{"id":5037,"date":"2025-05-14T02:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T02:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/mary-ann-shadd-cary\/?page_id=5037"},"modified":"2026-08-04T13:16:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T17:16:39","slug":"abraham-shadd","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/mary-ann-shadd-cary\/making-a-delegate\/abraham-shadd\/","title":{"rendered":"Abraham Shadd"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mary Ann Shadd Cary embodies the efforts of early African American activists and political organizers to rear the next generation of freedom fighters, as her biographer Jane Rhodes contends in her first chapter entitled, \u201cThe Making of an Activist\u201d [1]. Here we look more closely and particularly at Shadd Cary\u2019s early life experiences, as it prepared her to become a Colored Conventions delegate; a role of her own <\/em>calling that pushed against the norms and expectations about her \u201cproper place\u201d in the movement. Her family forms a leading cast of professionals and activists who played pivotal roles in supporting her work, but their differences from her also reveal the gendered and economic barriers Shadd Cary faced everywhere she went.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In 1824, Abraham Doras Shadd, Mary Ann\u2019s father, encountered an anti-Black organization making its home in Delaware just a year after his daughter\u2019s birth. The Union Colonization Society of Wilmington must have deeply angered and scared Abraham Shadd as it seduced his white abolitionist neighbors and colleagues toward anti-Black ideologies. Purporting that African Americans, free and enslaved alike, were a threat to whites\u2019 economic well-being, colonization societies proliferated across upper Southern states with its \u201cphilanthropic\u201d solution of exporting all Black peoples of the state to colonies abroad. In 1827, when the Delaware General Assembly adopted a petition by the Union Colonization Society, it must have become perfectly clear to Abraham Shadd that he would need to enter into direct, oppositional action against the group [2]. With so few enslaved African Americans in Delaware, it was clear that free Blacks like himself were the true target of their organizing. The petition\u2019s paternalism and anti-Black claims about the incompatibility of free Blacks and white society and governance was a clear threat to the multi-generational effort by Abraham Shadd and his ancestors to establish themselves as economic and social equals with their white neighbors, despite the educational barriers that persisted for him and his children. Abraham Shadd\u2019s anti-colonization stance inspired Mary Ann\u2019s high scrutiny of emigration schemes to Mexico, Liberia, Haiti, and Canada, with the latter meeting her political and ecological criteria for Black resettlement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Abraham Shadd. Courtesy of the Raleigh Township Centennial Museum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Three years later, Abraham Shadd served as a delegate representing Delaware at the inaugural National Colored Convention at Mother Bethel AME Church in Philadelphia, PA on September 20th, 1830, presided by convention president Reverend Richard Allen, the church\u2019s founder and fellow Delawarean [3]. The convention was called in response to the violent expulsion of free Black peoples out of Ohio following an 1829 race riot, perhaps an omen of what might be to come for Abraham Shadd and his family. For more information on the first colored conventions, view our exhibit called The Meeting that Launched a Movement. <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Colonization Society Certificate. Public Domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The delegates lambasted colonization societies while also laying claim to their claim to the tenets of the Declaration of Independence, noting the contradiction between the founding documents\u2019 articulation of their rights and the belief and actions perpetrated by these state-sanctioned organizations. Remarkably, the delegates repeatedly commit to forming a Black resettlement in Upper Canada as its strongest action against their continued oppression on American soil. The convention\u2019s proximity to Shadd\u2019s home suggests other delegates likely visited his home during the intersessions, where it is likely that Mary Ann began to consider and adopt the pro-emigration ideas she later fiercely advocated for as an adult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Address of the Free People of Color of the Borough of Wilmington, DE.” The Liberator, Sept. 24, 1831. Courtesy of Accessible Archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The following year Abraham Shadd was elected vice president of the national convention, and together with the other delegates they enacted a marked shift in the convention\u2019s focus. The proceedings outlined initiatives for advancing educational and labor reform for African Americans, claiming that their approaches best served the need to improve the poor conditions Black people live in while also stamping out the most corrupt and unchristian practices by racists [4]. Colonization appears only once, only mentioned so as to denounce it as slavery by another name. The September 24th, 1831 issue of The Liberator <\/em>best records Abraham\u2019s move to denounce colonization by advocating for African Americans to embrace their ties to the land [5]. In response to the Wilmington Colonization Union\u2019s recruitment efforts, Abraham and his colleagues Reverend Peter Spence and William Thomas held a meeting at the African Union Church where they addressed Black Delawareans. For Shadd, colonization in Liberia held no opportunities for the improvement of their living conditions or educational goals. Rather, it was an evangelizing project in Africa that held no real relationship to African Americans, and an insidious way to lure African Americans away from the fight for their freedom and equality in America.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Abraham Shadd was again a delegate in the next three national conventions, and was elected president of the 1833 National Colored Convention held in Philadelphia [6]. The proceedings for these conventions suggest that Shadd\u2019s attitudes profoundly shaped growing attention towards American-based initiatives, and away from Canadian resettlement projects. The 1834 convention reveals that at the same time that Shadd commits to a wider America-based agenda, convention leadership becomes more competitive and centrally located in New York [7]. Leadership emerging from this convention include Frederick Douglass and Henry Highland Garnet, who later work with and against Mary Ann Shadd from the opposite position of her father, as a staunch emigrationist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abraham Shadd goes on to attend the 1841 Pennsylvania State Convention of Colored Freemen in Pittsburgh [8], the 1843 Mid-Atlantic Regional Temperance Convention of Colored Citizens in New Jersey [9], and the 1848 Pennsylvania State Convention in Harrisburg [10]. During this time Mary Ann has graduated from school and begun her lifelong career as a teacher at Black schools, encountering the educational and economic struggles of Black peoples across Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey during her tenure  teaching in those states.