Freedom's Prophet: Bishop Richard Allen, the AME Church, and the Black Founding Fathers

by Richard S. Newman

An Interview with the Author on the History News Network

 

A Founding Father with a Vision of Equality: Richard Newman's op-ed in The Philadelphia Inquirer

 

Author Spotlight in The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

 

"Gold" Winner of the 2008 Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Award, Biography Category

Freedom's Prophet is a long-overdue biography of Richard Allen, founder of the first major African-American church and the leading black activist of the early American republic. A tireless minister, abolitionist, and reformer, Allen inaugurated some of the most important institutions in African-American history and influenced nearly every black leader of the nineteenth century, from Douglass to Du Bois.

Allen (1760–1831) was born a slave in colonial Philadelphia, secured his freedom during the American Revolution, and became one of the nations leading black activists before the Civil War. Among his many achievements, Allen helped form the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, co-authored the first copyrighted pamphlet by an African American writer, published the first African American eulogy of George Washington, and convened the first national convention of black reformers. In a time when most black men and women were categorized as slave property, Allen was championed as a black hero. As Richard S. Newman writes, Allen must be considered one of America's black Founding Fathers.

In this thoroughly engaging and beautifully written book, Newman describes Allen's continually evolving life and thought, setting both in the context of his times. From Allen's early antislavery struggles and belief in interracial harmony to his later reflections on black democracy and black emigration, Newman traces Allen's impact on American reform and reformers, on racial attitudes during the years of the early republic, and on the black struggle for justice in the age of Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Washington. Whether serving as Americas first black bishop, challenging slaveholding statesmen in a nation devoted to liberty, or visiting the President's House (the first black activist to do so), this important book makes it clear that Allen belongs in the pantheon of Americas great founding figures. Freedom's Prophet reintroduces Allen to today's readers and restores him to his rightful place in our nation's history.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Religion, 18th Century, United States

376 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2008

About the author

Richard Newman (Ph.D., State University of New York at Buffalo) is Professor of History at Rochester Institute of Technology. He directs the Library Company of Philadelphia and specializes in the study of American reformers in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries, including early black leaders, abolitionists, and modern environmentalists.

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given the scarcity of documentation regarding Richard Allen's life, the author did an admirable job detailing the many facets of the black preacher who founded the African Methodist Episcopal church. Allen, guided by his faith and belief in the Bible, was a former slave who believed the United States could not be a great nation until it ended slavery and embraced equality for all of its people -- black and white. I was not that familiar with Allen (other than his connection with the AME church) until I read Mr. Newman's work but I am pleased with the new information I gained.

[Adam Shields · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: The biography of Richard Allen, the founder of the African Methodist Episcopal denomination and one of the early Black leaders in the US. 

Many people may be slightly aware of Richard Allen, but not much about him. At least that describes me and why I decided to pick up Freedom's Prophet. This quote from the introduction sets the stage for why Richard Allen is important.

"Allen did not live through these immense changes passively, a black man adrift in a sea of impersonal and malevolent forces. Rather, he shaped, and was in turn shaped by, the events swirling around him. As the most prominent black preacher of his era, he helped inaugurate a moral critique of slavery and slaveholding that shaped abolitionism for years to come. As one of the first black pamphleteers, he pushed not only for slavery’s demise but also for black equality. As a black institution builder, he spurred the creation of autonomous organizations and churches that nurtured African American struggles for justice throughout the nineteenth century. As a sometime doubter of American racial equality, he participated in black emigration to Haiti. As a leader of the first national black convention, he defined continent-wide protest tactics and strategies for a new generation of activists. Bishop Allen’s lifelong struggle for racial justice makes for a compelling and illuminating story—a tale about a black founder and African Americans in the early American republic." (p5)

Richard Allen was born into slavery in 1760 and lived until the age of 71 in 1831. Like many who were enslaved, his family was split apart and sold as a child. He became a Christian through the work of early Methodists, who welcomed Black participation in the church. At 17, he joined the church and started to evangelize and preach. Through his preaching and evangelism and the preaching of a white abolitionist preacher, his owners became convinced of the evil of slavery. But his owners did not simply free him and others who were enslaved; he allowed them to buy their freedom. Richard Allen bought his freedom for the equivalent of about five years' wages for an average laborer by age 20. When he was 24, he was officially ordained and spent two years as a circuit-riding preacher before becoming one of the ministers at St. George's Methodist Episcopal Church.

