"Any person may be admitted a member of this society": An important surviving template for abolition societies' founding principles and operational structures 

[Abolition] [Activist Organizing].

Constitution of the Abolition Society.

[N.P.]: [N.P.], [c. 1790]. First Edition. Broadside measuring 8 x 13 inches and printed in double columns to recto only. Evenly toned, with small hole at center affecting one word of text and some splitting along central foldline; archival reinforcement to portion of foldline at verso. Contemporary pencil notations to verso. Printer's notches to all four edges, to assist in guiding custom type-setting requests from individual societies drawing on the broadside's contents. An important and scarce survivor, used as a boilerplate for contemporary abolition societies to develop their own activist constitutions. It has one appearance in the modern auction record (with similar printer's notches noted), and OCLC records no copies. The present is the only example in trade.

An important document preserving the practicalities surrounding anti-slavery organizing, at a time when abolition societies were increasingly being founded across the Northern US. The Constitution of the Abolition Society was designed as a template to be used by new organizations seeking to create a functional grass-roots structure. Rather than leaving each new group to reinvent the wheel, beginning from scratch with their founding documents, this boilerplate provided guidance but was also customizable by the printer to fit the unique needs of clubs that might vary based on size or region.

Among the things that likely stayed the same -- or were intended to remain across the documents -- were the foundational principles of the societies. While "we, whose names are subscribed to the Constitution" would vary by group, those involved would all "resolve and hereby agree to form ourselves into a Society, for the purpose of aiding in the removal of the evil of Slavery as it now exists in the United States." Similarly, the intention was for the societies using this guideline to be fully inclusive as to the race, gender, location, and economic class of its participants: "Any person may be admitted a member of this society, who shall apply for that purpose at a stated or occasional meeting, either personally or by letter, who agrees to conform to this Constitution...no money shall be required of any person as a preliminary to membership in this society. All funds...shall be raised by voluntary contributions and donations." The implication was that anyone invested in the society's mission should be included, and that the widest network possible would be the strongest for overturning the ongoing system of hereditary chattel slavery.

In addition to foundational principles, the template constitution provides functional structure in terms of leadership roles, member duties, meeting frequencies, fundraising and financials, and the recording of minutes and other notations for historical preservation. These would allow the groups to operate in similar and complementary ways, to communicate smoothly, and to have fair voting and participation structures. Other portions of the document provide suggested structure that might fit a group or might be altered based on that specific group's needs; these include details such as the number of people in leadership positions who attend all meetings "to attend to such ordinary business" and the frequency of meetings.

While no institutional copies are documented in OCLC, the present example of the Constitution could be compared with the more specific constitutions that are recorded. The Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, the New England Anti-Slavery Society, and the New Jersey Society for the Abolition of Slavery for example all have several listings; items such as these could be set up against this document, to trace whether and what might be duplicated and whether this served as a model. Similarly, the alterations and differences that exists among functional constitutions and this template should be considered. To what extent were those societies holding not only to government patterns, but to principles of wide membership and acceptance of diverse participants? What structures may have been put in place to exclude those of certain races or sexes?

Above all, this scarce survivor is a reminder that just as slavery was a deeply ingrained legal, social, and economic institution in the US, the abolition societies who fought for emancipation were more than sentimental or morally motivated. To be effective, they too needed to have strong, functional, sustainable structure; and they needed to work in tandem as parts of a larger machine rather than in a disconnected fashion. (98)