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Exhibition Join In: Voluntary Assocations in America

Join In: Voluntary Assocations in America

American Anti-Slavery Society

The Slave’s Friend, Volume 2. New York: American Anti-Slavery Society, 1836–[38]. Rare Books and Special Collections Division Library of Congress (068.00.00)
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The Slave’s Friend, Volume 2. New York: American Anti-Slavery Society, 1836–[38]. Rare Books and Special Collections Division Library of Congress (068.00.00)
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Slave Market of America. New York: American Anti-Slavery Society, 1836. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (069.00.00)
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Frederick Douglass (1820–1895). “What the Black Man Wants,” speech delivered at the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society at Boston, 1865. African American Pamphet Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (071.00.00)
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American Anti-Slavery Society

In 1833, sixty abolitionist leaders met in Philadelphia to create a national organization to bring about the immediate emancipation of enslaved persons. The American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS) produced such publications as The Slave’s Friend, a monthly pamphlet for children; issued broadsides; sponsored public lectures; and encouraged civil disobedience and boycotts of cotton and other products of slave labor. In 1841, Frederick Douglass joined AASS and often traveled and made speeches on its behalf. He delivered “What the Black Man Wants” at the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society in 1865, just days before the end of the Civil War. AASS was dissolved in 1870, five years after the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery was ratified.