The Michigan Anti-Slavery Society, also called Michigan State Anti-Slavery Society, was founded on November 10, 1836, in Ann Arbor of the Michigan Territory (1805–1837). The first meeting was held at the First Presbyterian Church on East Huron Street.[1] The founding of the anti-slavery society was part of a movement to abolish slavery in several states during the 1830s, as well as support within the territory for the Underground Railroad.[2][a]
It was formed by 75 abolitionists from six counties.[2] The organization was supported by Wesleyan Methodists and Quakers. There were anti-slavery and pro-slavery viewpoints in Michigan.[4]Guy Beckley and Theodore Foster, publishers of the Signal of Liberty, wrote: "Our neighbors accuse us of being 'worse than horse thieves,' because we have given to the colored man a helping hand in his perilous journey... We are also held up as transgressors of the law and having no regard for the civil authority."[4] (The Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 made it illegal to aid escapees.)[5]
Society meetings were held at the First Presbyterian Church for ten years, although the Presbyterian Church of the United States did not want to take a political stance against slavery.[2] Some of the members of the First Presbyterian Church broke away from the church and founded the First Congregational Church of Ann Arbor in 1847.[4]
One of the adopted resolutions was to establish an anti-slavery newspaper in Michigan, which began with American Freeman,[2] then the Michigan Freeman, which were replaced by the weekly Signal of Liberty in 1841.[1][2] The society's executive committee contributed to the newspaper.[6] A historic marker is located on the site of the First Presbyterian Church in recognition in its role in founding the anti-slavery society and the newspapers.[7]
