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114-572: The Maine Central Institute was founded in 1866 by Rev. Oren B. Cheney and Rev. Ebenezer Knowlton , abolitionists who also founded Bates College in nearby Lewiston, Maine . The Maine State Seminary, originally part of Bates, served as a college preparatory school until it was dissolved in the late 1860s, and MCI (along with the Nichols Latin School in Lewiston) largely took the Seminary's place as

228-484: A lecture against slavery while dressed as a soldier, after which he plunged a sword into a bible containing a bladder of fake blood ( pokeberry juice) that splattered those nearby. On September 9, 1739, a literate slave named Jemmy led a rebellion against South Carolina slaveholders in an event referred to as the Stono Rebellion (also known as Cato's Conspiracy and Cato's Rebellion.) The runaway slaves involved in

342-465: A Second Language) program. Two athletic buildings have been built—Parks Gymnasium (still standing) which was finished in 1936 due to the MCI students' increased interest in athletics and in 1988 the construction of Wright Gymnasium which houses many of MCI's trophies and recognitions and a state of the art weight room and basketball court. The John W. Manson house was donated in 1944; since that date, it has been

456-519: A brief and unsuccessful investigation. Cheney went back to the Maine State legislature and used his political sway to bypass certain legal proceedings and begin the incorporation of a new school. He began the process by meeting with the religious, political, and social elites of Maine in Topsham to discuss the formation of a new seminary. His idea was met with positive reception and the act of incorporation

570-467: A college [referring to Bowdoin College ] and an Academy. We shall petition the state legislature to suitably endow, as well as incorporate, such an institution. We know our claim is good and intend openly and manfully and we trust in a Christian spirit to press it. If we fail next winter, we shall try another legislature. If we fail on a second trial, we shall try a third and a fourth. The Maine State Seminary

684-519: A common mind that will forget thee. Thou has great allies. He switched his political affiliation to the Republican Party , due to their liberal and democratic stance on slavery and personal sovereignty. He spent the rest of his life developing the party within Maine. After news spread to Cheney that his old secondary school, Parsonsfield Seminary , mysteriously burned down in 1853, he began to plan

798-540: A concern for Black civil rights. However, James Stewart advocates a more nuanced understanding of the relationship of abolition and anti-slavery prior to the Civil War: While instructive, the distinction [between anti-slavery and abolition] can also be misleading, especially in assessing abolitionism's political impact. For one thing, slaveholders never bothered with such fine points. Many immediate abolitionists showed no less concern than did other white Northerners about

912-726: A crime, in 1865. This was a direct result of the Union victory in the American Civil War . The central issue of the war was slavery. Historian James M. McPherson in 1964 defined an abolitionist "as one who before the Civil War had agitated for the immediate, unconditional and total abolition of slavery in the United States". He notes that many historians have used a broader definition without his emphasis on immediacy. Thus he does not include opponents of slavery such as Abraham Lincoln or

1026-601: A feeder school for Bates. The school was at its inception affiliated with the Free Will Baptists but is officially non-sectarian today. The first building, the Institute Building ( Founders Hall ), was completed in 1869 and served as the primary campus building until 1958. In 1882 an early case involving the school was appealed to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court . The campus has expanded greatly over

1140-415: A fellow delegate was stopped at the door and Cheney was told that "the nigger must not come in." After an intense yelling match between members of the delegation and the owner, Cheney stepped forward and physically the threatened the owner with a beating and told him that if Douglass was not seated first, before anyone else, the entire delegation was to eat elsewhere. With fear of safety and loss of business,

1254-651: A few decades the entire slave trade was under attack, being opposed by such Quaker leaders as William Burling, Benjamin Lay , Ralph Sandiford, William Southby, John Woolman , and Anthony Benezet . Benezet was particularly influential, inspiring a later generation of notable anti-slavery activists, including Granville Sharp , John Wesley , Thomas Clarkson , Olaudah Equiano , Benjamin Franklin , Benjamin Rush , Absalom Jones , and Bishop Richard Allen , among others. Samuel Sewall ,

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1368-669: A major role in founding several other Free Baptist institutions such as Storer College , a school for freed slaves in West Virginia founded in 1867; and the Maine Central Institute (MCI), founded in 1866. Cheney founded and was the first president of the Free Will Baptist Church at Ocean Park, Maine , a seaside retreat on Old Orchard Beach. In 1907, his third wife, Emeline, wrote a biography of his life, using his diaries and autobiographical articles he had published in

1482-495: A noted abolitionist and black member of the party. After his political career, he continued to publish anti-slavery pieces in his newspaper, and establish the Maine State Seminary , which would later be named "Bates College." He governed as the first President of Bates College for nearly four decades–from 1855 to 1894–creating its liberal arts curriculum, hiring faculty, and choosing its campus ; during this time he adopted

1596-481: A political movement is usually dated from 1 January 1831, when Wm. Lloyd Garrison (as he always signed himself) published the first issue of his new weekly newspaper, The Liberator (1831), which appeared without interruption until slavery in the United States was abolished in 1865, when it closed. Abolitionists included those who joined the American Anti-Slavery Society or its auxiliary groups in