There, he and Absalom Jones were famously removed from the church for not sitting in a newly segregated balcony during the service. Eventually, Absalom Jones started a new Black Episcopal church (remaining in the predominately white denomination). In contrast, Richard Allen started a Black Methodist church, which eventually withdrew from the white Methodist denomination and started the first Black denomination in the US (African Methodist Episcopal).

This biography is well worth reading to know more about Allen as an example of a very early formerly enslaved abolitionist writer and preacher. But I also think it is worth reading as an example of how the intransigence of white attention to racism often impacts Black and other minority Christians who appeal to white Christians theologically. I am going to use a few quotes to show that shift.

"As his antislavery sermonizing and pamphleteering efforts illustrate, Allen adhered to the principles of nonviolent protest throughout his life. Even in an age of great slave revolts, from Gabriel’s Rebellion in Virginia to the Haitian Revolution in the Caribbean, Allen’s ideology was perhaps the norm. Most slaves in the Atlantic world did not, and could not, successfully rebel; most enslaved people had to endure. But what did that actually mean? For Allen and black founders, it meant turning nonviolent protest—enduring over the long haul—into a moral and political weapon." (p10)

"At the heart of Allen’s moral vision was an evangelical religion—Methodism—that promised equality to all believers in Christ. Indeed, one of Allen’s best claims to equal founding status was his attempt to merge faith and racial politics in the young republic. His constant sermonizing on slavery’s evil was (in theory) perfectly pitched to men and women who viewed faith as a key part of the American character." (p23)

"A former slave now in the capital of free black life, Richard Allen publicly challenged Franklin’s line of thinking. The problem, he commented in 1794, lay not in blacks’ essentially subversive nature but in white society’s consistent failure to nurture African American equality. Allen condemned not only slavery but also the racialist beliefs underpinning slavery and black inequality. He then proposed his own solutions in very Franklinesque language. Whites, Allen suggested, might try the “experiment” of treating black people as they would members of their own family. Next, he wrote in an almost direct reply to Franklin’s fears of black equality, white citizens must believe in their own Christian and republican language. It was a message he returned to again and again: liberate blacks, teach them scripture and principles of good citizenship, and watch them become pious and respectable members of the American republic." (p25)

"As Richard Allen later put it in a famous letter to Freedom’s Journal, America was a black homeland precisely because of slaves’ and free black laborers’ incessant toil for the country’s prosperity and independence. “This land which we have watered with our tears and our blood,” Allen proclaimed, “is now our mother country.” African Americans deserved the full fruits of citizenship." (p150)

"Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Allen’s and black founders’ activism, then, was their increasing cynicism about achieving racial justice in America. By the second decade of the nineteenth century, Allen grew so doubtful that he flirted with various Atlantic-world emigration plans. No fleeting consideration for him, Allen meditated on black removal for the last fifteen years of his life. He supported black-led African-colonization schemes before becoming one of the most forceful African American proponents of Haitian emigration. America, he told Haitian president Jean-Pierre Boyer in 1824, is a land of oppression, whereas the great black republic of Haiti promised “freedom and equality.”43 Allen even headed the Haitian Emigration Society of Philadelphia, helping hundreds of black émigrés set sail for the Caribbean. Still later, he supported emigration to Canada." (p19)

Early in his preaching, Richard Allen worked with and was friends with the first Methodist bishop in the US, Francis Asbury. That early partnership gave Allen hope for white support of abolition. However, his experience with increasing segregation (St George was not segregated when he first became a pastor, and residential segregation did not exist yet in Philadelphia) discouraged that initial hope. Early abolitionist societies did not allow Black members, and throughout his life, he was not officially a part of any abolitionist groups that were not black-led. Methodism preached a structured moral uplift message, which fit Allen's personality and drive. The early 19th century had a hardening of the racial caste system, and white supremacy (in the sense of a biological or cultural racial hierarchy) became culturally dominant throughout the US. Allen became well known and fairly wealthy for the time, but as the population of free Black residents of Philadelphia grew, white racial attitudes hardened, and overt segregation increased so that the opportunities that Allen had were more difficult for younger free Black Philadelphians.