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Minutes<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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“The peculiar situation of a large portion of the free people of colour of this country, has not escaped the observation of your Committee, and the most rigid scrutiny has led to the conclusion, that there is not now, and probably never will be actual necessity for a large emigration of the present race of free coloured people, they therefore refrain from recommending any emigration.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Bearing witness to almost twenty years of her father\u2019s work in the Colored Conventions movement by this time, Mary Ann offers a strong critique in her letter to Frederick Douglass published in his newspaper, The North Star<\/em>, quoted below. Perhaps this marks an early indication of Mary Ann positioning herself as an insider tapped into the movement\u2019s lines of power, yet also occupying a place at the margin from which she critiques convention norms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe have been holding conventions for years \u2013 have been assembling together and whining over our difficulties and afflictions, passing resolutions on resolutions to any extent; but it does really seem that we have made but little progress, considering our resolves. We have put forth few practical efforts to an end. I, as one of the people, see no need for our distinctive meetings, if we do not do something. We should do more, and talk less.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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“Wilmington, Jan. 25, 1849.” The North Star, March 23, 1849. Courtesy of Accessible Archives.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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References      <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

[1] Jane Rhodes. Mary Ann Shadd Cary: the Black Press and Protest in the Nineteenth Century<\/em>. Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1998, p. 1. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2] Jane Rhodes. Mary Ann Shadd Cary: the Black Press and Protest in the Nineteenth Century<\/em>. Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1998, p. 9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3] American Society of Free Persons of Colour (1830 : Philadelphia, PA), \u201cConstitution of the American Society of Free Persons of Colour, for improving their condition in the United States; for purchasing lands; and for the establishment of a settlement in upper Canada, also, The Proceedings of the Convention with their Address to Free Persons of Colour in the United States,\u201d Colored Conventions Project Digital Records<\/em>, https:\/\/omeka.coloredconventions.org\/items\/show\/70<\/a>. Accessed 23 Jan. 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[4] Convention of the People of Color, First Annual (1831 : Philadelphia, PA), \u201cMinutes and Proceedings of the First Annual Convention of the People of Colour, held by adjournments in the city of Philadelphia, from the sixth to the eleventh of June, inclusive, 1831.,\u201d Colored Conventions Project Digital Records<\/em>, https:\/\/omeka.coloredconventions.org\/items\/show\/72<\/a>. Accessed 23 Jan. 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[5] Shadd, Abraham, et al. \u201cAddress, Of the free people of color of the Borough of Wilmington, Delaware.\u201d The Liberator<\/em>, Sept 24, 1831, p. 1. Accessible Archives<\/em>. Accessed 23 Jan. 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[6] Convention for the Improvement of the Free People of Color, Third Annual (1833 : Philadelphia, PA), \u201cMinutes and Proceedings of the Third Annual Convention, for the Improvement of the Free People of Colour in these United States, :held by adjournments in the city of Philadelphia, from the 3d to the 13th of June inclusive, 1833.,\u201d Colored Conventions Project Digital Records<\/em>,https:\/\/omeka.coloredconventions.org\/items\/show\/275<\/a>. Accessed 23 Jan. 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[7] Convention for the Improvement of the Free People of Color, Fourth Annual (1834 : New York, NY), \u201cMinutes of the Fourth Annual Convention for the Improvement of the Free People of Colour, in the United States; held by adjournments in the Asbury Church, New York, from the 2nd to the 12th of June, inclusive, 1834.,\u201d Colored Conventions Project Digital Records<\/em>, https:\/\/omeka.coloredconventions.org\/items\/show\/276<\/a>. Accessed 23 Jan. 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[8] State Convention of the Colored Freemen of Pennsylvania (1841 : Pittsburgh, PA), \u201cProceedings of the State Convention of the Colored Freemen of Pennsylvania, Held in Pittsburgh, on the 23d, 24th and 25th of August, 1841, for the Purpose of Considering their Condition, and the Means of Its Improvement. (Copy 2),\u201d Colored Conventions Project Digital Records<\/em>, https:\/\/omeka.coloredconventions.org\/items\/show\/240<\/a>. Accessed 23 Jan. 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[9] Union Temperance Convention of the Colored Citizens., \u201cMinutes of the Union Temperance Convention of the Colored Citizens : of Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland and the District of Columbia.,\u201d Colored Conventions Project Digital Records<\/em>,https:\/\/omeka.coloredconventions.org\/items\/show\/610<\/a>. Accessed 23 Jan. 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[10] State Convention of Colored Citizens of Pennsylvania (1848 : Harrisburg, PA), \u201cMinutes of the State Convention of Colored Citizens of Pennsylvania, Convened at Harrisburg, December 13-14, 1848.,\u201d Colored Conventions Project Digital Records<\/em>, https:\/\/omeka.coloredconventions.org\/items\/show\/241<\/a>. Accessed 23 Jan. 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mary Ann Shadd Cary embodies the efforts of early African American activists and political organizers to rear the next generation of freedom fighters, as her biographer Jane Rhodes contends in her first chapter entitled, \u201cThe Making of an Activist\u201d [1]. Here we look more closely and particularly at Shadd Cary\u2019s early life experiences, as it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":4795,"parent":5028,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5037","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/mary-ann-shadd-cary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/mary-ann-shadd-cary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/mary-ann-shadd-cary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/mary-ann-shadd-cary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/mary-ann-shadd-cary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5037"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/mary-ann-shadd-cary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5319,"href":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/mary-ann-shadd-cary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5037\/revisions\/5319"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/mary-ann-shadd-cary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5028"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/mary-ann-shadd-cary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloredconventions.org\/mary-ann-shadd-cary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}