1710-513: A principal $ 50,000 to Cheney and at the end of his life, his overall contributions amounted to nearly $ 300,000. Deeply moved by the financial backing of Bates, Cheney asked the board of the Seminary to rename the college in his honor. Bates College was chartered on March 16, 1864. Cheney required that admission to Bates be exacting and required testimonials of good moral character , readings of Latin which included Caesar , Cicero , Vergil and elementary French . Cheney made sure that Bates

1824-405: A principle was far more than just the wish to prevent the expansion of slavery. After 1840, abolitionists rejected this because it let sin continue to exist; they demanded that slavery end everywhere, immediately and completely. John Brown was the only abolitionist to have actually planned a violent insurrection, though David Walker promoted the idea. The abolitionist movement was strengthened by

1938-493: A prominent Bostonian, wrote The Selling of Joseph (1700) in protest of the widening practice of outright slavery as opposed to indentured servitude in the colonies. This is the earliest-recorded anti-slavery tract published in the future United States. Slavery was banned in the colony of Georgia soon after its founding in 1733. The colony's founder, James Edward Oglethorpe , fended off repeated attempts by South Carolina merchants and land speculators to introduce slavery into

2052-448: A slave. According to historian Steven Pincus , many of the colonial legislatures worked to enact laws that would limit slavery. The Provincial legislature of Massachusetts Bay , as noted by historian Gary B. Nash , approved a law "prohibiting the importation and purchase of slaves by any Massachusetts citizen." The Loyalist governor of Massachusetts , Thomas Hutchinson , vetoed the law, an action that prompted angered reaction from

2166-467: A trek of 40 miles, walking due to financial restrictions, to be baptized. On his way back to Dartmouth, he began to devote himself to teaching and academia, supplementing his income by pursuing teaching jobs around New Hampshire. He graduated from the university in 1839. He returned to Parsonsfield, a stop on the Underground Railroad , for several years in the 1840s as an alumnus and went on to lead

2280-514: Is attached to Rowe Hall and is a location for school functions, alumni and community group gatherings, and various student group activities. The institute has a nationally recognized athletic program and has produced many prominent NBA players. The team's best season was 1998, when they were undefeated (37 wins) and finished #1 in the USA Today polls. The team was led by McDonald's All-American Erick Barkley and future New England Prep player of

2394-509: Is translated as "with love of learning". Construction of the school began in Parsonsfield , Maine, however, the project drew the attention of millionaire textile tycoon, Benjamin Bates , who took special interest in the college. He convinced Cheney to build his school in the economically booming town of Lewiston , where Bates had begun to develop highly profitable mills. The college was moved to

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2508-659: The 1735 Georgia Experiment in part to prevent Spanish partnership with Georgia's runaway slaves, Oglethorpe eventually revoked the act in 1750 after the Spanish's defeat in the Battle of Bloody Marsh eight years prior. During the Revolutionary era, all states abolished the international slave trade , but South Carolina reversed its decision. Between the Revolutionary War and 1804, laws, constitutions, or court decisions in each of

2622-631: The American Civil War , the end of which brought about the abolition of American slavery, except as punishment for a crime , through the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (ratified 1865). The anti-slavery movement originated during the Age of Enlightenment , focused on ending the transatlantic slave trade . In Colonial America, a few German Quakers issued the 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery , which marked

2736-535: The American Revolutionary War and was reorganized in 1784, with Benjamin Franklin as its first president. In 1777, independent Vermont , not yet a state, became the first polity in North America to prohibit slavery: slaves were not directly freed, but masters were required to remove slaves from Vermont. The Constitution included several provisions which accommodated slavery, although none used

2850-619: The Massachusetts courts in freedom suits , spurred on the decision made in the Somerset v. Stewart case, which although not applying the colonies was still received positively by American abolitionists. Boston lawyer Benjamin Kent represented them. In 1766, Kent won a case ( Slew v. Whipple ) to liberate Jenny Slew , a mixed-race woman who had been kidnapped in Massachusetts and then handled as

2964-516: The Morning Star . The Cheney House, built in 1875 when Cheney was president, was acquired in 1905 by Bates College. Today it is used as a dormitory, a "quiet house" for 32 students. Notes Further reading Abolitionism in the United States In the United States, abolitionism , the movement that sought to end slavery in the country , was active from the colonial era until

3078-519: The Northern states provided for the gradual or immediate abolition of slavery. No Southern state adopted similar policies. In 1807, Congress made the importation of slaves a crime, effective January 1, 1808, which was as soon as Article I, section 9 of the Constitution allowed. A small but dedicated group, under leaders such as William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass , agitated for abolition in

3192-517: The Republican Party ; they called for the immediate end to expansion of slavery before 1861. The religious component of American abolitionism was great. It began with the Quakers , then moved to the other Protestants with the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century. Many leaders were ministers. Saying slavery was sinful made its evil easy to understand, and tended to arouse fervor for

3306-468: The Underground Railroad . This was made illegal by the federal Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 , arguably the most hated and most openly evaded federal legislation in the nation's history. Nevertheless, participants like Harriet Tubman , Henry Highland Garnet , Alexander Crummell , Amos Noë Freeman , and others continued with their work. Abolitionists were particularly active in Ohio , where some worked directly in

