User:Lachapek/1859 New England Regional Convention of Colored Citizens

= 1859 New England Regional Convention of Colored Citizens = On the night of August 1, 1859 a group of African Americans gathered in the Meionaon Hall in Boston Massachusetts. After William Wells Brown called the convention to order Rev. Amos Beman was named Chairman and Bela C. Perry as Secretary.

Origins of the Convention
In their "Call for a Convention of the Colored Citizens of the New England States" Brown and other organizers penned a fiery call to action for colored people that began with a statement supporting a broad re-investigation of the condition of colored people in New England and the rest of the country:"The primary object we have in view is, to take into consideration the Moral, Social, and Political elevation of those with whom we are identified, by complexion and condition, in the New England and other States."The organizers identify a lack of political power and widespread suffrage as a chief concern to their efforts. And in closing, extend an invitation to "brethren from New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and the far West" to meet with the group and expand remedies nationwide.

Results of the Convention
By the end of the second day of deliberations there had been well over a dozen resolutions proposed including African colonization, a general call for African Americans to further educate themselves, a call for all African Americans not currently in a profitable job to move to agriculture, and many more. One of the more controversial topics was a push for the Republican party in Rhode Island to be charged with not allowing African Americans into their party. While the convention didn't result in immediate changes, it did give a chance for abolitionist leaders from the area to meet with each other and with members of the community to design a path forward.

William Wells Brown
Brown was one of the most prominent writers and abolitionist thinkers of his time. Contemporaries with Frederick Douglass, Brown became both the first African American novelist when his first book, Clotel, was published in 1853 in England (published in the United States in 1859); as well as the first African American playwright to be published in 1858. In 1859 he would have been a few years removed from living in England (1849-1854) after re-capture became too big of a threat in the United States with the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act. Brown introduced the Convention in 1859, sat in a prominent position on many councils, and during absences of the committee continued to keep order in the room.

Amos Beman
Beman was a well respected Reverend at the Temple Street African Church in New Haven Connecticut from 1841 until 1858. During his tenure the church grew considerably even though it was often marred by financial uneasiness, and for many years Beman could not take a salary for himself. After years as a community leader Beman began actively working as an abolitionist writing in many prominent African American papers such as Fredrick Douglass' North Star.

Bela C. Perry
Perry was an abolitionist writer from the New England area and author of a book titled The Human Hair, and the Cutaneous Diseases Which Affect It. During the convention she sat on the business committee which submitted various resolutions such as abstinence from alcohol and an self-exodus from cities to agricultural centers to find more work.