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= 1858 Massachusetts State Convention of Colored Citizens = Representatives of the African American community from New Bedford, Providence, Boston and other cities of Massachusetts convened on August 1 to August 2, 1858 in New Bedford to discuss their racial progression towards equal rights.

Convention Proceedings
The first day of the convention commenced at the New Bedford City Hall at eleven o'clock. William Wells Brown was appointed president of the first day of the commission. Brown addressed the convention congratulating the assembly for successfully organizing and executing their meeting on the 24th anniversary of the liberation from bondage of eight hundred thousand slaves in the British West Indies. "“We can not only celebrate the anniversary of West India emancipation, but we can announce to the world our own rights, our natural rights, which are recognized in the Declaration of Independence. We meet to proclaim to the world that we have rights, not granted by the American Government, but by the Creator; they cannot be taken from us by any Congress or Legislature.”"Brown’s address emphasised the convention’s mission to proclaim the principle that “man cannot hold property in man.” Charles Lenox Remond was among the first speakers to address the convention on the first day. Remond’s speech emphasized his distaste for the white community’s oppression and objected to his fellow African American’s who felt that compromise for an inferior position in American society was a viable option. He declared the African American community was strong enough to defy the practice of slavery in America. Remond went as far as to promote violence and suggest preparing an address for slaves in the South to rise against their oppressors. He insisted that men of color would gain nothing by acting through half measures or bargaining. It was fellow convention goer, Josiah Henson, that objected to Remond's proposition of violence. Henson declared that everything the convention was working towards would be lost if the assembly voted for this proposal. "'I didn't want to see three or four thousand men hung before their time, if such proposal were carried out.'"The second day of the commencement reconvened at ten oclock on August 2, the following Tuesday morning. Discussion the following day included the vote regarding Remond's call to arms as well as the endorsement of a petition to enact that no person within Massachusetts that was previously held as a slave be delivered back to a slave owner on the grounds he owes “service or labor.” The call to arms proposed by Remond lost by unanimous decision after the assembly had voted on the matter. The petition was to be addressed to the Massachusetts Legislature by the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. Convention goers were urged to prioritize their children’s education by taking advantage of their enrollment eligibility at institutions within the state as well.

Public Perception
William Lloyd Garrison, editor of The Liberator, praised the convention commenting on its impressive execution and orderly nature orchestrated by the African American community of Massachusetts. He declared it representation of significant progress within their organization and stood as striking evidence to combat the inferior race argument. The majority of Boston newspapers did not send representatives to report on the convention and the few that did covered the event minimally.

External Link
Colored Conventions Project