The African Free School was a school for children of

slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

and

free people of color In the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, free people of color (French: ''gens de couleur libres''; Spanish: ''gente de color libre'') were primarily people of mixed African, European, and Native American descent who were not ...

in New York City. It was founded by members of the

New York Manumission Society The New-York Manumission Society was an American organization founded in 1785 by U.S. Founding Father John Jay, among others, to promote the gradual abolition of slavery and manumission of slaves of African descent within the state of New York. ...

, including

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...

and

John Jay John Jay (December 12, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, patriot, diplomat, abolitionist, signatory of the Treaty of Paris, and a Founding Father of the United States. He served as the second governor of New York and the first ...

, on November 2, 1787. Many of its alumni became leaders in the African-American community in New York.

History

The school was founded by the

, an organization that advocated the full abolition of African slavery. In 1785 the group gained passage of a New York state law prohibiting the sale of slaves who were imported into the state. This preceded the national law prohibiting the slave trade, which went into effect in 1808. The New York law also eased restrictions on the

manumission Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing enslaved people by their enslavers. Different approaches to manumission were developed, each specific to the time and place of a particular society. Historian Verene Shepherd states that t ...

of enslaved Africans. The society's members were all white, male, wealthy, and influential."African Free School"
New-York Historical Society The society was founded by

, a statesman and abolitionist, and included

among its members. Established in 1794, the first school was a

one-room school house One-room schools, or schoolhouses, were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries, including Prussia, Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Spain. In most rural and s ...

that held about 40 students. Originally the Manumission Society hired white teachers, but it eventually employed black teachers as well. It was an early form of "charity schooling," supported by donations for the city's poorest residents. In 1809 the school's trustees hired Charles C. Andrews, an English immigrant, to teach at the school. Andrews used the methods of

Joseph Lancaster Joseph Lancaster (25 November 1778 – 23 October 1838) was an English Quaker and public education innovator. He developed, and propagated on the grounds both of economy and efficacy, a monitorial system of primary education. In the first de ...

, a British school reformer whose system employed student assistants or "

monitors Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West Vir ...

," permitting a single teacher to conduct classes as large as several hundred. By all accounts, Andrews was passionately committed to the idea that his black students were just as bright as whites, if not even smarter. Under his leadership the institution grew significantly, moving to a new building on William St in 1815. Five years later an even bigger facility was opened on Mulberry St, near Grand. By then enrollment was approaching 700, and the schools were gaining a wide reputation for success. Andrews published a book in 1821 celebrating the schools' accomplishments, and they became a frequent stopping point for visitors to the city. After opening yet another school, with enrollment surpassing a thousand children, a crisis unfolded in the early 1830s. Andrews publicly advocated the idea that American blacks should set up a colony in Africa, as was being done in Liberia by the American Colonization Society. This was one of the period's most controversial racial issues, as by this time most American blacks were native born and their goal was to achieve equal political rights in the United States. Black students boycotted the schools, leading to Andrews' dismissal in 1832. The administration hired black teachers to replace whites in each of the city's African Free Schools. By 1835, when the schools ended their run as privately supported institutions, the African Free School had seven buildings in different neighborhoods, and it had educated thousands of girls and boys. At that time the African Free Schools and their facilities were integrated into the public school system. This was several years after New York freed the last adult slaves under its gradual abolition law. The state had passed a gradual emancipation law in 1799: it provided that children of enslaved mothers would be born free, but were required to have lengthy periods as indentured servants, to 28 years of age for men and 25 for women, before being legally and socially free. Gradually, existing adult slaves were freed, until the last were freed in 1827.

Notable alumni

* Dr.

James McCune Smith James McCune Smith (April 18, 1813 – November 17, 1865) was an American physician, apothecary, abolitionist, and author who was born in Manhattan. He was the first African American to hold a medical degree from the University of Glasgow in Sco ...

, the first African American to earn a university medical degree, physician, writer and abolitionist. *

Ira Aldridge Ira Frederick Aldridge (July 24, 1807 – August 7, 1867) was an American-born British actor, playwright, and theatre manager, known for his portrayal of Shakespearean characters. James Hewlett and Aldridge are regarded as the first Black Ameri ...

, actor and abolitionist activist *

Alexander Crummell Alexander Crummell (March 3, 1819 – September 10, 1898) was a pioneering African-American minister, academic and African nationalist. Ordained as an Episcopal priest in the United States, Crummell went to England in the late 1840s to raise money ...

, minister and early black nationalist * George T. Downing, caterer and abolitionist *

Henry Highland Garnet Henry Highland Garnet (December 23, 1815 – February 13, 1882) was an African-American abolitionist, minister, educator and orator. Having escaped as a child from slavery in Maryland with his family, he grew up in New York City. He was educat ...

, minister and abolitionist *

Patrick H. Reason Patrick Henry Reason, first named Patrice Rison (March 17, 1816 – August 12, 1898), was one of the earliest African-American engravers and lithographers in the United States. He was active as an abolitionist (along with his brother Charles Lew ...

, engraver * Charles Lewis Reason, first African-American college professor, abolitionist *

Samuel Ringgold Ward Samuel Ringgold Ward (October 17, 1817 – ) was an African American who escaped enslavement to become an abolitionist, newspaper editor, labor leader, and Congregational church minister. He was author of the influential book ''Autobiograp ...

, a cousin of Garnet

References

Sources

* * *

External links

African Free School
at

New-York Historical Society The New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library in New York City, along Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum. ...

Finding Aid for African Free School Records

* {{Authority control Historically black schools History of New York City Historically segregated African-American schools in New York (state) 1787 establishments in New York (state) Defunct schools in New York City African-American history in New York City Antebellum educational institutions that admitted African Americans Educational institutions established in 1787 Private elementary schools in Manhattan 1835 disestablishments in New York (state) Underground Railroad in New York (state)

History

Notable alumni

See also

References

Further reading

Sources

External links