Proceedings of the Yearly Meeting … Held at Waterloo, Seneca Co, N.Y.
Rochester, N.Y.: Press of C.W. Hebard, 1859. Original printed wrappers, stitched. 23, [1 blank] pp. Wrappers lightly dusted, one gathering loosened, else Very Good plus.
The Friends of Human Progress began as a radical Quaker organization, but soon attracted many other reformers. Its officers included Frederick Douglass [listed as an Officer on the Business Committee], Amy Post [Secretary], Lucy N. Colman [Business Committee], George W. Taylor [Secretary], and Philip D. Moore [Chairman].
At this Meeting the Friends resolve "that the rights of woman, like the rights of man...are bounded only by her capacity, and that the full, free, and ample exercise of her rights thus defined is essential to her growth and development and to the progress and perfection of human society...We call upon our sisters throughout the country to cultivate in themselves a firmer self-reliance, and a bolder, practical assertion of their right to engage in any and every useful vocation to which they are demonstratively adapted."
This pamphlet records the organization's doings, with summaries of the remarks of several speakers, including Douglass. The Friends denounce established religions and the "General Government" for turning their backs on the slaves. Enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act demonstrates-- with utter clarity-- "the abandoned character of this Government; and sinks it, day by day, deeper in infamy, rendering it the loathing and abomination everywhere of sober thoughtful men."
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