298 • Political Activity and Resistance to Oppression: From the American Revolution to the Civil War
stubborn opposition from the Methodist officials. After sev-
eral years of fighting for self-rule and ensuing legal battles,
the congregation seceded from the Methodist Episcopal
denomination. In 1816, the African Methodist Episcopal
Church was officially formed, and the Rev. Richard Allen
was elected and consecrated the first bishop of the newly
formed denomination.
Incontrovertible evidence suggests that the denomina-
tion was formed for two specific purposes: the first was to
counter the rampant racism encountered by blacks every-
where by elevating the degraded African to full humanity;
and the second, under the leadership of Bishop Allen, was
to recapture and provide an antidote to American Method-
ism, which had strayed from the basic Wesleyan tenets of
evangelism and egalitarianism. The denomination afforded
blacks the tools with which to worship and practice Chris-
tianity in its truest and most unfettered form. Therefore, the
denomination urged its churches to persist in carrying out
the principles of self-help and self-reliance that were origi-
nally practiced within the Free African Society.
Bishop Allen and the AMEC were also known for their
support of antislavery causes. In 1829, David Walker, author
of one of the most radical anti-enslavement documents, An
Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World, lauded Bishop
Allen, who in his estimation had done more to advance the
state of blacks in America than anyone before him. This
testimony in the widely circulated document surely gave
credence to the work and mission of the AMEC as an inde-
pendent and forward-thinking organization committed to
the uplift of the communities in which it ministered.
Because Methodism is governed by what is known as
“The Discipline,” initially, the AMEC adopted the Discipline
of the Methodist Church until it could prepare its own. In
1817, the denomination published its AME “Doctrine and
Discipline,” making it the first institution led by blacks to
independently publish. Because all Methodists are known
as being “singing people,” and black church necessitates
music, in 1818, the denomination published its first hym-
nal. The hymnal was compiled by Bishop Allen, Rev. Daniel
Coker, James Champion, and Jacob Tapisco. The import of
the publication of the hymnal is that, like the AMEC itself,
it represents the validity of the cultural uniqueness of the
people who produced it. The denomination is also credited
with publishing the oldest contiguous African American
religious newspaper, having first published the Christian
Herald, now known as the Christian Recorder, in 1843.Odell, George C. D. Annals of the New York Stage, Vol. 3: 1821–
- New York: Columbia University Press, 1928.
Thompson, George. A Documentary History of the African The-
atre. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1998.
African Methodist Episcopal
Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC) is cur-
rently one of the largest African American denominations,
with an estimated 5,000,000 members worldwide. Although
the AMEC was formally established in April 1816, the
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church preceded it.
The Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church emanated
from the Free African Society, a mutual aid association that
had been organized in 1787 by Absalom Jones, Richard
Allen, and other black members of the St. George’s Meth-
odist Episcopal Church as a result of the inhumane and dis-
criminatory treatment they received therein. As Jones and
other black members were worshipping in prayer, Jones was
rudely interrupted because he and the other black mem-
bers were occupying a “whites only” section of the church.
Choosing not to endure such indignities any longer, Jones,
Allen, and other black members removed themselves from
St. George’s, and the resultant Free African Society emerged.
Theological differences between Jones and Allen resulted in
their decision to part ways, and in 1793, with a collected
$360, Richard Allen purchased the land on Sixth and Lom-
bard Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in order to build
an African Methodist Meeting House, where “Mother”
Bethel still stands today.
In 1794, the African Methodist Meeting House was
forged from an old blacksmith shop. The AMEC honors its
humble beginnings and employs the cross and the anvil as
its emblem. Methodist Episcopal Bishop Francis Asbury of-
ficially blessed the African Methodist Meeting House for
worship and appointed a white minister for the congrega-
tion. When governing members of the Methodist Church
learned that the African Meeting House had been purchased
by blacks and, with the exception of a white preacher, was
independent of any white oversight, they demanded that
the church title the property to the Methodist Conference
and submit to its governance.
When the congregation refused and continued to wor-
ship and self-govern the church, the congregation faced