3420-523: The United States Constitution did or did not protect slavery. This issue arose in the late 1840s after the publication of The Unconstitutionality of Slavery by Lysander Spooner . The Garrisonians, led by Garrison and Wendell Phillips , publicly burned copies of the Constitution, called it a pact with slavery, and demanded its abolition and replacement. Another camp, led by Lysander Spooner , Gerrit Smith , and eventually Douglass, considered

3534-613: The first coeducational college in New England which is widely considered his magnum opus . Cheney is one of the most extensively covered subjects of Neoabolitionism , for his public denouncement of slavery, involuntary servitude , and advocation for fair and equal representation , egalitarianism , and personal sovereignty . Cheney's main social ideology was that of egalitarianism ; he personally voiced his disdain for racial inequality , social elitism, and socioeconomic deprivation regularly, in controversial speeches and articles. He

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3648-517: The moniker O.B. Cheney . Oren Burbank Cheney was born in Holderness, New Hampshire , on December 10, 1816. He was born to Abigail and Moses Cheney , who were noted abolitionists . Cheney's brother, Person , would go on to become a prominent politician in New Hampshire. His father was a paper manufacturer and also a conductor on the Underground Railroad . Moses Cheney held important positions in

3762-521: The upper South , freed slaves, sometimes in their wills. Many noted they had been moved by the revolutionary ideals of the equality of men. The number of free blacks as a proportion of the black population in the upper South increased from less than 1 percent to nearly 10 percent between 1790 and 1810 as a result of these actions. Some slave owners, concerned about the increase in free blacks, which they viewed as destabilizing, freed slaves on condition that they emigrate to Africa . All U.S. states abolished

3876-539: The 100 students allowed to study at the university during the early 19th century. Cheney's political efficacy started at a young age, but his first official political declaration was to be his first vote in which he cast a vote for James G. Briney , a member of the Liberty Party . Briney lost the elections in the Maine House of Representatives , however, one year later, Cheney was nominated without anyone telling him he

3990-702: The 1830s and 1840s, as the movement fragmented. The fragmented anti-slavery movement included groups such as the Liberty Party ; the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society ; the American Missionary Association ; and the Church Anti-Slavery Society . Historians traditionally distinguish between moderate anti-slavery reformers or gradualists, who concentrated on stopping the spread of slavery, and radical abolitionists or immediatists, whose demands for unconditional emancipation often merged with

4104-644: The 1840 New England Anti-Slavery Society Convention. It was reported that during this time four slave bounty hunters went missing in Hancock. On January 30, 1840, he married Caroline A. Rundlett and they had one child, Horace Rundlett Cheney. He later attended the Free Will Baptist Bible School in Whitestown, New York to study theology but had to leave following his wife's death in June 1846. In 1844, Cheney

4218-716: The Bridge Street African Methodist Episcopal Church , and lived on Duffield Street. His fellow Duffield Street residents Thomas and Harriet Truesdell were leading members of the abolitionist movement. Mr. Truesdell was a founding member of the Providence Anti-slavery Society before moving to Brooklyn in 1838. Harriet Truesdell was also very active in the movement, organizing an anti-slavery convention in Pennsylvania Hall (Philadelphia) . Another prominent Brooklyn-based abolitionist

4332-523: The Cianchette Science building was erected in name of Joseph R. Cianchette a main financial contributor. In the 1960s two dormitories were built to supplement the increase in postgraduate students and their need for housing. Those buildings are currently named Rowe Hall (constructed in 1961) and Manson Hall (constructed in 1966). Today there are a total of three main residence halls, two male and one female. Rowe Hall and Manson Hall (both male) are under

4446-416: The Constitution to be an anti-slavery document. Using an argument based upon Natural Law and a form of social contract theory, they said that slavery fell outside the Constitution's scope of legitimate authority and therefore should be abolished. Another split in the abolitionist movement was along class lines. The artisan republicanism of Robert Dale Owen and Frances Wright stood in stark contrast to

4560-602: The Free Will Baptist denomination. After he retired, this amendment was revoked by the legislature in 1907 at the request of his successor, George Colby Chase , which allowed the college to qualify for Carnegie Foundation funding for professor pensions. Cheney served as Bates' president for 39 years, retiring at age 79 in 1894. Cheney died in 1903 and was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Lewiston . Cheney also played

4674-569: The Maine House of Representatives, secured $ 2,000 for his academy in Lebanon , regulated liquor traffic, and advocated for temperance . He left his academy shortly after founding it in strong financial conduction and under the care of the local community. Shortly, before the conclusion his term, he was elected as the delegate to the 1852 Free Soil Party Convention in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . During

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4788-525: The Maine Legislature due to his increasingly ineffective legislation giving blacks quasi-rights failed. After stepping down from political office on November 3, 1854, he continued his work with The Morning Star . One the evening of his retirement from political life, he printed one of his more famous lines on the cover of the newspaper: Live and take comfort. Thou hast left behind powers that will work for thee, air, earth, and skies. Theres not breathing of

4902-743: The North. In 1835 alone, abolitionists mailed over a million pieces of anti-slavery literature to the South, giving rise to the gag rules in Congress, after the theft of mail from the Charleston, South Carolina , post office, and much back-and-forth about whether postmasters were required to deliver this mail. According to the Postmaster General , they were not. Under the Constitution, the importation of enslaved persons could not be prohibited until 1808 (20 years). As