In the early 19th century, most white abolitionists were solidly white supremacists who did not believe that free Black people should remain in the US. Much of the white abolitionist work assumed that free Black residents of the US should be removed from the US, preferably back to Africa. Initially, Allen also supported "colonialization" efforts for different reasons. His struggle with white Methodist control of his church and his work to move it to Black independent control led him to think that moving to Africa may be the only way to have autonomy. However, the members of his church and the Black community of Philadelphia opposed colonialization, and eventually, Allen stopped supporting African colonialization, although he did still support moving to Haiti after it gained its freedom and then later Canada after the initial efforts to move to Haiti failed.

Allen did not give up on his efforts for interracial cooperation, moral uplift, Black education and training, or Black political, economic, and religious autonomy. But in many ways, the reality of Black life grew worse, not better, for the vast majority. Allen did everything "right," and white Christians, even those who were relatively liberal on racial issues, disappointed him.

Freedom's Prophet is not hagiography. Allen could be difficult to work with, and his life had plenty of controversy. There was a church split, the already mentioned pushback on colonization, accusations of money mismanagement (which do not seem true), and other examples of frustration and human limitation. I think of him as somewhat similar to Howard Thurman's position toward the Black freedom struggle. Richard Allen was important as the founder of the first Black-led denomination, the first significant Black printer and pamphleteer, an advocate of moral uplift and non-violent protest, and a mentor. But the fruits of his efforts were largely felt after his death. A new generation of abolitionists, both white and Black, arose toward the end of his life and after his death. William Lloyd Garrison did not start the Liberator until the year of Allen's death, and Frederick Douglass did not escape slavery until eight years later. The Civil War started just over 30 years after his death. But Allen's efforts were essential to those later efforts.

This review was originally posted on my blog at https://bookwi.se/freedoms-prophet/

[Stan Rea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Freedom’s Prophet is Richard S. Newman’s 2008 biography of black founding father Richard Allen. The story starts with his upbringing as a slave, how he purchased his freedom, his conversion, his growth and development as a believer, a Pastor and a Prophetic Leader in the early years of the US Republic (1790-1830). The biography also traces his thought processes about black freedom, citizenship, autonomy, as well as the movement to have blacks emigrate first to Africa, then Haiti, then Canada. As a Prophetic Leader the book recounts his founding and continued leadership of the African Methodist Episcopal denomination as well as the founding of Mother Bethel church at Sixth and Lombard in Philadelphia.
I am somewhat embarrassed to say that despite being a History major as an undergraduate and despite having attended college at a religious/Christian school, I never heard about Richard Allen until I ran across him in my reading some 20+ years later. Even so, my knowledge was limited to his being the founder of the AME church and Mother Bethel church. I really wish I had read this book prior to visiting Mother Bethel church because I don’t know if I will ever have an opportunity like that again. I was moved by many of the stories in the book especially how the life of Richard Allen illustrates many of the leadership principles of BGU. His efforts during the yellow fever crisis on 1793 were textbook incarnational leadership. At risk to his own health, he and his brothers in Christ ministered to people exactly where they were. Although there was some pushback to his efforts as well as misinterpretation of his motives, he stood firm for the truth. His writing efforts illustrated many examples of prophetic leadership. The pamphlet about the Yellow Fever crisis shows he was not afraid to speak truth to power yet in a gracious way. His willingness to fight the injustices he faced are a model for all believers, not just African-Americans. He stood up to the Methodist Elders again and again and again. Having recently read a biography of Francis Asbury, I was embarrassed for the Elders of the church as it became clear how far and fast the Methodist church (in this case St. George) had come in such a short time. It reminded me of the concept of the church as a movement vs the church as an institution. We should hold on to the former and avoid the latter.
I can include Richard Allen among the church leaders now that I will continually refer to as being important leaders of the church alongside people such as the Mather family, John Cotton, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Finney, DL Moody and Billy Graham, just to name a few. He is a leader of the church, not just the black church.

