American Missionary Association facts for kids

The American Missionary journal cover

The American Missionary Association (AMA) was an important group in American history. It was started on September 3, 1846, in Albany, New York. This group was based on Protestant Christian beliefs. Its main goals were to end slavery, help educate African Americans, and make sure all races were treated equally.

The AMA had leaders and members who were both black and white. It was mostly supported by Congregationalist churches in New England. The AMA played a big part in major historical events. These included the American Civil War, the time after the war called Reconstruction, and the Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century.

In the 1850s, the AMA helped people escape slavery using the Underground Railroad. Starting in 1861, it opened camps in the South for people who used to be enslaved. During and after the Civil War, the AMA was very important for educating black people in the South. It started many schools and colleges and paid for teachers. It also helped set up black churches and community groups.

AMA teachers and workers sometimes faced danger from groups like the Ku Klux Klan. Outside the South, the AMA also helped start schools for Native Americans and immigrants. In the 20th century, the AMA continued to support the Civil Rights Movement. It backed activists like Martin Luther King Jr. and helped with legal efforts to end segregation in schools.

History of the AMA

The American Missionary Association was formed by people who were part of other groups, like the American Home Missionary Society (AHMS). They were unhappy because these older groups did not speak out against slavery. They also accepted money from slave owners. From the very beginning, the AMA had both black and white leaders. Its first board had 12 men, and four of them were black.

One of the AMA's main goals was to end slavery. The AMA was one of the groups that helped make slavery a big topic in national politics. The organization also started a magazine called American Missionary. It was published from 1846 to 1934.

Fighting Slavery and Helping Education

The AMA helped create churches that were against slavery. For example, Owen Lovejoy, a Congregational minister, helped start 115 anti-slavery churches in Illinois before the Civil War. Another member, Rev. Mansfield French, helped create Wilberforce University in Ohio.

Even before the Civil War, AMA members supported education for black people. They found teachers for "contraband camps." These were camps for enslaved people who had escaped to Union-controlled areas during the war. In states like Kentucky, the AMA provided teachers for schools. These schools were for newly freed United States Colored Troops and their families. One important leader in this effort was Rev. John Gregg Fee.

Rev. French was sent to Port Royal, South Carolina. He went on a speaking tour with Robert Smalls, who famously escaped slavery. Rev. French also met with President Abraham Lincoln and other important leaders. Together, they convinced them to let black people serve in the Union army. By the end of the war, the Union army had set up 100 contraband camps. Many of these camps had AMA teachers.

The AMA also helped the Freedmen's Colony of Roanoke Island from 1863 to 1867. This colony was on an island held by Union troops. It was meant to be a self-supporting community for freed people. The first of 27 teachers who volunteered through the AMA was Elizabeth James. By 1864, the colony had over 2,200 residents. Both children and adults eagerly filled the classrooms. The missionary teachers also shared Christian values and offered basic medical care.

Reconstruction Efforts

During and after the Civil War, the AMA started even more schools and colleges. Newly freed people, free black people, and white supporters all believed that education was very important for the formerly enslaved.

Schools and Colleges Founded

The AMA created and supported many important schools. These include:

• Atlanta University
• Hampton Institute
• Fisk University
• Talladega College
• Tougaloo College
• Straight College (now part of Dillard University)
• Tillotson College (now part of Huston–Tillotson University)
• LeMoyne College (now LeMoyne–Owen College)

In total, the AMA founded 11 colleges and over 500 schools for freed people in the South. It spent more money on this than the federal government's Freedmen's Bureau.

Other Important Work

The AMA also organized the Freedmen's Aid Society. This group found teachers from the North for the schools. It also helped arrange places for these teachers to live in the South.

Challenges Faced

In the mid-1870s, white Democrats began to regain control of state governments. They used violence and threats to stop black people and Republicans from voting. The AMA was disappointed that the Reconstruction Era faced these challenges. However, the AMA never stopped fighting against efforts to take away voting rights. It continued its work for many decades. By the 1870s, the AMA's main office had moved to New York City.

Work Overseas

While the AMA was well-known in the United States for its work against slavery and for education, it also supported missions in other countries. In the 1800s, there was a strong missionary effort in India, China, and East Asia. This work was strongly supported by Congregational and Christian churches. Over time, the AMA became very close with the Congregational Christian Churches.

Most of these churches later joined the United Church of Christ (UCC) in the late 1900s. The AMA remained a separate group until 1999. Then, it became part of the UCC's Justice and Witness Ministries division.

American Missionary Magazine

The AMA's magazine, American Missionary, was published from 1846 to 1934. In the 1800s, it had a circulation of 20,000 copies. This was ten times more than the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison's magazine. The Cornell University Library has issues from 1878 to 1901 available online.

Legacy of the AMA

The historical records of the American Missionary Association are kept at the Amistad Research Center at Tulane University in New Orleans.

List of Schools Associated with the American Missionary Association

• Atlanta University (AMA took over ownership in 1865), now Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia.
• Avery Normal Institute (1867), now part of the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina.
• Berea College (1855) in Berea, Kentucky.
• Dillard University (1869) in New Orleans, Louisiana.
• Fisk University (1866) in Nashville, Tennessee.
• Gregory Normal School (1868 to 1921) in Wilmington, North Carolina.
• Hampton Institute (1868) now Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia.
• Howard University (1867), founded with the Freedmen's Bureau in Washington, D.C.
• Howe Institute (1888 to 1933), a Baptist primary and grammar school in New Iberia, Louisiana.
• Huston–Tillotson University (established in 1877 as Tillotson College, merged with Samuel Huston College in 1952) in Austin, Texas.
• LeMoyne–Owen College (1871) founded as LeMoyne College in Memphis, Tennessee.
• Lincoln Academy (AMA took over ownership in 1888) elementary and secondary school in Kings Mountain, North Carolina.
• Talladega College (1867) founded as Swayne School in Talladega, Alabama.
• Tougaloo College (1869) in Jackson, Mississippi.

See also

• African American founding fathers of the United States
• American Home Missionary Society (AHMS) the AMA split from this group
• American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM), the AMA also split from this group
• American Baptist Home Mission Society, a rival group
• Dan Beach Bradley — Siam, 1857 to 1873
• Freedmen's Schools