5016-446: The South, members of the abolitionist movement or other people opposing slavery were often targets of lynch mob violence before the American Civil War . Numerous known abolitionists lived, worked, and worshipped in downtown Brooklyn , from Henry Ward Beecher , who auctioned slaves into freedom from the pulpit of Plymouth Church, to Nathaniel Eggleston, a leader of the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society , who also preached at

5130-622: The Underground Railroad. Since only the Ohio River separated free Ohio from slave Kentucky, it was a popular destination for fugitive slaves. Supporters helped them there, in many cases to cross Lake Erie by boat, into Canada. The Western Reserve area of northeast Ohio was "probably the most intensely antislavery section of the country." The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue got national publicity. Abolitionist John Brown grew up in Hudson, Ohio . In

5244-442: The abolition of slavery and the prohibition of alcohol, Cheney replied: "a pile of gold as high as the mountains would not tempt me to stop speaking upon those topic." During his tenure as a state representative he acquired his father's Free Will Baptist newspaper, The Morning Star . He used the newspaper as a medium for him to print his speeches in the legislature and to write articles supporting abolitionism. His assumption of

5358-582: The activities of free African Americans, especially in the Black church , who argued that the old Biblical justifications for slavery contradicted the New Testament . African-American activists and their writings were rarely heard outside the Black community. However, they were tremendously influential on a few sympathetic white people, most prominently the first white activist to reach prominence, Wm. Lloyd Garrison , who

5472-518: The beginning of the American abolitionist movement. Before the Revolutionary War , evangelical colonists were the primary advocates for the opposition to slavery and the slave trade, doing so on the basis of humanitarian ethics. Still, others such as James Oglethorpe , the founder of the colony of Georgia , also retained political motivations for the removal of slavery. Prohibiting slavery through

5586-465: The brothers Derick and Abraham op den Graeff and Gerrit Hendricksz of Germantown, Pennsylvania , drafted the 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery , a two-page condemnation of slavery, and sent it to the governing bodies of their Quaker church. The intention of the document was to stop slavery within the Quaker community, where 70% of Quakers owned slaves between 1681 and 1705. It acknowledged

5700-428: The case of Commonwealth v. Nathaniel Jennison , reaffirmed the case of Brom and Bett v. Ashley , which held that even slaves were people who had a constitutional right to liberty. This gave freedom to slaves, effectively abolishing slavery. States with a greater economic interest in slaves, such as New York and New Jersey, passed gradual emancipation laws. While some of these laws were gradual, these states enacted

5814-457: The cause. The debate about slavery was often based on what the Bible said or did not say about it. John Brown , who had studied the Bible for the ministry, proclaimed that he was "an instrument of God". As such, abolitionism in the United States was identified by historians as an expression of moralism , it often operated in tandem with another social reform effort, the temperance movement . Slavery

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5928-491: The church and served many times in the state legislature. Cheney's mother had a significant impact on his religious views, he was often quoted as saying, "my mother used this bible to worship all that is holy, I shall cease when I arise to the heavenly skies that welcome me," later in his life as president of Bates College. His household was deeply religious and he credited his "Godly upbringing" with forming his philosophical ideologies and personal convictions. Early in his life he

6042-464: The colony. His motivations included tactical defense against Spanish collusion with runaway slaves, and prevention of Georgia's largely reformed criminal population from replicating South Carolina's planter class structure. In 1739, he wrote to the Georgia Trustees urging them to hold firm: If we allow slaves we act against the very principles by which we associated together, which was to relieve

6156-502: The community at the Annual Manson Essay Contest. Only one will achieve the coveted title of "Manson Essayist". Oren B. Cheney Oren Burbank Cheney (December 10, 1816 – December 22, 1903) was an American politician, minister, and statesman who was a key figure in the abolitionist movement in the United States during the later 19th century. Along with textile tycoon Benjamin Bates , he founded Bates College as

6270-407: The construction of a new school. Opponents of his political work and abolitionism in general were rumored to be the arsonists behind the destruction of Parsonsfield. Cheney wrote the details of the event in a diary: "the bell tower flickered in flames while the children ran from its pillar-brick walls.." The fire was believed to have killed three school children, and two fugitive slaves , leading to

6384-466: The disposal of the blacks, and that this foul and unnatural crime of holding men in bondage will finally be rooted out from our land." In the 1830s there was a progressive shift in thinking in the North. Mainstream opinion changed from gradual emancipation and resettlement of freed blacks in Africa, sometimes a condition of their manumission , to immediatism: freeing all the slaves immediately and sorting out

6498-639: The distresses. Whereas, now we should occasion the misery of thousands in Africa, by setting men upon using arts to buy and bring into perpetual slavery the poor people who now live there free. In 1737, Quaker abolitionist Benjamin Lay published All Slave-Keepers That Keep the Innocent in Bondage: Apostates , which was printed by his friend, Benjamin Franklin. The following year, during the 1738 Philadelphia Yearly Meeting in Burlington, New Jersey , Lay gave

