March 1837

Samuel Cornish relaunched Black print journalism with The Colored American, published weekly in New York from 1837 to 1842. The paper advocated full Black citizenship, education, and economic advancement while opposing colonization. It was the most consistent Black journalistic voice between Freedom's Journal (1827) and Frederick Douglass's North Star (1847).

Samuel Cornish relaunched his journalistic mission with The Colored American (originally The Weekly Advocate), published in New York until 1842. The paper championed Black citizenship rights, criticized the American Colonization Society, covered Black education and church news, and addressed issues of moral reform. It became a critical link between Black northern communities during a period of escalating anti-Black violence and legal restrictions.

Samuel Cornish, who had co-founded Freedom's Journal in 1827, launched The Colored American in 1837, extending his decade-long commitment to Black journalism and giving the free Black community a sustained editorial voice on abolition, civil rights, and community affairs. The paper ran until 1842 and published essays by leading Black intellectuals and activists including Lewis Woodson and Charles Lenox Remond. Cornish's continued newspaper work helped build a durable Black public sphere in antebellum America.