Student Anti-Slavery Rebellion 1835

The anti-slavery sentiment that was rising in New England created a moral dilemma for the faculty when the students requested approval to establish an anti-slavery society in 1835. The students believed that the moral teachings they were receiving demanded that they show their support for the cause by having one on campus. Although the faculty and administration were in agreement about the immorality of slavery, it was their position that the society would detract from the students' ability to concentrate on their studies. They denied the request, and the students petitioned for honorable dismissal. They were denied that, and so they simply left. Some of this comprises records of the Colonization Committee of the Society of Inquiry (Phillis Academy student organization founded as the missionary fraternity) from Andover Theological Seminary records, Yale Divinity School Library.