6612-600: The end of the 20 years approached, an Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves sailed through Congress with little opposition. President Jefferson signed it, and it went effect on January 1, 1808. In 1820, the Act to Protect the Commerce of the United States and Punish the Crime of Piracy was passed. This law made importing slaves into the United States a death penalty offense . The Confederate States of America continued this prohibition with

6726-524: The events as: A crowd of men and boys with drums and horns for the purpose of making a disturbance... Boys were allowed to vote at the age of twenty-one, so they voted in the interest of the anti-slavery movement ... The waving of handkerchiefs by women young and old, and the cheers from the crowd showed how great a victory we had over the pro-slavery spirit that was thought to have crushed us. In May 1836, he walked back to his old home in Ashland, New Hampshire ,

6840-743: The fate of the nation's "precious legacies of freedom". Immediatism became most difficult to distinguish from broader anti-Southern opinions once ordinary citizens began articulating these intertwining beliefs. Nearly all Northern politicians, such as Abraham Lincoln , rejected the "immediate emancipation" called for by the abolitionists, seeing it as "extreme". Indeed, many Northern leaders, including Lincoln, Stephen Douglas (the Democratic nominee in 1860), John C. Frémont (the Republican nominee in 1856), and Ulysses S. Grant married into slave-owning Southern families without any moral qualms. Anti-slavery as

6954-400: The first abolition laws in the entire " New World ". In the State of New York, the enslaved population was transformed into indentured servants before being granted full emancipation in 1827. In other states, abolitionist legislation provided freedom only for the children of the enslaved. In New Jersey, slavery was not fully prohibited until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment . All of

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7068-401: The formulation of abolitionist ideology in the United States. The federal government prohibited the transatlantic slave trade in 1808, prohibited the slave trade in the District of Columbia in 1850, outlawed slavery in the District of Columbia in 1862, and, with the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution , made slavery unconstitutional altogether, except as punishment for

7182-403: The general public. American abolitionists were cheered by the decision in Somerset v Stewart (1772), which prohibited slavery in the United Kingdom, though not in its colonies. In 1774, the influential Fairfax Resolves called for an end to the "wicked, cruel and unnatural" Atlantic slave trade . One of the first articles advocating the emancipation of slaves and the abolition of slavery

7296-443: The generous efforts from alumni. Due to World War I increasing enrollment in 1911 it became necessary to erect a female dormitory. The building today called Weymouth Hall houses the offices of Athletics and Activities, the dean of students and the dean of residential life, as well as the television studio (WMCI), the Health and Wellness Center, the Campus Bookstore, the Student Union, and classrooms for MCI's prestigious ESL (English as

7410-421: The legislature, which produced mixed reactions and death threats ; historians have occasionally noted him as "completely and utterly careless with his life." He was elected as the only delegate to attend the 1852 Free Soil Party Convention in Pittsburgh from Maine, where he famously advocated for anti-slavery , and physically threatened the owner of a local tavern for refusing to serve Frederick Douglass ,

7524-445: The mid-19th century. John Brown became an advocate and militia leader in attempting to end slavery by force of arms. In the Civil War, immediate emancipation became a war goal for the Union in 1861 and was fully achieved in 1865. American abolitionism began well before the United States was founded as a nation. In 1652, Rhode Island made it illegal for any person, black or white, to be "bound" longer than ten years. The law, however,

7638-435: The mill was sustainable through the hiring of other local school boys, Cheney was sent to Parsonsfield Seminary , which was 14 miles away; a three-day trip. While going through Parsonsfield, he was surrounded by racial segregation and religious oppression and later in life, sought an educational institution that catered to everyone that required it, that would take the form of a rigorous, and academically prominent school. He

7752-414: The newspaper drew attention of a past acquaintance, Frederick Douglass . Cheney asserted in his first printing as owner: We shall speak against slavery, as we have hitherto done. We can find no language that has the power to express the hatred we have towards so vile and so wicked an institution-We hate it-we abhor, we lather it-we detest it and despise it as a giant sin against God. His later career in

7866-448: The on-campus SAT/TOEFL exams, a 3-D printing lab, along with physics, biology, and chemistry labs. Maine Central Institute also has nearby greenhouses and garden spaces for science classes and clubs. The Student Center at Maine Central Institute includes a 250-seat dining room, outdoor patio area, recreation/game room, student lounge with performance stage area, 40-seat conference room, renovated kitchen, and serving area. The Student Center

7980-408: The organization of Wesleyan Methodist Connection by Orange Scott in 1843, and the formation of the Free Methodist Church by Benjamin Titus Roberts in 1860 (which is reflected in the name of Church). The True Wesleyan a periodical founded by Orange Scott and Jotham Horton was used to disseminate abolitionist views. The Methodist and Quaker branches of Christianity played an integral part in

8094-430: The other states north of Maryland began gradual abolition of slavery between 1781 and 1804, based on the Pennsylvania model and by 1804, all the Northern states had passed laws to gradually or immediately abolish it. Some slaves continued in involuntary, unpaid "indentured servitude" for two more decades, and others were moved south and sold to new owners in slave states . Some individual slaveholders, particularly in

