Lewis Tappan
Encyclopedia
Lewis Tappan was a New York
abolitionist who worked to achieve the freedom of the illegally enslaved Africans of the Amistad
. Contacted by Connecticut
abolitionists soon after the Amistad arrived in port, Tappan focused extensively on the captive Africans. He ensured the acquisition of high-quality lawyer
s for the captives, which led to their being set free after the case went to the United States Supreme Court. With his brother Arthur
, Tappan not only gained legal help and acquittal for the Africans, but he also managed to increase public support and fundraising. Finally, he organized the return trip home to Africa for surviving members of the group.
In addition, Tappan was among the founders of the American Missionary Association
in 1846, which began more than 100 anti-slavery Congregational churches throughout the Midwest, and after the American Civil War
, founded numerous schools and colleges to aid in the education of freedmen.
Benjamin Tappan
and abolitionist Arthur Tappan
. His middle-class parents were strict Calvinists. Once Lewis was old enough to work, he helped his father in a dry goods
store.
On his sixteenth birthday, Lewis joined other areas of commerce, and, ultimately he started The Mercantile agency in 1841 in New York City
. The Mercantile agency was the precursor to Dun & Bradstreet
(D&B) and modern credit reporting services. (D&B is a New York Stock Exchange
(NYSE)-listed company still in existence today.)
Convinced by Arthur to read a biography on William Wilberforce
, who led the cause for abolition in Great Britain
, Tappan started his quest for abolition in the United States. He is well known for his work to free the Africans from the Spanish ship Amistad
.
for intellectual and social reasons. William Ellery Channing
, a Unitarian minister, became Tappan’s pastor. As a peace advocate, Channing played an influential role in Tappan's decision to join the Massachusetts Peace Society
. In 1827 his brother Arthur convinced him to return to a Trinitarian denomination. Tappan joined Arthur in the Presbyterian church.
Lewis Tappan initially supported the American Colonization Society
(ACS), which promoted sending freed blacks from the United States to Africa, based on the assumption that was their homeland, regardless of where they were born.
Frustrated by the slow progress of the ACS, Tappan and a significant nucleus of men, including his brother Arthur, Theodore Dwight Weld
, Gerrit Smith
, Amos A. Phelps, and James Gillespie Birney, left the ACS. They joined what was to become known as the "immediatist" camp, who wanted to end slavery in the United States (US). Weld gained considerable influence following the move of the Tappan brothers to this group. In December 1833, at Philadelphia, Lewis Tappan joined activists such as William Lloyd Garrison
to form the American Anti-Slavery Society
.
The departure of the Tappans from the ACS is partially explained by the death of an African whom they repatriated. Captured in Africa and enslaved in Mississippi
, Abd-al-Rahman Ibrahima was a Fulani prince. He would have had potentially lucrative trade contacts in Africa. Partly for business reasons, the Tappans focused on Ibrahima's repatriation, which was finally achieved. Shortly after reaching his homeland, however, Ibrahima died in 1829. This ended the Tappans' hopes of easily establishing significant African trade.
The Tappan brothers were strict Calvinists and uncompromising moralists; even within the abolitionist movement, other members found their views extreme. Lewis Tappan advocated intermarriage
as the long-range solution to racial issues, as all people would eventually be mixed race. He dreamed of a "copper-skinned" America where race would not define any man, woman, or child. Tappan characterized the arrival of the Amistad and its Africans on American shores as a "providential occurrence" that might allow "the heart of the nation" to be "touched by the power of sympathy."
The Tappan brothers created chapters of the American Anti-Slavery Society (AAS) throughout New York state and in other sympathetic areas. Although Tappan was popular among many, opponents of abolition attacked his homes and churches by arson and vandalism.
In 1835, the Tappans helped establish Oberlin College
in Ohio
, which admitted students of both genders and all races. Lewis began a nationwide mailing of abolitionist material, which resulted in violent outrage in the South
and denunciation by Democratic politicians, who accused him of trying to divide the Union
. In the North, the mailings generated widespread sympathy and financial support for the American Anti-Slavery Society. By 1840, however, the anti-slavery program had expanded and the movement splintered.
After 1840, church-oriented abolitionism became dominant. That year Tappan formed the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society
in disagreement with the AAS. The latter allowed a woman, Abby Kelley
, to be elected to serve on the AAS business committee. Because of his strict religious beliefs, Tappan opposed the participation of women in an official capacity in the public society..
