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1822

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Achievement · religion
James Varick Elected First Bishop of the AME Zion Church

James Varick, a New York-born free Black man and founding leader of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, was elected its first superintendent bishop in 1822. Under his leadership the AMEZ established itself as an independent Black denomination distinct from both white Methodism and Richard Allen's AME Church based in Philadelphia.

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January 1822
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July 1822
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Key events

  1. July 1822
    James Varick Elected First Bishop of the AME Zion Church

    James Varick, a New York-born free Black man and founding leader of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, was elected its first superintendent bishop in 1822. Under his leadership the AMEZ established itself as an independent Black denomination distinct from both white Methodism and Richard Allen's AME Church based in Philadelphia.

  2. 1822
    Harriet and Beverly Hemings Allowed to Escape Monticello, Living as Free People

    Harriet and Beverly Hemings, children of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson, were quietly allowed to leave Monticello in 1822 and passed into white society as free people. Their successful navigation of a racial boundary — Beverly reportedly settling in Washington, Harriet in an unidentified northern city — represents individual acts of survival and self-determination.