8208-404: The owner conceded and seated Douglass. The event sent a powerful message to the convention, but Cheney's mental stability was rumored to be faulty by members of both sides. One year later in 1853, he was assigned as a delegate to Free Will Baptist General Conference , and participated in numerous talks that helped establish a political link to the movement. He choose not to seek another term in

8322-532: The past 140 years, and became officially coeducational in 1903 with the purchase of a boarding house from Benjamin Bowden and the construction of a second floor making it Ceder Croft Hall, which in 1927 burned down during a Christmas break. Immediately after, a fundraising campaign initiated by MCI alumni began with the intention to rebuild a residence hall. The dorm was completed in October 1928 and named Alumni Hall after

8436-485: The perspective of the slave, recognizing their agency and subsequent humanity as cause for self-liberation. Slave revolts following the Stono Rebellion were a present mode of abolition undertaken by slaves and were an indicator of black agency that brewed beneath the surface of the abolitionist movement for decades and eventually sprouted later on through figures such as Frederick Douglass, an escaped black freeman who

8550-509: The politics of prominent elite abolitionists such as industrialist Arthur Tappan and his evangelist brother Lewis . While the former pair opposed slavery on a basis of solidarity of "wage slaves" with "chattel slaves", the Whiggish Tappans strongly rejected this view, opposing the characterization of Northern workers as "slaves" in any sense. (Lott, 129–130) Many American abolitionists took an active role in opposing slavery by supporting

8664-469: The problems later. This change was in many cases sudden, a consequence of the individual's coming in direct contact with the horrors of American slavery, or hearing of them from a credible source. As it was put by Amos Adams Lawrence , who witnessed the capture and return to slavery of Anthony Burns , "we went to bed one night old-fashioned, conservative, Compromise Union Whigs and waked up stark mad Abolitionists." The American beginning of abolitionism as

8778-469: The region. At the time, Native Americans in the region were hosting raids against lower-class settlers encroaching on their land after the Third Powhatan War (1644–1646), which left many white and black indentured servants and slaves without a sense of protection from their government. Led by Nathaniel Bacon , the unification that occurred between the white lower class and blacks during this rebellion

8892-457: The relationship between the two colleges is complex. The only college Cheney would oversee was Bowdoin, he served as an overseer from 1860 to 1867. In 1860, Cheney delivered the graduating dress to a class of fifteen male students, stressing "impact in a changing world." Benjamin Bates began to aggressively fund the college due to its increased status in Americana academia and values. He extended

9006-564: The residence of the head of school. In 1950 the William H. Powell Memorial Library was constructed with the donations of Ella Powell in the name of her late husband, Judge William H. Powell. Today the Powell library has over 8,000 nonfiction books, academic subscriptions, and a seminar room dedicated to the original donor of the library Ella Powell. Shortly after the construction of the Powell Library,

9120-496: The revolt intended to reach Spanish-controlled Florida to attain freedom, but their plans were thwarted by white colonists in Charlestown, South Carolina. The event resulted in 25 colonists and 35 to 50 African slaves killed, as well as the implementation of the 1740 Negro Act to prevent another slave uprising. In her book, "The Slave's Cause" by Manisha Sinha, Sinha considers the Stono Rebellion to be an important act of abolition from

9234-528: The scheduled speeches at the convention he drew widespread controversy for his speech regarding complete and absolute abolitionism. At the time, the Free Soil Party only believed in anti-slavery not abolitionism. On the final night of the convention the delegates were invited to a local tavern of the State House where they were free to dine with each other. Upon entering the establishment, Frederick Douglass ,

9348-529: The school as its head master . He founded the Lebanon Academy in Lebanon, Maine in 1850. During this time, he worked for the Underground Railroad , and along with his second brother, Elias Hutchins, illegally harbored and transferred slaves from Windy Row, New Hampshire to Hancock . This was, under the federal Fugitive Slave acts , highly illegal. His reputation earned him a visit from noted abolitionist, Frederick Douglass , who stayed at his home during

9462-492: The sentence of death and prohibited the import of slaves. In 1830, most Americans were, at least in principle, opposed to slavery. However, opponents of slavery deliberated on how to end the institution, as well as what would become of the slaves once they were free. As put in The Philanthropist : "If the chain of slavery can be broken,   ... we may cherish the hope   ... that proper means will be devised for

9576-654: The slaves of masters who failed to register them with the state, along with the "future children" of enslaved mothers. Those enslaved in Pennsylvania before the 1780 law went into effect were not freed until 1847. Massachusetts took a much more radical position. In 1780, during the Revolution, Massachusetts ratified its constitution and included within it a clause that declared all men equal. Based upon this clause, several freedom suits were filed by enslaved African Americans living in Massachusetts. In 1783, its Supreme Court, in

9690-556: The supervision of Mrs. Megan Thompson and Alumni Hall (female) is under the supervision of Mrs. Dana Fehnel, additional faculty and staff live in apartments on the different floors of the residence halls. In 2000, work on the Chuck and Helen Cianchette Math and Science Center was finished. This building houses state of the art science labs and classrooms. The Math and Science Center is a 23,000-square-foot recent facility, including fifteen instructional spaces, classrooms which prepare students for

