April 1816

At Philadelphia's Bethel Church, Richard Allen was consecrated the first bishop of the newly formed African Methodist Episcopal Church — the first independent Black denomination in the US. Allen had founded Bethel in 1794 after being pulled from his knees at St. George's Methodist Church. The AME Church would grow to 7,000 members by 1820.

Richard Allen convened delegates in Philadelphia and formally established the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first independent Black denomination in the United States. Allen was elected and consecrated as its first bishop, creating an institution that would anchor Black community life and abolitionist organizing for generations.

Delegates from Black Methodist congregations in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Wilmington, and Salem gathered to form the AME Church — the first independent Black institution of national scope in American history. The founding established a model for Black institutional self-determination that influenced every subsequent freedom movement.

Delegates from Black Methodist congregations in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Wilmington, and Salem formed the AME Church — the first independent Black institution of national scope in American history. The founding established a model of Black institutional self-determination that influenced every subsequent freedom movement.

Delegates from Black Methodist congregations in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Salem, NJ, and Attleborough, PA convened the first General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. They adopted a Discipline, elected Richard Allen bishop, and created a governance structure that allowed Black Christians to control their own ecclesiastical affairs free from white oversight.

Baltimore educator and minister Daniel Coker was initially elected the first bishop of the newly formed AME Church in April 1816 but declined the office the following day, allowing Richard Allen to be consecrated. Coker's earlier 1810 pamphlet A Dialogue Between a Virginian and an African Minister was the first anti-slavery publication by a Black Marylander.

Richard Allen founds the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first independent Black denomination.