An Introduction
The City of Columbia located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania has a rich history in regard to African Americans. Located approximately 25 miles North of the Maryland State line in Central Pennsylvania, Columbia played a significant role in creating a network of safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. These safe houses were key in assisting slaves who fled bondage in the South. Although small in size, Columbia contained a high percentage of free Blacks that lived very near the white community, during the early 1800s.
In 1726, African American slaves accompanied the first Quakers that settled the area that would latter become known as Columbia. Most of the African Americans that settled Columbia during the early 1800s came from Maryland and Northern Virginia. African Americans migrated to Columbia, because of the availability of work, and the townís strong Abolitionists ties. By 1820, African Americans made up 32% of Columbiaís total population.
Despite Columbiaís large population of African Americans, by 1834 there would be outbreaks of racial violence, which would continue throughout the 1840s and 1850s. The White population was divided on the issue of race. Some Whites promoted violence against African Americans, while others helped to hide fugitive slaves. Some of the reason that caused the racial violence in Columbia included: White resentment of upwardly mobile Blacks, loss of jobs to Blacks, and rumors of marriages between Black males and White females. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, also contributed to the racial unrest in Columbia.
In August of 1830, the Columbia Abolition Society organized themselves into the Columbia Auxiliary Colonization Society. This new societyís goal was to resettle African Americans to Liberia, Africa, instead of attempting to assist them in gaining full citizenship rights in the United States. The issue of Colonization angered the majority of African Americans living in Columbia. Their dream was to become American Citizens in the country of their birth. The issue of Colonization was not only one that concerned African Americans in Columbia, but was an issue in every city across the Northeast.
Since African Americans, generally had few rights as non-citizens in the United States, they used their Church to address many political concerns in regard to the status of African Americans. Specifically, African Americans not only used the Church as a place of worship, but also used it as place to educate their people, as a social organization, and a platform to discuss political issues that concerned African Americans. In 1830, Columbia had organized two Black Churches, and one was an AME Church. The AME Church would go on to build a network of churches throughout Central Pennsylvania. The organized network of Churches would grow and participate in a number of conferences to further connect the African American communities across the Northeast.
In Conclusion, the small city of Columbia has a rich African American
history. Our goal of this web site is to provide you further information
about Columbia and its history. Included on this site is information on
the following topics: