The National Equal Rights League (NERL) is the oldest nationwide

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

organization in the United States. It was founded in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

in 1864 dedicated to the liberation of

black people Black is a racial classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid- to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin and often additional phenotypical ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Its origins can be traced back to the emancipation of slaves in the British West Indies in 1833. The league emphasized moral reform and self-help, aiming "to encourage sound morality, education, temperance, frugality, industry, and promote everything that pertains to a well-ordered and dignified life." Black leaders formed state and local branches of the league which drew many members, which caused the society to grow quickly, in areas such as

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two pr ...

, where people such as

Thomas Morris Chester Thomas Morris Chester (May 11, 1834 – September 30, 1892) was an American war correspondent, lawyer and soldier who took part in the American Civil War. Early life and education Chester was born at the corner of Third and Market Street in Har ...

joined.

Organizational history

Origins

As a result of the 1833 British West Indies emancipation, a large celebration of pro-abolitionist free black men was held in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. During this celebration, planning began for the creation of a wholly black organization to fight for the human rights for blacks in the

. Ten years later, in 1843, after the establishment of several state conventions, the first

National Convention of Colored Men of America National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

was held in Buffalo with several hundred delegates, free black men and escaped slaves, from throughout the U.S. At this convention, the Chairman Samuel H. Davis defined their purpose:

"... we wish to secure for ourselves, in common with other citizens, the privilege of seeking our own happiness in any part of the country we choose ... unconstitutionally denied us in part of this union. We wish also to secure the elective franchise in those states where it is denied us - where are rights are legislated away, and our voice is neither heard nor regarded. We also wish to secure, for our children especially, the benefits of education, which in several States are entirely denied to us, and in others, are enjoyed only in name. These, and many other things, of which we justly complain, bear most heavily upon us as a people; and it is our right and our duty to seek for redress, in that way which will lead most likely the desired end."

The NERL founding members included

Henry Highland Garnet Henry Highland Garnet (December 23, 1815 – February 13, 1882) was an American abolitionist, minister, educator, orator, and diplomat. Having escaped as a child from slavery in Maryland with his family, he grew up in New York City. He was ed ...

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was the most impor ...

, and

John Mercer Langston John Mercer Langston (December 14, 1829 – November 15, 1897) was an African-American abolitionist, attorney, educator, activist, diplomat, and politician. He was the founding dean of the law school at Howard University and helped create the d ...

. The organization originated in New York but quickly expanded at the conclusion of the civil war. Several resolutions were passed endorsing the abolition of slavery, legal equality regardless of color or race, and black manhood suffrage. The members also wrote their own constitution and founded the National Equal Rights League (NERL), and its subsidiary state Equal Rights Leagues. The NERL used the susu economics practices of its many West Indies immigrant members to fund its activities, which included the establishment of self-sufficient black communities ( Black Wall Streets) throughout the U.S. The work of the membership of the NERL created such other organizations as the

National Negro Business League The National Negro Business League (NNBL) was an American organization founded in Boston in 1900 by Booker T. Washington to promote the interests of African-American businesses. The mission and main goal of the National Negro Business League w ...

, the National Negro Bar Association, and the Pan-African Conference. The NERL also had significant international influence. Its leadership was received by heads of state, and they even had a delegate attend the

Paris Peace Conference Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include: Listed by name Paris Accords may refer to: * Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germ ...

of 1919. The two best-known leaders of the organization were

and

William Monroe Trotter William Monroe Trotter, sometimes just Monroe Trotter (April 7, 1872 – April 7, 1934), was a newspaper editor and real estate businessman based in Boston, Massachusetts. An activist for African-American civil rights, he was an early opponent o ...

. Other notable members included Madam C. J. Walker, Ida B. Wells-Barnett (who founded its Anti-Lynching Bureau),

Mary Church Terrell Mary Terrell (born Mary Church; September 23, 1863 – July 24, 1954) was an American civil rights activist, journalist, teacher and one of the first African-American women to earn a college degree. She taught in the Latin Department at the M St ...

Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) (commonly known a ...

, Octavius V. Catto,

Charles Lewis Reason Charles Lewis Reason (July 21, 1818 – August 16, 1893) was an American mathematician, linguist, and educator. He was the first black college professor in the United States, teaching at New York Central College, McGrawville. He was born and di ...

, John Rock,

William Cooper Nell William Cooper Nell (December 16, 1816 – May 25, 1874) was an American abolitionist, journalist, publisher, author, and civil servant of Boston, Massachusetts, who worked for the integration of schools and public facilities in the state. Wri ...

Moses Dickson Moses Dickson (1824–1901) was an abolitionist, soldier, minister, and founder of the Knights of Liberty, an anti-slavery organization that planned a Slave rebellion, slave uprising in the United States and helped Slavery in the United States, ...

, and

Formation of a rival organization

In 1905, NERL leaders met with other black leaders, in what is now known as the

Niagara Movement The Niagara Movement (NM) was a civil rights organization founded in 1905 by a group of activists—many of whom were among the vanguard of African-American lawyers in the United States—led by W. E. B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter. The Ni ...

, to discuss the growing debate between followers of

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, and orator. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite#United S ...

and followers of

W. E. B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in a relativel ...

, who called for an end to discrimination, and to develop a new strategy for dealing with race relations at the turn of the 20th century. At this meeting, Du Bois unsuccessfully tried to convince the NERL members present, Trotter and Wells-Barnett, that white Americans should be permitted to join the NERL. When his pleas went unheeded, Du Bois left the organization and joined the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

. From 1910 until roughly 1920, Byron Gunner served as the president of the NERL. With the continued growth of the NAACP, the NERL lost prominence and by 1921 most members had joined the NAACP.

Proceedings

Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the National Equal Rights League Held in Cleveland, Ohio, October 19, 20, and 21, 1865

Footnotes

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Organizational history

Origins

Formation of a rival organization

Proceedings

See also

Footnotes

Further reading