- Areas Of Involvement:
- slavery
- African Americans
Free African Society
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What was the Free African Society?
The Free African Society (FAS) was a non-denominational religious mutual aid organization that offered financial and emotional support to newly freed African slaves in the United States. Richard Allen and Absalom Jones, along with other free African Americans, established the FAS in 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The organization's mission was to provide fellowship, a place of worship, and financial support to members and their families in case of illness or death. The FAS was the first African American mutual aid society in Philadelphia and one of the first such organizations for African Americans. The FAS opened schools, churches, and cemeteries for Philadelphia’s African American residents.
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When and where was the Free African Society founded?
The Free African Society (FAS) was established in 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, and other free African Americans founded the nondenominational religious mutual aid organization to offer financial and emotional support to newly freed slaves in the United States. The FAS's goal was to provide fellowship, a place of worship, and financial support to members and their families in the event of illness or death. It was the first African American mutual aid society in Philadelphia and one of the first in the country.
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Who started the Free African Society?
The Free African Society (FAS) was founded in 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by Richard Allen and Absalom Jones, along with other free African Americans.
The FAS was a nondenominational religious mutual aid organization created to offer financial and emotional support to newly freed African slaves in the United States. The organization's goals included providing fellowship, a place of worship, and financial support for members and their families in the event of sickness or death. The FAS was the first African American mutual aid society in Philadelphia and one of the first in the United States.
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What was the main purpose of the Free African Society?
The Free African Society (FAS), established in Philadelphia in 1787 by Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, and other free African Americans, was a nondenominational religious mutual aid organization. It aimed to offer fellowship, worship opportunities, and financial support to its members and their families during times of illness or death. The FAS is recognized as the first African American mutual aid society in Philadelphia and one of the earliest in the United States. Although it was not a religious organization, members were expected to adhere to a strong moral code, with those engaging in immoral behavior facing expulsion.
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How did the Free African Society help its members?
The Free African Society (FAS), established in Philadelphia in 1787 by Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, and other free African Americans, was a nondenominational religious mutual aid organization. It offered crucial financial and emotional support to newly freed slaves in the United States. The FAS provided fellowship, a place of worship, and monetary support to members and their families during times of sickness or death. Additionally, the FAS opened schools, churches, and cemeteries for African American residents of Philadelphia and opposed African colonization plans supported by some Methodist abolitionists.
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How did the Free African Society influence later African American organizations and churches?
The Free African Society (FAS), established in Philadelphia in 1787 by Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, and other free African Americans, was a non-denominational mutual aid organization offering financial and emotional support to newly freed slaves.
Though initially envisioned as a religious society, the FAS opted against formally establishing itself as such due to the diverse religious beliefs of its members and prevailing sentiments against separate African American churches. Despite this, the FAS did open schools, churches, and cemeteries for African American residents of Philadelphia.
The FAS disbanded in late 1794 due to debts incurred from providing aid during the yellow fever outbreak in Philadelphia in 1793. Prior to its dissolution, the FAS built St. Thomas’s African Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. In the same year, Allen founded the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
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Free African Society (FAS), nondenominational religious mutual aid organization that provided financial and emotional support to newly free African slaves in the United States. The FAS was formed in 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by American preachers Richard Allen and Absalom Jones and other free African Americans. The mission of the group was to provide fellowship, a place of worship, and monetary support for members and their families in case of sickness or death. The FAS constituted the first African American mutual aid society in Philadelphia and one of the first such organizations for African Americans.
Allen and Jones had originally envisioned the organization as a religious society, but they found that the group was too small and contained people with different religious beliefs. Most members of the group were affiliated with the Episcopal Church, but Allen and others were staunch Methodists. Despite their strong religious affiliations, the founders of the FAS decided against forming a strictly religious organization because prevailing African American and white sentiment generally did not favour the establishment of a separate African American church. The group, however, did require members to adhere to a strong sense of morality, and those engaging in immoral behaviour, such as adultery, risked being expelled.
Although they did not do so, the desire of Allen and others to found a separate African American religious institution represented both pride in African heritage and a response to racism in white churches, but the FAS ultimately chose to align itself with the Episcopal Church. Although most of Philadelphia’s white Methodists supported the abolition of slavery, they did not treat African Americans equally. For example, Methodists commonly segregated African Americans in churches and cemeteries. Consequently, the FAS opened schools, churches, and cemeteries for many of Philadelphia’s African American residents. The FAS also opposed African colonization schemes supported by some Methodist abolitionists, including a plan to send African Americans to Sierra Leone.
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From its beginning, the FAS included a number of Quakers. For example, a white Quaker named Joseph Clarke was appointed clerk and treasurer of the society. In 1789 the FAS began to incorporate various Quaker practices, such as a period of silence during meetings. In response to the growing Quaker influence in the society, Allen and some other strict Methodist members withdrew from the group.
In 1793 an outbreak of yellow fever struck Philadelphia, and the FAS provided comfort and financial aid to the sick after many white Philadelphians left the city. The decision by the FAS to stay and support the sick caused it to incur debts that it was unable to pay back, and the organization had disbanded by late 1794. Earlier that year, however, the FAS built St. Thomas’s African Episcopal Church in Philadelphia and asked Allen to serve as pastor. Allen refused, though, and Jones filled the position instead. In the same year, Allen founded a separate church for African American Methodists—the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church.