{"id":226,"date":"2025-05-14T04:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T04:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/black-political-practices\/?page_id=226"},"modified":"2026-07-23T18:04:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T18:04:18","slug":"exhortations","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/black-political-practices\/correct-conduct\/exhortations\/","title":{"rendered":"Exhortations for Good Conduct in The Colored American"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This page shows how an important Black newspaper, The Colored American,<\/em> helped to establish norms of behavior. The following are small pieces drawn from a variety of different types of articles that all have one thing in common: emphasizing correct conduct. The ways in which these standards are enforced varies. Most commonly, women are positioned as the \u201cgentle correctors\u201d who can and should urge men towards genteel deportment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some read much like a conduct book\u2014indeed, the \u201cHints to Young Ladies\u201d is an excerpt from Gregory\u2019s A<\/em> Father\u2019s<\/em> Legacy to his Daughters.<\/em> [1] Others, like \u201cA Word to the Ladies,\u201d are reprinted sentiments that were originally delivered in orations. They all emphasize women\u2019s roles \u2014indeed their responsibility\u2014as that of being a decorous, reserved presence both in public and especially when interacting with men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Hints to Young Ladies.” The Colored American 15 Sept. 1838: Accessible Archives. Web. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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“Hints to Young Ladies,” Published September 15, 1838<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In this reprint, women are described using common Victorian-like tropes of gentility and encouraged to be modest and reserved. [2]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later in this excerpt, women are encouraged to \u201cconsider every species of indelicacy in conversation as shameful in itself, and as highly disgusting to us.\u201d The author then warns female readers that men\u2014with their less delicate natures\u2014may occasionally use double entendres. When such social transgressions occur, the woman\u2019s part is to gently correct them. The emphasis on women\u2019s corrective presence is important to consider in the context of Colored Conventions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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“A Word to the Ladies,” The Colored American, 18 Mar. 1837: Accessible Archives. Web. 2 May 2016.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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“A Word to the Ladies,” Published March 18, 1837<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The original text comes from a speech by Robert Fleming, given in 1828 in Georgia. [3] It emphasizes standards of conduct with women being encouraged to hold men in line from drinking or other vices, through the \u201cpotency of your frowns.\u201d Women are cast as the upholders of decorum through gentle expressions of displeasure. For convention behavior, women would have kept the more agitated or disruptive behavior in line with a raised eyebrow or through finding the offending gentleman \u201cunworthy of admission into [their] associations of amusement.\u201d When men stepped out of line, quiet yet public censure would correct wayward members.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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“Responsibility of the Colored People in the Free States” The Colored American, 4 Mar. 1837: Accessible Archives. Web. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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“Responsibility of the Colored People in the Free States,” Published March 4, 1837<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In this brief article, readers are reminded that living in a free state comes with the responsibility of performing as moral models.[4] The writer\u2019s remarks resonated with much of the discussion circulating in the Colored Conventions as he urged readers to remember that they are demonstrating that they are \u201cworthy to be freemen.\u201d Such remonstrances emphasized a common theme seen in Black conduct literature: the race as a whole is always being judged via the actions of a few. Such sentiments certainly emphasized why conduct was such a pressing concern and so widely a subject of debate and censure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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“With much pleasure we give place to the communication below” The Colored American, 12 Oct. 1839: Accessible Archives. Web. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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“A Letter on Women’s Place in Mixed Assemblies, By a Woman,” Published October 12, 1839<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This excerpt addressed the growing number of \u201cmixed assemblies.\u201d[5] The authoress\u2014whose sentiments were heralded by the editors in an introductory remark\u2014believed that women should have a voice\u2013but not a vote. She endorsed traditional family hierarchies using Biblical references to support her opinion. Particularly important is her description of \u201cfamily government\u201d as the \u201cembryo of all government.\u201d Such sentiments speak to how some Black people saw the work of the Colored Conventions as important to establishing their already-in-practice political talents in public forums.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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References<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

[1] John Gregory, \u201cA Father\u2019s Legacy to his Daughters,\u201d (London: T.Cadell and W. Davies, 1808) https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/fatherslegacytoh00greg.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2] \u201cHints to Young Ladies.\u201d The Colored American<\/em> 15 Sept. 1838: Accessible Archives. Accessed 2 May 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3] \u201cA Word to the Ladies,\u201d The Colored American<\/em>, 18 Mar. 1837: Accessible Archives. Accessed 2 May 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[4] \u201cResponsibility of the Colored People in the Free States\u201d The Colored American<\/em>, 4 Mar. 1837: Accessible Archives. Accessed 2 May 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[5] \u201cWith much pleasure we give place to the communication below\u201d The Colored American<\/em>, 12 Oct. 1839: Accessible Archives. Accessed 2 May 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This page shows how an important Black newspaper, The Colored American, helped to establish norms of behavior. The following are small pieces drawn from a variety of different types of articles that all have one thing in common: emphasizing correct conduct. The ways in which these standards are enforced varies. Most commonly, women are positioned as the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2872,"parent":224,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-226","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/black-political-practices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/black-political-practices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/black-political-practices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/black-political-practices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/black-political-practices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/black-political-practices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3073,"href":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/black-political-practices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/226\/revisions\/3073"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/black-political-practices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/224"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/black-political-practices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/black-political-practices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}