[David Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bishop Richard Allen, is largely unknown among most Americans. I stumbled upon this book while looking for something to expand my knowledge on the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Richard Allen, was a key figure in the establishment of the AME Church and an important figure in the struggle for civil rights in early America. Allen was as a slave in Delaware who eventually purchased of his own freedom. He worked tirelessly to establish an independent black church in America, initially among the former enslaved people in Philadelphia. The book also explores his political activism, including his involvement in the abolitionist movement and his efforts to secure voting rights for African Americans.

The book is a detailed examination of Allen's relationship with other prominent figures of the time, including Frederick Douglass, Benjamin Rush, and Thomas Jefferson. Through these relationships, Newman is able to place Allen within the broader historical context of the time and show how his actions fit into the larger struggle for equality and justice.

The author conveys complex historical information in a way that is both accessible, engaging, and pleasure to read. He also does an excellent job of using primary sources, such as letters and diaries, to give readers a sense of Allen's personality and motivations.

Overall, Freedom's Prophet is an excellent biography of Bishop Richard Allen and an important addition to the field of African American history. It sheds light on an often-overlooked figure in American history and provides valuable insights into the struggle for civil rights in early America. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in this important period of American history.

Quotes:

"In the 1790s, Allen's [religious] vision was that of a separate black church, one that would be free from the control of white ministers and provide African Americans with spiritual guidance and moral leadership. But as the new century dawned, Allen's vision expanded beyond the church. He began to see the fight for religious autonomy as part of a larger struggle for political and social equality. He believed that true freedom could only be achieved through the attainment of political power, which required access to education and the right to vote. Allen's vision was not just about the establishment of an independent black church, but about the creation of a truly free and equal society, one that was open to all, regardless of race or color."

"The AME Church became a vital force for African American education and social uplift in the nineteenth century. The church established schools and colleges, built hospitals and orphanages, and provided a sense of community and belonging for millions of African Americans. It also played a key role in the struggle for civil rights, providing leadership and support for movements that sought to end segregation, discrimination, and racial violence. Bishop Allen's legacy lives on in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, which continues to be a powerful force for social justice and equality in America and around the world."

"Bishop Richard Allen's life and legacy embody the best of America's founding ideals. He was a man who believed in the power of freedom and equality to transform society, and who fought tirelessly to make those ideals a reality. He believed in the inherent worth and dignity of every human being, and in the power of faith and love to overcome hate and injustice. He believed that the struggle for civil rights was not simply a matter of legal equality, but a spiritual struggle for the dignity and worth of every human being. Bishop Allen's vision of a just and equitable society, where all people are free and equal, continues to inspire and challenge us today."

[Byron Woodson Sr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard Newman made an admirable contribution to black American history by writing this biography of Bishop Richard Allen. I have read all three of the serious biographies about Allen. -- The first Allen biography was written by Charles H. Wesley. Wesley was arguably the second most successful black American academician, thus far, only to be surpassed by W.E.B. DuBois. Wesley was the 4th, among our people, to obtain a PhD. from Harvard, president of two universities and, of course, the author of an outstanding biography of Allen. Wesley's Allen biography has been read by only a handful of people living today, because it is virtually unavailable. The only copy for sale on Amazon.com today is priced at $1,200.00, because it was signed by the author. --- The second Allen biography was written by Carol V. R. George an exceptionally talented woman, who seeks no public stature. All three biographers, in my view understood Allen and his importance very well. --
Newman, with his book, made some of Gary Nash's research more accessible. Nash is an important historian of our generation, who poked into Allen's early life.
And so why does Allen attract such exceptionally talented historians and biographers, while he remains virtually unknown in the popular culture? It is not for a lack of trying. Wesley tried to push Allen into popular culture by acclaiming him as the Father of the Negro people in 1935. Nash and Newman have acclaimed him as a Founding Father. --
The solution is to build out the thought articulated by historian Emma Lapansky-Werner, that the early black American church was much more than a church. That early black American preachers were much more than preachers. And to connect the dots as to precisely why the Bethel church became a denomination, in neon lights if necessary. The authors of the book Black Power wrote that black Americans suffer from cultural terrorism, but that they have a right and duty to reclaim their history.

[Hashim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was not familiar with Richard Allen until I read about him "African Founders" by David Hackett Fischer and "Swing Low" by Walter R. Strickland II.

When Allen appeared again in Jarena Lee's autobiography, I knew I had to seek out his full story.

