Anti-Slavery Society of Waterville College petition, 1833
Item 12578 info
Colby College Special Collections
In 1833, inspired by William Lloyd Garrison's lecture in Waterville, Colby students founded an Anti-Slavery Society of Waterville College. On July 4th, 1833, students adopted the following:
Preamble
Believing that all men are born free and equal, and possess certain unalienable rights among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that in no case consistently with reason, religion, and the immutable principles of justice man can be the property of man:- we, the subscribers do hereby agree to form ourselves into a Society, and to be governed by the following...
The Constitution followed with thirteen articles, and was signed by thirty-two students. However, the faculty at the college did not ratify the formation of the society until 1858, only a few years before the Civil War began.
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