Free African Society
Encyclopedia
The Free African Society was founded in Philadelphia in April 1787. The leaders were Richard Allen and Absalom Jones
, free blacks
whose goal was to create a non-denominational religious organization that served the spiritual, economic and social needs of Philadelphia's African-American community. Other leaders, all free blacks, were Samuel Baston, Joseph Johnson, Cato Freedman, Caesar Cranchell, James Potter and William White. The treasurer and clerk of the FAS was Joseph Clarke, a European-American Quaker.
The FAS developed as part of the rise in civic organizing following United States' independence in the Revolutionary War. It was also directly related to its leaders' desires to create a separate group to meet African-American needs; they rejected the second-class status they were forced into at their white-dominated, former Methodist church. The Free African Society was designed as a mutual aid society to help support African Americans; especially the sick, jobless, orphaned and widowed. The FAS became famous for its work during the yellow fever
epidemic
of 1793. Many newly freed African Americans migrated to Philadelphia, and the FAS provided a place that helped them establish their new sense of self-determination, while providing social and economic guidance. Its members taught thriftiness and how to save to build wealth; which later became the model for banks in the African-American community. It sought to improve the morals of its members by regulating marriages, condemning drunkenness, and condemning adultery.
The Free African Society also played a role in education and in providing members with medical care. Although many schools for black children were founded by white philanthropists, the FAS started teaching blacks how to read in 1795 in a Sunday school class at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church
(AME Church). In 1803, Cyrus Bustill opened a school for black children in his home, and a year later, Absalom Jones opened another school. By 1837, with financial help from the Quakers and the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, ten private schools for blacks were operating.
To encourage responsibility and create a common aid fund, the FAS asked members to pay dues of one shilling
per month. If they failed to pay dues for three months, they were cut off from the society, no longer able to share in their benefits. The dues collected were the fund for the community service projects which the FAS organized. Among these was a food program to help support the community’s poor and widowed.
Richard Allen and others who wanted to continue as Methodists founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church
(AME), which opened the doors of its first church building in 1794. While independent, it was still affiliated with the regional and national Methodist Church. To achieve full independence from white supervision, in 1816 Allen brought several regional AME congregations together and founded the first fully independent black denomination, the AME Church.
"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 an amendment, by being informed by two of the members, without having any of his subscription money returned.
And if any should neglect paying his monthly subscription for three months, and after having been informed of the same by two of the members, and no sufficient reason appearing for such neglect, if he do not pay the whole the next ensuing meeting, he shall be disjointed from us, by being informed by two of the members its an offender, without hiving any of his subscription money returned.
Also, if any person neglect meeting every month, for every omission he shall pay three pence, except in case or sickness or any other complaint that should require the assistance of the Society, then, and in such a case, he shall be exempt from the fines and subscription during the said sickness.
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.
Also, that no member shall convene the Society together; but, it shall be the sole business of the committee, and that only on special occasions, and to dispose of the money in hand to the best advantage, for the use of the Society, after they are granted the liberty at a monthly meeting, and to transact all other business whatsoever, except that of Clerk and Treasurer.
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.
The following persons met, viz., Absalom Jones, Richard Allen, Samuel Baston, Joseph Johnson, Cato Freeman, Caesar Cranchell, and James Potter, also William White, whose early assistance and useful remarks we found truly profitable. This evening the articles were read, and after some beneficial remarks were made, they were agreed unto."
Absalom Jones
Absalom Jones was an African-American abolitionist and clergyman. After founding a black congregation in 1794, in 1804 he was the first African-American ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church of the United States...
, free blacks
Free people of color
A free person of color in the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, is a person of full or partial African descent who was not enslaved...
whose goal was to create a non-denominational religious organization that served the spiritual, economic and social needs of Philadelphia's African-American community. Other leaders, all free blacks, were Samuel Baston, Joseph Johnson, Cato Freedman, Caesar Cranchell, James Potter and William White. The treasurer and clerk of the FAS was Joseph Clarke, a European-American Quaker.
The FAS developed as part of the rise in civic organizing following United States' independence in the Revolutionary War. It was also directly related to its leaders' desires to create a separate group to meet African-American needs; they rejected the second-class status they were forced into at their white-dominated, former Methodist church. The Free African Society was designed as a mutual aid society to help support African Americans; especially the sick, jobless, orphaned and widowed. The FAS became famous for its work during the yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
of 1793. Many newly freed African Americans migrated to Philadelphia, and the FAS provided a place that helped them establish their new sense of self-determination, while providing social and economic guidance. Its members taught thriftiness and how to save to build wealth; which later became the model for banks in the African-American community. It sought to improve the morals of its members by regulating marriages, condemning drunkenness, and condemning adultery.
The Free African Society also played a role in education and in providing members with medical care. Although many schools for black children were founded by white philanthropists, the FAS started teaching blacks how to read in 1795 in a Sunday school class at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, or Bethel AME Church, or Union Bethel A.M.E. Church, may refer to:in the United States* Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church, Philadelphia, PA, a U.S...
(AME Church). In 1803, Cyrus Bustill opened a school for black children in his home, and a year later, Absalom Jones opened another school. By 1837, with financial help from the Quakers and the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, ten private schools for blacks were operating.
To encourage responsibility and create a common aid fund, the FAS asked members to pay dues of one shilling
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
per month. If they failed to pay dues for three months, they were cut off from the society, no longer able to share in their benefits. The dues collected were the fund for the community service projects which the FAS organized. Among these was a food program to help support the community’s poor and widowed.
Later years
Many members who wanted more religious affiliation followed Absalom Jones when he founded the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas. It opened its doors in 1794 as the first Episcopal church for blacks. In 1804, Jones was the first black to be ordained as an Episcopal priest in the United States.Richard Allen and others who wanted to continue as Methodists founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church
African Methodist Episcopal Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination based in the United States. It was founded by the Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the...
(AME), which opened the doors of its first church building in 1794. While independent, it was still affiliated with the regional and national Methodist Church. To achieve full independence from white supervision, in 1816 Allen brought several regional AME congregations together and founded the first fully independent black denomination, the AME Church.
Preamble and articles of the association
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 an amendment, by being informed by two of the members, without having any of his subscription money returned.
And if any should neglect paying his monthly subscription for three months, and after having been informed of the same by two of the members, and no sufficient reason appearing for such neglect, if he do not pay the whole the next ensuing meeting, he shall be disjointed from us, by being informed by two of the members its an offender, without hiving any of his subscription money returned.
Also, if any person neglect meeting every month, for every omission he shall pay three pence, except in case or sickness or any other complaint that should require the assistance of the Society, then, and in such a case, he shall be exempt from the fines and subscription during the said sickness.
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.
Also, that no member shall convene the Society together; but, it shall be the sole business of the committee, and that only on special occasions, and to dispose of the money in hand to the best advantage, for the use of the Society, after they are granted the liberty at a monthly meeting, and to transact all other business whatsoever, except that of Clerk and Treasurer.
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.
The following persons met, viz., Absalom Jones, Richard Allen, Samuel Baston, Joseph Johnson, Cato Freeman, Caesar Cranchell, and James Potter, also William White, whose early assistance and useful remarks we found truly profitable. This evening the articles were read, and after some beneficial remarks were made, they were agreed unto."
Further reading
- Boyd, Herb. Autobiography of a People, New York: Doubleday, 2000.
- "The Free African Society of Philadelphia"
- Johnson, Charles, Patricia Smith, et al., Africans in America, WGBH Educational Foundation, 1998