James Forten - Political and Social Activism

Political and Social Activism

Although never elected to political office, and effectively disenfranchised, James Forten was a shrewd political operator. Year by year he grew in stature as a public figure. By the 1830s, his was one of the most powerful black voices, not just for men and women of color in his native city, but for many thousands more throughout the North. He knew how to use the press and the speaker’s podium. He knew about building alliances, when to back down and when to press forward with his agenda. His rise to prominence his understanding of the nature of power and authority, his determination to speak out and be heard are object lessons in the realities of community politics. Disfranchised he might have been, but voiceless he never was.

Forten used his wealth from the industry to advocate for temperance, women's suffrage, and above all, equal rights for African Americans. Forten believed Blacks should work to improve their situation in the United States and should be granted equal protection under the law.

"Back in 1801, he was among the signers of a petition to the U.S. Congress calling for the abolition of the slave trade and the modification of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793. In 1813, he authored a pamphlet, ‘A Series of Letters by a Man of Color,’ opposing a Pennsylvania Senate bill that restricted black immigration into the state, often the first refuge for freed people, as well as for runaways." (3)

Forten and Reverend Allen also worked together to establish the first Convention of Color in 1817. This organization argued for the settlement of escaped black slaves in Canada but strongly opposed plans for repatriation to Africa. Forten did not believe African Americans should leave their "own" land and therefore stood against the agenda and activities of the American Colonization Society. Forten was an integral part of many protests against the Society. Just before Abraham Camp spoke about wanting to leave America, Forten led a protest against the American Colonization Society and acted as chair of the protest held at Bethel Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He specifically opposed the British policy of resettling black Loyalist veterans of the Revolutionary War in Sierra Leone.

"In 1817, Forten and Bishop Richard Allen of the African Methodist Episcopal Church organized 3,000 black Philadelphians to speak out against the activities of the American Colonization Society, which was working to establish a colony outside the United States for African Americans."

The Haitian Revolution created some support for American blacks to emigrate to Haiti after it achieved independence, as it was a black-led republic. Its independence introduced many complex issues for free Blacks in the United States. James Forten was one of the important Black leaders who were entirely against any emigration movements. He firmly believed that Blacks should be allowed to play an equal role in the United States, proposing that it was far better to fight for an egalitarian US society rather than to flee the country.

Forten had not always stood against emigration and the American Colonization Society plans to "...send free and freed blacks to Africa. On one occasion, he had even given money to the ACS. He also supported Paul Cuffee…who transported thirty-eight people to Sierra Leone in 1815. Later Forten changed his mind, however. He came to consider the ACS as working against the interests of American blacks, and became a fierce opponent of re-Africanization.

In 1833, Forten helped William Lloyd Garrison and Robert Purvis form the American Anti-Slavery Society. He gave it generous financial support over the years. He also contributed occasional articles to Garrison's abolitionist newspaper The Liberator.