{"id":3845,"date":"2021-08-02T19:29:04","date_gmt":"2021-08-02T19:29:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/northwestern-fall-2020\/?page_id=3845"},"modified":"2025-10-01T19:38:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T19:38:27","slug":"at-the-convention","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/black-illinois-organizing\/1853-convention\/at-the-convention\/","title":{"rendered":"At the Convention"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Illinois Colored Convention of 1853<\/h2>\n

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At the Convention<\/h1>\n

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The hard work of organizing a convention of \u201ccolored citizens\u201d of Illinois finally came to fruition on October 6-8, 1853. Thirty-nine delegates came from within the state, with many traveling well over a hundred miles to get there. Visitors also arrived from New York, Michigan, and Indiana.<\/p>\n

The convention began on the morning of October 6th, with a call to order by James D. Bonner<\/a> of Chicago, a leader in Illinois Black activist circles. The delegates elected John Jones<\/a>, a prominent tailor and political activist, to serve as president. Leaders read notes of greeting and support from white abolitionists, including Horace Mann, education reformer; Gerrit Smith, congressman; and Lewis Tappan, cofounder of the American Missionary Society.<\/p>\n

That afternoon, delegates adopted rules for the convention, including the decision \u201cthat each session . . . be opened with prayer.\u201d[1] Delegates proceeded to hold three sessions every day: morning, afternoon, and evening. At each session, one of the clergymen in attendance began with a prayer.<\/p>\n

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Various Counties Represented at the 1853 Convention<\/strong>
This map represents the number of delegates sent from various counties to the 1853 Convention. The strongest concentrations came from Cook county, near Chicago, Sangamon County, near Springfield, and Madison and St. Clair Counties, near St. Louis. The number of delegates from each county were as follows: Cook, 20; Edgar & Coles, 1; Jo Daviess, 2; Madison, 4; McLean, 1; Morgan, 2; Peoria, 3; Sangamon, 3; St. Clair, 1; Will, 2. Sources: \u201cA New Map of the Great West<\/a>\u201d (Detail), 1856, (David Rumsey Map Collection); Atlas of Historical County Boundaries<\/a>, Newberry Library; Delegate Proceedings<\/a> of the 1853 Colored Convention.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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During the convention, delegates created committees that reflected the principal interests and concerns of Illinois Black activists: education, colonization, agriculture, mechanics, and business. Each committee reported back on the problem under its consideration and proposed recommendations for the convention\u2019s members to consider.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Issues that dominated the conversation included repeal of the Illinois black laws, the abolition of slavery, and the education of Black children. For example, the education committee reported on \u201cobstacles\u201d to Black children\u2019s education (in particular, the state\u2019s failure to provide it). The committee suggested creating a nine-person board of trustees to oversee the education of Black students in Illinois.<\/span>[2]<\/p>\n

The convention was sometimes contentious. Delegates unanimously denounced white-led colonization efforts as racist, but they disagreed about whether to support Black-led emigration out of the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many Black northerners were disillusioned with the treacherous racial environment of the United States and believed they would be better off leaving for places like Canada or Haiti. In an important book published in 1852, Martin Delany<\/a> had asked African Americans to consider such options, and in 1853 he had called for a convention to discuss the merits of emigration. At the Chicago convention, James D. Bonner<\/a> and Joseph H. Barquet<\/a><\/span> \u201cably supported\u201d a resolution that denounced white-led colonization as \u201cwicked attempts of Southern slaveholders and their Northern abettors to force us from our native homes.\u201d[3]<\/span><\/p>\n

However, this resolution met opposition from delegates including Rev. Byrd Parker<\/a><\/span>, Henry O. Wagoner<\/a><\/span>, and Spencer Donegan<\/a><\/span>. The exact nature of the disagreement is not clear from the published proceedings, but the convention\u2019s final resolutions suggest that Parker, Wagoner, and Donegan had pushed to condemn not only white-led colonization projects but Black-led emigration initiatives as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Warner’s Hall, c. 1868<\/strong>
The building in the center housed Warner’s Hall, where delegates gathered for the 1853 convention in Chicago. (Source: John Carbutt, S.E. Clark and Randolph St.,1865\u20131875, The J. Paul Getty Museum<\/a>, Los Angeles, Gift of Weston J. and Mary M. Naef.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The convention\u2019s final resolutions made a powerful argument for remaining in the United States and claiming citizenship. All colonization efforts, \u201coriginating in whatever motive,\u201d were harmful to Black Americans, the convention declared. The statement denounced Martin Delany by name and insisted that his proposed National Emigration Convention represented a \u201cspirit of disunion\u201d that could \u201cprove fatal to our hopes and aspirations as a people.\u201d Instead, the convention urged: \u201cWe will plant our trees in American soil, and repose in the shade thereof.\u201d[4]<\/p>\n

Frederick Douglass\u2019s speech on the evening of Friday, October 7th, was a highlight of the convention. Douglass had arrived in Chicago a bit late, disappointing delegates who had hoped he would be there for the opening day. While in Chicago, Douglass stayed with the Bonner family<\/a>, and he later lauded Mary Louisa Bonner for her hospitality.[5]<\/p>\n

The details of Douglass\u2019 speech have not been preserved, but according to the convention minutes, his sentiments \u201cwere enthusiastically received\u201d by the delegates and members of the audience. The convention\u2019s leaders made Douglass an honorary member of the meeting.[6]<\/span><\/p>\n

The convention published a pamphlet that contained its proceedings, resolutions, and an address to the state\u2019s white citizens.<\/p>\n

The delegates adopted dozens of resolutions that addressed current conditions and expressed hopes for the future. Here is a list of some of the most notable resolutions. The convention:<\/p>\n