324 Political Activity and Resistance to Oppression: From the American Revolution to the Civil War
for black male unrestricted suff rage rights. In fact, black
activists in New York City hoped to create a statewide alli-
ance among black men to fi ght for suff rage, and in August
1837, they decided to send Philip Bell on a tour through
other New York counties to garner support. Specifi cally,
Bell was asked to encourage men throughout the state to
overwhelm the state legislature with petitions regarding
the suff rage. Bell’s eff orts must have been somewhat suc-
cessful, for they led to a series of suff rage conventions in
the 1840s. In 1840, he actively supported the movement for
a statewide convention of black men to unite for suff rage
rights. Although there was some debate in the black com-
munity about the effi cacy of conventions, Bell pushed for
the meeting and served as chairman of the meeting where
delegates were selected. Bell attended the gathering; how-
ever, the New York State Legislature routinely denied their
petitions. Even so, Bell’s eff orts to gain suff rage continued
in the 1850s, when he created a Franchise Committee of
Colored Voters and attended another state convention in
Troy, New York, in 1855.
Despite his commitment to suff rage, Bell agitated on
behalf of a range of issues during the 1850s. Following the
passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, Bell joined the Com-
mittee of Th irteen to assist in the protection of fugitives.
In addition, aft er a young black woman was ejected from
a streetcar in September 1850, Bell wrote in the New York
Tr ibune about the discriminatory nature of segregation
in public facilities. Yet his most profound decision of the
1850s came when Bell decided to migrate to San Francisco,
California. Upon his arrival, Bell immediately made a place
for himself in the black community—becoming active in
black organizations and agitating on behalf of fugitives.
Bell also brought his experience in the National Colored
Conventions to assist in the creation of a series of colored
citizens conventions held in San Francisco and Sacramento
between 1855 and 1857, and again in 1865. However, Bell
was best known in the Bay area for creating two black news-
papers: the Pacifi c Appeal and the Elevator. Along with his
colleague Peter Anderson, Bell founded the Pacifi c Appeal
in 1862 in San Francisco, and it sought to be the voice of
black people in the West. However, by 1865, Bell and An-
derson were engaged in a political feud that severed their
relationship. Shortly thereaft er, Bell started a rival news-
paper, the Elevator, which served the black community for
two decades. Aft er a lifetime as an activist and journalist,
Philip Bell died in 1889.Bell, Philip A.
Philip A. Bell (1808–1886) was born free in New York City,
in the year of the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade. As
a young boy, Bell attended the African Free Schools, and
he eventually used his education to launch his career as a
journalist and abolitionist. Although Bell is best known as
a newspaper editor, he was also politically active and con-
cerned himself with a range of issues, including abolition,
the protection of fugitives, anticolonization, and suff rage.
In fact, Bell’s fi rst known public appearance was at the 1832
Colored Convention, where, along with the rest of the New
York City delegation, Bell spoke adamantly against the no-
tion of Canadian migration. He insisted that emigration was
a serious strategic error that threatened their eff orts to gain
citizenship in the United States. Signifi cantly, Bell remained
consistent in his anticolonization position, as evidenced by
his speech on January 8, 1839, in New York City protesting
against the “scheme” of African colonization.
Following his appearance at the 1832 Colored Con-
vention, Bell apparently won the respect of his peers be-
cause he was allowed to join the African Society for Mutual
Relief, which was the most infl uential black organization
in New York City. Initially established as a mutual aid so-
ciety, African Society members eventually became in-
volved in every leading political issue aff ecting their race
in the 19th century. Bell’s commitment to abolition soon
led him to the occupation that became his life’s work. Aft er
William Lloyd Garrison began to publish the Liberator,
an antislavery newspaper, Bell learned about the power of
the press and became the paper’s main agent in New York
City. By 1837, however, Bell had made the critical decision
to launch his own newspaper, which he named the We e k l y
Advocate. Shortly thereaft er the paper was renamed the
Colored American and became committed to Christianity,
suff rage, education, and anticolonization. Signifi cantly, the
paper was fi nanced and printed by fellow African Society
members, Th omas Jennings and John J. Zuille. Unfortu-
nately, the paper quickly developed fi nancial problems, and
Charles Ray assumed editorship of the paper. However, Bell
rebounded, and between 1837 and 1842, Bell and Samuel
Cornish co-edited the lesser-known Colored Man’s Journal.
Th e year 1837 was also decisive for Philip Bell politi-
cally. During that year, he joined the Young Men’s Anti-
Slavery Society and also became committed to the quest