342 Political Activity and Resistance to Oppression: From the American Revolution to the Civil War
was Dr. James McCune Smith. Born to a self-emancipated
mother and a white father who worked as a merchant in
New York City, Smith became the fi rst African American
in the United States to practice medicine. Aft er being de-
nied admission to American colleges, Smith raised enough
money to attend the University of Glasgow in Scotland,
where he obtained his bachelor’s, master’s, and medical de-
grees by 1837. When he returned to New York, he opened
a pharmacy on West Broadway in addition to practicing
medicine. Smith was also a prolifi c essayist and contribut-
ing editor to the Colored American, and he used his voca-
tional expertise to argue for the equality of the races as well
as the abolition of slavery and civil rights for all.
By the spring of 1839, Samuel Cornish and Dr. James
McCune Smith had both resigned as editors of the Colored
American, and Charles B. Ray became the sole editor and
publisher. According to an article released by Ray on Sat-
urday, June 22, 1839, both men found it impossible to con-
tinue contributing because of the lack of compensation. In
addition, professional obligations beckoned Dr. Smith, and
Cornish had a family living in New Jersey to support. Ray
took it upon himself to assure readers that the same high
ethical and idealistic standards would be followed despite
the changes in the editorial department. Aware that money
was the chief obstacle to the perseverance of the news-
paper, Ray concluded with the hope that the black com-
munity would sustain the papers. He steadfastly kept the
presses running for two and a half more years, publishing
the fi nal issue of the Colored American on Christmas Day
in 1841.
Over the years, the Colored American addressed many
important goals, which Cornish eloquently outlined in his
premier editorial published on March 4, 1837. Four pre-
cise aims of the newspaper emerged and were constantly
elaborated on and reaffi rmed over the ensuing years of pub-
lication. Th e fi rst objective was to use the printed word to
agitate for emancipation. Cornish’s second stated aim was
to reach free blacks living in both urban and rural areas of
America and to unify the race in support of racial improve-
ment. Specifi cally, the editors gave their readers examples
by which to live by spreading news of activism through
legislative action. For example, in March 1837, the editor
reported to his readers the contents of four petitions sub-
mitted to the New York state legislature. Th ey asked for an
end to slavery; the right for a person charged with being a
fugitive slave to have a trial by jury; the right to vote for allsubscriptions were compounded by ideological confl icts
among the publishers and editors. Ultimately, the Colored
American circulated for fi ve years but was unable to main-
tain publication because of lack of fi nancial support.
Originally adapted from a paper called the We e k l y
Advocate established by New York City native Philip Al-
exander Bell, the Colored American changed hands several
times. Before establishing the Weekly Advocate, Bell gained
valuable journalistic experience while working for Wil-
liam Lloyd Garrison’s abolitionist newspaper the Libera-
tor. Launched on January 7, 1837, the main goal of Bell’s
publication was to educate his readers, a strategy he hoped
would assist free persons of color in competing with whites
in commerce and daily life.
It was not long before Samuel E. Cornish, the spirited
and articulate former editor of Freedom’s Journal, which was
the fi rst African American–owned and operated newspaper
published in the United States, joined Bell. On March 4, 1837,
issue number nine of the Weekly Advocate was published
under the name the Colored American with editorial credit
attributed to Cornish. Born to free parents in Sussex County,
Delaware, in 1795, Cornish initially worked as a Presbyterian
minister. However, he is most recognized for his eff orts to
abolish slavery through involvement in the American Anti-
Slavery Society beginning in 1833 and editorial work with
both Freedom’s Journal and the Colored American. Cornish
explained that the change in name was necessary in order
to catch the attention of black constituents, and because all
other words describing African Americans at the time had
developed negative stereotypes, Cornish found “colored” to
be relatively innocuous. In addition to the name, Cornish
modifi ed the goals of the paper. Along with fostering educa-
tion and awareness, the paper would serve as an organ of
protest against slavery and colonization
Also joining Bell and Cornish in the early days of
publication was a clergyman named Charles Bennett Ray.
Collaborator in the eff orts of the Underground Railroad,
and distinguished member of both the New York Vigilance
committee and the American Anti-Slavery Society, Ray was
a talented speaker and initially served the newspaper as a
traveling spokesperson and public relations specialist. Not
long aft er Cornish and Ray had assumed charge of the edi-
torial department, Philip Bell left the paper, relinquishing
proprietary rights to Ray.
Th ere were many contributors to the Colored Ameri-
can besides Bell, Cornish, and Ray. One of the most notable