Tappan founded the abolitionist Human Rights
journal and a children's anti-slavery magazine The Slave's Friend
.
abolitionist paper. He was a frequent contributor. Throughout the trials in New Haven, Connecticut
, Tappan arranged for several Yale University
students to tutor the imprisoned Africans in English. The lessons included their learning to read New Testament
scriptures and to sing Christian
hymns. The Africans later drew from these skills to raise funds to return to Africa.
After achieving legal victory in the US Supreme Court, Tappan planned to use the Amistad Africans as the foundation for his dream to Christianize Africa.
(AMA), led by Congregational and Presbyterian ministers, both white and black. It linked anti-slavery activists of the East
with Ohio
and other Midwestern activists. In addition, it took over managing numerous disparate missions: an Oberlin, Ohio
mission to the Red Lake
-area Ojibwe, a mission to Jamaica
, a Mende
mission to the Amistad Africans, and a mission to escaped blacks living in Canada
. As the AMA grew in influence, it expanded its enterprises. Among these, it began 115 anti-slavery Congregational churches in Illinois, aided by anti-slavery ministers such as Owen Lovejoy
there.
It opposed the long-established and powerful American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
because of what the AMA alleged was their complicity with slavery. During and after the American Civil War
, Tappan and his brother Arthur worked from New York with the AMA on behalf of freedmen in the South. In postwar efforts, it led the founding of numerous schools and colleges for freedmen, the historically black colleges and universities
(HBCU).
Unwilling to reduce his commitment to U.S. government action against slavery in the southern states, Tappan and other radical political abolitionists denounced the Democratic Party as essentially pro-slavery. Though mistrustful of politicians, Tappan supported various antislavery parties that culminated in formation of the Republican Party
. In both 1860 and 1864, Tappan voted for Abraham Lincoln
.
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
abolitionist who worked to achieve the freedom of the illegally enslaved Africans of the Amistad
Amistad
"Amistad" is a Spanish noun meaning "friendship". It may refer to:Ships* Amistad/Amitie, an 18th century schooner that transported Acadians from France to Louisiana....
. Contacted by Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
abolitionists soon after the Amistad arrived in port, Tappan focused extensively on the captive Africans. He ensured the acquisition of high-quality lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
s for the captives, which led to their being set free after the case went to the United States Supreme Court. With his brother Arthur
Arthur Tappan
Arthur Tappan was an American abolitionist. He was the brother of Senator Benjamin Tappan, and abolitionist Lewis Tappan.-Biography:...
, Tappan not only gained legal help and acquittal for the Africans, but he also managed to increase public support and fundraising. Finally, he organized the return trip home to Africa for surviving members of the group.
In addition, Tappan was among the founders of the American Missionary Association
American Missionary Association
The American Missionary Association was a Protestant-based abolitionist group founded on September 3, 1846 in Albany, New York. The main purpose of this organization was to abolish slavery, to educate African Americans, to promote racial equality, and to promote Christian values...
in 1846, which began more than 100 anti-slavery Congregational churches throughout the Midwest, and after the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, founded numerous schools and colleges to aid in the education of freedmen.
Background
Lewis Tappan was the brother of SenatorUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Benjamin Tappan
Benjamin Tappan
Benjamin Tappan was an Ohio judge and Democratic politician who served in the Ohio State Senate and the United States Senate...
and abolitionist Arthur Tappan
Arthur Tappan
Arthur Tappan was an American abolitionist. He was the brother of Senator Benjamin Tappan, and abolitionist Lewis Tappan.-Biography:...
. His middle-class parents were strict Calvinists. Once Lewis was old enough to work, he helped his father in a dry goods
Dry goods
Dry goods are products such as textiles, ready-to-wear clothing, and sundries. In U.S. retailing, a dry goods store carries consumer goods that are distinct from those carried by hardware stores and grocery stores, though "dry goods" as a term for textiles has been dated back to 1742 in England or...
store.
On his sixteenth birthday, Lewis joined other areas of commerce, and, ultimately he started The Mercantile agency in 1841 in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The Mercantile agency was the precursor to Dun & Bradstreet
Dun & Bradstreet
Dun & Bradstreet is a Fortune 500 public company headquartered in Short Hills, New Jersey, USA that provides information on businesses and corporations for use in credit decisions, B2B marketing and supply chain management...
(D&B) and modern credit reporting services. (D&B is a New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
(NYSE)-listed company still in existence today.)
Convinced by Arthur to read a biography on William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire...
, who led the cause for abolition in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, Tappan started his quest for abolition in the United States. He is well known for his work to free the Africans from the Spanish ship Amistad
Amistad
"Amistad" is a Spanish noun meaning "friendship". It may refer to:Ships* Amistad/Amitie, an 18th century schooner that transported Acadians from France to Louisiana....