9804-522: The swamp and left it there unattended. Cheney enrolled in Dartmouth in 1836, and founded a missionary organization that helped in the education of Indians . He felt a deep connection with the college, and was reported meditating near the grave of Eleazar Wheelock , the founder of the college. While at the college, he participated in numerous outings with classmates to anti-slavery meetings in Hanover. He described

9918-473: The time. His rebellious side was exposed on numerous occasions, most notably when a Free Will Baptist came to the family's house |to recite lessons, Cheney jumped and stabbed the windowsill with his jack-knife scaring everyone in the room, which formed an ongoing reputation of the young boy. Soon after Sunday School, Cheney began to work at his father's paper mill, tending to the engines, and housekeeping, at night. The paper he would |277pxform would go on to print

10032-466: The town and incorporated as the Maine State Seminary on March 16, 1855. The charter petition paid particular attention to fellow Maine colleges, Bowdoin and Colby College in Brunswick and Waterville , respectively. Cheney wrote specifically with regard to the two colleges: We do not propose an Academy [referring to Colby College (then Waterville Academy)], but a school of higher order, between

10146-455: The transatlantic slave trade by 1798. South Carolina , which had abolished the slave trade in 1787, reversed that decision in 1803. In the American South , freedom suits were rejected by the courts, which held that the rights in the state constitutions did not apply to African Americans . The formation of Christian denominations that heralded abolitionism as a moral issue occurred, such as

10260-552: The universal rights of all people. While the Quaker establishment did not take action at that time, the unusually early, clear, and forceful argument in the 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery initiated the spirit that finally led to the end of slavery in the Society of Friends (1776) and in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1780). The Quaker Quarterly Meeting of Chester, Pennsylvania , made its first protest in 1711. Within

10374-476: The very first copy of The Morning Star , the single most important newspaper of Free Will Baptists . At age thirteen, he attended the New Hampton Academical and Theological Institute in 1829–30, which was five miles away, his mother's decision to send him so far way was partly based on Cheney's unhealthy interest with knives; he cut the end of his thumb while husking corn. Cheney's demanding personality

10488-462: The war as a test of their convictions, he said to an incoming class, "the freemen of the north are ready. Slavery must die. I am ready to die for freedom", causing them question the dynamic involved at the school as this was not a student but the President asserting such a statement. In 1891, Cheney amended the charter to Bates to require that its president and a majority of the trustees be members of

10602-673: The word. Passed unanimously by the Congress of the Confederation in 1787, the Northwest Ordinance forbade slavery in the Northwest Territory , a vast area (the future Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin) in which slavery had been legal, but population was sparse. The first state to begin a gradual abolition of slavery was Pennsylvania, in 1780. All importation of slaves was prohibited, but none were freed at first, only

10716-539: The year Chris Foxworth . One of the longest-running traditions at MCI is the Manson Essay contest which dates back to 1871. This competition which has happened annually for more than 145 years has evolved into a competition between the entire junior class in which they need to complete a university-level research paper and then give a speech on the topic. Only a select few are given the title of "Manson Essay Finalists" and then have to perform their speeches in front of

10830-518: Was ordained a minister in his early twenties, became the headmaster at Parsonsfield, Maine , and illegally harbored and transferred slaves to safety during the 1840s in New Hampshire–an action punishable with a decade's jail time by the federal Fugitive Slave acts . His religious community work garnered him widespread support, culminating in his nomination for a seat in the Maine House of Representatives without his knowledge. Having been told he

10944-461: Was Rev. Joshua Leavitt , trained as a lawyer at Yale, who stopped practicing law in order to attend Yale Divinity School , and subsequently edited the abolitionist newspaper The Emancipator and campaigned against slavery, as well as advocating other social reforms. In 1841, Leavitt published The Financial Power of Slavery , which argued that the South was draining the national economy due to its reliance on enslaved workers. In 2007, Duffield Street

11058-682: Was a popular orator and essayist for the abolitionist cause. The struggle between Georgia and South Carolina led to the first debates in Parliament over the issue of slavery, occurring between 1740 and 1742. Rhode Island Quakers, associated with Moses Brown , were among the first in America to free slaves. Benjamin Rush was another leader, as were many Quakers. John Woolman gave up most of his business in 1756 to devote himself to campaigning against slavery along with other Quakers. Between 1764 and 1774, seventeen enslaved African Americans appeared before

11172-402: Was also attacked, to a lesser degree, as harmful on economic grounds. Evidence was that the South, with many enslaved African Americans on plantations , was definitely poorer than the North, which had few. The institution remained solid in the South, and that region's customs and social beliefs evolved into a strident defense of slavery in response to the rise of a growing anti-slavery stance in

11286-523: Was also heavily influenced by the Dartmouth College v. Woodward case which would later become a guiding case in the foundation of Bates College. Soon after being admitted, he accepted a teaching position in Canaan, New Hampshire but his goals were hindered before he could seriously impact the communities' politics. During the night, the townspeople rode ox with the building strapped to wooden rollers into

11400-527: Was developed quickly as he taught at elementary schools during his time at New Hampton. A notable example of this was when a drunken father stumbled into the school yard accusing a young Cheney of disciplining his child in unfair ways, Cheney drew his measuring stick and quieted the man. While at the New Hampton Institute, he was exposed to Free Will Baptism at personal level through his studies, and peers, and soon after returned to his father's mill. After

