American Anti-Slavery Society Founded in Philadelphia

Garrison, Arthur Tappan, and over 60 delegates — including three Black men — founded the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS) in Philadelphia. Its Declaration of Sentiments, drafted by Garrison, demanded immediate emancipation with no compensation to slaveholders, denounced the Constitution's compromises with slavery, and called for moral suasion to transform public opinion. The AASS grew to 2,000 chapters and 250,000 members by the late 1830s. It trained a generation of organizers including Frederick Douglass, sponsored lecture tours, and flooded the South with antislavery literature — triggering the Congressional gag rule.