Peter Williams, Jr.: “Oration on the Abolition of the Slave Trade”

Audience

The audience gathered on January 1, 1808, in the African Church of New York likely consisted of church members as well as guests who had come to celebrate the ban on the external slave trade. Many of the people were African American, as Williams indicates in his speech—some even with the memory of being taken from Africa and brought to America to be slaves. No doubt the audience also included some of the white benefactors of whom Williams speaks, along with other abolitionists and sympathizers.

After its publication, the oration gained a wider audience. Abolitionist societies would have made sure of this. Many abolitionists held the opinion that the end of the external slave trade would lead to the emancipation of all slaves. The publication of this oration advanced the cause of abolitionists by demonstrating the intelligence of African Americans and by convincing skeptics that freed slaves, when educated properly—as Williams had been—would be an asset to society rather than a burden.