Richard Allen

Richard Allen was born to slave parents in Philadelphia on 14th February, 1760. He was sold to a farmer in Delaware and in 1777 became a Methodist convert.

His master allowed him to preach in public and in 1786 he purchased his freedom and moved to Philadelphia where he conducted prayer meetings for blacks.

Dissatisfied with the restrictions placed on blacks who attended church services, in 1787 Allen helped organize an Independent Methodist Church. They converted an old blacksmith shop into America's first church for black people.

In 1816 Allen helped establish the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and he was elected as its first bishop. The following year Allen joined with James Forten to form the Convention of Color. The organization argued for the settlement of escaped black slaves in Canada but was strongly opposed to any plans for repatriation to Africa. Other leading figures that became involved in the movement was William Wells Brown, Samuel Eli Cornish and Henry Highland Garnet.

Richard Allen died on 26th March, 1831.

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John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams, the son of John Adams, second president of the United States was born in Braintree, Massachusetts on 11th July, 1767. At 14 he became private secretary to the American envoy at St. Petersburg.

He studied at Harvard University and was admitted to the bar in 1790. Adams served as diplomat in London, Lisbon and Berlin, before being elected to the Senate in 1806. As Secretary of State under President James Monroe, he negotiated with Spain the treaty for the acquisition of Florida.

In 1825 Adams was elected president by the House of Representatives. Defeated by Andrew Jackson in 1829, he retired from politics. However, in 1831 he was elected to Congress where he played a major role in opposing slavery.

Adams offered to defend Joseph Cinque and the other African slaves who had mutinied on board the Amistad. In front of the Supreme Court, Adams, now seventy-three years old, made a passionate eight-hour speech and won their release. John Quincy Adams died on 23rd February, 1848.

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