.
Moral views and abolitionism
Despite his orthodox Calvinist upbringing, Lewis Tappan became attracted to UnitarianismUnitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
for intellectual and social reasons. William Ellery Channing
William Ellery Channing
Dr. William Ellery Channing was the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century and, along with Andrews Norton, one of Unitarianism's leading theologians. He was known for his articulate and impassioned sermons and public speeches, and as a prominent thinker...
, a Unitarian minister, became Tappan’s pastor. As a peace advocate, Channing played an influential role in Tappan's decision to join the Massachusetts Peace Society
Massachusetts Peace Society
The Massachusetts Peace Society was an anti-war organization in Boston, Massachusetts, established to "diffuse light on the subject of war, and to cultivate the principles and spirit of peace." Founding officers included Thomas Dawes, William Phillips, Elisha Ticknor, Thomas Wallcut and Noah...
. In 1827 his brother Arthur convinced him to return to a Trinitarian denomination. Tappan joined Arthur in the Presbyterian church.
Lewis Tappan initially supported the American Colonization Society
American Colonization Society
The American Colonization Society , founded in 1816, was the primary vehicle to support the "return" of free African Americans to what was considered greater freedom in Africa. It helped to found the colony of Liberia in 1821–22 as a place for freedmen...
(ACS), which promoted sending freed blacks from the United States to Africa, based on the assumption that was their homeland, regardless of where they were born.
Frustrated by the slow progress of the ACS, Tappan and a significant nucleus of men, including his brother Arthur, Theodore Dwight Weld
Theodore Dwight Weld
Theodore Dwight Weld , was one of the leading architects of the American abolitionist movement during its formative years, from 1830 through 1844.Weld played a role as writer, editor, speaker, and organizer...
, Gerrit Smith
Gerrit Smith
Gerrit Smith was a leading United States social reformer, abolitionist, politician, and philanthropist...
, Amos A. Phelps, and James Gillespie Birney, left the ACS. They joined what was to become known as the "immediatist" camp, who wanted to end slavery in the United States (US). Weld gained considerable influence following the move of the Tappan brothers to this group. In December 1833, at Philadelphia, Lewis Tappan joined activists such as William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison was a prominent American abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer. He is best known as the editor of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, and as one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society, he promoted "immediate emancipation" of slaves in the United...
to form the American Anti-Slavery Society
American Anti-Slavery Society
The American Anti-Slavery Society was an abolitionist society founded by William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan. Frederick Douglass was a key leader of this society and often spoke at its meetings. William Wells Brown was another freed slave who often spoke at meetings. By 1838, the society had...
.
The departure of the Tappans from the ACS is partially explained by the death of an African whom they repatriated. Captured in Africa and enslaved in Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, Abd-al-Rahman Ibrahima was a Fulani prince. He would have had potentially lucrative trade contacts in Africa. Partly for business reasons, the Tappans focused on Ibrahima's repatriation, which was finally achieved. Shortly after reaching his homeland, however, Ibrahima died in 1829. This ended the Tappans' hopes of easily establishing significant African trade.
The Tappan brothers were strict Calvinists and uncompromising moralists; even within the abolitionist movement, other members found their views extreme. Lewis Tappan advocated intermarriage
Interracial marriage
Interracial marriage occurs when two people of differing racial groups marry. This is a form of exogamy and can be seen in the broader context of miscegenation .-Legality of interracial marriage:In the Western world certain jurisdictions have had regulations...
as the long-range solution to racial issues, as all people would eventually be mixed race. He dreamed of a "copper-skinned" America where race would not define any man, woman, or child. Tappan characterized the arrival of the Amistad and its Africans on American shores as a "providential occurrence" that might allow "the heart of the nation" to be "touched by the power of sympathy."
The Tappan brothers created chapters of the American Anti-Slavery Society (AAS) throughout New York state and in other sympathetic areas. Although Tappan was popular among many, opponents of abolition attacked his homes and churches by arson and vandalism.
In 1835, the Tappans helped establish Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, which admitted students of both genders and all races. Lewis began a nationwide mailing of abolitionist material, which resulted in violent outrage in the South
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
and denunciation by Democratic politicians, who accused him of trying to divide the Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
. In the North, the mailings generated widespread sympathy and financial support for the American Anti-Slavery Society. By 1840, however, the anti-slavery program had expanded and the movement splintered.
