Description
The lead story on the front page of the July 8, 1790, edition of the Virginia Gazette and Petersburg Intelligencer contains the constitution for the newly established Virginia Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, and the Relief of Free Negroes or Others Unlawfully Held in Bondage, and Other Humane Purposes. The article cites the reason the group was formed: From a full belief that the Lords mercy is over all his works, that he created mankind of every nation, language, and colour, equally free; and, that slavery in all its forms, in all its degrees, is an outrageous violation, and an odious degradation of human nature …
