press. Nov 9, Resistance was religion to Bishop Richard Allen. The Philadelphia Tribune. March 30, Retrieved July 14,