African-American History

(Chicago Citation)

Robert Purvis was an important member of the abolitionist community in the United States during the mid-1800's. Originally from South Carolina, Purvis was only 1/4 black, and although he was light skinned enough to pass for white, chose to present himself as a black man. Purvis was important for his association with a number of abolitionist causes including the founding of the American Anti-Slavery Society, Young Men's Antislavery Society, and the American Moral Reform Society (AMRS), Philadelphia Vigilance Committee. (Alexander 506) He wrote "Appeal of Forty Thousand Citizens to Protest Disenfranchisement in Pennsylvania," used his home as a stop on the Underground Railroad, and support black troops during the Civil War.

John Wesley Cromwell was born into slavery but went on to become a lawyer, organizer, historian, educator, and writer. Freed in 1851 when his father purchased his family's freedom, John returned to Virginia after the...
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