Allen is probably the most influential figure in history who has shaped my life even though I didn't know his name. He was a forerunner for Black abolitionists, and later Black community leaders during Reconstruction, and then later the Civil Rights movement.

The end of the book does a great job surveying how Black thinkers like Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Ralph Ellison, and James Baldwin admired and quoted Richard Allen.

The rest of the book shows Allen live out his philosophy of racial unity through Black self-determination. This was a surprise to me. I thought Allen founded the AME church in order to be independent from the White Methodist church. In reality he had tried to be unified with them, but they didn't make that possible within their church. However, after the AME church was established, Allen and other Black Methodist were able to work with White Methodists on their own terms.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in American church history or Black history.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am glad I finally got access to a biography of Richard Allen, but I couldn't help but feel a little let down by the biographer. Allen was the founder and bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), but for a man whose Christian faith was so central in his life, this seemed like a very secular biography. I also felt at times I was getting more of the biographer's interpretation of Allen rather than Allen himself.

That said, I have still learned more of a great man. His life is a reminder of how white Christians in America did not view black Christians as equal brethren in Christ, and it is a story of perseverance in the face of constant opposition and slander.

I need to read Richard Allen's autobiography now.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great biography, not just for learning about Richard Allen, but also about post-Revolutionary Philadelphia, the movement of people (especially free Black people but also religious itinerants) around Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey in the Early Republic, the emigration/colonization movement and the various phases it had, rivalries between White Methodists and Black Methodists, other rivalries between competing Black churches, and more. There is just a lot of fascinating detail in here. I'm going to assign one chapter to my seminar students, but it was hard to pick which chapter, because there were a few that would work.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and inspirational telling of the founder of the AME Church. A contemporary of Benjamin Franklin & Thomas Jefferson the Rev. Richard Allen should be celebrated as one of America's Founding Fathers. The fact that I had never heard of the man before I was invited to attend an AME Church Service says alot about how American History is taught to Americas youth. Rev. Allens message of moral uplift through hard work and pious living is still relevant today.

[Delores Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the biography of Richard Allen the founder of the AME Church. He was very industrious both in slavery and afterwards. This is a story that has been needed for quite a while. After establishing the church he spent the majority of his time there and was eventually buried beneath the first AME Church building.

[Ben Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good biography of a great man. Acknowledged some of his flaws while still honoring his contribution to the African American community.

[George P. Dreckmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an interesting look at an influential African American in the early republic. Very informative and well written

[Deb · Rating 1 out of 5]

The introduction should have been the conclusion. So dense with theory, with the assertion and facts that the author asserts to prove that Allen was a founding father just as much as Washington or John Adams, that I am wanting to say "Just get on with the biography, you've told me way too much here, why bother to read the rest!"

"Lively and lilting" my aunt fanny! Truth is, little is known about Richard Allen, and most of what is in this book is conjecture. Maybe once when Allen's employee was sweeping George Washington's chimney, instead of the secretary paying Allen, Washington came out and they met and therefore the two are both founding fathers. This is junque.

[Nada · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this book was very interesting and it showed Richard Allen as multi-sided it tended to drag on at bits. In fact, I think that I enjoyed the beginning more than the end but not due to the content but more the style of the authors writing. I just felt that it could have been more concentrated and to the point at times. However, I still liked the book and found it to be a very comprehensive biography on of America's first founding fathers.

[Jeremy Holroyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

The name Richard Allen is one that should be as familiar to every American as Martin Luther King Jr. Sadly it is not. Newman does an excellent job laying out the life and experiences of Allen and the significance they had to both Allen's contemporaries as well as to the development of the nation.

It is a slow read, but well worth it.

[Carl]

Great underreported story with a provocative thesis: that there is a "founding father" status in American history that is related to approach NOT the mere fact of having signed the founding documents. Enjoying the read so far.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

This biography of the founder of Richard Allen, founder of the AME Church is an interesting overview of his life. I find it even more interesting as a history of 18th and 19th century Philadelphia and the creation of African American communities.

[Daryl Grigsby]

this was a powerful summary of the profound action, courage, theology, ministry, and prophetic work of the 1st black bishop in American. Rev. Richard Allen!

[Karen]

* Understanding Oppression: African American Rights (Then and Now)