After 1840, church-oriented abolitionism became dominant. That year Tappan formed the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society
American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society
The American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society split off from the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1840 over a number of issues, including the increasing influence of anarchism , hostility to established religion, and feminism in the latter...
in disagreement with the AAS. The latter allowed a woman, Abby Kelley
Abby Kelley
Abby Kelley Foster was an American abolitionist and radical social reformer active from the 1830s to 1870s. She became a fundraiser, lecturer and committee organizer for the influential American Anti-Slavery Society, where she worked closely with William Lloyd Garrison and other radicals...
, to be elected to serve on the AAS business committee. Because of his strict religious beliefs, Tappan opposed the participation of women in an official capacity in the public society..
Tappan founded the abolitionist Human Rights
Human Rights (journal)
Human Rights was an abolitionist and anti-slavery journal founded by noted American abolitionist Lewis Tappan.- References :* Vaughn, Stephen L. "Encyclopedia of American Journalism" p. 5...
journal and a children's anti-slavery magazine The Slave's Friend
The Slave's Friend
The Slave's Friend was an anti-slavery magazine for children founded by noted abolitionist Lewis Tappan.- References :* Vaughn, Stephen L. Encyclopedia of American Journalism p. 5...
.
Amistad Case
In 1841, the Amistad case went to trial. Tappan attended each day of the trials and wrote daily accounts of the proceedings for The Emancipator, a New EnglandNew England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
abolitionist paper. He was a frequent contributor. Throughout the trials in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
, Tappan arranged for several Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
students to tutor the imprisoned Africans in English. The lessons included their learning to read New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
scriptures and to sing Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
hymns. The Africans later drew from these skills to raise funds to return to Africa.
After achieving legal victory in the US Supreme Court, Tappan planned to use the Amistad Africans as the foundation for his dream to Christianize Africa.
Civil War years
In 1846, Tappan was among the founders of the American Missionary AssociationAmerican Missionary Association
The American Missionary Association was a Protestant-based abolitionist group founded on September 3, 1846 in Albany, New York. The main purpose of this organization was to abolish slavery, to educate African Americans, to promote racial equality, and to promote Christian values...
(AMA), led by Congregational and Presbyterian ministers, both white and black. It linked anti-slavery activists of the East
The East
The East may refer to:* Eastern world, a group of various cultures and countries in Asia* Eastern philosophy, referring to a specific worldview* Eastern United States or East Coast of the United States* Eastern Roman Empire...
with Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and other Midwestern activists. In addition, it took over managing numerous disparate missions: an Oberlin, Ohio
Oberlin, Ohio
Oberlin is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States, to the south and west of Cleveland. Oberlin is perhaps best known for being the home of Oberlin College, a liberal arts college and music conservatory with approximately 3,000 students...
mission to the Red Lake
Red Lake
-Lakes:*in the United States**Red Lake , the largest lake entirely within the state**Red Lake , a lake in Orlando, Florida**Red Lake **Red Lake *Rotsee , in Switzerland...
-area Ojibwe, a mission to Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, a Mende
Mende people
The Mende people are one of the two largest and most dominant ethnic group in Sierra Leone, along with the Temne. The Mende make up 30% of Sierra Leone's total population or 1,932,015 members...
mission to the Amistad Africans, and a mission to escaped blacks living in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. As the AMA grew in influence, it expanded its enterprises. Among these, it began 115 anti-slavery Congregational churches in Illinois, aided by anti-slavery ministers such as Owen Lovejoy
Owen Lovejoy
Owen Lovejoy was an American lawyer, Congregational minister, abolitionist, and Republican congressman from Illinois. He was also a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad...
there.
It opposed the long-established and powerful American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was the first American Christian foreign mission agency. It was proposed in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College and officially chartered in 1812. In 1961 it merged with other societies to form the United Church Board for World...
because of what the AMA alleged was their complicity with slavery. During and after the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Tappan and his brother Arthur worked from New York with the AMA on behalf of freedmen in the South. In postwar efforts, it led the founding of numerous schools and colleges for freedmen, the historically black colleges and universities
Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Historically black colleges and universities are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before 1964 with the intention of serving the black community....
(HBCU).
Unwilling to reduce his commitment to U.S. government action against slavery in the southern states, Tappan and other radical political abolitionists denounced the Democratic Party as essentially pro-slavery. Though mistrustful of politicians, Tappan supported various antislavery parties that culminated in formation of the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. In both 1860 and 1864, Tappan voted for Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
.
Sources
- Blue, Frederick J. No Taint of Compromise. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2006.
- Ceplair, Larry. The Public Years of Sarah and Angelina Grimke. New York: Columbia University Press, 1989.
- Harrold, Stanley. Subversives. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2003.
- Wyatt-Brown, Bertram. Lewis Tappan and the Evangelical War Against Slavery, New York: Athenaeum, 1971.