Peter Williams, Jr. (1786-1840). “An Oration on The Abolition of The Slave Trade Delivered in The African Church,” January 1, 1808.
On January 1, 1808, the United States officially ended its role in the international slave trade. This marked the last time that Africans would be legally imported to this country as slaves.
Above, to celebrate the effective day of prohibition, Peter Williams, Jr. delivers a speech at the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in New York City. He reminds his listeners that Africans had been regularly kidnapped into slavery for hundreds of years. He exclaims, “Oh God! We thank thee, that thou didst condescend to listen to the cries of Africa’s wretched sons; and that thou didst interfere in their behalf,” and he then thanked the whites who helped to end America’s role in the slave trade.
Like his father, a patriotic Continental Army veteran, Williams believes in the promise of the American Revolution that all men are created equal. He knows there were whites who opposed blacks’ rights, but says blacks will ultimately triumph if they behave honorably and respect the law.
Williams’ speech was published several days after it was given. In the pamphlet, Williams adds a notation that “some people doubt my being the author,” so he asked four prominent white men to certify they had seen the original manuscript written in Williams’ own hand.
He was well-educated and like many black civic leaders, deeply religious. He organized African Americans into a separate congregation in 1818, and erected St. Phillip’s African Church, consecrated on July 3, 1819, in Harlem. After many years of dedicated service, Peter Williams, Jr. was ordained in 1826, becoming the second African American Episcopalian priest.