The Ohio Anti-Slavery Society (1835-1845) was an

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

society established in

Zanesville, Ohio Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. It is located east of Columbus and had a population of 24,765 as of the 2020 census, down from 25,487 as of the 2010 census. Historically the state capita ...

, by American activists such as

Gamaliel Bailey Gamaliel Bailey (December 3, 1807June 5, 1859) was an American physician who left that career to become an abolitionist journalist, editor, and publisher, working primarily in Cincinnati, and Washington, D.C. Anti-abolitionist mobs attacked his ...

Asa Mahan Asa Mahan (; November 9, 1799April 4, 1889) was a U.S. Congregational clergyman and educator and the first president of both the Oberlin Collegiate Institute (later Oberlin College) and Adrian College. He described himself as "a religious teacher ...

, John Rankin,

Charles Finney Charles Grandison Finney (August 29, 1792 – August 16, 1875) was an American Presbyterian minister and leader in the Second Great Awakening in the United States. He has been called the "Father of Old Revivalism." Finney rejected much of tradi ...

and Theordore Dwight Weld.

Background

Beginning

The Ohio Anti-Slavery Society was originally created as an auxiliary of the

American Anti-Slavery Society The American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS; 1833–1870) was an abolitionist society founded by William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan. Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave, had become a prominent abolitionist and was a key leader of this society ...

. Its first meeting took place in

Putnam, Ohio Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. It is located east of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus and had a population of 24,765 as of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, down ...

, in April of 1835, and gathered delegates from 25 counties, along with four corresponding members from other states,

William T. Allen William T. Allen (July 17, 1944 – October 13, 2019) was a professor of corporate law at New York University law school, and the Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery from 1985 to 1997. He also worked for the bank and business law firm W ...

, James G. Birney, James A. Thome and Ebenezer Martin. Later, the society's headquarters moved to

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

The Society

The society was created with the purpose of ending slavery in the United States. The Ohio Anti-Slavery Society's constitution stated that its objective was the "abolition of slavery throughout the United States and the elevation of our colored brethren to their proper rank as men." Along with sponsoring traveling lecturers, the Society made James G. Birney's newspaper '' The Philanthropist'' its official press. During the

Cincinnati riots of 1836 The Cincinnati riots of 1836 were caused by racial tensions at a time when African Americans, some of whom had escaped from slavery in the Southern United States, were competing with whites for jobs. The racial riots occurred in Cincinnati, Ohio, Un ...

, pro-slavery citizens protested against the activities of the society and destroyed Birney's printing press. A committee of citizens asked for the closure of the newspaper, but their request was declined by the Society's executive committee on the basis of " freedom of press". In 1836 - during the Society's first anniversary -, the members voted for a new executive board that included: Gamaliel Bailey, James G. Birney, Isaac Colby, C. Donaldson, James C. Ludlow, Thomas Maylin, John Melendy, and Rees E. Price. Several abolitionists considered the participation of African-Americans in the society unimportant and unnecessary, but John Rankin and Gamaliel Bailey "slowly accepted African American involvement," and "Rankin declared racial prejudice criminal and a violation of the 'law of love.'"

Expansion

In 1836, the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society grew from 20 chapters to 120 chapters in every part of the state. By December of the same year, ten thousand Ohioans were part of the Society.

Division

During the 1840 anniversary of the society, its adherents passed a resolution that forbade it from becoming a political force. A portion of its members asked to cut their ties with the

and to keep a neutral approach in their abolitionist work. In June 1841, a meeting was held at Mt. Pleasant, where several members vouched for independent political action. Some of the society's officials held a separate meeting exclusive for political abolitionists who eventually supported the Liberty Party. Due to the post-panic economy, the Society and its official publication ''The Philanthropist'' started losing their prominence, and by September 1841 the presses were ravaged in a two-day riot.

References

{{reflist American abolitionist organizations Organizations established in 1835 1845 disestablishments