By Lawful Ways and Means: The New-York Manumission Society’s Efforts in the Early Republic

Abstract

This thesis examines the activities and impact of the New-York Manumission Society from its founding in 1785 through the passage of New York State's gradual manumission act in 1799. The emphasis on this period, as opposed to the entire life of the Society through the mid-1800s, is that it provides an analysis of the Society’s multi-pronged strategy to achieve the main goal of the organization, which was an act of gradual manumission for New York State. The Society worked through four main pillars of activity, which were preventing the kidnapping of free Black people, establishing and operating the African Free School, correspondence and communication on both a national and international level, and influencing state legislation. Led by noteworthy New York citizens and using a decentralized structure composed of members with numerous professional backgrounds, the Society was able to show their genuine concern for the plight of slaves and those illegally held in bondage in the city. The Society’s methodical activity towards weakening the institution of slavery helped define the standard of a responsible citizen in the new republic with respect to ending an abhorrent institution. This thesis presents, through an analysis of records related to the Society and its members, that its measured and incremental approach to promoting manumission, while imperfect and one not always welcomed by Black or white New Yorkers, was ultimately successful in contributing towards establishing the conditions necessary for the state’s 1799 gradual manumission act.