11514-542: Was drafted. Of the one required, twenty-four petitions were submitted to the Maine State Legislature . After minimal delay, the charter was approved and appropriated with $ 15,000 for its conception. With the school being established Cheney wrote to Massachusetts Congressman and one of the most established anti-slavery radicals in the country, Charles Sumner , requesting a university motto. Sumner replied with "Amore ac Studio" which means "with ardor and devotion" but

11628-517: Was founded on the principles of egalitarianism and scholarship . It opened officially in 1865 with one hundred and thirty-seven students and three societies: the Literary Fraternity, Philomathean Society and Ladies' Athenaeum. The school gained a reputation of exacting academic standards and for educating the working class of Maine. The college stood in firm contrast to Bowdoin College in that it advocated for equality and equal access. However,

11742-621: Was given the name Abolitionist Place , and the Truesdells' home at 227 Duffield received landmark status in 2021. Abolitionists nationwide were outraged by the murder of white abolitionist and journalist Elijah Parish Lovejoy by a proslavery mob in Alton, Illinois on 7 November 1837. Six months later, Pennsylvania Hall , an abolitionist venue in Philadelphia , was burnt to the ground by another proslavery mob on May 17, 1838. Both events contributed to

11856-637: Was interested in the temperance movement early on and founded his school's temperance society. In 1836, Cheney enrolled in Brown University , but while in Providence witnessed mobs violently treating people with the same religious and political beliefs as he had. Although he was excited by the commotion involved, he decided he was better off studying at a school that offered him a higher degree of physical safety. He transferred to Dartmouth College , due to their significant tolerance of abolitionism. His choice

11970-410: Was its most effective propagandist. Garrison's efforts to recruit eloquent spokesmen led to the discovery of ex-slave Frederick Douglass , who eventually became a prominent activist in his own right. Eventually, Douglass would publish his own widely distributed abolitionist newspaper, North Star . In the early 1850s, the American abolitionist movement split into two camps over the question of whether

12084-542: Was known as a "humble, patient, and soft-spoken boy." When he was eight years old, he was enrolled in Sunday School in Holderness, and his parents were criticized for sending him to a newly founded school, as it was started by a cashier who found God later in life and was not considered "God's child from birth." He began to work at age nine at the school and spent his allowance on honey and gingerbread , considered luxuries at

12198-532: Was nominated and elected on his way to his induction ceremony, Cheney would go on to be an able Free Soil legislator. His first bills drafted and passed supported state prohibition , advocated for temperance , regulated liquor traffic (notably the passage of the Maine Liquor Law ), and provided the funds for his first school–the Lebanon Academy in Lebanon, Maine . He gave many abolitionist speeches to

12312-466: Was nominated. He won the elections in early December 1851, and while on trip to speak with community leaders in Augusta, aids told him that he had been nominated and elected to the legislature. They took a detour and he was inducted as a Member of the Maine House of Representatives representing the 86th district of Augusta , Maine later that day. His early tenure in the legislature as a Free Soil politician

12426-466: Was ordained as a Free Will Baptist minister, but he left the ministership after some years due to their position on slavery. In 1847, the widower Cheney married Nancy S. Perkins. They had two children, Caroline and Emeline. Nancy died in 1886. In July 1892, Cheney married Emeline S. Burlingame, a widow, who survived him. His only son, Horace Cheney, was admitted to Bowdoin College in Brunswick as one of

12540-552: Was originally affiliated with the Freewill Baptist denomination and later with the Northern Baptist churches. He often noted Dartmouth v. United States , a Supreme Court case in reinforcing his beliefs that "a college can never pass into the hands of any other people or party without the consent of these churches or their proper representatives." During the Civil War, Cheney was stirred and encouraged students to fight in

12654-662: Was perceived as dangerous and thus was quashed with the implementation of the Virginia Slave Codes of 1705 . Still, this event introduced the premise that blacks and whites could work together towards the goal of self-liberation, which became increasingly prevalent as abolition gained traction within America. The first statement against slavery in Colonial America was written in 1688 by the Religious Society of Friends . On 18 February 1688, Francis Daniel Pastorius ,

12768-414: Was tacked to state prohibition , he first bills drafted and passed limited the outlawed the sale of alcohol in Maine, with the Maine Liquor Law , and regulated the consumption of it on a district-by-district basis. Cheney also went on to begin to make speeches in the legislature on the principles of abolitionism and egalitarianism to mixed reception. When a congressman asked him to stop giving speeches on

12882-560: Was widely ignored, and Rhode Island became involved in the slave trade in 1700. The first act of resistance against an upper-class white colonial government from slaves can be seen in Bacon's Rebellion in 1676. Occurring in Virginia, the rebellion saw European indentured servants and African people (of indentured, enslaved , and free negroes ) band together against William Berkeley because of his refusal to fully remove Native American tribes in

12996-687: Was written by Thomas Paine . Titled "African Slavery in America", it appeared on 8 March 1775 in the Postscript to the Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser . The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage (Pennsylvania Abolition Society) was the first American abolition society, formed 14 April 1775, in Philadelphia, primarily by Quakers. The society suspended operations during

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