Simeon Jocelyn (1799-1879) was a white pastor, abolitionist, and social activist for African-American civil rights and educational opportunities in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

, during the 19th century. He is known for his attempt to establish America's first college for African Americans, in New Haven, and for his role in the '' Amistad'' affair.

Abolitionism

Jocelyn served as the first pastor of the Black congregation at the new Temple Street Church in

. A former student at

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

, Jocelyn was also the leading advocate for the establishment of an African-American college in New Haven. At the time there was no such college in the country, or anywhere else in the English-speaking world. Save a few exceptional cases, no college accepted African Americans as students. A few years later, the short-lived

Oneida Institute The Oneida Institute was a short-lived (1827–1843) but highly influential school that was a national leader in the emerging Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist movement. It was the most radical school in the country, the first at w ...

and the

Oberlin Collegiate Institute Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest coeducational liberal arts college in the United States and the second oldest continuously operating coeducational institute of higher ...

, predecessor of Oberlin College, decided to accept African Americams. The short-lived

New-York Central College New York Central College, commonly called New York Central College, McGrawville, and simply Central College, was the first college in the United States founded on the principle that all qualified students were welcome. It was thus an abolitionist ...

was the first to accept, from its opening day, both African Americans and women.

New Haven excitement

Working closely with both

William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison (December , 1805 – May 24, 1879) was a prominent American Christian, abolitionist, journalist, suffragist, and social reformer. He is best known for his widely read antislavery newspaper '' The Liberator'', which he found ...

and

Arthur Tappan Arthur Tappan (May 22, 1786 – July 23, 1865) was an American businessman, philanthropist and abolitionist. He was the brother of Ohio Senator Benjamin Tappan and abolitionist Lewis Tappan, and nephew of Harvard Divinity School theologian ...

, he introduced his plan to create an African-American college to the New Haven community on September 7, 1831. Tappan offered a subvention of $1000, if the local whites would raise $9,000 and the Blacks $10,000. Unfortunately, this coincided with the news of

Nat Turner Nat Turner's Rebellion, historically known as the Southampton Insurrection, was a rebellion of enslaved Virginians that took place in Southampton County, Virginia, in August 1831.Schwarz, Frederic D.1831 Nat Turner's Rebellion" ''American Heri ...

's slave revolt of late August—some newspapers put stories of the proposed college and the revolt side-by-side—heightening the fear of Blacks nationwide. Jocelyn's project was met with overwhelming opposition—the vote against it in New Haven was 700 to 4—and he eventually was forced to resign from his position as pastor of the African-American church. Jocelyn's plan was so controversial that his house was later attacked by a white mob. The mob also destroyed a black-owned hotel, a black-owned property, and Arthur Tappan's summer home. The

, replaced by the

, was the one college Blacks could attend. There was no college in the country just for African Americans until the black-owned

Wilberforce University Wilberforce University is a private historically black university in Wilberforce, Ohio. Affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), it was the first college to be owned and operated by African Americans. It participates in t ...

opened in Ohio in 1856. Even still, these events did not prevent Jocelyn from continuing to work as a conductor of the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

. In addition, Jocelyn also helped build a racially-integrated neighborhood in New Haven.

''Amistad'' affair

In 1839, several Cuban slave traders were transporting a group of 53 African captives to a Caribbean plantation. The Africans had been illegally abducted and traded by Portuguese slave hunters. En route to the Caribbean, the Africans rebelled against the captain of their ship and killed several of the kidnappers. The ship was eventually seized by the United States off the coast of

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...

, and the Africans were imprisoned in New Haven. Although they were acquitted of murder, a controversy erupted over the Africans' status: were they free, according to U.S. law, which did not permit the importation of slaves? Or should they be forcibly transported back to their owners in the Spanish colony of Cuba? This debate immediately attracted the attention of prominent abolitionists. Simeon Jocelyn founded the Amistad Committee with

Lewis Tappan Lewis Tappan (May 23, 1788 – June 21, 1873) was a New York abolitionist who worked to achieve freedom for the enslaved Africans aboard the '' Amistad''. Tappan was also among the founders of the American Missionary Association in 1846, which ...

and

Joshua Leavitt Rev. Joshua Leavitt (September 8, 1794, Heath, Massachusetts – January 16, 1873, Brooklyn, New York) was an American Congregationalist minister and former lawyer who became a prominent writer, editor and publisher of abolitionist literature. ...

. The goals of the committee were to endorse the freedom of the Africans and to fund the Africans' legal and living expenses. With the help of Jocelyn, the Africans won the case, with the Supreme Court ruling that the United States government must allow the Africans to return to their homeland.

Abolitionism

New Haven excitement

''Amistad'' affair

References

See also